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Labour Day marks the unofficial midpoint of the CFL calendar, the point at which must-win games start to appear on the calendar and the battle for playoff positions start to heat up.
Since every CFL season presents its share of surprises, let’s take a look at 11 things we learned so far this season and speculate on what might unfold the rest of the way.

1. Johnny Manziel isn’t going to dominate the CFL in one season.
This one shouldn’t come as a surprise, given that virtually every quarterback in CFL history has needed time to absorb the nuances of the CFL game. Evaluating Manziel has been difficult since he’s participated in just two games, including one where he had a loose grip on the playbook and his team self-destructed around him. But between being relegated to backup duty in Hamilton, traded to a team in desperate straits and then suffering a concussion, it’s been a bumpy CFL beginning for Johnny Football.

What to look for the rest of the way:
Despite the fine play of Antonio Pipkin during Montreal’s last two games, Manziel will still be given every opportunity to entrench himself as Montreal’s starting quarterback. The Alouettes have too much invested in him to go any other way. Manziel’s improvement between starts was substantial and he’s certainly shown flashes of the player he once was. The question is whether his ability to learn the CFL game and become acclimated with his teammates will allow him to do that on a more consistent basis.

2. Duron Carter had a much shorter shelf life in Saskatchewan than most imagined.
After earning Saskatchewan’s nominee for outstanding player last season and showcasing his talents on both sides of the ball, Carter appeared to be thriving in Saskatchewan when the season began. But his move to defence proved to have as much to do with offensive coaches becoming fed up with him as it did with the Roughriders needs in the secondary.

What to look for the rest of the way:
Argos head coach Marc Trestman has made it clear that Carter has been promised nothing in Toronto, beyond an opportunity to earn his way on to the field. If he doesn’t do things the Argonaut way, he won’t play. This feels like it’s either going to be the wake-up call the 27-year-old has needed or his last stop in the CFL.

3. The Montreal Alouettes are still the worst team in the CFL.
The Alouettes took an unconventional approach to building their team this off-season, hiring a head coach with no CFL experience, starting the season without a proven entity at quarterback and spending big on free agency to fill holes, mostly on defence. The results have been mostly horrible, with the Als ranking last in a slew of offensive and defensive categories. Safe to say that any time a team has scored the league’s fewest points and surrendered the most, things aren’t going well.

What to look for the rest of the way:
Barring a massive turnaround in the season’s second half, there will certainly be significant changes coming to a team that hasn’t made the playoffs since 2014. The defensive front has shown some positive signs but the secondary and much of the offence are lacking, which may limit how much quarterback talent can lift this team. The Als have to hope that scoring 24 points at Edmonton two weeks ago and beating the Argos for their first home win in more than a year are signs of things to come.

4. The defending Grey Cup champion Toronto Argonauts are a work in progress.
The Argonauts didn’t exactly romp to a championship last season, finishing 9-9 in the regular season before winning the East Division final in dramatic fashion and then scoring an unlikely win in the Grey Cup. Toronto has allowed the second-most points in the CFL and scored the second fewest. Were it not for a 24-point comeback win over Ottawa, they’d be tied with Montreal at the bottom of the East Division. Ricky Ray’s injury in Week 2 was undoubtedly a blow and the transition to James Franklin and then McLeod Bethel-Thompson hasn’t been without its struggles.

What to look for the rest of the way:
The Argos have to hope that Bear Woods returning from injury to the middle of their defence can solidify things on that side of the ball and that they can find a way to get more pressure on opposing quarterbacks. Barring a late-season return of Ricky Ray, Toronto seems committed to Bethel-Thompson, who needs to be more consistent if the Argos are going to make a run.

5. At age 34, Charleston Hughes still has a lot of good football left in him.
Given that he was traded twice in one day – once for a fourth-round pick and a move up of six spots in the draft, and later for a quarterback who was eventually released – one might have concluded that teams sensed a decline in Hughes’ play. Instead, the Saskatchewan defensive end leads the CFL with 12 sacks, seven more than any other player, and is tied for the lead in forced fumbles as the emotional leader of Saskatchewan’s defence.

What to look for the rest of the way:
No doubt teams will key on Hughes, but with Willie Jefferson on the opposite side of the defensive line and a Chris Jones defence that tends to bring pressure from unexpected places, that will be no easy task.

6. The Ottawa Redblacks offence is about more than just Brad Sinopoli and Greg Ellingson.
Ottawa’s super slots have been targeted a combined 165 times so far this season, more than any other duo across the league. But the Redblacks have found success of late by getting production out of Diontae Spencer, R.J. Harris and Dominique Rhymes, who between them have 32 catches in Ottawa’s past two wins. William Powell, with the second-highest rushing total so far, gives defences something else to manage.

What to look for the rest of the way:
Ottawa leads the league in pass attempts, completions and completion percentage. Can quarterback Trevor Harris maintain that level of play over the course of an entire season?

7. Mike Reilly is still the best player in the CFL.
He leads the CFL in passing touchdowns, rushing touchdowns and is on pace for a career-high in passing yards. Having Duke Williams and Derel Walker as his primary targets doesn’t hurt, but the Edmonton quarterback’s ability to make the big-plays to his targets has been superb this season.

What to look for the rest of the way:
Will Reilly be able to keep up his pace as the Eskimos face mostly Western teams down the stretch, starting with a pair of games against Calgary, plus two more against Winnipeg and one against Saskatchewan? Can he reduce his interception rate of nearly one per game?

8. The BC Lions are just good enough to get beat.
The Lions are a better team than they were a year ago, but their last two defeats tell the story of their season. The suffered a one-point loss to Toronto after a late-game fumble and a three-point loss to Saskatchewan after a stuffed third-and-one attempt as they were driving for the winning score against the Roughriders. A healthy Travis Lulay is a huge plus, but the Lions haven’t proven they know how to win consistently.

What to look for the rest of the way:
Wally Buono isn’t used to losing and his recent comment about the Lions perhaps not having the right players seems like a symptom of his frustration. Can Buono rally his team or does that become a difficult challenge since the players know he won’t be back?

9. The Winnipeg Blue Bombers can score points even without gaudy passing stats.
The Blue Bombers are the league’s highest-scoring team with just one receiver in the top 21 in Darvin Adams, who has 34 catches for 545 yards. Quarterback Matt Nichols has yet to throw for 300 yards in a game and has thrown just three more touchdowns than interceptions. It speaks to value of the Bomber run game, with Andrew Harris behind what many consider the league’s best offensive line, and the creativity of offensive co-ordinator Paul LaPolice.

What to look for the rest of the way:
Nichols brought himself some unwanted attention by reacting to the crowd booing his return to a game two weeks ago, and a pair of losses leading into the back-to-back with Saskatchewan has put a lot of pressure on him. There may be no quarterback controversy in Winnipeg today but if Nichols folds under pressure during the second half, it may open the door for Chris Streveler in 2019.

10. Calgary’s defence is better than it was a year ago.
The Stampeders traded away the CFL’s current sack leader, saw both of last season’s starting defensive backs leave via free agency and lost their starting safety to retirement. So what’s happened? The Stamps defence is giving up just 14.4 points per game so far this season, almost a touchdown better than the next best team in the CFL, and better than the 16.7 they averaged last season. The Stamps rank at or near the top of nearly every defensive category.

What to look for the rest of the way:
Can Calgary maintain their defensive dominance as opposing offensive coordinators go to school on the first half of the season? Consider that after allowing 14 points or fewer in each of the first five games of the season, the Stamps have surrendered an average of 26 points over the past four weeks, albeit not all on the defence.

11. The Hamilton Tiger-Cats weren’t kidding when they said they believed in Jeremiah Masoli.
Until about a year ago, Jeremiah Masoli had spent his previous five-and-a-half CFL seasons as a backup, pressed into duty only when others were unavailable. So understandably there were snickers when Johnny Manziel arrived and the Cats coaching staff and brass insisted that Masoli had a firm grip on the starting job and wouldn’t be easily unseated. Turns out they were telling the truth.

What to look for the rest of the way:
Though Masoli has thrown for the second-most yards so far this season and has put up seven 300-yard games, there are some areas where he needs to be more efficient. Most notably turning drives into points, as Hamilton has the most net offence but ranks fifth in offensive scoring. He also needs to improve his ratio of nine touchdown passes against 10 interceptions.