Mark Masters
CFL.ca
Want to know how the final week of the Canadian Football League season is going to play out? You came to the right spot.
Since Week #10 this space has been projecting the playoff seeding in the CFL and this week it’s time to make some final, bold predictions. This is your guide to 19th and final week of the regular season.
Buckle up …
FRIDAY – ESKIMOS AT LIONS (10:30 PM ET)
To make the playoffs the Edmonton Eskimos will have to do something they have not done since September 20: beat a team not named the Toronto Argonauts. It was way back in Week 12 that the Eskimos defeated the Saskatchewan Roughriders 31-27 and looked poise to make a push for the West Division crown.
To say the Eskimos have struggled since is a gross understatement … like saying Chris Pronger is sort of unpopular in the City of Champions.
Casey Printers will start for the Lions and will continue his renaissance. Up until a few weeks ago Printers was destined to be a mirage in the CFL. A man who never lived up to his star billing. In professional sports opportunities for redemption come around only so often.
You get the sense Printers feels this may be his chance to set the record straight.
The Lions opened the season 1-4 and BC’s only win in the season’s first five weeks came against the Eskimos. Under the steady hand of Wally Buono the club has gone 7-5 since that shaky start.
PICK: Lions win and improve to 9-9 finishing third in the West Division. The Eskimos lose, fall to 8-10, and pray for a Hamilton Tiger-Cats victory on Sunday.
SATURDAY – ALOUETTES AT ARGOS (1 PM ET), STAMPEDERS AT ROUGHRIDERS (7 PM ET)
With still only three wins it remains unclear if the Toronto Argonauts have done enough to finish ahead of the Toronto Maple Leafs in the 2009 Toronto Sports Hall of Shame. The Leafs have two games this week before the Argos take the field in their season finale so the hockey club could pull into a tie with the Argos for wins by kickoff Saturday.
It likely won’t matter … The Montreal Alouettes will handily defeat the Toronto Argonauts in front of a subdued Rogers Centre crowd. The Alouettes will rest most of their starters and enter their bye week the overwhelming favourites to represent the East Division in the Grey Cup.
PICK: The number of fans in the stands will equal the number of off-season questions facing the Argos.
The Argos-Als tilt will serve as little more than a pallet cleanser for CFL fans eager to see how the West will be won.
The flu-ravaged Saskatchewan Roughriders are coming off an embarrassing throttling at the hands of the Ticats. Darian Durant looked especially shaky in Hamilton throwing for only 66 yards on eight completions. But this is a team that seems to respond well to adversity.
The Calgary Stampeders have yet to beat the Riders this season and are making their first trip to Regina. The defending champions know how to win in tough places proving that in BC last week.
This game is going to be close, but you just get a feeling the Roughriders have Calgary’s number this season. Even when they had the chance the Stampeders could not put away the Roughriders at home in Week 16.
PICK: Durant and the Riders pull themselves off the mat one more time to beat the Stampeders to win the West Division for the first time since 1976. The Stampeders finish second and host the Lions in the West semifinal.
SUNDAY – TIGER-CATS AT BOMBERS (1 PM ET)
The Ticats will have already clinched a playoff date by kickoff on Sunday afternoon, but will need at least a tie to secure a home playoff game.
For the Winnipeg Blue Bombers a win will not just get them in the CFL post-season, but will also secure them home-field advantage in the East semifinal.
Almost as interesting as the playoff race is the return of Ticats pivot Kevin Glenn to Winnipeg. The veteran quarterback will have the chance to eliminate his former team, but it is his Bombers counterpart who may determine the game’s outcome.
Michael Bishop is the main reason the Bombers are in this position. He takes pressure off Fred Reid in the Bombers backfield and forces opposing defences to respect the deep ball.
The Bombers are the team needing a win to make the playoffs. Buoyed by their fans and a sense of urgency Winnipeg will be able to do enough.
PICK: Bombers win and finish 8-10 good enough for second in the East. The Ticats finish third and return to Winnipeg for a playoff game the next week. The Eskimos find themselves on the outside looking in.
THE DUST SETTLES
So there it is: one look at how the final week of the CFL season will play out. But let’s be honest, this season has been about as predictable as a Mike Kelly interview.
TWEETS OF THE WEEK
Hamilton fans enjoyed their team’s win on Saturday afternoon. A lot of fans wore costumes to the Halloween-day game, even a member of general manager Bob O’Billovich’s family.
@TicatsPR Some great, great costumes in the crowd, but Obie’s grandson as Elvis has been the best. (Oct. 31)
O’Billovich’s grandson may have dressed up like Elvis Presley, but it’s the Ticats GM who will be known as the King in Hamilton should his team make the playoffs.
Argos super fan Lori Bursey joked that the costume-clad people were not confined to the stands in Ivor Wynne Stadium.
@ArgoDiva It appears the Argos are dressed for Halloween as the Riders (Oct. 31)
Saskatchewan wasn’t that bad, were they? The Roughriders had an excuse for their poor play. The flu bug is making its way through their locker room meaning it is not a popular place to be even for members of the media, like the National Post’s Sean Fitz-Gerald.
@SeanFitz_Gerald Did not go into the Riders dressing room after the game. Not a big fan of the flu, and they have a lot of it. Am I a bad person? Nah. (Oct. 31)
Meanwhile, Jamie Cartmell, the Lions director of communications, laments the inconsistent play of the Roughriders.
@SweetJimmyC On the way down to the stadium soon … just watching Sask and Hamilton at the office … why can’t the ‘Riders ever play like that against us? (Oct. 31)
It’s safe to say Riders fans are probably just as frustrated.
Finally, for receiver Andre Talbot and the Argonauts the end of the season cannot come soon enough.
@AndreTalbot I’m awake but the nightmare continues … (Oct. 31)
The nightmare will end for Toronto this week, but Grey Cup dreams are in the heads of most CFL players this week.
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