Why has the East been the least so far?

When you look at the CFL standings after five weeks, there's a clear geographical pattern. The West Division's five teams are a combined 16-7, with three four-win teams (4-0 Calgary, 4-1 Edmonton and 4-1 Winnipeg), and the East Division's four teams have a total record of 4-13 (with each team only having a single win). Moreover, the East is 2-11 against the West, and every East team has a negative point differential, while every West team has a positive one. What's behind the East's early-season slump, and can it be remedied, or are we going to see this all season long?

There are plenty of on-field reasons why the East has been worse than the West so far, and we'll get to those, but it's important to note that the West has had one huge advantage so far that has nothing to do with its teams or its players being better. That would be the schedule. As pointed out by Jon Svec of @CFLReport, Western teams have played 14 home games to date to the East's six. Home-field advantage has often been considered to be worth up to a touchdown in the CFL, so that disparity isn't insubstantial. All teams play the same amount of home games (nine) over the course of the season, so the scheduling factor will even out eventually; in fact, two East teams (Ottawa and Hamilton) had their home schedules substantially backloaded this year thanks to stadium construction. Thus, even if all other factors were held constant, the East's teams would be expected to be somewhat better than they've been going forward just thanks to getting more home games. That's one reason in particular why the West's dominance to date shouldn't be overstated.

The schedule alone doesn't explain the East's struggles, though. Yes, all four East teams' lone win to date came at home, but Toronto and Montreal have both lost at home too (by scores of 34-15 and 34-33 respectively), and those are the only East teams to record a win over the West so far (home wins against Saskatchewan and B.C. respectively, the West's bottom teams at this point). Hamilton and Ottawa have only played one game at home each and won it, but Hamilton's win came against Ottawa and Ottawa's came against Toronto, so they haven't been thumping world-beaters. These teams all have looked worse on the road than at home, as you'd expect, but they've also been far from invincible on home turf.

So, is there an overarching answer about what's wrong with the East's teams? Not really, as they're each facing their own challenges. In a quarterback-driven league like the CFL, poor team play has often be correlated with poor pivot play. That's certainly been a big part of the problem in Montreal, where Troy Smith has regressed from last year and posted a 48.7 per cent completion mark to date, and it's been at least part of the issue in Hamilton, where they've had to use three different quarterbacks so far. There are other issues with those teams too, but consistent quarterback play has been a big one.

That's not the case in the other two East cities, though. Henry Burris still looks in decent form in Ottawa; he could just use more help from his line and receivers, and that may come as the Redblacks gel together over the course of the season. (Keep in mind that they're an expansion team without a lot of players who have previously played together.) Meanwhile, Toronto QB Ricky Ray leads the league with 1,501 passing yards so far and has posted a 69.9 per cent completion mark to this point. Yes, he wasn't great this past week, but the Argos are battling incredible numbers of injuries in the receiving corps, and their line hasn't looked good either. Perhaps their biggest issue thus far has been replacing former defensive coordinator Chris Jones and former special teams coordinator Mike O'Shea, who left this offseason for head-coaching jobs in Edmonton and Winnipeg respectively.

Will the East get better as the season goes on? It seems likely we'll see at least some improvement from these teams over time. Hamilton showed great potential this past week with Dan LeFevour stepping up at quarterback, and Toronto could be a very solid team down the stretch if Ray gets some support and if their injured players start to return. Montreal's facing more of a crisis, but they've brought in a couple of impressive consultants who might help, and their next game is a home clash Friday against the wounded Argos. Even Ottawa has been impressively competitive for an expansion team to date, and they should get better as their players and coaching staff gain more familiarity with each other.

Yes, the West's teams have been better to date (which has been a story we've seen over the past few years, too), and the West's top teams may be able to keep that up, but by the time the end of the season rolls around, it seems unlikely every team in the East will still be struggling. The flip side of the universally-poor East records so far is that there's still tons of hope for fans of any team. This division's still there for the taking. The question is who will step up and seize it.