eading">Playoffs

Division Semi-Finals Reasoning:

MTL 23-17 HAM

Despite not having a bye a lot of Montreal’s starters would have rested the week before while Hamilton was putting it all on the line. I predict a strong game from Cody Fajardo with 290+ passing yards and touchdowns from Austin Mack and Kaion Julien-Grant.

BC 23-13 SSK

BC was very dominant defensively last time the Riders travelled to Vancouver in week 7 which they won 19-9. The Lions held Jamal Morrow to 11 yards on 12 carries and did not allow an offensive touchdown. BC had Dane Evans starting at quarterback in this game and Saskatchewan had Mason Fine so the passing landscape of the game will be different but I predict BC to have a strong performance. 2 sacks from Mathieu Betts.

Division Finals Reasoning:

MTL 31-24 TOR (Overtime)

Toronto won all 3 of their games against

Montreal this season although 2 of them were decided on the final play. Despite Montreal having lost all of their games to the top 3 teams this season I am predicting them to get their first win against a top 3 team in the playoffs. Montreal is not taken seriously as a contender by many but I am predicting them to surprise people. We are talking about a team with a new coach and a new quarterback in the same year. The Alouettes have lost a lot of man games to starting defensive backs and have released both of the defensive ends that were starters for them in week 1. Montreal has added big pieces defensively in Shawn Lemon and Darnell Sankey and has talented offensive weapons.

When you look at Montreal’s offensive weapons there’s a lot of impressive young talent with Austin Mack, Tyler Snead having stellar CFL rookie seasons, and some very good Canadian talent in Tyson Philpot and Kaion Julien-Grant. William Stanback can certainly rise to the occasion as well.

I believe Toronto is the better team overall but am predicting Montreal to get hot at the right time for this game and Toronto to potentially lose some of their cohesiveness with so many meaningless games towards the end of the regular season.

BC 27-24 WPG

I am predicting a game-winning field goal from Sean White for the BC Lions in Winnipeg.

Here’s a statement that a lot of people will not agree with. I don’t think Zach Collaros plays well in the cold. If he is not wearing a turtleneck for this game under his jersey I don’t think Winnipeg will overcome BC’s defense despite the home-field advantage. Collaros has had a lot of amazing plays in the playoffs but he has had a lot of moments in which he was playing below average starting quarterback football. In the 7 games Collaros has played in the playoffs for the Blue Bombers he has only thrown for more than 200 yards in 3 of those games. Last year against BC at home he completed 14 of his 20 passes for 178 yards and 1 touchdown and 1 interception. In the 2 playoff games last year Collaros completed 1 touchdown and 2 interceptions. Over his playoff time as a Bomber, he has thrown for 6 touchdowns and 7 interceptions over the 7 playoff games.

The BC Lions’ defense is better th

an it was last year in my opinion and Vernon Adams Jr. is very underrated in his ability to escape a pass rush.

Grey Cup Reasoning:

BC 30-20 MTL

I think we would see some of the fatigue of a long playoff set in for the Montreal offensive line at this point and really struggle against the BC pass rush. Both teams have solid defenses and a lot of talented receivers. I think the difference here would be BC’s stronger ability to protect the pass and BC’s success against the run.

BC has not had the most complete season

so far in the CFL but I think they have the highest ceiling based on the high points they have had this season. Such as 2 shutouts, 2 separate games holding their opponent’s running back to 2 yards or less, and Vernon Adams Jr.’s recent streak of 6 300+ yard passing games in a row.