Thursday Commentary: Catching Narco
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Colour me dismayed that Week 7 in the CFL will not kickoff tonight, as it has for the prior six weeks; on a Thursday.
For whatever reason we get a doubleheader on Friday (Edmonton at Ottawa followed by Winnipeg at Saskatchewan), and then a game a day on Saturday (Toronto at Hamilton) and Sunday (BC at Calgary).
That’s okay – it just gives us extra time to peruse the weekly Game Notes email from CFL headquarters and as usual, they’re fascinating.
Starting with your friendly neighbourhood Saskatchewan Roughriders, who suffered their first defeat of the season, 35-20 at BC on Saturday night.
It was the first time all season the Riders had been outscored in the second half, and just the first time they lost the turnover battle.
On Friday they host a Winnipeg team which is looking for their third win in a row after an 0-4 start. The pundits are saying the Bombers “are back”.
Who was the one advising Bomber fans not to panic over the opening month?
Oh ya … me.
Also the Bombers have won seven of the past eight meetings with Saskatchewan and it feels like Rider fans have their finger hovering over the panic button with their injury list mounting.
Moving on, Week 6 was the highest-scoring week in the CFL since 2017 with an average of 65 points scored per game.
We also have some fresh-faced receivers who’ve exploded onto the CFL scene this year including Winnipeg’s Ontaria Wilson and Ottawa’s Jalil Pimpleton who’ve had triple-digit receiving games this summer. Fans are also raving about BC’s Justin McInnis, who leads the league with 725 yards already, but seem to be forgetting he broke into the league with Sask way back in 2019.
It’s taken Justin five years to become an overnight success.
Oh … and Blue Bombers’ Swiss Army Knife Nic Demski has caught a pass in 59 consecutive games which is the CFL’s longest active streak.
Keep going son! You’ve only got 157 to go to catch our good buddy Don Narcisse, who holds the pro football record.
That’s today’s Rod Pedersen Commentary.
(The Rod Pedersen Show airs daily at 12 pm & 5 pm ET on Game+TV, WQEE Radio, Podcast & YouTube Live)