With fall finally settling in and leaves changing colour, football weather – and the resplendent feelings of coziness – have finally settled in at last. This is now the third season of watching sports in my home, and I think the nesting skills have only improved with time. Perhaps it might soon finally be time to finally upgrade the basement sofa into a proper L sectional… but then I might finally melt into the cushions for all eternity. Honestly, it doesn’t sound like that bad of an outcome for me at this point in my life.

In league news this week:

• In the lone transaction ahead of the trade deadline, BC acquired Alouettes RB Jeshrun Antwi in exchange for a third-round pick in the upcoming 2025 CFL Draft; a Canadian who played college ball at the University of Calgary, he’s only seen the field sparingly this year due to Walter Fletcher and Sean Thomas-Erlington taking the vast majority of snaps on run plays. He’s probably best known for this cool dribble kick play that briefly went viral last year where the kick and recovery was sufficient under Canadian rules to pick up a first down.
• Saskatchewan RB AJ Ouellette returned to practise this week after missing five games with a hip injury; if he’s ready to go soon, that’ll be a big addition for the stretch drive into the playoffs, and would give the Riders a deep backfield to work with thanks to the addition of Ryquell Armstead, not to mention Frankie Hickson as well.
• Saskatchewan DB Deontai Williams also had a hearing this week with the CFL for a pile-driver tackle on Ottawa WR Kalil Pimpleton that was late and entirely unnecessary; he’s apologized already to Pimpleton, but supplementary discipline may be forthcoming soon from the league.
• Montreal re-signed WR Cole Spieker to a two-year contract extension that keeps him with the team through the end of the 2026 season; the Als have been extremely fortunate to have developed a deep receiving corps over the last two seasons, and Spieker has had a breakout year having moved up the depth chart due to injuries to key targets Tyson Philpot, Kaion Julien-Grant, and Austin Mack. With 710 yards and seven TDs in 15 games, that’s a great signing for both parties.

Onto the games!

WEEK 17 RECAPS

Edmonton 27 vs. Winnipeg 55: Boy howdy, has it ever been a rough two weeks for the Elks. After being beaten at home by these same Blue Bombers in Week 16, they got an absolute ass-whooping handed to them last week as well – all of a sudden those playoff chances are looking pretty grim. The Bombers passing game, which has looked fairly quiet for much of the year, absolutely exploded against an overtaxed Edmonton secondary; QB Zach Collaros went 21-26 for a whopping 432 yards and SIX TDs. Yowza. Receiver Kenny Lawler also went over 100 yards for the first time this season and had several highlight-reel circus catches on the night, just absolutely dominating his matchups in man coverage. These Blue Bombers sure started the year slow, but they’re absolutely deadly right now.

PICK: Winnipeg

RESULT: Winnipeg

Hamilton 32 vs. BC 29 (OT): The Lions must be absolutely kicking themselves after this disastrous collapse. BC built up a 16-0 lead at halftime, completely neutralizing Ti-Cats QB Bo Levi Mitchell. Unfortunately, Hamilton roared to life in the second half and Mitchell had a 100% completion rate for the remaining three frames of the contest, sparking a huge comeback to take the lead still down 15 in the fourth quarter before ultimately snatching victory from the jaws of defeat in extra time. The loss drops the Lions to under .500 and third in the West, while another Hamilton win still keeps them in the playoff hunt, despite all odds.

PICK: BC

RESULT: Hamilton

Ottawa 16 vs. Saskatchewan 29: With Dru Brown on the shelf due to injury, the REDBLACKS started Jeremiah Masoli; in his first game back at Mosaic Stadium since the infamous Garrett Marino incident of 2022 where the former Riders’ D-lineman dove at his knees and knocked him out for the year, Masoli was unfortunately seeing ghosts all afternoon. With three interceptions on the day, he was not at his best, and the Riders prevented Ottawa from clinching a playoff spot yet again. There’s no doubt the REDBLACKS are significantly dinged up right now – but they still have to find ways to win. Credit as well to Saskatchewan’s Brett Lauther, who paced the offence with a perfect 7-7 record on field goals in this game.

PICK: Ottawa

RESULT: Saskatchewan

Montreal 31 vs. Toronto 37: Ultimately, this game was rather meaningless for the Alouettes, as the REDBLACKS’ loss earlier in the day ensured they clinched the division title. All the same, this game was definitely significant for the Argos, who managed to weather the storm and duke it out all game long. The Argos gashed the Alouettes’ run D for 234 ground yards and two TDs, though the Montreal secondary had a few instances where other potential TD situations were turned into field goals instead thanks to some good coverage; Montreal’s James Letcher had an awesome 100-yard kick return TD, and the lead changed approximately a zillion times in this game. The Argos have a chance still to host a home playoff game, but they’re going to need a lot to go right in these next few weeks.

PICK: Montreal

RESULT: Toronto

BYE: Calgary (4-10-1)

WEEK 18 PREVIEWS

Winnipeg (9-6) vs. Hamilton (6-9), Friday, October 4th, 7:00 PM EDT (TSN, CFL+): There are two interesting playoff scenarios at stake in this game; first, if Hamilton loses, then the Ottawa REDBLACKS will clinch their first playoff game since 2018 – that would be very exciting news indeed for me, on a personal note. The second interesting situation is that if Winnipeg wins and Saskatchewan loses this week, then the Bombers will clinch the West Division for the fourth straight season. Considering their dismal 2-6 start to the year, that is quite a remarkable turnaround as they look to continue their win streak to eight straight. Hamilton, while continuing to fight for their life under .500, have really not been going quietly into the night over these past few weeks. If their defence continues to play as well as they have since Chris Jones took over playcalling duties, this won’t be an easy game at all for the Bombers – especially not on the road, either. Still, hard not to feel good about the chances of clinching a division title when considering the impressive showing of the passing game last week.

PICK: Winnipeg

Calgary (4-9-1) vs. BC (7-8), Friday, October 6th, 10:00 PM EDT (TSN, CFL+): Calgary’s coming off a bye, and while rest is a good thing, I still don’t think there’s enough hope and probability for them to keep their 20-year playoff streak alive this season. BC continues to be frustratingly inconsistent, but they remain in the thick of things. I still think they’re a more potent playoff threat than the Roughriders, but they need to make sure they can take care of business and lock things down over these last few weeks of the season. A win this week would do a lot to ensure they keep up with the Roughriders and also fend off any chance of getting jumped by Hamilton for the first-ever East-to-West crossover playoff berth.

PICK: BC

Saskatchewan (7-7-1) vs. Edmonton (5-10), Saturday, October 5th, 7:00 PM EDT (TSN, CFL+): Saskatchewan has a chance to clinch a playoff spot as soon as this week – but they’ll need a few things to go right first in order for this to happen. First, they need Winnipeg and BC to win this week. Then they need to beat these Elks on the road. It’s possible, but as always, a lot of luck will be needed. The Elks may be down – and last week’s game sure was an ugly one – but they’re not totally done just yet. I don’t think McLeod Bethel-Thompson is the guy you need right now. He didn’t turn the ball over and did throw three TDs, but after such a slow start on the defensive side of the ball, Edmonton wasn’t able to effectively trade blows with Winnipeg and ended up getting boat raced. Apparently he’s back as the starter this week all the same…

PICK: Saskatchewan

BYE: Montreal (11-3-1), Ottawa (8-7-1), Toronto (8-7)

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 – 4359
2. Collaros, WPG – 3555
3. Bethel-Thompson, EDM – 3369

Passing TDs

1. Mitchell, HAM – 26
2. Bethel-Thompson, EDM – 22
3. Maier, CGY – 18

Rushing Yards

1. Oliveira, WPG – 1107
2. Stanback, BC – 1062
3. Carey, TOR – 966

Receiving Yards

1. Hardy, OTT – 1241
2. McInnis, BC – 1207
3. White, HAM – 948

Defensive Tackles

1. Beverette, MTL – 97
2. Sankey, MTL – 95
3. Morgan, EDM – 92

Sacks

1. Teuhema, BC – 7
2. Wakefield, OTT – 7
3. Ceresna, TOR– 7

Interceptions

1. Milligan, SSK – 7
2. Ford, WPG – 6
3. Bynum, EDM – 5

Field Goals

1. Hajrullahu, TOR – 49
2. Ward, OTT – 48
3. Castillo, WPG – 44

PICK POOL

Once again, I expect a photo finish for the pool this season. Credit to Don T for a very strong week – the only pool member to pick the Lions-Tabbies game correctly.

Remember to submit your picks here! https://www.pooltracker.com/join.asp?poolid=231808

Enjoy the games, everyone.