AMSOIL Power Rankings: Who’s playoff-ready?

TORONTO — We head into the final week of the regular season with the West Division’s top team yet to be settled.

In the CFL.ca Power Rankings presented by AMSOIL, that team is the Winnipeg Blue Bombers. Going into Week 21, they have the West’s best record and took the season series over the second-ranked Saskatchewan Roughriders.

While those two don’t face each other this week, they will slug it out for a first-place finish. The Bombers are in Montreal on Saturday afternoon for a rematch of the 110th Grey Cup and need a tie or a win to lock up the West. The Riders play Saturday evening and host the Calgary Stampeders. You can bet that the Riders’ pre-game routine will have screens added to it, so they can see what’s happening in Montreal.

In our final rankings of the season, you’ll see that the Toronto Argonauts continue their climb. They won their third straight last weekend, despite a big fourth quarter push from the Ottawa REDBLACKS. Still, the Argos have been playing their best football at the right time of the year and have made their way back into the top-three for the first time since Week 4 of the season. That move comes at the expense of the Alouettes, who were thumped by the BC Lions, as head coach Rick Campbell’s team wrapped up its regular season play and readies for next Saturday’s Western Semi-Final, wherever it might be.

Let’s get into this week’s rankings.

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1. Winnipeg Blue Bombers (10-7)

Last Week: 1
Last Game: 14-11 loss to Toronto (Week 19)
Next game: At Montreal, Sat. Oct. 26

Worth noting: The Bombers have one foot in familiar territory and one about to step into something quite foreign to them. The familiar: they’re atop these rankings in late October with a home playoff game secured. The unfamiliar: They need a win or tie in Week 21 to secure what would be their fourth consecutive first-place finish in the West Division. Resting veterans and safely steering your roster through that last date on the regular season schedule isn’t an option this year. As much as the Bombers tapped into their old, dominant, win-heavy ways in the final half of the season, the situation they’re in this week is a brief reminder of everything they’ve had to overcome this year, starting 0-4 and sitting at 2-6 before running off eight wins in a row. A first place finish would be a very impressive feat for this group this year.

2. Saskatchewan Roughriders (9-7-1)

Last Week: 2
Last Game: 39-8 win over BC (Week 19)
Next game: Vs. Calgary, Sat. Oct. 26

Worth noting: There might always be difficulties in this scenario, given what happened 15 years ago this November but for one day — no, just one afternoon — Rider Nation will be cheering for the Montreal Alouettes. An Als win over the Bombers on Saturday afternoon would open the door for the Riders to make a last-minute move into the top of the West Division standings. A Bombers loss plus a Riders win over the visiting Calgary Stampeders would equal the Riders’ finishing in first place for the first time since the 2019 season. If you’re a Riders fan, there’s no better place to be than Mosaic Stadium on Saturday night for what could be a very high stakes game.

3. Toronto Argonauts (10-7)

Last Week: 4
Last Game: 38-31 win over Ottawa
Next game: At Edmonton, Fri. Oct. 25

Worth noting: It feels like we’ve been saying it for the last few weeks now, but the Argos seem to be hitting their stride at just the right time. This week it was the offence’s time to shine, as it found the end zone its first four trips onto the field. Of course, the fourth quarter serves as a tiny asterisk next to this win. Giving up 25 points and watching a 32-point lead get steadily eaten up over a 15-minute span is concerning. Big picture though, the Argos have now won three in a row and four of their last five games. That strong play down the stretch of this season has allowed them to claim home field in the Eastern Semi-Final next week.

4. Montreal Alouettes (12-4-1)

Last Week: 3
Last Game: 27-3 loss to BC
Next Game: Vs. Winnipeg, Sat. Oct. 26

Worth noting: The Als are facing some of the challenges that the Argos did a year ago. Having locked up the East Division so early, the Als haven’t played at that same level they showed through the first 12 weeks of the season, where they amassed a 10-1 record. Since the bye that followed them hitting 10-1, the Als have gone 2-3-1. The focus is on having this team completely ready and keyed in for the Eastern Final on Nov. 9, however, last week’s loss to the Lions was a lopsided one. Will we see Cody Fajardo, Walter Fletcher or Austin Mack on Saturday? The Als will sit idle after this week, watching the Argos and Ottawa REDBLACKS slug it out in the Eastern Semi-Final. Ending the season on a strong note could make a difference for them, as they’ll have their season on the line in two weeks’ time when they step back onto the turf at Percival Molson Stadium.

5. Hamilton Tiger-Cats (7-10)

Last Week: 5
Last game: 42-20 win over Calgary
Next game: At Ottawa, Fri. Oct. 25

Worth noting: The rest of the playoff-bound teams might be relieved that there isn’t a play-in option in the CFL. The Ticats have won five of their last six and are coming off of a huge Bo Levi Mitchell performance that saw them dismantle Mitchell’s former team, the Calgary Stampeders. If the Ticats can go into TD Place on Saturday and win — which has been no easy feat for visitors this year — they would become the first eight-win team to miss the playoffs since the Argos did it in 2014.

6. BC Lions (9-9)

Last Week: 7
Last Game: 27-3 win over Montreal
Next game: Western Semi-Final, location TBD

Worth noting: The Lions got the spark they were looking for from Vernon Adams Jr. in a much-needed win over the Alouettes. While the win doesn’t improve their playoff standing — they’re traipsing through the prairies for any kind of playoff run this year — it should provide a big morale boost for a team that has been sliding for the last couple of months. The Lions also have the fortune of getting the Week 21 bye, so they’ve ended their regular season on a high note, seem to have clarity at the QB position for the Western Semi-Final and get to rest up a week before they head to either Regina or Winnipeg for next Saturday’s game.

7. Ottawa REDBLACKS (8-8-1)

Last Week: 8
Last Game: 38-31 loss to Toronto 
Next game: Vs. Hamilton, Fri. Oct. 25

Worth noting: The REDBLACKS have dropped five in a row now and have just one game remaining — at home on Friday against the Ticats — to get above .500 on the season and to head into the playoffs with some positive momentum. We’ll wonder this week about their pants-on-fire fourth quarter against the Argos and if that might be something to build on. Despite being soundly handled for three quarters of their playoff preview matchup at BMO Field, the REDBLACKS got plenty of positives to build off of in all three phases of the game. We can’t go any further without giving some love to Lewis Ward, who sent a perfect amount of chaos into the late stages of the game with back-to-back successful onside kicks. The REDBLACKS will hope that this week at TD Place —  where they’re 6-1-1 — onside kicks won’t have to factor into their attempts at getting a win.