We made it to the final week of the regular season! There’s only really two meaningful games left to play, as the playoff picture is almost complete. Winnipeg and Toronto have clinched their respective West and East divisions, with Saskatchewan and Calgary facing off next week in the West semifinal. The only remaining playoff question is which of Hamilton or Montreal will get to host the East semifinal. Fortunately, we’ll have an answer in just a few short days.

In league news this week:

• The CFL announced that Hamilton indie rockers Arkells will perform at the Grey Cup halftime show at Tim Hortons Field; as hometown heroes, they’re a very appropriate choice, with lots of high-energy pop-tinged anthems catering to a reasonably diverse, though definitely younger-skewing, crowd. It’s no secret that they’ve been lifelong Ti-Cats fans, either, having dropped a single a few years ago in support of their local team.
• Head official Tom Vallesi found himself in some hot water during the Edmonton-Saskatchewan game last week; as the teams came back from halftime, Vallesi was unaware that his mic was hot, and when the Riders unexpectedly called a timeout to begin the half, Vallesi’s “fuck that” was accidentally amplified through the entire stadium. The league and Vallesi have apologized, but still – that’ll never not be funny to me. Also adding to the humour was a fan on the field – who managed to run through the south end zone to the northwest corner of the field and out without being nabbed by security. THAT’S GOOD HUSTLE!
• The Ottawa REDBLACKS locked up their three most important special teams players with new contracts earlier last week; punter Richie Leone, kicker Lewis Ward, and return specialist extraordinaire DeVonte Dedmon will all be returning to the nation’s capital in 2022. Special teams has been one of the few things that Ottawa has gotten consistently right this season, and with the most accurate kicker in CFL history and an elite kick-returner with NFL-level skill and speed, the REDBLACKS will have a good starting place to begin the rebuild during the offseason.

Onto the games!

WEEK 15 RECAPS

Hamilton 12 vs. Toronto 31: The Argos are now 6-0 at home on the year, so a division title, a first-round bye, and hosting the East Final are some pretty sweet prizes for such a huge win over their southern Ontario rivals. Hamilton just played like crap – they had hardly any meaningful plays, with Jeremiah Masoli missing several long throws early on. McLeod Bethel-Thompson had 250 passing yards, going 26-34 as well as a touchdown to Kurleigh Gittens, Jr. Antonio Pipkin added a QB sneak to score on the ground, and Boris Bede went 3-3 on field goals. To add insult to injury, the Argos scored a pick-six on Jeremiah Masoli’s final pass of the game, with DB Chris Edwards running it back 78 yards to score.

PICK: Toronto

RESULT: Toronto

Calgary 33 vs. BC 23: After a tough start to the year, Calgary managed to fight back hard over the second half of the season – and that hard work has greatly paid off. The Stamps locked up the final playoff spot in the West with their win over the Lions, who have now missed the postseason twice in a row. With the clinch, Calgary’s made the dance for the 16th straight year – an extremely impressive streak. Reggie Begelton made his season debut for the Stampeders and didn’t disappoint, with seven catches for 119 yards and a TD. Bo Levi Mitchell also had himself a clutch game, going 20-26 for 264 yards and 3 TDs. The Stamps’ D did let Leos pivot Michael Reilly go for 340 yards and a score in this one, but they came through when the team needed it most – after the three-minute warning, Derek Wiggan came up with a big sack and forced fumble on Reilly; later, the secondary broke up two passes on BC’s final possession of the game.

PICK: Calgary

RESULT: Calgary

Winnipeg 14 vs. Montreal 28: It appears that the Blue Bombers, surprisingly, do have a weakness as a team: they appear to only have one capable quarterback. Sean McGuire, in his first CFL start, was putrid, throwing four interceptions against the Alouettes. Trevor Harris had a much better outing for his new squad – in his second start for Montreal, he was extremely efficient, going 18-25 for 144 yards and three TDs, while William Stanback added 67 rush yards on 18 carries. Brady Olivera had a rushing score for Winnipeg, while McGuire’s one TD toss of the night found Darvin Adams in the end zone. With the victory, Montreal still has a chance of hosting the East semifinal against Hamilton, while the Bombers’ nine-game win streak comes to an end.

PICK: Winnipeg

RESULT: Montreal

Edmonton 24 vs. Saskatchewan 29: Taylor Cornelius has definitely improved as a CFL quarterback in recent weeks, particularly since Trevor Harris was dealt away; but at the end of the day, it was still too little, too late for Edmonton. Cornelius went 20-30 for 224 yards, 3 TDs and a pick, but Saskatchewan just had more in the tank. Cody Fajardo also had a pretty good night, going 23-32 for 245 yards, 3 scores and a pick, with new star receiver Duke Williams snagging eight balls for 146 yards and a score. The Elks actually had the first points of the night, putting up a 7-0 lead on a TD catch by Jalen Tolliver, but Saskatchewan responded with the next two scores. Edmonton even had a narrow 21-20 lead after Tolliver scored following Fajardo’s interception in the third quarter, but the Riders managed to respond and closed out the game strong, with Alexandre Dupuis scoring his first career CFL touchdown and the Saskatchewan D locking down Edmonton from any more TDs in the fourth quarter.

PICK: Saskatchewan

BYE: Ottawa (2-11)

WEEK 16 PREVIEWS

Edmonton (2-10) vs. Toronto (9-4), Tuesday, November 16th, 7:30 PM EST (TSN, ESPN+): With the East locked up, I’d expect Toronto to rest most of their starters for this one; we’ll likely see Antonio Pipkin under centre for the Double Blue, and I think an extended look at him pre-playoffs will be welcome for Toronto’s coaching staff. Pipkin is one of the better backups in the league – so a strong performance from him will hopefully put some minds at ease in advance of the East Final in a few weeks’ time. The other big question about this game has to do with Edmonton’s roster management; with another game coming up so soon, how will the team rotate in players in key positions? Additionally, will we get to see Nick Arbuckle in green and gold anytime soon? A game against his old team would add some intrigue, for certain…

PICK: Toronto

Ottawa (2-11) vs. Montreal (7-6), Friday, November 19th, 7:30 PM EST (TSN, ESPN+): It’s all over but the cryin’ for the REDBLACKS, who started looking ahead to 2022 weeks ago. It’s also the last chance to figure out who’s going to be returning for next season, so I would expect to see a rotating cast out their on the field. Montreal wants to host the East semifinal, and will need a win of their own and a loss from the Ti-Cats to make that happen… expect to see every starter out there. More importantly, getting reps for Trevor Harris in preparation for the playoffs is also going to be a top priority; since Ottawa is lacklustre at defending both the run and the pass, we may see a more pass-heavy game just to give Harris the opportunity of working out more of the playbook; the added benefit will be keeping star RB William Stanback healthy in advance of next week’s game against Hamilton.

PICK: Montreal

Edmonton vs. BC (4-9), Friday, November 19th, 10:30 PM EST (TSN, ESPN+): With both teams out of the playoff race, I’m rooting for CHAOS. Both teams will be making some overhauls this season; with the Elks having played just three nights prior, I’m also expecting fatigue to be a factor here. Seems silly to me that this game couldn’t have been moved to Monday night, but I suppose that would’ve required some foresight. At any rate, it’s always the ugliest games that have the potential to be the funniest.

PICK: BC

Saskatchewan (9-4) vs. Hamilton (7-6), Saturday, November 20th, 4:00 PM EST (TSN, ESPN+): After an ugly game last week against the Argos, the Ti-Cats need to respond in a major way if they want to lock up the second seed in the East, and secure that ever-important home playoff game. With the Riders having locked up their own home playoff game against Calgary next week, I would hope we see backup Isaac Harker in for this game to give Cody Fajardo the chance to rest up. And again, since we’re always rooting for chaos here… maybe PAXTON LYNCH? I wouldn’t get your hopes up either… fun as that would be.

PICK: Hamilton

Winnipeg (11-2) vs. Calgary (7-6), Saturday, November 20th, 7:00 PM EST (TSN, ESPN+): Another game where we’ll see a huge number of starters getting sat. With the playoff picture in the West all set to go, we’ll be wrapping up the 2021 regular season on a very quiet note. My one major question is whether or not Sean McGuire is as shit in this game as he was last week… fortunately, four-INT games are rare, but then again Nathan Peterman was in the NFL even in THIS SEASON. So QB evaluations by coaches are truly an enigma sometimes.

PICK: Winnipeg

BYE: None

STANDINGS AND STATS

East Division Standings

West Division Standings

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

Passing Yards

1. Reilly, BC – 3283
2. Collaros, WPG – 3112
3. Fajardo, SSK – 2970

Passing TDs

1. Collaros, WPG – 20
2. Fajardo, SSK – 14
3. Adams, Jr., MTL – 14

Rushing Yards

1. Stanback, MTL – 1131
2. Carey, CGY – 869
3. Powell, SSK – 733

Receiving Yards

1. Lawler, WPG – 973
2. Lewis, MTL – 964
3. Burnham, BC – 896

Sacks

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

Interceptions

1. Brooks, HAM – 5
2. Dandridge, OTT – 4
3. Alford, WPG – 4

Field Goals

1. Paredes, CGY – 42
2. Lauther, SSK – 39
3. Cote, MTL – 30

PICK POOL

That Winnipeg game got a lot of us, by the looks of it. Curse you, Sean McGuire.

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Enjoy the games, everyone.