The Canadian Press
Depending on how you looked at Week 17 of the CFL season, the West Division playoff picture became a whole lot clearer or got a whole lot murkier. I prefer the latter because, well, chaos is fun. With the way the final four weeks of the season shape up, a chaotic finish might be putting it lightly.
Let’s start with the stuff that got a little more finite. The Calgary Stampeders are very much in the driver’s seat for a third straight division title. The Stamps control their own destiny and could have the West locked up as early as this weekend, depending on how things play out.
Any combination of Calgary wins or Saskatchewan losses totaling two will give the former a berth in the Western Final. So, if the Stampeders take care of business at home to BC on Saturday night, and if the Riders fall that same afternoon in Winnipeg, top spot will be put to bed. And, regardless of what happens this weekend for either team, Calgary can guarantee top spot with a win at home to Sask in Week 19.
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Of course, the door is still open for the Riders, albeit a slim one. Realistically, they’re playing to lock up second in the West and, thus, a home playoff date. But, a win over the Bombers and a Stamps slip up to the Lions would make that aforementioned head-to-head showdown pretty darn interesting.
For sake of reference, Saskatchewan is in a similar spot as Calgary: any combo of Roughriders wins or Lions, Bombers, and Eskimos losses totaling two will clinch them second in the division. Sask may not control their first place fate, but their playoff destiny is very much in hand.
It’s the bottom three spots in the division where things get most interesting, though, and it might come as a surprise which team I peg as in the best spot. Despite losing three straight games, and five of their last six, that team is Edmonton. They might currently sit last in the West, but they have the biggest opportunity to inflict damage down the stretch.
Of the three teams in question, the Esks have something Winnipeg and BC don’t: a head-to-head matchup with the two other teams in the fight. Edmonton closes out the season with a road game against the Lions and a Week 21 showdown at Commonwealth against the Blue Bombers. That’s a huge opportunity.
You have to think the Eskimos will get things back on track, especially on the offensive side of the ball. Once thought to be the most potent attack in the league, Edmonton has averaged just 10 points in these last three losses; they’re averaging less than 15 in their last five losses.
Winnipeg’s schedule is difficult with just three games remaining. The Bombers have two home games against Saskatchewan and Calgary before finishing on the road against the Eskimos. The biggest trump card for Winnipeg is their record, as they’re the only team in this three-way fight with eight wins.
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» Friday, 7:30 p.m. ET: Hamilton at Ottawa
» Saturday, 2:00 p.m. ET: Saskatchewan at Winnipeg
» Saturday, 5:00 p.m. ET: Ottawa at Edmonton
» Saturday, 8:00 p.m. ET: BC at Calgary
BC, on the other hand, is the only team of the trio with four games remaining, which could work to their advantage. The Lions play home games against Calgary and Edmonton and hit the road to take on the Riders and Stamps. The scariest part for BC is their road record; while they sit 6-1 at BC Place, the Lions are just 1-6 away from home, which is not a promising trend at this time of year.
The best part of all of this is we get to see this all play out on the field. There are five West Division teams fighting for four playoff spots and realistically, three teams battling it out for two berths. With how the schedules shape up, it would be a shock, and somewhat disappointing, if this didn’t come down to Week 21’s final game.
Dual payoff
The Hamilton Tiger-Cats made two huge decisions midway through the 2017 season. Now, more than a year later, the Ticats have concrete evidence those moves paid off. Thanks to Calgary’s 12-6 win over Montreal on Monday afternoon, Hamilton is going back to the playoffs. That wouldn’t be the case if not for those two gutsy calls.
On Aug. 24 of last season, then head coach and VP of Football Operations Kent Austin relinquished the first of his titles to June Jones. Then, five days later, Jones made his first important decision as head coach: replacing Zach Collaros with Jeremiah Masoli at quarterback.
I gave Austin credit at the time, and I still do today, despite him distancing himself from the organization in April. Austin was the top of the football mountain with the Tiger-Cats, yet still had the awareness to bring in Jones as an assistant early in the 2017 season and then hand the reins to him when it was clear things weren’t on track.
When Jones took over, Hamilton was in disarray. Not only were they 0-8, but the Ticats were allowing nearly 40 points against per game and had finished within a possession on only two occasions. The team looked unsalvageable and 2017 seemed to be a complete write-off.
Jeremiah Masoli and June Jones have officially gotten the Ticats back in the playoffs (Adam Gagnon/CFL.ca)
With no disrespect meant to Austin, Jones was a breath of fresh air. It was time for Austin and Hamilton to go their separate ways and Jones came in with a different approach, both on and off the field.
While already slowly being implemented, Jones put his “run and shoot” offence into play and it paid off. The Tiger-Cats were averaging just over 17 points per game during their 0-8 start; that number skyrocketed to 29.5 as they finished the season 6-4.
In one sense, Jones was fortunate to have Masoli in the fold. Going back to his high school days in Hawaii, Masoli was familiar with the run and shoot and was a pretty natural fit. In saying that, making the switch wasn’t a simple call.
Zach Collaros had been the incumbent in Hamilton since 2014, had led them to a Grey Cup appearance less than three years prior, and wasn’t that far removed from being considered one of the league’s elite pivots. Benching him wasn’t an easy call.
Fast forward to where we are now and think about where the Ticats would be had Jones and Masoli not taken such prominent roles. Hamilton boasts a top three scoring offence while Masoli is a prime candidate for the East Division’s Most Outstanding Player nod.
Hamilton has four games remaining in 2018 and, thanks to Ottawa’s loss to Winnipeg over the weekend, still has a decent shot at locking up first in the division. With two games remaining against the REDBLACKS, the Tiger-Cats still have everything to play for with a home playoff date to fall back on.
We might not have known it at the time, but those two decisions made in August 2017 are the biggest reason why.
Insanity, Ward
I don’t know if what Lewis Ward is doing in Ottawa has truly sunk in for most CFL fans. I know the REDBLACKS lost an overtime heartbreaker to Winnipeg on Friday night, but Ward still put himself into the record books with his 40th consecutive field goal. But let’s put a little context into this conversation.
Not only is what Ward doing record setting, it’s also unheard of for a rookie. The prior rookie was set back in 2006 when Saskatchewan’s Luca Congi nailed 21 straight. Ward has almost doubled that total 12 years later! The guy hasn’t missed a field goal since Week 1!
Here’s the best part: eight other CFL teams are wondering how they missed this guy. After his fourth year with the Ottawa Gee-Gees, Ward was passed over in the 2017 CFL Draft and elected to return for a fifth year of eligibility. He signed as a free agent this January and won his spot in training camp, and the REDBLACKS must be feeling pretty lucky.
It’s a pretty cool story when you think about it. Ward grew up in Kingston, Ont., about two hours from Ottawa, and played five years of college football in our nation’s capital. To think he’s starring professionally in the same city, where he once hit 89 consecutive field goals with the Gee-Gees, is pretty crazy to wrap your head around.
