CFL Week 4 Recap: Wide Left

Week 4 of the 2022 CFL season saw the campaign enter the month of July, which is still quite early in the season. All four games in the Week 4 schedule were West vs East, and as the results showed, the disparity between the two divisions is very strong. The week started in the Canadian Capital, with the Ottawa Redblacks hosting the BC Lions, and it was surprisingly close. There were moments where the Redblacks seemed to be on the verge of pulling off the upset, but despite this, BC hung on, winning 34-31.

Canada Day Friday featured the Hamilton Tiger-Cats hosting the Edmonton Elks, and Hamilton definitely looked like they would get their first win of the season, as they started off with a 16-6 lead after the first quarter. The positives ended there. The Elks dominated the TiCats the rest of the way and went on to win 29-25 for their first win of the season, and the following day saw the only game in a Western city, as the Saskatchewan Roughriders hosted the Montréal Alouettes. This game wasn't even close; the Riders blasted the Als, 41-20, making it three-for-three for the West.

The East Division's last hope came on the 4th of July, as the first place Toronto Argonauts hosted the back-to-back defending champion Winnipeg Blue Bombers. This started horribly for the Argos. They had no answer for the Bombers early, and McLeod Bethel-Thompson continued throwing interceptions left and right. Winnipeg led 17-0 at one point, and 17-3 at halftime, but the 2nd half saw the Argos bounce back, bit by bit. The Argos managed to bring it within seven, and they had the ball in the final minutes in an attempt to tie it and possibly force overtime. They got the touchdown with 25 seconds left in regulation.

Then, this happened:

Boris Bede's game-tying extra point went wide left. Wide left. The Bombers took the victory formation afterwards and left Toronto with a 23-22 victory. Bede has been a problem this season; he's racked up a lot of rouges due to missed field goals. I'm still bothered by the many misses he had in the game against the Alouettes this year, with the Argos winning in spite of that. This could have been a statement win for the Argos had the game reached overtime, but it is not to be. In a week that saw nothing but West vs East games, the West took the entire week--winning all of the games played, despite three of them being in Eastern cities.

After four weeks, here's how things stand. In the West Division, the Winnipeg Blue Bombers are 4-0, while the BC Lions and Calgary Stampeders are both 3-0. The Saskatchewan Roughriders improved to 3-1 with their win, while the Edmonton Elks are now 1-3 after picking up their first win of the 2022 season. A very interesting logjam atop the West--three unbeaten teams! They haven't run into each other yet, and when they do, it'll be very interesting.

As for the East Division, the Toronto Argonauts are leading the division with a 1-2 record. Yikes. The Montréal Alouettes are close behind at 1-3, while the Ottawa Redblacks (0-3) and Hamilton Tiger-Cats (0-4) remain winless. If you add up all of the East Division's wins, it's less than every West team except for the Elks. Ironically, the Als' one win was against the Roughriders, so there's some hope that an East team can beat a West team this year. The Argos still possess the division's lowest point differential (-41), and are actually on pace to finish 6-12 this season, which--given how horrid the East is this year--could actually be good enough for first place.

Only three games will take place on Week 5, beginning with the 2nd Battle of Alberta meeting on Thursday, July 7 in Edmonton. On Friday, July 8, the Saskatchewan Roughriders will host the Ottawa Redblacks (the only East team playing in Week 5), and on Saturday, July 9, it's the BC Lions hosting the Winnipeg Blue Bombers.

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