A strange juxtaposition of summer weather and colourful leaves for me this week. I am not used to sweating profusely while raking leaves – something’s got to give here. If this is indeed to be one of the final hurrahs of warm weather for the year, it seems only right to me to enjoy the pleasant temps by moving my TV outside to the back deck for the last time this year in order to watch this week’s slate of football games, no?

Also, an interesting personal note: I happened to look back through all my drafts, and realized that last week’s rant about the CFL’s rule changes was, in fact, the 500th piece I’ve written for this dear website over the past decade of its existence, as well as the 250th edition of [DFO]’s CFL Beat in its entirety. Not bad work for a guy who’s not made a dime off a word of it! My high school self would be kicking me right now. But it’s been worth every hour I’ve put into it.

In league news this week:

• The Edmonton Elks announced the sudden passing of owner Larry Thompson late last week. In 2024, Thompson bought the team out of its longstanding community ownership after being a lifelong season-ticket holder, and took it private; in just over a year at the helm the team completely revamped its football ops and coaching staff and is still getting into an overhaul of its business practises. Sadly, Thompson passed away due to complications following surgery; he was 65 years old. His wife Deb will continue on as owner of the franchise.
• Due to the World Cup of Soccer disrupting stadium availability through much of the early 2026 regular season, the BC Lions announced they will be playing two home games in Kelowna, BC, in the beautiful Okanagan Valley region of the province. Kelowna, with a population of 165,000, is known for excellent outdoor adventures in the mountains, as well as some delicious wines produced in its sheltered climate. The city is home to the Apple Bowl, which, with temporary seating installed, will be expanded to seat about 17,500 for each game.
• The Ottawa REDBLACKS traded DE Lorenzo Mauldin to the Calgary Stampeders in exchange for a 4th-round pick in the CFL Draft. Mauldin was the league’s Most Outstanding Defensive Player in 2022 when he led the league in sacks with 17; he was also an All-Star in 2022 and 2024. On an expiring deal, the Stamps need a replacement for Folarin Orimolade, who was lost for the season earlier this month with a torn Achilles. On a likely playoff-bound team, that’s a nice pickup by Calgary.

Onto the games!

WEEK 17 RECAPS

Calgary 20 vs. Montreal 38: The Als finally got Davis Alexander back healthy for the first time in ten weeks, and he paid immediate dividends for their offence after we saw them floundering for much of his long absence. With their starting QB back in action at last, he set a career high for passing yards, with 350, and tossed a TD as well. More importantly, his steady presence led to three more TD drives which were all QB sneaks by backup Shea Patterson. With the win, Alexander now holds the CFL record for consecutive wins to start a CFL career, holding a perfect 9-0 career record as a QB1. The Stamps just simply could not keep pace nor find ways of closing out drives effective, and one can only imagine that they are now very worried with Winnipeg and BC now just half a game back of them…

PICK: Montreal

RESULT: Montreal

Toronto 22 vs. BC 27: Not a great night for the Argos. Lirim Hajrullahu kicked five field goals, but there wasn’t a ton of offence coming as the Lions’ D continued their recent string of much-improved play, and limited Toronto to just 28 rushing yards on the night. While Nathan Rourke had a bad first half for the Leos with an uncharacteristic three interceptions, he rebounded in the second half with a pair of rushing scores and a TD pass to Justin McInnis. A bit sloppy, but BC have played themselves back into contention to host a playoff game this season; with how we’ve seen their offence perform at its best, likely nobody feels good at the prospect of having to play them in the post-season right now.

PICK: BC

RESULT: BC

Hamilton 3 vs. Winnipeg 40: No sugar-coating this one: the Tiger-Cats absolutely stunk. It was by far their worst game of the year. With Zach Collaros back healthy for the Bombers, they managed to balance their attack well; he had a season-high 367 passing yards and a TD to Dillon Mitchell, while RB Brady Oliveira had 15 carries for 98 yards and Chris Streveler scored three rushing TDs. The Tabbies, meanwhile, had next to nothing all game long – and yet, thanks to the Lions’ win over the Argos, Hamilton still ended up clinching a playoff spot anyways – the first team in the East Division to do so this season. Task failed successfully?

PICK: Hamilton

RESULT: Winnipeg

Saskatchewan 25 vs. Edmonton 27: Trevor Harris did not have a great game for Saskatchewan, throwing two interceptions, which ultimately made this a very interesting, back-and-forth contest with a lot of lead changes. The Elks, despite being down by several games in the West playoff race, kept their hopes alive for another week after preventing a furious Roughrider comeback in the dying seconds of the game. The Riders scored a late TD on a QB sneak by Tommy Stevens to trail by two, but the Elks’ D stood strong to prevent the two-point conversion and sealed the win for Edmonton at home, in an emotional game following the sudden passing of team owner Larry Thompson.

PICK: Saskatchewan

RESULT: Edmonton

BYE: Ottawa (4-10)

WEEK 18 PREVIEWS

Saskatchewan (10-4) vs. Ottawa (4-10), Friday, October 3rd, 7:30 PM EDT (TSN, CFL+): The REDBLACKS are somehow not yet out of the playoff picture, mathematically speaking, but after their horrendous showing two weeks ago, the season is really over for them. With key defensive piece Lorenzo Mauldin off to Calgary, there may be a sell-off of assets coming soon. Hard not to imagine full-scale change coming soon to the franchise in light of another brutal season – their fifth in six years. I said last year that HC Bob Dyce should’ve been let go as he wasn’t the man to get the job done – however, with the league’s salary cap for coaches also still in place, it’s possible the front office would’ve been in a financial pickle in letting him go early on his deal. But that still doesn’t change my opinion. The Riders still need a couple more wins to try and clinch the division – despite their cushion, the West is not yet won.

PICK: Saskatchewan

Hamilton (9-6) vs. Toronto (5-10), Saturday, October 4th, 3:00 PM EDT (TSN, CTV, CFL+): The Tiger-Cats were brutal last week – truthfully I was surprised. I wouldn’t expect another game like that from them soon – especially with their offence still healthy at this stage of the season. Hamilton remains the divisional favourite right now but with Montreal now looking healthy, and only sitting one game, their work on wrapping up the East is still far from over. With the Als on a bye, this is the chance to try and build up that cushion a little further. Toronto is also not technically out of the playoff race yet, but with the crossover rules in play they are going to need a lot of things to go right to make the postseason this year – as it currently stands, one of either Winnipeg or BC would claim a crossover playoff berth to the East, and both hold a three-game cushion on the Argos right now.

PICK: Hamilton

Calgary (8-6) vs. BC (8-7), Saturday, October 4th, 7:00 PM EDT (TSN, CFL+): The Stamps are reeling right now – some defensive reinforcements are needed. That’s the hope with their trade for Lorenzo Mauldin late last week, anyhow. The Lions are on a three-game win streak and playing ok-to-good football right now – but most notably, their defence has finally seemed to be figuring things out at last. That has been their Achilles heel up to Labour Day; if they can keep that stable, they’ll have the chance to leapfrog these Stamps for the second spot in the West and the right to host a home playoff game. Between these two teams and Winnipeg sitting right there, we’re down to a fascinating finish in the West over these next few weeks.

PICK: BC

BYE: Edmonton (6-9) Montreal (8-7), Winnipeg (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 – 4406
2. Arbuckle, TOR – 4370
3. Rourke, BC – 4170

Passing TDs

1. Mitchell, HAM – 28
2. Arbuckle, TOR – 26
3. Rourke, BC – 23

Rushing Yards

1. Butler, BC – 1061
2. Ouellette, SSK – 1047
3. Mills, CGY – 1035

Receiving Yards

1. Hatcher, BC – 1404
2. Lawler, HAM – 1224
3. Johnson, SSK – 1088

Defensive Tackles

1. Awe, BC – 106
2. Jones, WPG – 91
3. Sankey, MTL – 81

Sacks

1. Betts, BC – 13
2. Adeyemi-Berglund, MTL – 11
3. Hicks, CGY – 7

Interceptions

1. Campbell, SSK  – 6
2. Peters, HAM – 5
3. McFadden, TOR – 5

Field Goals

1. Maltos Diaz, MTL – 46
2. Hajrullahu, TOR – 46
3. Liegghio, HAM – 40

PICK POOL

No perfect weeks, but a few good ones. Congrats to GA Russell and Game Time Decision as the only two people in the pool who picked Edmonton to win last week. Nice job going against consensus there.

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

Enjoy the games, everyone.