Two weeks to go in the regular season… and fortunately still some intrigue left. The East playoff picture has its three qualifying teams (Toronto, Hamilton and Montreal), but no clear order yet on seeding. In the West, Calgary and BC duke it out for the final playoff spot, though the Lions have their work cut out if they want in to the dance. Always great to see some late-season meaningful football – it’s not always a guarantee in a nine-team league with six playoff spots.

In league news this week:

• With receiver Reggie Begelton back on Calgary’s active roster, the Stampeders released Josh Huff, who was quickly snatched up by the Argos as they continue to bolster receiver depth for their playoff run. Huff is a good player who was unfortunately caught in a numbers game as the Stamps worked out their roster ratios and receiver depth; he appeared in nine games this season, racking up 37 catches for 507 yards. He’ll be a good third or fourth option for Toronto, who have some really strong guys ahead on the depth chart, such as Ricky Collins, Jr, DaVaris Daniels, and Eric Rogers.
• The Argos also bolstered their OL depth for their playoff run by signing longtime CFL veteran Thaddeus Coleman, who most recently played right tackle in Saskatchewan back in 2019. A seven-season vet, Coleman has played 92 career CFL games and the team hopes his experience will be an asset over these next few weeks.
• The Ottawa REDBLACKS fired running backs coach Charlie Eger last week, for making alleged “insensitive comments” to francophone players on the team. With eleven French-speakers on the roster, and working in a city where almost 40% of the population speaks French, this was clearly not going to go over well.
• Longtime CFL and Hamilton Tiger-Cats legend Angelo “King Kong” Mosca passed away earlier this week at the age of 84; he’ll be sorely missed by football fans across the league. Mosca played 15 CFL seasons at defensive tackle, twelve of them in Hamilton, and won five Grey Cups – one with Ottawa and four with the Ti-Cats. He was regarded as “the meanest player in the league” by countless players and fans alike, and after a long, successful football career that lasted from 1958-1972, he moved into the pro wrestling world, wrestling with the WWF in the early 1980s. For younger fans, he may be best remembered for getting in a fight in 2011 – onstage! – with former BC Lions QB Joe Kapp at a CFL alumni event, who remained extremely pissed off about a late hit Mosca laid on his teammate Willie Fleming in the 1963 Grey Cup. Always a colourful personality, Mosca’s presence will be sorely missed, particularly in Hamilton, where he remained a fervent supporter of the team up to his death, even with Alzheimer’s disease affecting him greatly in his final years.

WEEK 14 RECAPS

BC 18 vs Hamilton 26: The Ti-Cats clinched a playoff spot with the win at home, thanks especially to another strong game from Jeremiah Masoli, who looks every bit the #1 guy that Hamilton’s coaching staff pegged him to be going into the season. Masoli went 19-26 for 258 yards and a TD to Brandon Banks, while RB Don Jackson had 12 carries for 80 yards and Sean Thomas-Erlington had a rushing score. The Lions worked on trying to mount a late comeback, and saw their passing game improve with receiver Lucky Whitehead’s looking recovered from his broken hand, racking up 9 catches for 98 yards… but even with Michael Reilly throwing for 330 yards on 33-43 pass attempts, it was too little, too late. Reilly scored on a QB sneak to pull the Lions within 8, and with BC’s D forcing a quick two-and-out with just over a minute left, the offence marched down to Hamilton’s 37-yard line. Reilly’s final pass of the game, intended for Dominique Rhymes, was broken up.

PICK: Hamilton

RESULT: Hamilton

Saskatchewan 19 vs. Edmonton 17: In the Elks’ final home game of the season, the fans left unhappy. What’s to be happy about after a season like this one for Edmonton, really? That said, the Green and Gold played more competitively in this one than what we’ve seen in quite some time; they held a 3-0 lead after the first quarter, and QB Taylor Cornelius engineered two late TD drives, with both scoring catches made by receiver Danny Vandevoort, in the fourth, to pull them to within two points. However, Saskatchewan won the game largely thanks to kicker Brett Lauther’s accuracy – he went 4-4 on field goals, while QB Cody Fajardo threw a TD to WR Brayden Lenius. The D also chipped in with ample pressure; AC Leonard notched two sacks and Jonathan Woodard had another. Edmonton LB Derrick Moncrief, a former Roughrider, also had a strong night, racking up three sacks on the night.

PICK: Saskatchewan

RESULT: Saskatchewan

Toronto 23 vs. Ottawa 20: Devlin “Duck” Hodges got his first start for the REDBLACKS… and looked like shit. He went just 8-22 for 90 yards and no scores, though he didn’t turn the ball over, at least. Thanks to an effective run game, however, with RB Tim Flanders, who’d missed the last three games, leading the way with 14 carries for 95 yards, the REDBLACKS went into the fourth quarter sporting a rare 20-9 lead over the Argos. And despite McLeod Bethel-Thompson playing like crap yet again, with three interceptions on the night, he and the offence managed to put together the fourth-quarter comeback the team desperately needed. Bethel-Thompson found Kurleigh Gittens, Jr. in the endzone for his one TD of the night, while Boris Bede kicked a late field goal, his fifth of the game, that sealed the win for the Double Blue. Not a good game for Toronto, but they left town still in sole possession of first place in the East.

PICK: Toronto

RESULT: Toronto

Montreal 21 vs. Winnipeg 31: The Bombers won their ninth straight game, while the Alouettes dropped their second in a row. Trevor Harris made his first-ever start for Montreal, going 14-25 for 177 yards, two TDs, and two picks, while William Stanback continued to pad his league rushing title lead, with 16 carries for 106 yards. It was, by all accounts, actually a very close game – with the score knotted at 21 heading into the fourth, the Bombers just simply had more left in the tank. Sean McGuire scored on a QB sneak, and Sergio Castillo, in his first game as a Bomber, kicked his third field goal of the night to top it off for the league’s best team. Harris’ two late interceptions further hampered the Montreal comeback, and Winnipeg continues to run laps around the rest of the league.

PICK: Winnipeg

RESULT: Winnipeg

BYE: Calgary (6-6)

WEEK 15 PREVIEWS

Hamilton (7-5) vs. Toronto (8-4), Friday, November 12th, 7:30 PM EST (TSN, ESPNews): It’s the season’s final Battle of the QEW, and Toronto has had the upper hand this year; the Argos remain undefeated at home, so having someone disrupt that perfect 6-0 run would throw even further doubt into the East playoff picture. True that Hamilton is a game back – but they have a far superior points differential at +66. Who ever heard of a division leader, at 8-4, having a -22 point differential? Are the Argos saving themselves for the playoffs, or are they CLOWNFRAUDS? Either way, with Toronto getting one final game to play against Edmonton this year – which, if they go with their starters, looks likely to be a win – this game appears even more crucial for settling the division title and that highly valuable first-round bye. Hamilton’s getting hot at just the right time – and while they’re not the world-beaters they appeared to be in 2019, they appear to be firing on all the right cylinders as the focus slowly turns towards the playoffs.

PICK: Toronto

Calgary (6-6) vs. BC (4-8), Friday, November 12th, 10:30 PM EST (TSN, ESPN+): It’s a simple setup for the Stamps: win and you’re in. With BC’s losing streak showing no signs of abating any time soon, Calgary probably likes their prospects at this game quite a bit – especially coming off their last bye of the year. It’s a tough situation for the Lions – to make the playoffs, not only will they have to win their final two games – including this one against a team two games ahead – but also need the Stamps to lose their Week 16 game against Winnipeg – which is not out of the question, even with Winnipeg likely to be playing virtually all their backups that week. Even then, the Lions would only be in due to having won the season series against Calgary. All this to say – this game has the chance to settle the final playoff spot in the West. That should be more than ample reason to tune in.

PICK: Calgary

Winnipeg (11-1) vs. Montreal (6-6), Saturday, November 13th, 1:00 PM EST (TSN, ESPN+): Bombers HC Mike O’Shea confirmed that backup Sean McGuire will get his first career CFL start in this week’s rematch against the Alouettes, which given the state of their season – and looking ahead to hosting the West Final – makes a lot of sense. McGuire has been extremely effective on QB sneaks this year, with eight rushing TDs on the season, but it’ll be good for him to get some looks running Winnipeg’s complete offensive playbook. Montreal has also clinched a playoff spot, but they’ll need to try and right the ship with a win this week to try and keep pace with Hamilton, and hopefully jump back into the second seed spot in the East, which might give them home field for their showdown in the East semifinal. Nobody’s clinched the division crown yet – so if Toronto loses their last two and Hamilton loses next week, while Montreal wins both, they have a chance at taking the division title based on some head-to-head matchups. But that’s a lot of moving parts, and the team needs to remain focused if they want to have a chance at revenge against the CFL’s clear-cut top team.

PICK: Winnipeg

Edmonton (2-9) vs. Saskatchewan (8-4), Saturday, November 13th, 4:00 PM EST (TSN, ESPN+): It’s the first of three games in seven days for the Elks, thanks to a COVID-19 outbreak which forced the league to postpone an earlier matchup against Toronto. The Elks will have the benefit of five additional roster slots available for these last three matchups in order to keep players reasonably healthy, but the season has been done for weeks – no sense on doing anything stupid now. Should the Roughriders win – which is the likeliest outcome at this point – then they’ll clinch the second seed in the West and a home playoff game, which would be a nice treat for them heading into the late fall. The name of the game will be about maintaining health – though the Riders are looking several weeks ahead with their personnel management, and not just the immediate week.

PICK: Saskatchewan

BYE: Ottawa (2-11)

STANDINGS AND STATS

East Division Standings

West Division Standings

x – clinched playoff spot
y – clinched division
e – eliminated from playoff contention

Passing Yards

1. Collaros, WPG – 3112
2. Reilly, BC – 2943
3. Fajardo, SSK – 2725

Passing TDs

1. Collaros, WPG – 20
2. Adams, Jr., MTL – 14
3. Reilly, BC – 13

Rushing Yards

1. Stanback, MTL – 1066
2. Carey, CGY – 784
3. Wilder, EDM – 714

Receiving Yards

1. Lawler, WPG – 915
2. Lewis, MTL – 913
3. Burnham, BC – 862

Sacks

1. Woodard, SSK – 10
2. Jeffcoat, WPG – 9
3. Leonard, SSK – 9

Interceptions

1. Brooks, HAM – 4
2. Dandridge, OTT – 4
3. Marshall, SSK – 3

Field Goals

1. Paredes, CGY – 40
2. Lauther, SSK – 37
3. Ward, OTT – 29

PICK POOL

The hip thing to do last week was to pick the games perfectly. Far too mainstream for my liking.

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

Enjoy the games, everyone.