We made it! The playoffs are here! It’s one of my favourite times of year for football; one of the only things that I don’t like about the tweaks to the new CFL playoff scheduling is that I can’t keep dual-screening NFL RedZone and the Canadian playoff games like in years previous. As the league is playing Saturday playoff games for the first time in a long time, I must now instead dual-screen US JV ball and the CFL. What a burden, truly. Such a trial, my life is.

In league news this week:

• The CFL continues to add musical talent to Grey Cup Week; late last week, the league announced that Shaggy would be the feature performer on CFL Awards night at Niagara’s Fallsview Casino, on the night of Thursday, November 16th, ahead of the league championship game on the 19th. TSN host Kate Beirness will co-host the show with Crave TV’s Letterkenny actor K. Trevor Wilson… better known to most as Squirrelly Dan.
• Ottawa REDBLACKS GM Shawn Burke will return to his job for 2024, and according to a number of reports, so will head coach Bob Dyce. As for the coordinators, most notably OC Khari Jones… we’ll just have to wait and see. Change needs to happen badly for this team. Attendance is in freefall due to no playoff appearances in four years, and with just four wins on the season, tying last year’s record, this is a franchise facing desperate times. The offence was not brutal this year, particularly compared with last year’s team, but bad playcalling absolutely sunk this team, and so many games that finished super close could easily have gone another way if the team was willing to gamble a little bit more.
• According to another study from Sport Tourism Canada, the Touchdown Atlantic game in Halifax, NS between Saskatchewan and Toronto likely generated $10 million in local revenue for businesses in the provincial capital. Last year’s similar study indicated over $12 million in revenue; stripped of context, these are all admirable numbers, but they still don’t answer the complete question of whether or not an Atlantic team would be able to generate similar figures for an entire season of football; it also doesn’t address the glaring infrastructure issues that continue to hamper any prospective CFL expansion eastward. It is interesting to note, however, that the crowd was made up of over 70% locals – up almost 10% from the 2022 edition in Wolfville, NS. The league is desperate to make it from ocean to ocean… but apparently not desperate enough to spend any private money to do so.
• Thanks to increased ticket demand, the BC Lions will open the upper bowl of BC Place for the West Semifinal matchup against Calgary; I’ve been extremely impressed with the continued work that owner Amar Doman has put in to rebuilding the Lions brand in the Lower Mainland area, and I’m extremely glad to see both the on- and off-field portions of the business doing well.
• The CFL announced the finalists for their end of year awards yesterday:
  • Most Outstanding Player: RB Brady Oliveira (WPG); QB Chad Kelly (TOR)
  • Most Outstanding Defensive Player: DE Mathieu Betts (BC): LB Adarius Pickett (TOR)
  • Most Outstanding Canadian: RB Brady Oliveira (WPG); DB Marc-Antoine Dequoy (MTL)
  • Most Outstanding Lineman: OL Jermarcus Hardrick (WPG); OL Dejon Allen (TOR)
  • Most Outstanding Special Teams Player: K Sean Whyte (BC); KR Javon Leake (TOR)
  • Most Outstanding Rookie: DB Kai Grey (EDM); DB Qwan’Tez Stiggers (TOR)
  • Coach of the Year: Mike O’Shea (WPG); Ryan Dinwiddie (TOR)

Onto the games!

WEEK 21 RECAPS

Winnipeg 36 vs. Calgary 13: After last week’s heroics of beating the Lions and clinching a playoff spot when Saskatchewan lost a day later, I suppose it might be a bit understandable for the Stamps to come out a little flat against the Bombers. At the same time, though, you’d think they’d want to keep the momentum going as they head into the postseason; the offence had a quiet night overall. Winnipeg’s Brady Oliveira, a hometown boy, claimed the league rushing title and went over 2000 total yards on the season – what a regular season he had this year. LB Micah Awe had 13 tackles for Calgary to finish the year with 134, breaking the previous franchise record of 128 set in 2018 by LB Alex Singleton, now with the Denver Broncos.

PICK: Winnipeg

RESULT: Winnipeg

Hamilton 20 vs. Montreal 22: Don’t look now, but Montreal just had its best season since 2012, when the legendary Anthony Calvillo was still quarterbacking the Alouettes. It’s the first time in eleven years that the Als won 11 games; what’s even more curious is Montreal’s overall regular-season record. The team went a combined 0-7 against Toronto, Winnipeg, and BC, but a perfect 11-0 against every other CFL franchise. I don’t know if I’ve ever seen that before. In a preview of Saturday’s game, the Als didn’t look incredible on offence but still managed to get the job done. Bo Levi Mitchell still had his playing time limited to half the game as he gets geared up and ready for the playoffs, but he really didn’t look great all the same; neither did rookie Taylor Powell. With a rematch happening so soon, this was a mostly forgettable game – I expect the East semifinal to be a lot more engaging.

PICK: Montreal

RESULT: Montreal

Toronto 27 vs. Ottawa 22: In 150 years of Toronto Argonauts, there has never been a team as good as this 2023 edition. Even the famed ’96 and ’97 Argos, who won back-to-back Grey Cups with Doug Flutie under centre, won 15 games… to win 16 is an absolutely phenomenal. Their 16-2 record ties the 1989 Edmonton team as the best in Canadian football history. Even with most of their starters pulled, they still got the job done; once again, the REDBLACKS finish outside the playoff picture. At least two bright spots for Ottawa this year were receiver Justin Hardy, who cracked the 1000 yards receiving mark for the first time in his CFL career, as well as RB Devonte Williams, who cracked 1000 yards rushing just in the last few moments of the game. The rebuild starts anew once again in the nation’s capital.

PICK: Toronto

RESULT: Toronto

BYE: BC (12-6), Edmonton (4-14), Saskatchewan (6-12)

DIVISION SEMIFINAL PREVIEWS

EAST DIVISION SEMIFINAL

(3) Hamilton (8-10) vs. (2) Montreal (11-7), Saturday, November 4th, 3:00 PM EDT (TSN, CFL+): It’s a much higher stakes rematch of last weekend’s game – both teams will be ramping it up significantly from the meaninglessness of Week 21. This is the second straight year where the Tiger-Cats and Alouettes have met in the East semi – and the second straight year that the Als have hosted. Montreal’s had Hamilton’s number all season long – if the Tiger-Cats want to pull off a series of increasingly impressive upsets in order to win their first Grey Cup since 1999, they’ll have to start here in Montreal by making sure they put pressure on the Als’ O-line… to Montreal’s credit, their pass blocking has improved tremendously over the final few games of the season. Also, Bo Levi Mitchell will need to make some deep throws – but I am genuinely unsure if his arm is still able to do that anymore. However, considering the expectations that the Tabbies placed on their major free agent acquisition, they’ll have no choice but to start him and hope he can regain his playoff form from 2018. That may, unfortunately, be too much to ask at this stage in his career.

PICK: Montreal

WEST DIVISION SEMIFINAL

(3) Calgary (6-12) vs. (2) BC (12-6), Saturday, November 4th, 6:30 PM EDT (TSN, CFL+): No doubt the Lions are a good team, but their loss in their last game of the year back in Week 20 to these same Stamps – at home, nonetheless – is enough to give me pause. When they’re on, they can absolutely be world beaters. I think back to their first matchup of the year against the Bombers, where the D absolutely shut down the league’s top offensive unit. I unfortunately also think of the game against Toronto the week after where Vernon Adams, Jr. threw six interceptions. BC has shown to me they’re absolutely a better team than Calgary – but if they’re going to show they can take the next step and make it past Winnipeg, it starts not only with winning this first matchup but also with playing consistent football. I hope the Stamps can figure out how to run the ball against BC again. They seem to have success with it – it should be the key part of their offensive identity in the post-season, in my personal opinion.

PICK: BC

BYE: (1) Toronto (16-2), (1) Winnipeg (14-4)

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. Adams, Jr., BC – 4769
2. Collaros, WPG – 4252
3. Maier, CGY – 4231

Passing TDs

1. Collaros, WPG – 33
2. Adams, Jr., BC – 31
3. Kelly, TOR – 23

Rushing Yards

1. Oliveira, WPG – 1534
2. Brown, EDM – 1141
3. Butler, HAM – 1116

Receiving Yards

1. White, HAM – 1269
2. Hatcher, BC – 1226
3. Schoen, WPG – 1222

Defensive Tackles

1. Awe, CGY – 140
2. Pickett, TOR – 125
3. Beverette, MTL – 109

Sacks

1. Betts, BC – 18
2. Carter, OTT – 12
3. Ceresna, EDM – 12

Interceptions

1. Houston, WPG – 7
2. Dandridge, OTT – 5
3. Judge, CGY – 5

Field Goals

1. Paredes, CGY – 52
2. Whyte, BC – 50
3. Castillo, WPG – 41

PICK POOL

Well, it’s true what they say – when you’re organized and you make a plan, good things happen. It’s the first time since the inaugural CFL Beat season of 2016 where I finally remembered to enter all of my picks for the whole year – and the results came through with a big second place finish for me. I plan to celebrate being the biggest loser with a near beer. BC Dick, naturally, is the only one who gets to enjoy any of the actual spoils of victory.

Thanks to all who played this year – this was the biggest field yet and I look forward to the regular updates on this competition in 2024.

Enjoy the games, everyone.