CFL Week 21 Recap: Gut Check Time

After 20 weeks in the books, the 21st week still needed to fill the last remaining playoff spot. We knew this: the Eastern Final would be in Montréal. The Western Final would be in Edmonton. The Eastern Semifinal would be in Toronto. The Western Semifinal would be in Vancouver. What we did not know was what team would be going to either Toronto or Vancouver, but we did know this--it would be a team from the West.

Because of this, the two Eastern games that took place in the final week were irrelevant. The Alouettes won over the Argos, and the Tiger-Cats were victorious over the Redblacks. Big whoop. Now let's focus on the two games of importance in the West. The Roughriders, Blue Bombers, and the idle Stampeders still had things to play for. The Riders were in the playoffs and were playing for positioning. The Blue Bombers looked to get in, and the Stampeders were watching and hoping that Week 20 didn't serve as the end of their overall season.

First off, after the Als/Argos game, the Bombers were in Vancouver facing the BC Lions. Bombers knew the goal: win and in. They definitely took advantage of it. The Lions had absolutely no answer for the Bombers in this one, with Winnipeg blasting the Lions, 34-10. As a result, the Bombers are playoff bound, while the Stampeders' season is kaput. It was not a good one from Calgary. They never had a winning record at any part of the season, and they were as worse as three games under .500 with five games left. They managed to win four out of five to finish at 9-9, but that winning splurge came too late.

So all six playoff teams are locked in, but the Bombers still do not know where they're going. That's where the game between the Elks and Roughriders comes in. The Riders, again, were playing for positioning, with a win keeping them in the Western bracket. This game was close and low scoring, but in the end, the defending champs won 16-9, completing the 2026 regular season as a whole.

As a result, we have our Division Semifinal matchups:

The Eastern Semifinal will take place in Toronto, Ontario, and will feature the Toronto Argonauts against the Winnipeg Blue Bombers. The Bombers are part of CFL history: they are the league's final Crossover team. Their season has been a tad messy, going from 4-2 to ending up with a 9-9 season--which included going 2-3 following their third and last bye of the season. As for the Argos, I'm just happy we made it following our disastrous 2025 season where we only won five games as defending champs. A four-game improvement, though we lost our last three games--including being Ottawa's only win of the season. Even so, it's better than last year.

These two teams have an interesting playoff history; their last two meetings were in the Grey Cup Championship, with Toronto winning both times. Regarding the season series, the two teams split; Winnipeg won on Week 6, while Toronto won on Week 17.

In the Western Semifinal, it's the BC Lions facing the Saskatchewan Roughriders, with the game taking place in Vancouver, British Columbia. I've watched the CFL since 2013, and the only team I haven't seen in the Grey Cup Championship during that stretch is the Lions. The Tiger-Cats haven't won since 1999, but I've seen them in the final game quite a bit. Even the Ottawa Redblacks, who debuted since I started watching, have played for the Grey Cup three times, winning once in 2016. BC hasn't been to the big game in 15 years, which was also the last time they won. Speaking of winning, that's what the Riders did last year: won the whole thing. It's been tough for the defending champs this season, but they did manage to fight back and get the wins they needed, especially in the very end.

The Riders didn't fare well against the Lions this year, losing two of the three matchups. However, in last year's Western Final, the Riders did defeat the Lions during their championship run.

Both Division Semifinal games will take place on Halloween Saturday, October 31. The Division Finals will take place in Montréal and Edmonton on Saturday, November 7, and the 113th Grey Cup will take place in Calgary, Alberta on Sunday, November 15. It's going to be an amazing Grey Cup Playoffs, and I sense some wild moments!