CFL Week 15 Recap: Live From Canada, It's Saturday Night!

At long last, we have made it to the home stretch, the final one-third of the CFL season. The home stretch of any season is always thrilling. In the case of the CFL, it clashes with the tail end of baseball's home stretch in September, as well as baseball's postseason in October. The NFL's home stretch starts in American Thanksgiving, while the NBA and NHL's home stretch usually starts in March. Regarding the CFL, Labour Day Weekend has come and gone, and it's time to prepare for the playoffs!

The CFL's home stretch always includes Canadian Thanksgiving Weekend in October, but that's in a few weeks. Week 15 was extra special this year, because all four games took place on the same day: Saturday, September 12. The quadruple-header was promoted all season, and it began in Toronto to the Argonauts hosting the Ottawa Redblacks in a game that was way too close for my liking. We needed a last second field goal to win it, but at least we won it. 26-23 was the final score, and while the Boatmen moved closer to the playoffs, the Redblacks left Toronto still winless and with two-thirds of their season over now that they became the first team to be officially eliminated.

The rest of the Week 15 schedule was a rehashing of the Labour Day matchups, with the destinations swapped. First off, the Roughriders and Blue Bombers faced off in Winnipeg, and this time, the Riders had no answer for the Bombers, who won 19-6. The Battle of Alberta was next, but it was more like a slaughter in Edmonton. The Elks dropped a 50-burger with cheese on the Stampeders; a 53-16 victory over their provincial rivals. With the victory, the Elks are officially playoff bound for the first time since 2019, and won 10 games for the first time since winning a dozen games back in 2017. The quadruple-header concluded with the BC Lions winning, 48-29, over the Montréal Alouettes in Vancouver.

So with six weeks left, here are the standings:

The playoff bound Edmonton Elks have a two game lead in the West over the Saskatchewan Roughriders, though the Riders defeated the Elks this season (they will face each other again on the final week). The Riders are one up on the BC Lions and the Winnipeg Blue Bombers for second place in the West, which is a home playoff position, while the Lions and Bombers are battling for third place. As for the East, well, it's basically the Alouettes and Argonauts n this battle, with the two teams separated by three games--which is smaller than weeks prior. The Hamilton Tiger-Cats are alive... barely. They need a miracle right now.

And here's the playoff picture, which remains unchanged from a week prior. Elks and Alouettes would host their respective Division Finals, Argos would host the Bombers in the Eastern Semifinal, Riders would host the Lions in the Western Semifinal. Lions are still only ahead of the Bombers via head-to-head, and the Bombers still hold the crossover spot, which is in its final year. We will see if the picture changes after Week 16.

Speaking of, Week 16 is an abbreviated week that kicks off with the Hamilton Tiger-Cats hosting the Montréal Alouettes on Friday, September 18. On Saturday, September 19, the Toronto Argonauts will host the Edmonton Elks, followed by the Calgary Stampeders hosting the Ottawa Redblacks!

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