With just six weeks left in the regular season, the playoff races are now starting to tighten up. Winnipeg has the potential to clinch a spot as early as this week with a victory over Edmonton, but we’ll have to be patient for a while longer yet with every other team. Aside from this notable tidbit, it’s been a fairly quiet week for league news:

• Calgary backup QB Jake Maier has COVID-19. He’ll be in isolation until further notice. Canadian Michael O’Connor will back up Bo Levi Mitchell until Maier’s return to the roster – barring any long recovery period, hopefully.
• After getting thoroughly beaten up by the Ottawa REDBLACKS last week, Vernon Adams, Jr. has been placed on the six-game injured list by the Montreal Alouettes – a big blow for the team down the stretch drive. Adams hurt his non-throwing (left) shoulder late in the game last week, and had to be taken to hospital in an ambulance; fortunately, his shoulder won’t need surgery, but he’s been completely ruled out for a while. In his absence, the Als signed former Central Michigan pivot Quentin Dormady to be their temporary #3 guy.

Onto the games!

WEEK 10 RECAPS

Ottawa 16 vs. Toronto 35: After looking like world-beaters last week against the pathetic Edmonton Elks, the REDBLACKS came crashing back down to Earth against the East-leading Argos. Keeping their home record at a perfect 4-0, the Argos’ D just ate Ottawa rookie QB Caleb Evans for lunch in the second half of this game, with two pick-sixes by LB Dexter McCoil and DB Chris Edwards; special-teamer Dejon Brissett also recovered a blocked punt for an Argos score in the first half. In all, Toronto scored on offence, defence, and special teams, with McLeod Bethel-Thompson throwing two touchdown passes of his own. It’s the first time since September 4th, 2006 that the Argos have had two pick-sixes in a single game; interestingly, Ottawa, despite falling apart in the second half, kept things close and took a 9-8 lead after 30 minutes of play; in the fourth quarter, even though things were well out of hand by that point, the REDBLACKS even added a blocked punt TD of their own. The winning was fun for Ottawa while it lasted, I guess.

PICK: Toronto

RESULT: Toronto

Edmonton 3 vs. Winnipeg 30: Good god, the Elks are a disaster. What makes their collapse all the more disheartening is seeing the talent that’s evident on the roster, with guys like Trevor Harris, Derel Walker, Greg Ellingson, and Derrick Moncrief who could be top dogs on virtually any team. Edmonton’s main issue is not the roster… it’s the coaching and management of the team. Case in point: the Elks gave up three safeties in this game, and turned the ball over on downs three additional times. Yes, Winnipeg is the best team in this league by a big margin now, but even still, it’s complete ineptitude to have your offense pushed around that badly out there – especially from an offense-oriented coach like Jaime Elizondo. Even without league-leading receiver Kenny Lawler (suspended for his DUI arrest last week), the Bombers still put up 30 points after a slow start, with Andrew Harris leading the charge on the ground with 150 rushing yards and two scores on 24 carries. If the Bombers have a weakness as the team, it’s the kicking game; rookie Ali Mourtada has appeared wobbly as of late, and he missed three out of four in this game. Winnipeg will stay the course for now, but change may come if he continues to struggle down the stretch.

PICK: Winnipeg

RESULT: Winnipeg

Calgary 22 vs. Saskatchewan 19: Is Calgary… back? After two strong performances against the #2 seed in the West, it kinda looks that way. The Stamps scored a TD on the first play of the game, with with Bo Levi Mitchell connecting with Markeith Ambles for a 71-yard major. After trading field goals in the first half, the Riders tied it at 10 when Cody Fajardo found Ricardo Louis for a fourteen-yard score midway through the second quarter. Mitchell racked up two interceptions on the night, but the Riders couldn’t make the Stamps’ QB pay for his errant passes in any major fashion. The score ended up tied for much of the game, though Calgary typically had the upper hand through the first three frames; Saskatchewan finally got its first lead of the game one minute and 40 seconds into the fourth quarter when Brett Lauther kicked a forty-yard field goal to make 19-16 for the home side. The Stamps battled back to tie it up again when Rene Paredes kicked another FG from 43 yards, with just over four minutes left on clock… after  two more two-and-outs by the Riders, Calgary’s final drive hit paydirt. On the very last play of the game, the Stamps broke Saskatchewan’s heart when Paredes kicked the winner from 44 yards out.

PICK: Saskatchewan

RESULT: Calgary

Ottawa 16 vs. Montreal 20: This was a very chippy game, and the complete opposite of when the Als blew out the REDBLACKS in Ottawa back in Week 5. Montreal scored a TD on their first drive of the game, and it looked like Ottawa fans were going to be in for another long night… but the D regrouped and held strong for almost the entire 60 minutes. In particular, the front seven mauled QB Vernon Adams, Jr., racking up six sacks on the night… the Als’ star took a ton of damage in this game, ultimately being forced from play with a shoulder injury with just over two minutes left to play. Montreal’s D pushed back hard against the REDBLACKS, sacking Caleb Evans five times and picking him off once, but with four field goals from Lewis Ward to go along with two safeties, it looked as though Ottawa might actually sneak out a win here. Unfortunately for the REDBLACKS, Matthew Shiltz relieved Vernon Adams, Jr. on the final drive of the game, stringing together a last-second touchdown to steal back the lead and snatch victory out of the jaws of defeat. Former Carolina Panthers RB Cameron Artis-Payne, starting as lead rusher with William Stanback temporarily sidelined, had the winning score on a goal-line surge.

PICK: Montreal

RESULT: Montreal

Toronto 24 vs. Hamilton 23: The Tiger-Cats have now had their hearts broken in two straight weeks. With Montreal’s David Cote hitting a field goal on the final play of the game in Week 10, it’s almost poetic that former Alouette Boris Bede, now kicking for the Argos, managed to do the exact same thing yet again. The first half was tilted in the Ti-Cats’ favour, but the Argos caught a break when their first offensive points of the board, a field goal by Boris Bede, was counted as good when it looked as though it went wide left from a number of camera angles. (That said, every scoring play is reviewed by the league, so apparently some alternate angles confirmed it was, in fact, a good kick.) In the second half, Toronto had a couple of touchdowns to put them in much closer with Hamilton; with two minutes left on the clock, the Ti-Cats kicked a field goal to put them up 23-21. Toronto, almost out of time, managed to put together a drive that allowed Bede to kick the winner as time expired from 44 yards to win it for the Argos – their first win at Tim Hortons Field in four years.

PICK: Hamilton

RESULT: Toronto

BYE: BC (4-4)

WEEK 11 PREVIEWS

Winnipeg (8-1) vs. Edmonton (2-6), Friday, October 15th, 9:00 PM EST (TSN, ESPN+): True, Trevor Harris was not good last week… but neither was Edmonton’s entire team. Despite this all-around ineptitude, Jaime Elizondo announced earlier this week that Taylor Cornelius and Dakota Prukop are going to split playing time against the Bombers this week. Is this the Elks prematurely throwing in the towel against the league’s clear frontrunner? I mean, maybe. Even on the road, I don’t see the Bombers having much difficulty here. As it currently stands, their only weakness is kicking… and if their rookie Mourtada can find his game down the stretch, then it might as well be curtains for the rest of the league. But hey… this is the CFL, after all. Only pro football league where misses can get rewarded too.

PICK: Winnipeg

Montreal (4-4) vs. Ottawa (2-7), Saturday, October 16th, 4:00 PM EST (TSN, ESPN+): After such a tense, physical matchup last week, the Als will go with Matthew Shiltz as their starting QB this week. Backing him is former Michigan and Ole Miss man Shea Patterson, who hasn’t seen the field yet in his rookie CFL season. Last week was a disappointing loss for the REDBLACKS, who are basically toast in the playoff race if they lose this one. That said, the team absolutely didn’t quit, despite playing twice in six days… so with slightly more competent QB play than what they had in their previous home matchup in Week 5 against Montreal, then I’d expect to be much closer to last week’s tight contest rather than the blowout that preceded it.

PICK: Montreal

Calgary (4-5) vs. BC (4-4), Saturday, October 16th, 7:00 PM EST (TSN, ESPN+): The Stamps are on a roll, while the Lions are coming off a bye week, hopefully feeling rested and not rusty. After a slow start to the season for Calgary, a game like this one has all the potential in the world to be a marquee QB battle. Both teams are in a battle for third in the West, but a Lions win could see them pull into a tie with Saskatchewan for the #2 seed. With the Stamps’ late resurgence, we now have a much spicier playoff in the West than even just two weeks ago. I said at the beginning of the season that I felt Calgary had the potential to finish the year 9-5… and while perhaps that might be a stretch, if they can keep playing as they have over the last couple weeks, they have an outside shot at matching my prediction, but more importantly, will be able to challenge for the two seed over the last few weeks of the regular season.

PICK: BC

BYE: Toronto (6-3), Saskatchewan (5-4), Hamilton (4-5)

STANDINGS AND STATS

East Division Standings

West Division Standings

Passing Yards

1. Collaros, WPG – 2355
2. Fajardo, SSK – 2104
3. Reilly, BC – 2047

Passing TDs

1. Adams, Jr., MTL – 14
2. Collaros, WPG – 13
3. Reilly, BC – 10

Rushing Yards

1. Stanback, MTL – 677
2. Wilder, EDM – 631
3. Harris, WPG – 584

Receiving Yards

1. Lawler, WPG – 703
2. Whitehead, BC – 665
3. Lewis, MTL – 604

Sacks

1. Woodard, SSK – 7
2. Lemon, CGY – 6
3. Jefferson, WPG – 6

Interceptions

1. Marshall, SSK – 3
2. Lokombo, BC – 3
3. Gainey, SSK – 3

Field Goals

1. Paredes, CGY – 29
2. Lauther, SSK – 27
3. Ward, OTT – 21

PICK POOL

An extremely impressive week for WCS, who went 5-5 to take over top spot in the leaderboard. Well done, and fuck you. Congrats as well to for another perfect scorecard.

Remember to submit your picks here! https://www.pooltracker.com/join.asp?poolid=193216

Enjoy the games, everyone.