The exciting CFL playoff race has settled after what was a close and exciting race for many of the recent weeks. The playoff teams are now set. In the West, Saskatchewan can jump to first with a win in week 21 if Winnipeg loses. The only thing left to be determined in the East is whether it will be Toronto or Ottawa hosting the Eastern Semi-Final.
The Crown Holder and the Court Jester
Crown Holder 👑 – The Toronto Argonauts took the Crown from the Winnipeg Blue Bombers with a 14-11 win on the road. They will look to defend it this week at home against the Ottawa RedBlacks.
Court Jester 🃏 – The Calgary Stampeders were unable to force the title of Court Jester onto the Edmonton Elks as they lost 18-23 at home. They will have a chance to force the title onto the Hamilton Tiger-Cats on the road this Friday.
If a team defeats the Crown Holder they steal the Crown and become the new Crown Holder.
If a team loses to the Court Jester they become the new Court Jester thus freeing the previous team from being the Court Jester.
#1 Montreal Alouettes (12-3-1)
Previous Rank: 2
Week 13: Bye week.
Week 14: Lost to BC 23-37 at home.
Week 15: Tied Calgary 19-19 on the road.
Week 16: Defeated Ottawa 24-12 on the road.
Week 17: Lost to Toronto 37-31 on the road.
Week 18: Bye week.
Week 19: Defeated Ottawa 19-12 at home.
Week 20: Visiting BC on Saturday.
The Montreal Alouettes are back on top of the rankings after a 19-12 win over Ottawa at home. Davis Alexander got the start at quarterback as Cody Fajardo was with family as they welcomed a newborn. Alexander improved to 4-0 as a starter as he completed 14 of his 24 passes for 208 yards with 1 interception and added 45 rushing yards and a rushing touchdown. Austin Mack led the team in receiving as he returned from injury and caught 4 passes for 92 yards.
Montreal will travel to BC on Saturday. While Montreal has nothing left to gain in the standings, expect them to stay hungry under the competitive spirit of Head Coach Jason Maas.
#2 Winnipeg Blue Bombers (10-7)👑
Previous Rank: 1
Week 13: Defeated Saskatchewan 35-33 on the road.
Week 14: Defeated Saskatchewan 26-21 at home.
Week 15: Bye week.
Week 16: Defeated Edmonton 27-14 on the road.
Week 17: Defeated Edmonton 55-27 at home.
Week 18: Defeated Hamilton 31-10 on the road.
Week 19: Lost to Toronto 11-14 at home.
Week 20: Bye week.
The Winnipeg Blue Bombers dropped to 2nd place in the rankings as their impressive 8-game win streak was snapped by Toronto at home 11-14 last week.
Zach Collaros completed 23 of his 30 passes for 249 yards with 1 interception. Kenny Lawler led the team in receiving as he caught 6 passes for 108 yards. Brady Oliveira rushed 12 times for 64 yards and caught 6 passes for 41 yards.
Winnipeg will go on the bye this week. A concern this season for the Bombers is a drop in Collaros’ touchdown production as he has 16 touchdowns with 15 interceptions. 6 of those touchdowns came from 1 game and there have only been 4 games this season where he has had more touchdowns than interceptions. Winnipeg can contend with their lockdown pass coverage and rushing game but will see their chances greatly increase if Collaros can perform stronger in the playoffs.
#3 Saskatchewan Roughriders (9-7-1)
Previous Rank: 3
Week 13: Lost to Winnipeg 35-33 at home.
Week 14: Lost to Winnipeg 21-26 on the road.
Week 15: Bye week.
Week 16: Defeated Calgary 37-29 on the road.
Week 17: Defeated Ottawa 29-16 at home.
Week 18: Defeated Edmonton 28-24 on the road.
Week 19: Defeated BC 39-8 at home.
Week 20: Bye week.
The Saskatchewan Roughriders are now on a 4-game win streak with the most recent game being a dominant 39-8 win over the BC Lions. Trevor Harris completed 25 of his 30 passes for 271 yards and 2 touchdowns. Samuel Emilus led the team in receiving as he caught 6 passes for 94 yards. Jereth Sterns and KeeSean Johnson both had over 50 yards receiving. A.J. Ouellette rushed 16 times for 84 yards, 5.3 yards per carry, in his first game returning from an injury that kept him out for nearly 2 months. Brett Lauther accounted for many of the points as he went 6 for 6 in field goals and had 3 extra points.
Saskatchewan will go on the bye this week before they host Calgary in week 21. The Riders will host the BC Lions in the Western Semi-Final after securing home field for that contest with the most recent victory.
#4 Toronto Argonauts (9-7)
Previous Rank: 5
Week 13: Lost to Hamilton 28-31 on the road.
Week 14: Lost to Ottawa 27-41 on the road.
Week 15: Defeated BC 33-17 on the road.
Week 16: Lost to Hamilton 31-33 at home.
Week 17: Defeated Montreal 37-31 at home.
Week 18: Bye week.
Week 19: Defeated Winnipeg 14-11 on the road.
Week 20: Hosting Ottawa on Saturday.
The Toronto Argonauts spoiled the fun of the Bombers’ 8-game win streak with a 14-11 win on the road last week.
Chad Kelly completed 16 of his 23 passes for 203 yards and a touchdown and added 33 rushing yards. Makai Polk led the team in receiving as he caught 4 passes for 82 yards. Ka’Deem Carey rushed 5 times for 39 yards, 7.8 yards per carry. Deonta McMahon had the most rushes as he rushed 6 times for 22 yards, 3.7 yards per carry.
Toronto will host Ottawa on Saturday and will secure home field against Ottawa for the Eastern Semi-Final if they win this coming week.
#5 Hamilton Tiger-Cats (6-10)
Previous Rank: 4
Week 13: Defeated Toronto 31-28 at home.
Week 14: Bye week.
Week 15: Defeated Ottawa 37-21 at home.
Week 16: Defeated Toronto 33-31 on the road.
Week 17: Defeated BC 32-29 on the road in overtime.
Week 18: Lost to Winnipeg 10-31 at home.
Week 19: Bye week.
Week 20: Hosting Calgary on Friday.
The Hamilton Tiger-Cats were on the bye last week. They will host the Calgary Stampeders on Friday in what will be their final home game of the season. The Ti-Cats nearly clawed their way back into the playoff race when they won 4 games in a row before their most recent game being lost to Winnipeg and are no longer in contention to make the playoffs.
#6 B.C. Lions (8-9)
Previous Rank: 6
Week 13: Defeated Ottawa 38-12 at home.
Week 14: Defeated Montreal 37-23 on the road.
Week 15: Lost to Toronto 17-33 at home.
Week 16: Bye Week.
Week 17: Lost to Hamilton 29-32 at home in overtime.
Week 18: Defeated Calgary 32-15 at home.
Week 19: Lost to Saskatchewan 8-39 at home.
Week 20: Hosting Montreal on Saturday.
The BC Lions seem lost right now after an 8-39 loss to Saskatchewan at home. Last week saw Nathan Rourke complete 15 of his 23 passes for 200 yards with 2 interceptions over 3 quarters before Chase Brice finished the game. Rourke was lucky to have an interception negated by a defensive holding penalty. Brice completed 9 of his 14 passes for 92 yards. Justin McInnis led the team in receiving as he caught 6 passes for 119 yards. William Stanback rushed 8 times for 35 yards.
BC will be the first team to wrap up their regular season as they will host Montreal this Saturday. Vernon Adams Jr. will get the start against Montreal. Nathan Rourke has struggled since returning from the NFL as he completed 136 of his 209 passes for 1,781 yards and 4 touchdowns with 9 interceptions over 8 games.
Vernon Adams Jr. was on an incredible pace over the first 7 games before a poor performance in a loss in Winnipeg which ended in him sustaining an injury. Prior to that game he had amassed 2,395 yards and 14 touchdowns with 5 interceptions. He was on pace to after his first 7 games for 6,158 yards which would have been the third most yards in CFL history. The Lions have not given Adams Jr. meaningful playing time since his injury.
#7 Ottawa RedBlacks (8-7-1)
Previous Rank: 7
Week 13: Lost to BC 12-38 on the road.
Week 14: Defeated Toronto 41-27 at home.
Week 15: Lost to Hamilton 21-37 on the road.
Week 16: Lost to Montreal 12-24 at home.
Week 17: Lost to Saskatchewan on the road 29-16.
Week 18: Bye week.
Week 19: Lost to Montreal 12-19 on the road.
Week 20: Visiting Toronto on Saturday.
The Ottawa RedBlacks need to sharpen their chainsaws before the playoffs. They have won only 1 game in the last 6 which was a 41-27 win over Toronto in week 14. Last week saw them lose 12-19 in Montreal. Jeremiah Masoli completed 19 of his 34 passes for 216 yards with 1 interception. Kalil Pimpleton led the team in receiving as he caught 8 passes for 74 yards. Khalon Laborn rushed 10 times for 55 yards, 5.5 yards per carry.
Ottawa will travel to Toronto to face the Argos on Saturday and must win in order to keep their chances alive at securing home field for when they meet Toronto in the Eastern Semi-Final.
#8 Edmonton Elks (6-11)
Previous Rank: 8
Week 13: Defeated Calgary 35-20 on the road.
Week 14: Defeated Calgary 37-16 at home.
Week 15: Bye week.
Week 16: Lost to Winnipeg 14-27 at home.
Week 17: Lost to Winnipeg 27-55 on the road.
Week 18: Lost to Saskatchewan 24-28 at home.
Week 19: Defeated Calgary 23-18 on the road.
Week 20: Bye week.
The Edmonton Elks defeated the Calgary Stampeders on the road last week 23-18. Tre Ford completed 23 of his 29 passes for 208 yards and a touchdown with 2 interceptions. Tevin Jones led the team in receiving as he caught 6 passes for 76 yards. Justin Rankin rushed 10 times for 140 yards, a staggering 14 yards per carry.
Edmonton will be on the bye this week before they host Toronto in week 21 to close out their season. Much of the stories surrounding Edmonton this season has been whether they start McLeod Bethel-Thopson or Tre Ford at quarterback.
While it has at times been spun that Ford not getting more starts at quarterback was the reason for the Elks losses, MBT has played very well in his own right. McLeod accumulated 3,748 yards and 24 touchdowns with 11 interceptions over 16 games with 13 starts. Edmonton’s problems did not stem from the quarterback position this season. Regardless it will be interesting to see what happens this offseason as MBT’s one year deal expires.
#9 Calgary Stampeders (4-11-1)🃏
Previous Rank: 9
Week 13: Lost to Edmonton 20-35 at home.
Week 14: Lost to Edmonton 16-37 on the road.
Week 15: Tied Montreal 19-19 at home.
Week 16: Lost to Saskatchewan 29-37 at home.
Week 17: Bye week.
Week 18: Lost to BC 15-32 on the road.
Week 19: Lost to Edmonton 18-23 at home.
Week 20: Visiting Hamilton on Friday.
Calgary is now on an 8-game winless streak after losing to Edmonton 18–23 in their final home game of the season last week. Matthew Shiltz got the start at quarterback and completed 18 of his 33 passes for 215 yards and a touchdown with 1 interception. He also led the team in rushing as he rushed 5 times for 64 yards. Reggie Begelton led the team in receiving once again as he caught 5 passes for 79 yards. Dedrick Mills rushed 7 times for 36 yards, 5.1 yards per carry.
Calgary will visit Hamilton on Friday before they they travel to Saskatchewan to close out their season in week 21.
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