Every single game from this past week ended as a one-score game. That’s the beauty of this crazy, ridiculous league. Even with all of the disparity we’ve seen this season, seems like we’re still thrown a few curveballs to keep our attention going right to the very end of the regular season. What a wonderful thing.

In league news this week:

• The Winnipeg Blue Bombers signed their star QB Zach Collaros to a three-year contract extension this week; Collaros has been one of the main reasons for the Bombers’ sustained success over the last three seasons. It’s important to remember that prior to his arrival in Winnipeg at the end of the 2019 season, it really looked like his CFL career was pretty much over. With a concussion in Saskatchewan and a subsequent trade to Toronto, where he didn’t start, his arrival in Winnipeg late that year seemed like a last-chance ditch at the Bombers acquiring a serviceable QB ahead of the playoffs. Since that time, he’s been virtually unstoppable – a 31-4 record as Winnipeg’s starting QB, with 7521 passing yards and 57 touchdowns compared to just 20 picks… oh, and those two Grey Cups wins, of course. His new deal will see him make $600K CAD per season assuming he plays out the entire contract; most notably, continuing the trend of Jake Maier and Taylor Cornelius, his new contract also has some guaranteed money in the third season of the deal, giving him a long-term future in Winnipeg. That salary also makes him the highest-paid player in the CFL next year.
• The Winnipeg Blue Bombers are also working on a contract extension for star DE Willie Jefferson, the lynchpin of their front seven. It’s rumoured that the new deal will make him the highest-paid defensive player in the league with an average salary of around $225,000 CAD. He’s been an all-star for four straight seasons and is likely on track for a fifth campaign this year, with 30 tackles, 7 sacks, three forced fumbles, and two interceptions, including a pick-six.
• Edmonton Elks QB Taylor Cornelius will miss the team’s final game of the 2022 season this week as he deals with a spleen injury; he was injured in last week’s game against the Toronto Argonauts and had to be hospitalized, though he was released promptly and is doing fine otherwise. Canadian Tre Ford will start under centre for the Elks’ season finale.
• Longtime Montreal Alouette receiver S.J. Green will sign a one-day contract with the team tomorrow and retire as an Al. An eight-time East Division All-Star, Green played 13 CFL seasons, including 10 in Montreal, and recorded 800 receiving yards or better nine times, including seven thousand-yard seasons. With 10222 career receiving yards and 60 touchdowns from 716 catches, Green retires as 15th all-time on the CFL’s career receiving yards list.

Onto the games!

WEEK 19 RECAPS

Montreal 34 vs. Ottawa 30: A big second half led Montreal to a win over the REDBLACKS, which not only meant clinching a playoff spot, but also guaranteeing a home playoff game (most likely the East semifinal). It’s another home loss for the REDBLACKS – disappointing all the same for fans – but despite the bad outcome, full credit to the team for coming out and actively showing some fight in this one – something we haven’t seen from the team at home in quite a while. Montreal took the lead in the third quarter off of a William Stanback rushing score – his first since Week 1, when he was injured and missed much of the season afterwards – but Ottawa answered in the fourth to take the lead back off of Lewis Ward’s third field goal of the game. Down late, the Als got a big punt return off of RB Walter Fletcher, setting up backup QB Dominique Davis to punch the ball in from the goal line for the winning score. A strip sack of Nick Arbuckle ended it for Ottawa. One more home game left in the year to try and break the curse…

PICK: Montreal

RESULT: Montreal

Hamilton 35 vs. Calgary 32: With the final playoff spot in the East still available, the Tiger-Cats desperately needed a win to stay ahead of the Roughriders, challenging with a crossover play to snag it. And against all odds, they got their major upset win. The Tabbies hadn’t won in Calgary since 2004, and it was a full team effort to get the job done. Freshly-extended Jake Maier had an uncharacteristically rough game for the Stamps, throwing three picks on the night, including two by DE Richie Leonard, who took one back 64 yards to the house. Even with Hamilton’s offence having an efficient night, it looked like Calgary was going to win this one. With just over a minute to go, Tommy Stevens punched the ball in on a QB sneak, giving Calgary a 32-27 lead. All it would take for a victory was two stops – but the home side’s D couldn’t get the job done. Four plays later, Hamilton was in the end zone, with WR Tim White snagging a touchdown pass from Dane Evans with 11 seconds left. With the loss, the Stampeders will need to win out – and for BC to lose out – if they want to host the West semifinal this time around.

PICK: Calgary

RESULT: Hamilton

Toronto 28 vs. Edmonton 23: Thanks to a massive fourth-quarter comeback, which was capped off by RB AJ Ouellette’s game-winning score with 30 seconds left to play, Toronto stunned the Edmonton Elks at home – and keep the Commonwealth Stadium losing streak going as well. Things were pretty rough early on for the Argos – McLeod Bethel-Thompson couldn’t move the ball well at all against the Elks’ D, a surprising turn of events – but showed some resiliency and the team eventually broke through. In the fourth, with the D having knocked Taylor Cornelius around with a hard hit, the Elks’ Tre Ford saw his only pass attempt of the night intercepted by Argos’ DB Royce Metchie, which set up the TD from Bethel-Thompson to WR DaVaris Daniels, putting Toronto down by just two. Ouellette then ran the ball in on the Argos’ next drive, completing the comeback and disappointing Edmonton fans yet again.

PICK: Toronto

RESULT: Toronto

Winnipeg 32 vs. BC 40: Backup QB Dru Brown had a tough night for the Bombers, tossing two pick-sixes. All the same, he rebounded from adversity and played better in the second half of the game – and Winnipeg, electing to rest many of their starters, especially on D, still looked very competitive with the Lions. Vernon Adams, Jr. was limited for BC, going just 13-22 for 138 yards and a TD, so it was fortunate that the Leos had the run game going – James Butler had 14 carries for 104 yards and a score, plus kicker Sean Whyte booted four balls through the posts to help out. The Lions are now in the driver’s seat to host the West semifinal – and with Nathan Rourke poised to return soon, we could end up having some really, really good Western playoff matchups this season. Fingers crossed he’s fully healthy soon.

PICK: Winnipeg

RESULT: BC

BYE: Saskatchewan (6-10)

WEEK 20 PREVIEWS

Ottawa (4-12) vs. Hamilton (6-10), Friday, October 21st, 7:00 PM EDT (TSN, ESPN+): These two teams haven’t played since July 16th, when the Tiger-Cats won a tight game by a 25-23 score at Tim Hortons Field. While both teams have clearly had sub-par seasons, the Tabbies appear to be peaking at just the right time. Last week’s game against Calgary was one of the best games that Hamilton’s played all season – coupled with their big upset win over Winnipeg, it’s clear that if the vibes are right, the Ti-Cats can hang with just about anyone in this league. Still, that’s a big question. Bob Dyce’s audition for 2023 REDBLACKS head coach continues, and while his 1-1 record doesn’t appear particularly impressive, it’s encouraging to see a little more heart in the roster over these past few weeks under a new voice. These last few games will tell us a lot. Expect Tiger-Cat fans to do a lot of scoreboard-watching, as they’re desperately counting on a Saskatchewan loss this week to ensure they can stay abreast of them for that final East playoff spot.

PICK: Hamilton

BC (11-6) vs. Edmonton (4-13), Friday, October 21st, 9:30 PM EDT (TSN, ESPN+): Edmonton’s been absolutely clobbered by the Lions several times this year already. I don’t expect that to change, really. All the Elks can hope for is that Nathan Rourke’s return will happen in Week 21, and not this week. Kind of strange that it took until Week 19 for them to get eliminated from the playoff race – their defence is well and truly one of the most atrocious the league’s ever seen. Big changes are coming. But not for another few weeks, at least.

PICK: BC

Toronto (10-6) vs. Montreal (8-8), Saturday, October 22nd, 4:00 PM EDT (TSN, ESPN+): If Toronto wins this game, they’ll clinch the East. To do so, they need to avoid the slow starts we’ve seen over the last few weeks. Montreal is lucky to have RB William Stanback in the lineup heading into the playoffs; if the coaching staff is willing to use him a little more coming off his injury, then we have the possibility to see a few new looks to Montreal’s offence that we’ve been missing for a lot of this year.

PICK: Toronto

Calgary (10-5) vs. Saskatchewan (6-10), Saturday, October 22nd, 7:00 PM EDT (TSN, ESPN+): In a weird twist, the Roughriders will turn to backup QB Mason Fine to try and save their season. With starter Cody Fajardo having taken a personal day and missing practise – all while coming off a bye week – this all seems very weird. Change is undoubtedly on the horizon for this team, but I will be curious to see just how much of the roster will turn over – and if much of coaching staff and management will go with them. Fine is – – – fine, I guess. We haven’t seen a huge amount of him in his CFL career, but many QBs would flounder given the sub-par O-line play we’ve seen in Saskatchewan. Calgary had an unusually rough game last week, but still almost won. Even on the road, I like their chances against a Riders team clearly in such dire straits.

PICK: Calgary

BYE: Winnipeg (14-3)

STANDINGS AND STATS

East Division Standings

West Division Standings

x- clinched playoff spot
y- clinched division title
e- eliminated from playoff contention

Passing Yards 

1. Bethel-Thompson, TOR – 4491
2. Collaros, WPG – 4115
3. Harris, MTL – 3744

Passing TDs

1. Collaros, WPG – 35
2. Rourke, BC – 25
3. Bethel-Thompson, TOR – 21

Rushing Yards

1. Carey, CGY – 1013
2. Oliveira, WPG – 929
3. Butler, BC – 913

Receiving Yards

1. Schoen, WPG – 1357
2. Rhymes, BC – 1284
3. Lewis, MTL – 1231

Sacks

1. Mauldin, OTT – 14
2. Lemon, CGY – 13
3. Ceresna, EDM – 10

Interceptions

1. Peters, TOR – 6
2. Peters, BC – 5
3. Kelly, HAM – 5

Field Goals

1. Paredes, CGY – 47
2. Ward, OTT – 44
3. Bede, TOR – 42

PICK POOL

Two more weeks of picks to go, and Spam has a two-point lead on the pack. Will he be caught???

Remember to submit your picks here! https://www.pooltracker.com/join.asp?poolid=205786

Enjoy the games, everyone.