Some good games in store this weekend if, like Troy Aikman, you want to watch some CFL style offence.
Toronto at Winnipeg will be a strong matchup. Outside of BC, these are the best teams and a 2023 Grey Cup rematch. Unfortunately, this is the only meeting between the clubs, unless they are back in the Grey Cup.
The Argos are not taking chances, starting Cameron Dukes and resting Chad Kelly at quarterback. That won't be as much fun. Sure the Lions aren't happy about that move.
Saskatchewan and BC play for the tiebreaker late on Friday in Vancouver. The 10:30 pm Eastern time may not be too loose. Put on an extra pot of coffee for a Midnight kickoff in Newfoundland.
The Alouettes and RedBlacks gather in Ottawa to start the Saturday doubleheader. This is the third meeting between the clubs with the final game on Thanksgiving.
Calgary travels to Hamilton to finish the schedule. The Stampeders will say hi to Bo Levi Mitchell, even as he won't play in the game. Both teams desperately need a win.
CFL+ is the only option on the U.S. side this week, even for Troy Aikman.
Edmonton gets to enjoy early autumn up north.
TSN
Friday
Toronto @ Winnipeg, 8p
Saskatchewan @ BC, 10:30p
Saturday
Montréal @ Ottawa, 4p
Calgary @ Hamilton, 7p
Bye week: Edmonton
The Hamilton Tiger-Cats will unveil an Indigenous logo for Canada's National Day for Truth and Reconciliation on Saturday.
Indigenous artist Kyle Joedicke designed the logo (above). Joedicke is Cayuga from Six Nations of the Grand River, Turtle Clan.
Calgary, Hamilton's opponent on Saturday, also has a new Indigenous logo. Jacob Alexis, Richard Running Rabbit and Siksika Health Services CEO Dr. Tyler White conceived the logo. The logo is designed to emulate Contemporary Plains Style Traditional Art.
Calgary, Hamilton, and Ottawa join the BC Lions, Winnipeg Blue Bombers, and Edmonton Elks in CFL teams with an Indigenous logo.
Indigenous artist Mike Ivall of the Chippewas of Georgina Island designed the Ottawa Redblacks new Indigenous logo. Ivall is known as @ArgoFluffy on social media.
“It represents direction, unity, elements of the culture, and all of the races,” Ivall told the team's Web site. “It’s everything that we hold value for.”
Playoff update: The BC Lions (10-4) clinched a playoff spot by beating the Elks on Friday. Winnipeg (10-4) clinched a home playoff date since the Lions won and the Roughriders lost.
Saskatchewan (6-8) has a 2-game lead on Calgary (4-10) with 4 games to play. The teams meet on October 13 to determine the tiebreaker, which might not be relevant by that time. If the Stampeders make it to 8-10, Hamilton only needs to go 2-2 to prevent a crossover. A Hamilton win over Calgary prevents a crossover from the West Division.
Montréal (7-7) has a 1-game lead over Hamilton (6-8) for the right to host a home playoff game. The Alouettes have the tiebreaker over the Tiger-Cats. The teams do meet on the final Saturday at Molson Stadium.
Ottawa can finish 8-10 with a sweep of the final 4 games. Hamilton has the tiebreaker with Ottawa so a 2-2 finish would take care of the RedBlacks.
Montréal can clinch a playoff spot with a win over Ottawa on Saturday. The Alouettes broke a 4-game losing streak in the win in Calgary on Saturday.
The Ottawa RedBlacks finally snapped a 7-game losing streak. The oddity to the 2023 squad is that the RedBlacks have 4 wins, all against West teams. Factor that could have been 5 had Ottawa not blown a 19-point lead against BC.
The RedBlacks are winless in their own division. They finish up with home-and-home with Montréal and the same with Toronto.
For a team that struggled to win at TD Place, Ottawa has 3 home wins so far in 2023.
Saskatchewan left their offence for most of the second half in Ottawa. The Calgary loss meant the Roughriders didn't lose ground in the West playoff battle.
The Elks finally scored on BC in 2023. First on defence and later on offence. The Elks are playing well but the Lions were on a mission Friday night in Edmonton.
Of the CFL's 3 big rivalries, the battle of the QEW (Queen Elizabeth Way) is ridiculously one-sided. Toronto has won 10 of the last 11 games against Hamilton. The Tiger-Cats are 6-4 when the opponent is not Toronto.
The Argos were not at full strength and still handled Hamilton rather easily. The team rested running back A.J. Ouellette as a healthy scratch and placed Andrew Harris on the 6-game injured list with a knee issue.
University of Manitoba kicker Maya Turner made a lot of history in her team's 27-24 victory over the Regina Rams. Turner was the first woman to dress in a U Sports regular season game. She hit a 21-yard field goal early in the second quarter, becoming the first female player to score in a regular-season U Sports football game. Then Turner hit a game-winning field goal from 21 yards out in overtime
Turner scored 9 points in her debut, going 5-for 5 on kicks with 2 field goals and 3 extra points.
Toronto, Winnipeg, and the BC Lions are the cream of the 2023 CFL crop. Toronto is in Winnipeg this weekend for the team's only matchup all year. A wonderful matchup would be the Argos in Vancouver.
Unfortunately, the CFL schedule isn't balanced in that respect. There is no Toronto game in Vancouver in 2023. The teams met in Toronto earlier this year. That was the worst Lions game of the season. A rematch would have been fun but apparently Toronto and Hamilton have to play 4 times in a season.
For all we poked at the length of the Elks losing home streak, the streak was much longer since Saskatchewan played in Ottawa, dating back to June 20, 2019. Ottawa won that game 44-41. The reasonably balanced schedule makes for better football.
The CFL is stuck with overlapping start times on Friday night doubleheaders. As we saw Friday night, TSN1 started the late game in Edmonton while the Roughriders were coming back late in Ottawa.
That works for most Canadians since they can tape the late game and start in after the first game. This doesn't work too well for CFL+ viewers where you can't watch the game tape delayed. Asking your American fans to watch 2 games live at the same time is a bit much, even for football. Try being a BC Lions fan in London, England.
CFL+ fans often miss segments such as the halftime promo coming out of the 3-minute warning, such as Hamilton-Toronto on Saturday.
Rod Smith and Duane Forde pulled double duty with Claire Hanna in Ottawa and Brit Dort in Toronto.
Dustin Nielson didn't have to step on a plane or rent a hotel room, working in Edmonton Friday night with Glen Suitor with Ryan Rishaug in Edmonton. Marshall Ferguson went as far west as he has ever been on TSN with Suitor with Farhan Lalji on Saturday afternoon in Calgary.
Matthew Scianitti filled in for Kate Beirness on Saturday on the CFL on TSN panel. Paul LaPolice was in for Milt Stegall on Friday and Jim Barker and Dave Naylor in for Stegall and Davis Sanchez on Saturday. This was a weekend where Matt Dunigan didn't go game analysis and was the one who stayed on the panel both days.
Twitter capture: @dennisbaluyot via ESPN; @CFL; @CFL
logo credit: CFL
photo credits: Hamilton Tiger-Cats; Calgary Stampeders; CFL
