CFL Week 11 Recap: Gaining Ground

The 2o22 Canadian Football League season has reached its midpoint: Week 11. Ten weeks preceded this, and ten weeks will follow. It's not quite late enough to talk playoffs, but it's not really early either. Week 11 featured an interesting schedule. For one, the Winnipeg Blue Bombers were idle. Secondly, the four games took place in two days; doubleheaders on Friday and Saturday.

The week began with a semi-meaningless game between the Edmonton Elks and the Ottawa Redblacks. Why do I call it "semi-meaningless"? Because even though both teams are still in the playoff race, they are (again) at the bottom of the CFL standings. It seems like yesterday that the Elks and Redblacks faced off for the Grey Cup, but it was actually seven years ago, during the Redblacks' second season. The game was close during the first half, but the second half was all Elks, who went on to win 30-12, perhaps the easiest win of the Elks' season.

The second half of the Friday doubleheader took place in Regina, with the Saskatchewan Roughriders hosting the BC Lions. The Lions only led 7-0 for the better part of the first half, but the offense went on to explode for the remainder of the contests, resulting in a 28-10 win for BC. However, that win came at a bit of a cost: Nathan Rourke ended up leaving the game in the fourth quarter due to an ankle injury, and time will tell if he'll be able to suit up for the rematch in Vancouver.

Regarding the Saturday double-dip, the first half was a highly important East Division battle between the Hamilton Tiger-Cats and the Montréal Alouettes, with second place on the line. Hamilton had been holding on to second place for a while, and after a first half that saw the teams tied at 11, the TiCats appeared to take full control. However, it would be the Als who had the last word, as they countered Hamilton's late field goal with a game winning FG with no time remaining. The Alouettes won, 29-28, giving them back-to-back wins against last year's Grey Cup finalists, as well as second place in the East.

As for the team leading the East, the Toronto Argonauts hosted the Calgary Stampeders, and they needed to win to maintain a decent hold in the division. It looked like it would happen; the Boatmen led by as many as nine points. In fact, that lead was in the heart of the third quarter--19-10. The Stamps would answer back with 12 unanswered points: a touchdown (the two-pointer failed) and two field goals, and Toronto's attempt at a game tying drive ended with a sack and a lost fumble, which sealed Calgary's 22-19 victory.

So after 11 weeks, here's how things stand. The Winnipeg Blue Bombers' lead in the West Division is dwindling; while they stand at 9-1, the BC Lions are now 8-1 with their win. The Calgary Stampeders improve to 6-3 with their road win, the Saskatchewan Roughriders drop to 5-5, and the Edmonton Elks are now 3-7 with their win. This is how good the West Division is; even though the Bombers started out nine weeks unbeaten, all it took was one loss and a bye week for their stranglehold to disappear. The Bombers and Lions won't see each other again until October, and those two meetings will be immensely vital.

In the East Division, the Toronto Argonauts drop to 4-5, but still lead the division. It's not by much, though, as the Montréal Alouettes are right behind at 4-6. The Hamilton Tiger-Cats not only drop to 3-7, they also fall behind the league's playoff line thanks to the crossover. As for the Ottawa Redblacks, they are now 1-8 halfway through their season. I've said it many times before, the CFL East is awful. The Argonauts have been tripping all over themselves all season, but they remain on top because the other three teams are even more faulty. All it took for the Alouettes to move above the playoff line was back-to-back wins. The Redblacks still have an outside shot despite winning once, but that win was against Toronto! The East is a hot mess--a fun hot mess--but a hot mess nonetheless.

Week 12 will feature the last games in the month of August, and is also the final week before Labour Day Weekend. The week kicks off on Thursday, August 25 with the Winnipeg Blue Bombers coming off their bye and hosting the Calgary Stampeders. On Friday, August 26, the Toronto Argonauts host the Hamilton Tiger-Cats in what could be described as a must-win for the former, and the BC Lions face the Saskatchewan Roughriders for the second straight week. The Edmonton Elks and the Ottawa Redblacks face each other for the second and last time this season, doing so on Saturday, August 27. A lot can happen during Week 12. The Elks could actually move one game behind the Riders for the crossover spot. We could see a first place tie between the Argonauts and the Alouettes. We could also see what seemed like the unthinkable: the Lions overtaking the Bombers for first place in the West. In all, this could be a game changing week in the CFL.

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