Week 3 of the 2025 CFL season is officially in the books and things are stable at the top.
Three teams remain undefeated to this stage, and they are unsurprisingly standing on the podium, but there is some shuffling amongst the rest of the contenders. In particular, the Ottawa Redblacks can claim to be just the second East Division team to record a victory and have jumped in front of an opponent with a better record due to a head-to-head triumph.
3DownNation’s power rankings are created by having 10 contributors rank each team from No. 1 to No. 9 independently, then averaging out the scores. The previous week’s rankings are in brackets. As always, please be sure to check back every Monday morning for our updated power rankings following each week of action in the CFL.
Enjoy the rankings and feel free to roast us on social media for anything you think we got wrong.
1) Montreal Alouettes (1)
Montreal got a bit of a scare this week when budding star Davis Alexander went down with a hamstring injury, but it appears his second-half hiatus was purely precautionary. It helped that he had already built a massive lead, throwing for 254 yards and three impressive touchdowns in what was trending toward a career-best performance. McLeod Bethel-Thompson kept the team afloat in relief and the defence continued to play with their hair on fire, collecting five sacks.
2) Winnipeg Blue Bombers (2)
Somehow, the return of franchise quarterback Zach Collaros made the Winnipeg offence worse, not better. It wouldn’t matter in a comfortably dull victory over B.C. though, as the defence stepped up to make a couple of game-changing plays. Safety Jamal Parker was a football magnet, nabbing one interception and returning a fumbled lateral 57 yards for a touchdown, while halfback Evan Holm stole another ball in the endzone. Capping the festivities was backup offensive lineman Tui Eli, who made an impressive catch late in the game to secure an always popular big-man major.
3) Saskatchewan Roughriders (3)
The Riders advanced to 3-0 on their season, but their troubling habit of stooping to the opponents’ level late in games has even the staunchest supporters concerned. This time, it was Mario Alford who saved his team from an embarrassing comeback, taking a kickoff 99 yards for the game-winning score with seconds remaining. Dohnte Meyers also had a breakout performance with four catches for 125 yards and two majors, but all of the good was overshadowed by 178 yards worth of penalties and an ugly illegal block by Dhel Duncan-Busby.
4) Ottawa Redblacks (6)
It took the worst June weather that McMahon Stadium has experienced in over a decade for Ottawa to secure its first victory of the season, but we know this team is barely scraping the surface of its potential with Dru Brown out of the lineup. Backup quarterback Dustin Crum, Canadian running back Daniel Adeboboye, and veteran American workhorse William Stanback combined for 236 yards on the ground to carve out a narrow victory, while halfback Adrian Frye continued to make huge plays defensively with a forced fumble and a goal-line stop. Once this passing attack gets its top pivot back, things could turn in a hurry.
5) Calgary Stampeders (4)
The best thing about Calgary’s first loss of the season wasn’t the 12 measly points they scored or Dedrick Mills’ 96 yards on the ground; it was that there was hardly anybody in the stadium to watch it happen. All will be forgiven when the torrential downpour subsides, but it is still a touch concerning that Vernon Adams Jr. has yet to throw a touchdown pass in three games for his new club. Things are already looking up on the other side of the ball though, where future Hall of Fame linebacker Adam Bighill has been signed to plug the massive hole in the middle that Ottawa ran through.
6) B.C. Lions (5)
The Lions’ defence had an impressive rebound in their rematch with Winnipeg, but the absence of Nathan Rourke was simply too much for the team to overcome. Veteran backup Jeremiah Masoli struggled in his first start for B.C., completing just 56.8 percent of his passes and giving up three costly turnovers with pressure in his face. Safety Cristophe Beaulieu was a bright spot, hauling in his first career interception and breaking up a likely TD pass, but the game as a whole was uglier than the fourth-quarter shoving match that saw guard Kory Woodruff ejected for abuse of an official.
7) Toronto Argonauts (9)
To paraphrase the late John McKay, head coach Ryan Dinwiddie’s opinion of his team’s execution on Friday was that he would have been in favour of it. The two-time Grey Cup winner delivered an impassioned post-game rant and literally promised that heads would roll after a slew of bad penalties, big plays allowed, and generally poor trench play. Our voters saw it slightly differently, believing there to be a silver lining in a comeback attempt that was one play — and one man — short of forcing overtime. If nothing else, the Argos are another week closer to the return of Chad Kelly, which could turn everything around.
8) Hamilton Tiger-Cats (7)
A week off rarely does a winless team any favours in these types of rankings, but some time away could be critical for Scott Milanovich in righting the ship. The Ticats finally found some offensive rhythm in Week 2 but still need to sort out the defence and cut back on the turnovers. Continuing to watch Kenny Lawler pile up yardage won’t be good enough if it doesn’t result in wins.
9) Edmonton Elks (8)
The return of their polar bear mascot and a firetruck with their problematic old name emblazoned on it didn’t make the Elks look anything closer to their dynastic teams of yore. Tre Ford electrified with his athleticism in a chaotic fourth-quarter comeback, generating three total touchdowns, but otherwise looked abysmal in his second outing under offensive coordinator Jordan Maksymic. More concerning still was the play of the defence, which left Alouettes’ receivers wide open down the field on multiple occasions. That has already resulted in one surprise release, and more changes could follow.
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