It’s the time you’ve all been waiting for; family, friends, and loved ones are gathered together and spending some quality time with copious food, drink, laughter, and, most importantly, football. That’s right… the CFL playoffs are finally here!

As we all know, the real Thanksgiving was weeks ago, and the current notifications on your phone calendar are just blatant propaganda of trying to hype up a holiday that the rest of the continent – and, indeed, the world – has never been particularly been invested. Unlike Thanksgiving, the CFL is a global operation, baby. At least it is if you ask Randy Ambrosie.

In league news this week:

• The Edmonton Elks cleaned house on Monday, with team president Chris Presson, GM Brock Sunderland, and head coach Jaime Elizondo all shown the door. After a 3-11 season where the team failed to win a single home game, this isn’t a shocking turn of events – but the suddenness of the entire front office being sent packing will mean that the team will likely have to scramble to fill those holes over the next few weeks. CFL coaching legend Wally Buono, who retired in 2018 as the head coach of the BC Lions, will serve as a team consultant in the interim until a new GM is hired.
• Alouettes DB Patrick Levels “guaranteed” a victory over the Hamilton Tiger-Cats this week in the East Semifinal. That’ll be some bulletin board material at Tim Hortons Field, I think; he called out several star players including QB Jeremiah Masoli, WR Brandon Banks, RB Don Jackson, and even head coach Orlondo Steinauer. Outspoken LB Simoni Lawrence laughed it off… but he’ll make sure his teammates see Levels as a marked man.
• Saskatchewan WR Ricardo Louis is done for the year after suffering a torn ACL in last week’s game against Hamilton. The Roughriders have plenty of receiver depth, but it still is always a blow when you lose a guy just before the playoffs. Speaking of receivers, the Ti-Cats announced that Bralon Addison will return from the six-game injured list to be available for Sunday’s game against Montreal – Addison and QB Jeremiah Masoli have showed very good chemistry together over the years and this will hopefully be a big boost for the home side.
• Riders third-string QB Paxton Lynch is unvaccinated against COVID-19, and as a result, he’s ineligible to travel for games beyond the West Semifinal due to the federal government mandating vaccinations for all travellers on air and train travel across Canada. If the Riders end up going on a run, he’ll miss the two most important games of the year – some teammate, huh?

Onto the games!

WEEK 16 RECAPS

Edmonton 13 vs. Toronto 7: Talk about a bad football game. Taylor Cornelius threw three interceptions for the Elks, but his 160 yards and a TD were just enough to go along with Sean Whyte’s two field goals to seal the deal for Edmonton’s third and final victory of the season. Toronto, naturally, rested most of their starters, so the lack of offense was no major surprise; still, with the D racking up so many INTs, the Argos probably feel pretty alright heading into a much-needed first-round playoff bye. The end of the season couldn’t get here soon enough for the Elks… but they still had another game to play this week. With Edmonton’s victory, this marks Toronto’s only home loss of the season.

PICK: Toronto

RESULT: Edmonton

Ottawa 19 vs. Montreal 18: In a shocking turn of events, the Alouettes led 18-3 at half time and were poised for another blowout victory… but the REDBLACKS stormed back in dramatic fashion to end their season on a high note and deny Montreal home-field advantage in their upcoming playoff game this week. Caleb Evans, returning to start for the REDBLACKS, capitalized on Ottawa’s final drive of the game, which came after a late fumble by Als’ RB Jeshrun Antwi. Evans and the offense charged 89 yards down the field in the final minute of the game, with Evans scoring on a one-yard run; he sealed the victory with a two-pointer snagged by RJ Harris. With the loss, Montreal will be on the road next week in Hamilton for the East semifinal.

PICK: Montreal

RESULT: Ottawa

Edmonton 10 vs. BC 43: Fatigue appeared to catch up to the Elks, who got blown out by the Lions to end both teams’ regular season. After a disastrous second half of the 2021 season, BC ended things on a high note with a solid home victory – and the team is definitely looking ahead to the future. Nathan Rourke, who may potentially be the starter next season if the team elects to go their separate ways from talented – but expensive – starter Mike Reilly, had a decent outing in this game, going 23-34 for 359 yards, one pass and three rush TDs, and two interceptions. James Butler led the way on the ground for the Leos with 18 carries for 109 yards, while Dominique Rhymes led the passing game with four catches for 103 yards. For Edmonton, it was pretty hideous – Dakota Prukop started this game, throwing a TD and two picks, while Taylor Cornelius returned late to throw three more interceptions. Both teams face some big decisions going into this offseason, but at least the home side got one last little bit of entertainment before the lights went out on the 2021 season.

PICK: BC

RESULT: BC

Saskatchewan 3 vs. Hamilton 24: With Cody Fajardo sitting out the regular season finale, Saskatchewan started Isaac Harker in his place, and unfortunately, the team couldn’t muster much offence at all in his absence. Hamilton had a 14-0 lead at the half and added another 10 in the third quarter to further pad an insurmountable lead. Jeremiah Masoli played the first half for the Tabbies, while Isaac Harker came in during the second; both QBs threw touchdowns, but Evans had two interceptions as well. Harker had two picks and was replaced by fourth-stringer Mason Fine (third-stringer Paxton Lynch did not see playing time), but returned to close things out when Fine left with a hand injury in the second half. Not a terribly interesting football game… kind of the trend for final-week games when there are no playoff implications in question. That said, the victory did clinch home field advantage in the East Semifinal for Hamilton thanks to Montreal’s loss… so it was still valuable all the same.

PICK: Hamilton

RESULT: Hamilton

Winnipeg 12 vs. Calgary 13: With both teams resting their starting quarterbacks for much of the game, offence was fairly hard to come by in this game… and while paid attendance was listed at 19,103, the lack of any playoff impact meant that the actual crowd in the stands at McMahon was unquestionably much smaller. Save for Rene Paredes’ field goal on the last play of the game that clinched the win for the Stamps, it was definitely overall a snoozer. Johnny Augustine did quietly have an excellent game for Winnipeg, racking up 23 carries for 148 yards on the night. Sergio Castillo also made 4-5 field goals on the night for the Bombers, but Paredes’ timely kick still gave Calgary the last laugh at the end of the day.

PICK: Winnipeg

RESULT: Calgary

BYE: None

DIVISION SEMIFINAL PREVIEWS

EAST DIVISION SEMIFINAL

(3) Montreal (7-7) vs. (2) Hamilton (8-6), Sunday, November 28th, 1:00 PM EST (TSN, ESPN2): Montreal faded late last week against Ottawa, while Hamilton, save for an uncharacteristically poor Week 15 showing against Toronto, have appeared much improved as of late. Getting Bralon Addison back to catch passes will be a welcome addition to the starting lineup for the Ti-Cats, but making sure that Jeremiah Masoli can spread the ball all over the field is going to be crucial to Hamilton’s offensive gameplan. With Brandon Banks appearing to be a shadow of his former MOP self, a lot of other guys have needed to step up this year, and they’ll need to keep that momentum going. Montreal has similar offensive firepower, with the league’s top rusher in William Stanback and two big-play receivers in Eugene Lewis and Jake Wieneke, but Trevor Harris, as good as he’s been in regular season situations in Ottawa and Edmonton in recent years, is still fairly new to Montreal’s playbook. At the end of the day, Montreal’s lost three of their last four games – and their one win was against Winnipeg, who were resting most of their starters. The momentum – and the home crowd – are all on Hamilton’s side in this game.

PICK: Hamilton

WEST DIVISION SEMIFINAL

(3) Calgary (8-6) vs. (2) Saskatchewan (9-5), Sunday, November 28th, 4:30 PM EST (TSN, ESPNews): Calgary may be the road squad here, but they won their season series 2-1 against Saskatchewan. The Stampeders, who recovered very impressively from a tough start to their season, including dealing with the prolonged absence of star QB Bo Levi Mitchell, have historically given the Riders fits – especially in the playoffs. The Riders have been much better at home than on the road this year, averaging 24.5 a game compared to just 16.8 on the road, but a strong home crowd may not be enough here. Calgary continues to make stars out of seemingly unknown receivers, and the D continues to step up their game with every passing week. Cody Fajardo has brought the QB play that faithful fans have been craving for so long, but this is one game where the offensive line is really going to be missing veteran guard Brendon LaBatte’s presence, as he’s opted out entirely for this season. Next year is next year, of course, but right now, the pressure is all on the home side in this game. Expectations are sky-high in Regina once more… and it’s those lofty goals that can be the undoing of many a talented team.

PICK: Calgary

BYE: (1) Toronto (9-5), (1) Winnipeg (11-3)

REGULAR SEASON FINAL 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 – 3185
3. Fajardo, SSK – 2970

Passing TDs

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

Rushing Yards

1. Stanback, MTL – 1176
2. Carey, CGY – 869
3. Wilder, Jr., EDM – 770

Receiving Yards

1. Lawler, WPG – 1014
2. Burnham, BC – 965
3. Lewis, MTL – 964

Sacks

1. Leonard, SSK – 11
2. Woodard, SSK – 10
3. Jeffcoat, WPG – 9

Interceptions

1. Brooks, HAM – 5
2. Washington, EDM – 5
3. Lee, BC – 5

Field Goals

1. Paredes, CGY – 44
2. Lauther, SSK – 40
3. Cote, MTL – 32

PICK POOL

Congratulations to our 2021 Pick Pool Champion, Litre_Cola! As our back-to-back champion, he’ll receive the usual [DFO] prize and accolades; your slightly-used fleshlight is currently being processed by Canada Post. Thanks to all who participated this year – it was definitely a trickier season than normal to pick! I look forward to 2022, which will have more games and perhaps some more noticeable, predictable trends…

Enjoy the games, everyone.