With almost every team having now played 12 games in the season, we are now into the home stretch of the CFL season! Based on how terrible the East Division has been so far, come time for the playoffs, we may see the Crossover Rule invoked for the first time since 2014, and only the ninth time since 1996. The Crossover Rule is pretty basic: the top three teams in each division qualify for the playoffs on almost all occasions, but if the fourth-place team in one division has a better record than the third-place team in another, then that team will “cross over” and take the final playoff spot in the opposite division. With Hamilton, Ottawa and Toronto all currently neck-and-neck, and with Calgary, BC and Winnipeg riding strong, if Edmonton can somehow turn it around, they have a possibility of moving to the East Division playoff race. Intriguing… and definitely a little strange as well.

Onto the recaps!

WEEK 13 RECAPS

Montreal 17 vs. Hamilton 20: After a dust-up in practise earlier in the week, all eyes were on Alouettes QB Rakeem Cato as he got his second start of the year, and first after the Kevin Glenn trade that caused a lot of controversy in the Montreal dressing room. All in all, this game was a defensive battle, as Cato couldn’t muster much offensively, managing only 168 yards and a pick, while TiCats counterpart Zach Collaros had one TD and two picks on 291 yards passing. Fortunately, Brett Maher saved the day for Hamilton, going 4-4 on field goals on the night and kicking the final one on the last play of the game to seal the win for the Tiger-Cats.

PICK: Hamilton

RESULT: Hamilton

Toronto 29 vs. Winnipeg 46: The Blue Bombers keep rolling, with their seventh win in a row – the first time since 2001 that Winnipeg’s managed that feat. Early on, the Argonauts had the lead, leading 7-3 after the first quarter and 22-19 at the half, but Winnipeg turned it on for the second half and pulled away quickly. QB Matt Nichols threw for 232 yards, 1 TD and no picks for a tidy outing, and backup RB Timothy Flanders had 132 combined yards and a touchdown as well in relief of the injured Andrew Harris. Toronto was once again a mixed bag – Dan LeFevour threw for 271 yards and four touchdowns, but also had two picks as well on the night. Drew Willy’s starting to learn the Argos’ playbook, but Toronto will likely ride LeFevour until Ricky Ray is back from injury – however, they’re really going to need to turn things around in the home stretch of the season in order to be considered a serious playoff threat this year.

PICK: Winnipeg

RESULT: Winnipeg

Ottawa 23 vs. Calgary 48: Another week, another Stampeders win. Ho-hum. A strong Calgary offence appeared as per usual, while some poor playcalling for the REDBLACKS also really hampered their ability to stay close in the game. Bo Levi Mitchell threw for 361 yards and two touchdowns, while Trevor Harris went 17-29 for 289, 2 TDs and a pick as well. The Stamps did spread the ball around very well, as anticipated – eight different receivers had a catch in the game, while Jerome Messam led five rushers with 35 yards and a touchdown on 11 carries. Ottawa is in need of some injury returns – both the offensive and defensive lines are hurting right now, but even with most of the starters back, it likely wouldn’t have made a difference against a Stampeders squad that is the class of the league.

PICK: Calgary

RESULT: Calgary

Edmonton 23 vs. Saskatchewan 26 (OT): The Riders pull out another surprise win, just their second of the season! Darian Durant got his first win as a starting quarterback in almost two years, having missed the entirety of the 2015 season to a torn Achilles tendon. While his stat line appeared pedestrian (20-29 for 174 yards and an interception), the closing drive in the fourth quarter, which led to a 5-yard rushing TD by Armanti Edwards, and the ensuing overtime, helped to cement his place as the main key to victory; Durant ran the winning score in after the Saskatchewan D kept the Eskimos to just a field goal in the extra frame. Eskies QB Mike Reilly threw for over 300 yards once again including a touchdown, but his fourth-quarter interception by rookie Justin Cox proved costly and set up the Roughriders to come back and tie the game, after being behind for most of it. Saskatchewan’s extremely slim playoff chances remain alive for another week, but they’ll need to pretty well win out for the rest of the season – and hope that a few other teams keep dropping as well in order to successfully qualify.

PICK: Edmonton

RESULT: Saskatchewan

BYE: BC (8-3)

WEEK 14 PREVIEWS

Toronto (5-7) vs. Ottawa (5-5-1), Friday, September 23rd, 7:00 PM EST: This is the rubber match between the Argonauts and REDBLACKS; Ottawa took the first game thanks to a lights-out performance by Trevor Harris, while Toronto took the second thanks to a stifling defensive effort and a few costly interceptions from Henry Burris. Right now, both teams have a lot of question marks; Toronto with their quarterback health and the play of Ricky Ray’s injury fill-ins, Ottawa with their offensive playcalling which seems to have really fallen off since the start of the season. For both teams, however, consistent defence is the biggest pressing need, and with both having had such up-and-down experiences over the past few games, we’ll see what comes of it. Ottawa is getting a few key defensive linemen back this week which will hopefully shore up some of their pass rush and run defending.

PICK: Ottawa

BC (8-3) vs. Edmonton, Friday, September 23rd, 10:00 PM EST: Edmonton blew it late against a bad Saskatchewan team, and the Lions are coming rested off the bye. The Leos will see the season debut of receiver Terrell Sinkfield Jr., who was cut by the Minnesota Vikings out of training camp after spending two seasons with the Argos and TiCats. The Eskimos’ biggest challenge will be limiting the run against BC, who have scored a league-high 16 total rushing touchdowns this season. Even with the Eskimos being at home, I like BC’s chances to take this one, as one of the best road teams in the CFL with a 5-1 mark.

PICK: BC

Winnipeg (8-4) vs. Calgary (10-1-1), Saturday, September 24th, 4:00 PM EST: A seven-game winning streak versus a nine-game winning streak. Something’s gotta give here. Also, this is the first matchup of Matt Nichols vs. Bo Levi Mitchell, an interesting one as the latter succeeded the former as starter at Eastern Washington in 2010. Both teams have balanced offences and strong defenses, with the Bombers leading the league in interceptions; however, with the last two matchups between these teams having resulted in two wins for Calgary (36-22 at home in Week 2 and 33-18 on the road in Week 5), and with the Bombers missing Andrew Harris still, I’m still inclined to take the Stampeders in this one.

PICK: Calgary

Hamilton (6-6) vs. Saskatchewan (2-10), Saturday, September 24th, 9:30 PM EST: A surprise win for the Roughriders against a Tiger-Cats team that took until the final play to put away a weak Alouettes team; still, Montreal has a defence, and Saskatchewan does not. Zach Collaros has the potential to shred them again like he did in a 53-7 win a few weeks ago, and Darian Durant et. al. need help on the offensive side with leading receiver Naaman Roosevelt now on the six-game injured list with a knee injury. The TiCats have a number of key injuries as well – receivers Chad Owens and Luke Tasker are out along with leading rusher CJ Gable and OL Peter Dyakowski, but with Collaros good to go, there’s plenty of other folks to make some chemistry happen offensively for Hamilton.

PICK: Hamilton

BYE: Montreal (3-9)

STANDINGS AND STATS

East Division Standings

West Division Standings

Passing Yards

1. Reilly, EDM – 4053
2. Mitchell, CGY – 3936
3. Jennings, BC – 3030

Passing TDs

1. Mitchell, CGY – 22
2. Rielly, EDM – 20
3. Collaros, HAM – 16

Rushing Yards

1. Messam, CGY – 739
2. Whitaker, TOR – 700
3. Harris, WPG – 677

Receiving Yards

1. Bowman, EDM – 1279
2. Walker, EDM – 1168
3. Roosevelt, SSK – 1095

Sacks

1. Hughes, CGY – 10
2. Lemon, TOR – 10
3. Bazzie, BC – 10

Interceptions

1. Leggett, WPG – 6
2. Heath, TOR/WPG – 5
3. Davis, HAM – 4

Field Goals

1. Medlock, WPG – 41
2. Paredes, CGY – 39
3. Whyte, EDM – 30

Game picks this week: 3-1

Game picks this season: 31-22