Around the CFL: Early trouble brewing for five of nine teams

We're not even a quarter of a way through the CFL season, and five teams already have significant issues.

At the moment, it sure feels like a two-tiered league — with the Edmonton Elks, Ottawa Redblacks, Hamilton Tiger-Cats, Montreal Alouettes and Calgary Stampeders fighting to avoid disaster.

At the other end the spectrum, we have the league-leading and defending Grey Cup-champion Toronto Argonauts, B.C. Lions, Winnipeg Blue Bombers and, we think, the seemingly improved Saskatchewan Roughriders.

If the tiers hold, two of the teams from the bottom group will make the playoffs.

Here's a look at the problems facing the group of five:

Ottawa Redblacks

Just when things were looking up for the Redblacks with the return of Jeremiah Masoli after a one-year absence, the quarterback suffered another season-ending injury (ruptured Achilles) in Hamilton last weekend.

Rookie Dustin Crum will become the Redblacks' fourth starting quarterback in Game 5 of the season on Saturday against the visiting Blue Bombers.

The Redblacks signed Winnipeg training camp cut Tyrrell Pigrome and Jake Dunniway, who was in training camp with Ottawa, to add depth at quarterback — but these hardly seem like long-term answers.

Dan Ralph of The Canadian Press reported this week that the Redblacks have reached out to former Toronto Argonauts quarterback McLeod Bethel-Thompson, who departed for the USFL in the off-season. The New Orleans Breakers released Bethel-Thompson on Tuesday, but word is he wants to explore NFL opportunities.

Somehow, someway, the Redblacks need to find a capable, healthy starting quarterback.

Hamilton Tiger-Cats

Sure, Hamilton finally won its first of the season against visiting Ottawa, but the undermanned Redblacks fell two yards short of getting a chance to go for a game-tying two-point convert.

Expectations are much higher for Hamilton this season because the Grey Cup will be held in Steeltown. Marquee free-agent signing Bo Levi Mitchell remains out with a lower-body injury, so Matthew Shiltz should make his third start in a row at quarterback after a short week ends with a Thursday-night date in Edmonton.

Edmonton Elks

The league's only winless team lost in ridiculous fashion — on a rouge — last week against the Roughriders.

Edmonton has lost a ridiculous 19 home games in a row heading into Thursday's clash with the visiting Ticats.

The crowd at the second home game was sparse and a Thursday-night date with the home team at 0-5 likely won't help matters.

Second-year GM-coach Chris Jones needs to get this team playing better soon — otherwise his job security will come into question.

Montreal Alouettes

Sure, the team is 2-2, but the Alouettes simply can't keep quarterback Cody Fajardo on his feet.

The Alouettes have given up 22 sacks — six more than any other team.

That's not a recipe for success. In B.C. on Sunday, Fajardo completed his first 13 passes, but they were all short. There is no time for him to make downfield plays.

Expect the Argos to try to exploit this weakness on Friday night.

“Everything will be on the table this week because, obviously, that’s been one failure for us for sure for the first four weeks of the season," Alouettes coach Jason Maas told reporters this week. "We just haven’t been good enough (at protecting the quarterback), and that’s on us. We’ve got to figure that out, and we will."

Sacks, it should be noted, are up 15 per cent across the league from this time last year. That raises questions about the talent level of offensive linemen across the league, as well.

Calgary Stampeders

The Stamps made a dramatic move midway through last season, replacing Mitchell with young Jake Maier at QB.

The results this year have not been great — though, in fairness to Calgary, Mitchell struggled before getting hurt with Hamilton this season.

Maier threw for just 122 yards last week in Winnipeg. In the team's previous game, he threw three interceptions, including a game-ender in overtime.

There have been key injuries, but at some point Calgary must find a way to score more.

“To be clear, we are where we are as a football team right now because we are not playing well enough as an offence," Maier said Tuesday, per Postmedia's Danny Austin.

What we liked in Week 5

• The Tiger-Cats winning a home game. Hamilton needs some momentum with the Grey Cup back in Steeltown.

• Two more sacks by league leader Mathieu Betts of the Lions. A Canadian — Betts is from Montreal — hasn't led the league in sacks since 2009.

What we didn't like in Week 5

• The Elks losing on a rouge when CJ Sims misjudged a Saskatchewan kickoff and didn't hustle back to try to take it out of the end zone. Edmonton's coaches deserve just as much, if not more, blame for not making sure the American rookie was prepared.

• The Alouettes giving up seven sacks against the Lions. As offensive co-ordinator and quarterback, respectively, last year in Saskatchewan, Maas and Fajardo had the same problems.

• Masoli's season-ending injury, again. Doesn't seem fair.

Power Rankings

1. Toronto Argonauts (3-0, 1st last week): After two bye weeks in the first five weeks, Argos finally get used to playing regularly.

2. B.C. Lions (4-1, 2): Vernon Adams Jr. bounced back nicely in win over Montreal after throwing six interceptions in Toronto.

3. Winnipeg Blue Bombers (4-1, 3): With Ottawa and Edmonton next on the schedule, Blue Bombers poised to stay near the top of the West.

4. Saskatchewan Roughriders (3-1, 4): Trevor Harris-Jamal Morrow combination performing well.

5. Montreal Alouettes (2-2, 5): Last two losses against B.C. and Winnipeg. Schedule doesn't get any easier, with Toronto in town Friday.

6. Calgary Stampeders (1-3, 6): Lone win against Ottawa. Not a good sign.

7. Hamilton Tiger-Cats (1-3, 8): Held on to beat injury-riddled Ottawa, so at least Ticats are in the win column.

8. Edmonton Elks (0-5, 9): Inexcusable to lose on a rouge, but they jump up because of QB problems in Ottawa.

9. Ottawa Redblacks: (1-3, 8): Another week, another starting quarterback for the Redblacks.

Week 6 Picks

Hamilton Tiger-Cats (-2.5) at Edmonton Elks, Thursday, 9 p.m. ET / 6 p.m. PT: We're calling for Edmonton to end its embarrassing home losing streak. PICK: Edmonton

Toronto Argonauts (-5.5) at Montreal Alouettes, Friday, 7:30 p.m. ET / 4:30 p.m. PT: Alouettes played Sunday in B.C., so it's a short week with travel. Argos coming off the bye and looking to go 4-0 for the first time since 1983. PICK: Toronto

Winnipeg Blue Bombers (-9.5) at Ottawa Redblacks, Saturday, 4 p.m. ET / 1 p.m. PT: Bit scary to go with a Winnipeg team not putting up a ton of points with this big a spread, but Ottawa is decimated at QB. PICK: Winnipeg

Calgary Stampeders at Saskatchewan Roughriders (-1.5), Saturday, 7 p.m. ET / 4 p.m. PT: Riders won an overtime thriller in Calgary earlier this season. PICK: Saskatchewan

2023 Picks Record: 10-8

Odds from FanDuel as of Wednesday.