In the second-last week of the season, the West playoff race remains wide open, with just one team having clinched a playoff spot and all four others remaining eligible in the race even now. With the ineptitude of Ottawa and Toronto in the East Division this year, this also opens up the third place playoff spot in the East to be a “crossover” berth for the fourth-place team in the West. As the Elks, who are currently last place in the West with a 7-9 record – two games clear of Toronto and three clear of Ottawa with just two left to play – every single West team will finish higher, accordingly. To me the Lions still have the inside track on second place in the West, as I think they’ve really come into their own with such a high-powered offense and improved defensive play over the last six weeks, they can still be caught by Calgary, who have an identical 9-7 record despite losing the season series to the Leos. This means that second and third are likely settled, leaving just the matter of fourth in the West, and the crossover spot, up for grabs right now between 8-8 Winnipeg and 7-9 Edmonton. Two weeks can change a ton in this league. Let’s hope it’s memorable.

In league news this week:

• Saskatchewan signed GM Jeremy O’Day and head coach Corey Mace to two-year contract extensions, keeping them with the team through the end of the 2027 season. With the Roughriders clinching their first division title since 2019 and are heading into the playoffs as a Grey Cup fave by many pundits, I think that’s a great move to keep these two locked down. An improved emphasis on team discipline has paid major dividends since Mace took the job in 2024.
• Bo Levi Mitchell is now 8th all-time on the CFL passing yards leaderboard; he passed another all-time great in Matt Dunigan (43,857 passing yards) thanks to his efforts last week against Calgary, his former team. Mitchell is also the first QB to throw for over 5000 yards in this CFL season, making this the second straight year he’s hit the mark and the third time in his illustrious CFL career.
• David Easley, a long-time CFL player and coach, passed away this week at the age of 78; he remains the only coach in the history of Canadian football to win titles at the junior football, university, and professional levels, winning titles with the CJFL Vancouver Trojans in 1982, a Vanier Cup title with the UBC Thunderbirds in 1986, and Grey Cups in 1991 with the Toronto Argos and 1994 with the BC Lions. He also coached on the defensive side of the ball in Montreal, Ottawa, Winnipeg, and Hamilton. He also won the 1969 rookie of the year award as a DB in the CFL’s West Division.

Onto the games!

WEEK 19 RECAPS

Toronto 19 vs. Saskatchewan 27: The Riders wrapped up the West Division title for the first time since 2019, locking down that incredibly valuable first-round playoff bye, defeating the overmatched Argos at home in front of a surprisingly sparse home crowd. With the Argos already eliminated from the playoff picture, and with starting QB Nick Arbuckle done for the year, Toronto couldn’t get an offensive rhythm going to compete with the home side; Trevor Harris had 340 pass yards and two TDs to Joe Robustelli and Tommy Nield. Brett Lauther also hit five field goals and looked sharp on the day. Toronto had a late comeback chance to try and keep it close, but Jarret Doege threw an interception that completely slammed the door shut on any sort of miracle.

PICK: Saskatchewan

RESULT: Saskatchewan

Calgary 37 vs. Hamilton 20: The Stamps snapped a four-game losing streak with a massive, massive road win in the Hammer to keep pace with the BC Lions for the second playoff spot in the West Division; although they have identical 9-7 records now, they’re still yet to clinch due to a few tiebreaking scenarios present. Bo Levi Mitchell passed the 5000 passing yards mark on the year, a positive for him, but the home side couldn’t stop the run game to save their life, dooming them to defeat. Dedrick Mills had 105 rush yards and 2 TDs, while Calgary as a whole gained 211 yards on the ground – the most this season. Hamilton is still the favourite to win the East, but that run defence is definitely a concern as playoffs draw near.

PICK: Hamilton

RESULT: Hamilton

Winnipeg 20 vs. Edmonton 25: Fresh off a big contract extension, RB Justin Rankin led the way for the Elks, who keep their playoff hopes alive, against all odds. Rankin had 138 rush yards and a TD, while the D showed up with two timely interceptions on Zach Collaros. The Bombers could ill afford to lose this one – with the Elks now one game behind in the playoff race, they desperately need some good luck if they’re to hang onto either the third spot in the West (unlikely) or a crossover spot to the East (more likely). Of note – the highlight of the game was Ontaria “Pokey” Wilson making one of the sickest catches I’ve ever seen, saving a tipped ball for a huge TD for the Bombers.

PICK: Winnipeg

RESULT: Edmonton

Ottawa 10 vs. Montreal 30: The REDBLACKS, freshly eliminated from the playoff race last week, continued to stink, and handed Montreal an important victory in their quest to catch Hamilton for the East division title. With the Als racking up a scoop and score on Ottawa’s very first possession of the game, courtesy of DB Marc-Antoine Dequoy, the game unravelled extremely quickly for the visitors. Davis Alexander improved to 10-0 as a starter in the CFL in his fledgling career, and the Alouettes are looking really good as we head into the stretch run of the season. Austin Mack caught his first TD pass of the year from Alexander, who finished the game 23-30 for 240 yards. William Stanback had the lone TD for Ottawa, who look poised once more to pick first overall in the upcoming CFL Draft.

PICK: Montreal

RESULT: Montreal

BYE: BC (9-7)

WEEK 20 PREVIEWS

Saskatchewan (12-4) vs. Winnipeg (8-8), Friday, October 17th, 8:00 PM EDT (TSN, CFL+): The Stamps are resting a number of key players, including QB Trevor Harris; Jake Maier will get the green light to start at QB this week for the visitors. The Bombers are fighting for their life right now – .500 ball this late in the season is not something they’ve been accustomed to seeing over the last few years of dominance of the West, but as always, all good things come to an end. This is a desperate, must-win game for the team, particularly in light of the Elks’ recent surge. The West playoff race is still not yet settled.

PICK: Winnipeg

Edmonton (7-9) vs. BC (9-7), Friday, October 17th, 10:30 PM EDT (TSN, CFL+): This has some major playoff seeding implications; if BC wins, they’ll come even closer to clinching second in the West and the right to host a home playoff game (which if Winnipeg and Calgary both lose this week as well, could come as early as Saturday night). For Edmonton, they’re banking extremely hard on a Winnipeg loss and their own victory in this game if they’re to try and leapfrog anyone in the division. Despite them coming on, they’re up against a rested Lions team who have been absolutely red-hot on offence as of late – the Lions, if they remain healthy, are my personal pick to come out of the West Division this year to play in the Grey Cup.

PICK: BC

Montreal (9-7) vs. Ottawa (4-12), Saturday, October 18th, 3:00 PM EDT (TSN, CTV, CFL+): It’s a rematch of last week’s game, as a home-and-home series; as the last home game of the season for the REDBLACKS, this couldn’t come soon enough for a beleaguered fanbase. Montreal is likely to win – an important game for them if they want to catch the Tiger-Cats for the East division title – but they also need to stay healthy as well. Of note for the REDBLACKS, who are in evaluation mode now that the post-season is out of reach, is that QB Tyrie Adams – who hasn’t played a snap since 2023, when he tore his ACL in a home win over the Elks – has been elevated to QB2 on the roster with Dru Brown done for the year and Matt Shiltz a non-factor all season long. Despite him not playing at all in over two years, he’s been on the REDBLACKS’ roster this entire time – in the one game we saw of him two seasons ago, I felt he looked really good. Seems odd for a team to keep a guy around if they have no interest in playing him at all – would love to see him get some snaps this week.

PICK: Montreal

Toronto (5-12) vs. Calgary (9-7), Saturday, October 18th, 7:00 PM EDT (TSN, CFL+): With the Argos out, and the Stamps still not technically clinching a playoff spot yet due to a series of weird tiebreaker situations, all eyes will be on the Lions matchup earlier in the week. In particular, a BC loss and a Calgary win would put the Stamps back into second place in the West, where they spent much of the season; it would also clinch them a playoff spot as well. The run game looked great last week; it’s something that I think is going to be a difference-maker for them come playoff time, though I’m not sure it necessarily matches up well with a team like Saskatchewan, who has a very solid front seven that plays the run very well. Again, the goal for the Stamps this week, after seeing how all the earlier matchups shake out this week, is above all to remain healthy.

PICK: Calgary

BYE: Hamilton (10-7)

STANDINGS AND STATS

East Division Standings

West Division Standings

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

Passing Yards

1. Mitchell, HAM – 5032
2. Rourke, BC – 4584
3. Harris, SSK – 4437

Passing TDs

1. Mitchell, HAM – 34
2. Rourke, BC – 27
3. Arbuckle, TOR – 26

Rushing Yards

1. Mills, CGY – 1225
2. Ouellette, SSK – 1179
3. Butler, BC – 1103

Receiving Yards

1. Hatcher, BC – 1516
2. Lawler, HAM – 1400
3. Johnson, SSK – 1159

Defensive Tackles

1. Awe, BC – 110
2. Jones, WPG – 95
3. Pickett, OTT – 89

Sacks

1. Betts, BC – 14
2. Hicks, CGY – 11
3. Howsare, HAM – 11

Interceptions

1. Campbell, SSK  – 6
2. McFadden, TOR – 6
3. Katsantonis, HAM – 6

Field Goals

1. Hajrullahu, TOR – 51
2. Maltos Diaz, MTL – 46
3. Liegghio, HAM – 43

PICK POOL

Forgot to put my picks into the pool last week. Shit. There goes my chance of a comeback.

Remember to submit your picks here! https://www.pooltracker.com/join.asp?poolid=243178

Enjoy the games, everyone.