Hello, BC Lions. YES, to the orange socks. Yes, yes, a thousand times yes.<\/p>\n
Here are the Week 10 takeaways.<\/p>\n
RELATED SOMETIMES YOU OWE IT ALL TO THE PUNTER<\/p>\n \u00a0<\/p>\n The Ottawa REDBLACKS trailed the Toronto Argonauts by a score of 22-1, and had another drive stalled, early in the second quarter.<\/p>\n Mistakes were made. Points were gifted. Points were left off the board. Things were bleak. They needed a spark.<\/p>\n That\u2019s when punter Richie Leone<\/a> stepped into a towering, 55-yard punt that landed in the corner and rolled out at the Toronto three-yard line. It was a surgical strike, never easy to pull off, but particularly tough on a day where the lake breeze was blowing pretty good into BMO Field.<\/p>\n A Toronto two-and out came after that, and a big punt return by Kalil Pimpleton<\/a> set the REDBLACKS up at the Toronto six-yard line. Two plays later, Eugene Lewis<\/a> caught a touchdown pass from Dru Brown<\/a> and the comeback was on.<\/p>\n Yes, an awful lot of water flowed under the bridge in Ottawa\u2019s 46-42 win over the Argos and all of it was impressive and very much needed for victory to be had.<\/p>\n But we know exactly where that river was sourced and it was with Leone, who provided a tactical foothold from which everything else flowed.<\/p>\n SPEND YOUR TIME OFF WELL<\/p>\n \u00a0<\/p>\n After getting their hearts ripped out a couple weeks ago, the BC Lions had some adjusting to to as they headed into the bye week after a crushing, last-second home loss to the Hamilton Tiger-Cats.<\/p>\n Tuning up for the re-match, the Lions did the tinkering they needed to.<\/p>\n Ticats\u2019 quarterback Bo Levi Mitchell<\/a> noticed, especially in an arid first half for the Hamilton offence.<\/p>\n \u201cComin\u2019 off a bye week, you know they\u2019re gonna come out with a bunch of crazy looks,\u201d said Mitchell, post-game.<\/p>\n \u201cCompletely change what they do,\u201d he added. \u201cThey wouldn\u2019t be very good coaches or a very good team if they just came out and ran the same thing against us after comin\u2019 off a bye week.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cThe group focused on the things that we needed to fix and were able to implement those things when it mattered most,\u201d said Lions head coach Buck Pierce of his team\u2019s big road win.<\/p>\n Instead of letting a late lead slip away and into a loss, the way they had in Week 8, the Lions rebounded with an overtime victory.<\/p>\n \u201cWe\u2019re building some grit,\u201d said Pierce. \u201cWe\u2019re building some toughness.\u201d<\/p>\n Time well spent during a bye helped in that construction.<\/p>\n REVENGE IS A DISH BEST SERVED COLD. NO, NO. COLDER THAN THAT<\/p>\n \u00a0<\/p>\n BC running back James Butler<\/a> had a whale of a game a couple of weeks back, against the team that released him during the off-season.<\/p>\n But his 16-carry, 115-yard effort against Hamilton in Week 8 did not come with a cherry on top in a 37-33 loss.<\/p>\n In Week 10, Butler soared even higher, with 140 yards from scrimmage, including a rushing major and a toe-tap touchdown reception worthy of any wide receiver\u2019s highlight reel, never mind a running back\u2019s.<\/p>\n And this time, a win.<\/p>\n \u201cAlways extra gumption,\u201d Butler said about meeting his old team. \u201cIt\u2019s always just a little more personal.\u201d<\/p>\n Over in Montreal, Elks quarterback Cody Fajardo<\/a> \u2014 denied Week 8 vengeance against the Saskatchewan Roughriders, the team that discarded him in 2023 \u2014 got some instead against the club that traded him this past off-season.<\/p>\n \u201cI\u2019d be (bleeping) lying to you if I didn\u2019t say that meant a lot to me,\u201d an excited Fajardo told his teammates in the locker room, post-game.<\/p>\n \u201cFrom the bottom of my heart, I appreciate every single one of you guys.\u201d<\/p>\n Both Butler and Fajardo, then, had to wait a little longer for full satisfaction. The colder the pizza, the better it tastes, I guess.<\/p>\n SOMETIMES YOU FINALLY GET TO BE THE WINDSHIELD. SOMETIMES YOU JUST KEEP ON TRYING TO FIGURE OUT HOW NOT TO BE THE BUG<\/p>\n \u00a0<\/p>\n Heading into Week 10, the BC Lions, Toronto Argonauts, Ottawa REDBLACKS and Edmonton Elks all were in pretty desperate need of victories and of finding ways to pull out the closely contested ones.<\/p>\n The Elks, REDBLACKS and Lions all did that, fashioning crunch time victories and in the case of Edmonton and Ottawa, in comeback fashion. Calgary got that kind of victory too, though they were far less thirsty, I\u2019d say, for a gut check compared to the other four.<\/p>\n The defending champion Toronto Argonauts, have fallen a long way since last November\u2019s Grey Cup celebration, destined for the bottom of the Power Rankings at the midway mark of the 2025 season.<\/p>\n Saturday\u2019s loss to Ottawa had their head coach, Ryan Dinwiddie, questioning the character of some of his players.<\/p>\n \u201cI think we\u2019ve got some pretenders in the building,\u201d Dinwiddie told reporters after the game. (Those who) like to talk a big game but don\u2019t show up on game day.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cI just think as a football club, right now, we don\u2019t have enough courage. We don\u2019t handle adversity very well.\u201d<\/p>\n In Week 11, in Edmonton, they\u2019ll have to figure out a way to handle adversity against a team that just did that themselves.<\/p>\n I NEED TO LEARN TO TAKE IT ONE WEEK AT A TIME<\/p>\n Hurdlin\u2019 Herslow! \ud83e\udd29#CFLGameDay<\/a> \u2014 CFL (@CFL) August 9, 2025<\/a><\/p>\n I apologize, unreservedly, Week 10. I deeply regret any distress that my comments may have caused you \u2014 or your family \u2014 and I hereby undertake not to repeat any such slander at any time in the future.<\/p>\n In last week\u2019s takes, I began by expressing that while I thought the Week 10 games would come with some intriguing possibilities, I was really looking ahead to Week 11 and to the Hamilton Ticats meeting the Saskatchewan Roughriders.<\/p>\n Dammit, Landry. You\u2019ve been around football for long, long time. You know how this is supposed to go.<\/p>\n One. Week. At. A. Time.<\/p>\n You were absolutely sensational, Week 10.<\/p>\n A brilliant second half and overtime finish in the opener. A last-minute drive for victory authored by a returning quarterback and receiver in the second.<\/p>\n A crazy track meet in the third, one that included the greatest hurdle play I\u2019ve ever seen. (BONUS TAKEAWAY: Flights in and around Toronto\u2019s Island airport were suspended for a short time immediately following Jake Herslow<\/a>\u2019s incredible leap while flight controllers tried to figure out what the hell just caused that blip on their radar screen.)<\/p>\n And then a capper that featured back-to-back clutch boots by two of the greatest placekickers to ever don a CFL uniform, including a record-tying 63-yarder from Winnipeg\u2019s Sergio Castillo.<\/p>\n You were a superstar, Week 10, and I thank you. And I beg your forgiveness. I will never look too far ahead again.<\/p>\n BONUS TAKEAWAY: You know I absolutely will look too far ahead again.<\/p>\n AND FINALLY: You most definitely have our attention, Jacob Roberts. You and everyone else on that Calgary defence.<\/p>\n
\u00bb Lions beat Ticats in overtime after back-and-forth affair<\/a>
\u00bb Rene Paredes leads Stampeders to victory on last-second field goal<\/a>
\u00bb Dru Brown leads resilient\u00a0REDBLACKS over Argos<\/a>
\u00bb Cody Fajardo fuels Elks\u2019 rally over Als in return to Montreal<\/a>
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