OK Tire Labour Day Weekend has come and gone. The stretch is upon us and, my oh my, look at those standings.
The East? Two heavyweights at the top that might be headed for a slobberknocker or two and a final playoff spot that is not presently firmly gripped.
The West? Jigsaw puzzle pieces strewn about, with no clear picture emerging just yet.
With that in mind, here are five games I’ve circled on my CFL schedule as we head towards the playoffs.
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WEEK 16: MONTREAL AT OTTAWA, SATURDAY, SEPTEMBER 21
I’ve actually had this one on my mind since Week 8 when the REDBLACKS trounced the Calgary Stampeders by a score of 33-8 at Lansdowne Park.
Even then I was thinking ahead to this game, deciding that the REDBLACKS weren’t going anywhere and as I wrote in my “Takeaways” column that week: “Chainsaw’s gettin’ louder.”
If Montreal does what they’re favoured to do and they win in Calgary this weekend, as long as Ottawa beats the Tiger-Cats in Hamilton the REDBLACKS would go into next week’s game three points out of first, with a chance to really turn up the heat on the Alouettes with a win.
If Calgary happens to upset the Als, paired with an Ottawa win? Boy, howdy, that would make this game even tastier, with Ottawa actually having a chance to take over first place.
And if the Alouettes win and the REDBLACKS lose this week?
Well, heck, Ottawa still has lots to prove in this one, after being humbled by Montreal in Week 3, by a score of 47-21. Proving they belong will be inspiration enough for them and there might be more on the line than that.
WEEK 16: WINNIPEG AT EDMONTON, SATURDAY, SEPTEMBER 21
Tre Ford will return to action in Week 16 against the Winnipeg Blue Bombers (Timothy Atticus/CFL.ca)
Right after Montreal and Ottawa tangle, two of the hottest teams in the CFL meet up as our dessert item on this day and it should be so, so sweet for football fans.
Both the Winnipeg Blue Bombers and Edmonton Elks will be coming off a bye when they meet, so they’ll be rested and well-prepared to face one another.
The Blue Bombers know who they are. They’ve always known, even when in the midst of an oh-and-four start. Since then? 7-2 and first in the West.
The Elks – who shared the basement with Winnipeg in those early weeks of the season – are rising from the ashes of an oh-and-seven start, winners of five of their last six.
Through that stretch, Edmonton’s offence has pounded opposing defences, scoring 24 touchdowns in those six games, 12 by land, 12 by air.
Now that offence will tangle with one of the CFL’s stingiest defences. The Blue Bombers’ D has allowed the second-fewest points per game, the second-fewest touchdowns and the fewest passing yards.
And with Edmonton interim head coach Jarious Jackson declaring that Tre Ford will be the starting quarterback in this game, it means the young pivot will be firing passes into a secondary that includes his twin brother Tyrell, who just happens to share the league lead in interceptions (six) at the moment.
A li’l whipped cream on your dessert, there.
WEEK 18: SASKATCHEWAN AT EDMONTON, SATURDAY, OCTOBER 5
I don’t know yet exactly what we’ll have in the Saskatchewan Roughriders in this one, but I do know that this game will be absolutely crucial in sorting out the team’s fate in 2024.
Maybe the Riders come out of their bye with consecutive wins over Calgary (on the road) and then Ottawa (home), leaving the ghosts of a seven game winless streak far behind, I don’t know.
If so, then they will have keeping the Edmonton Elks at bay while targeting a home field playoff date at the expense of either BC or Winnipeg on their minds.
Or, they could be absolutely desperate to keep the potentially-third-place Elks from galloping out of sight, while giving side eye to a crossover playoff spot at the expense of the Toronto Argonauts.
Either way, big, big game here.
The Elks and Riders split their first two, this season, so this one looms large as a potential tie-breaker.
WEEK 20: MONTREAL AT BC, SATURDAY, OCTOBER 19
Tyrice Beverette has been having a sensational season and he and his Alouettes will be taking on the BC Lions in Week 20 (Peter McCabe/CFL.ca)
A Grey Cup preview? Yeah, maybe but let’s not be so sure about things we shouldn’t be so sure about. Especially with at least three other teams (Winnipeg, Ottawa and Edmonton), right now, looking like they have the potential to do what the Alouettes did last year and that is to be hot, hot, hot at precisely the right time.
This one looks like a beauty no matter what you think about early Grey Cup predictions, because it will naturally have the feel of a preview just a month before the big game, in the stadium where it will be played. That will be especially so should the Lions be sitting in first place in the division at the time.
Beyond that, though, we’ll see the Alouettes looking to do to the Lions what the Lions did unto them just a week ago, and that is win an important game against a formidable opponent in that opponent’s raucous stadium. Revenge!
This one will have everything that their Week 14 clash had, minus the air horns. Unless Lions’ owner Amar Doman is thinking about a game night giveaway….
WEEK 21: WINNIPEG AT MONTREAL, SATURDAY, OCTOBER 26
The Alouettes punched the Blue Bombers in the mouth pretty good in Week 1, right in Winnipeg. And they also punched the Blue Bombers in the mouth pretty good in last year’s Grey Cup game.
I think the Winnipeg Blue Bombers have had enough of the Alouettes punching them in the mouth.
I also believe the Montreal Alouettes would love nothing more than to plunk the Bombers on the ol’ pie hole once again.
This one won’t have the feel of a last week of the season, inter-divisional game, I don’t think, especially since I believe that the Blue Bombers will have something to play for outside of payback. The Als might have needs in this one, too, if Ottawa keeps chasing hard over the next few weeks.
AN HONOURABLE MENTION GAME, DEPENDING ON WHAT HAPPENS THIS WEEKEND
Should the BC Lions beat the visiting Toronto Argonauts on Friday night, and should the Hamilton Ticats knock off the visiting Ottawa REDBLACKS on Saturday afternoon, then the Ticats would be four points back of third-place Toronto in the East. That would imbue the Week 16 match-up between the Ticats and Argos at BMO Field with a certain something would it not?