The CFL season is a marathon. There are many times when teams catch fire and others sputter and in a blink the roles can be reversed.<\/p>\n
Sometimes it\u2019s an injury or it\u2019s a coach tweaking something to put players in better situations. And at the third point of the season is when we usually see teams start to rise and others that were hot start to fall.<\/p>\n
When you\u2019re making your picks, sometimes you can\u2019t go on the collective of a teams\u2019 five games but on the recent trends on what is happening on their roster and on the field.<\/p>\n
My picks this week reflect what I\u2019m truly feeling about which teams I see as trending up and which are trending down.<\/p>\n
RELATED BC AT EDMONTON<\/p>\n Friday, July 17 The rematch from a few weeks ago when the Lions got their first win is intriguing. The Elks bounced back with Justin Rankin\u2019s hat trick against Ottawa, but the REDBLACKS were right in the thick of it before the fourth quarter got away from them.<\/p>\n The Lions got the game plan to successfully halt Rankin in the rushing game and made the Elks one dimensional. It will be next to impossible to repeat that effort and the Elks will make adjustments on their end for this game.<\/p>\n What I\u2019m intrigued by is what the Lions look like out of the bye week. Last year they were 3-5 until their bye week and then after that they were 8-2 and nearly got into the 112th Grey Cup.<\/p>\n I believe the Lions are going to repeat that effort. It\u2019s time that Nathan Rourke and company turn up the heat on the rest of the West Division to punch themselves back into the fight.<\/p>\n PICK: BC<\/p>\n MONTREAL AT CALGARY<\/p>\n Saturday, July 18 The Stampeders are back home after a battle in Montreal that saw the Alouettes able to hold off a potentially impressive Stamps comeback.<\/p>\n Throughout the game, the Stamps just couldn\u2019t find the opportune stop or turnover to flip the game. The defensive line will need to be better with Travis Theis nearly going for 100 yards rushing on 13 carries. Oh, and Calgary needs to find an answer for Tyson Philpot. He had another epic performance and continues to threaten some CFL records later this year as Philpot is already over 700 yards receiving following five games<\/a>.\u00a0That means he\u2019s on pace for well over 2,000 yards.<\/p>\n I\u2019m feeling that Calgary\u2019s defensive line will start to bring the heat as players work their way back from injury. I thought that would be the different last week, but now that they\u2019re at home on the second half of a home-and-home, I\u2019ll go with the Stamps\u2026 again.<\/p>\n PICK: CALGARY<\/p>\n TORONTO AT HAMILTON<\/p>\n Saturday, July 18 The Tiger-Cats without Bo Levi Mitchell looked uneven. And you can understand why, as they lost their first ballot Hall of Famer quarterback.<\/p>\n
\u00bb AMSOIL Power Rankings: Bombers ascending and stability at the top<\/a>
\u00bb\u00a0Overreaction Monday: 5 hot takes from Week 6<\/a>
\u00bb\u00a0MMQB: 3 teams emerging as early favourites after six weeks<\/a>
\u00bb 5 things we learned from Week 6<\/a>
\u00bb Justin Rankin, <\/a>Tyson Philpot<\/a> among CFL players on historic pace<\/a>
\u00bb\u00a0Subscribe to the CFL\u2019s newsletter for exclusive offers and league updates<\/a><\/p>\n
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