Despite 0-4 start, East may not be least

In 2011, the CFL's East Divison was renowned for issues on and off the field, and the division's collective 0-4 start in the first week of 2012 has some skeptical of the East despite the hype around offseason improvements in Toronto and Hamilton. The first week's results have also caused some remarkable optimism about Edmonton and Saskatchewan, despite the Eskimos' offseason issues and the Riders coming off a 5-13 season. However, before we throw out an entire offseason of storylines and declare that the balance of power lies with the West again, why don't we see what happens next? The CFL's known for its unpredictability and its parity, and it's notoriously a league where any team can win on any given day, but it gets less random over a larger sample size. Sure, the East might not be as good as some thought, but it could also be that the division's great and the early struggles were just an anomaly. It's going to take more than a single week of play to truly prove which teams are contenders and which are basement-dwellers.

With that said, there isn't really a lot of encouragement to take from the East teams' Week One performances. The Toronto Argonauts and Winnipeg Blue Bombers probably have the most to be happy about, as the Argos got a great quarterbacking performance from Ricky Ray and could have won if kicker Noel Prefontaine hadn't missed two field goals and the Bombers kept a game they were widely expected to lose within six points heading into the fourth quarter, but there was plenty to be concerned about with both teams too; the Argonauts couldn't block anyone up front to give Ray some time, they couldn't convert field position into touchdowns, and they couldn't beat an Edmonton team that wasn't overly impressive, while the Bombers couldn't move the ball consistently on offence, only managed 16 points on the night (six of which came from a garbage-time touchdown) and generally looked thoroughly outclassed. However, at least there were positives to take away from their games, as the two probable division favourites, Hamilton and Montreal, were humiliated 43-16 and 38-10 respectively and looked pretty terrible in the process. With Week One showings like that, it's not hard to see why some are down on the division as a whole.

Early showings in the CFL aren't always completely accurate, though. Consider Week One in 2011: every East team but Hamilton (who lost to another East team, Winnipeg) pulled off a victory in their first game. The East didn't look anywhere near that good by the end of the year. It's not just about one game, either; remember, the B.C. Lions started 0-5 before a stunning turnaround took them to a Grey Cup victory. The West may have triumphed for a week, and fans in those cities have every right to be pleased with their teams' performances, whether dominant (B.C., Saskatchewan, Calgary) or just enough to win (Edmonton). However, fans in the East shouldn't start the riots just yet; it's simply too soon to write those teams off.