Ferguson: Top 10 games of 2024

Preseason, regular season, playoffs. Typically four games a week during the 21-week marathon and endless highlights throughout. Go ahead, pick ten games.

Not easy right? The beauty of that fact is we got so many awesome matchups and drama filled outcomes in 2024, but parsing it down to just a handful of memorable moments is an interesting proposition. Do you go with a game defined by a play, the way the game impacted the season or just the most blindly entertaining football that was played? In all honesty, my list has a bit of it all. A fitting way to celebrate a wild season.

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10. WEEK 1 – TORONTO 35, BC 27

Cameron Dukes stepped in for the suspended Chad Kelly and found a way. I chose this game because I love full circle storylines, and 24-weeks later Nick Arbuckle would have to do the exact same thing for Toronto to win the 111th Grey Cup. The football was good, Vernon Adams Jr. had a significantly better trip to Toronto than he did in 2023 with the Lions and Argos fans started to believe they could stay competitive despite missing their originally planned starting quarterback.

9. WEEK 3 – MONTREAL 47, OTTAWA 21

Okay, it was a blowout, but you can’t tell the story of the 2024 regular season without noting a dominant early year performance from Cody Fajardo and the Alouettes offence who hit the ground running after their 110th Grey Cup win last year and set off fireworks up and down the field in this message sending victory over a competitive Ottawa squad.

8. WEEK 18 – WINNIPEG 31, HAMILTON 10

Another blowout?! C’mon man! Hear me out, both teams came in on win streaks and this was a good old fashioned ‘who’s who’ game. Was Hamilton actually going to reach back into the playoff picture despite an abysmal start or was Winnipeg going to show they were a true contender with a tough road win? 24 carries and 147 yards later, Brady Oliveira and the Bombers set the record straight.

7. WEEK 13 – HAMILTON 31, TORONTO 28

Labour Day in the Hammer this year was glorious. The weather, the environment and the game itself all delivered an epic day of great Canadian Football. I am biased since it was my first time on the mic for the Hamilton holiday, but the game holds up and lives long in the memory thanks to Bo Levi Mitchell coming to life in a way that invigorated his whole second half in what should have been an MOP winning campaign.

6. WEEK 6 – OTTAWA 37, EDMONTON 34

Dru Brown threw for 480 yards, yes you read that right. On the other side McLeod Bethel-Thompson went for 272 yards and a pair of touchdowns as two teams who have struggled for scoring over the last few years put on a display of up and down the field entertainment.

5. WEEK 14 – WINNIPEG 26, SASKATCHEWAN 21

The ‘which rivalry is best’ debate will never get old, but there’s no denying Winnipeg and Saskatchewan’s tandem of late summer duels are a uniquely Canadian and entertaining brand of football. Winnipeg took this rematch without any massive individual performances. Just a collective effort to set the tone for the same two teams playing in the Western Final a few months later.

4. WEEK 10 – SASKATCHEWAN 22, OTTAWA 22

Ahh yes, the game that was over, that wasn’t over, that resulted in a tie. In a year full of crazy, chaotic and entertaining finishes this has to be near the top of everyone’s list as we all yelled at the television together trying to figure out what was happening as Rod Smith and Duane Forde had to figure it out live.

3. WEEK 21 – WINNIPEG 28, MONTREAL 27

The day Winnipeg ‘Wind’ the West. I’ll never forget that wind coming out of oblivion to change the outcome. An iconic ending to a great game if there ever was one. I love weather influenced games, this might be the greatest single snap example of that I’ll ever call.

2. WEEK 19 – TORONTO 14, WINNIPEG 11

Low scoring, offences sputtering at times, but man did this ever feel like playoff football a few weeks early as Toronto went to Winnipeg and took down the team they’d conquer for a championship a few weeks later. The Grey Cup isn’t on this list despite being wildly entertaining and having great storylines. This game took its place as the closer affair that in hindsight feels like we should have called a Grey Cup preview more clearly.

1. EASTERN FINAL – TORONTO 30, MONTREAL 28

The revenge game, the injury drama, defensive touchdowns, close score, Grey Cup dreams on the line with huge off-season quarterback implications. This game had it all and really set the tone for Toronto’s Grey Cup victory a week later.