Welcome to Thanksgiving Day weekend in Canada. Yes, there is a CFL game on Thanksgiving Monday.
The green and white of the Saskatchewan Roughriders come to Hamilton for the Friday Night Football game. This game could be crucial to determining whether there will be a crossover team in 2022.
The Toronto Argonauts have a rare home game in the second half of the season, hosting the BC Lions in a late Saturday afternoon start.
Edmonton at Winnipeg is the Saturday nightcap game. While the Elks are better on the road, Winnipeg is rather good at home.
The Ottawa-Montréal rivalry is reunited for the first time since the Friday before the Labour Day weekend. Monday's game is also in Montréal.
ESPN2 has the final cable TV game of the regular season in the United States.
Calgary gets to have more turkey, or maybe some local Alberta bison, for the holiday.
ESPN2
Monday
Ottawa @ Montréal, 1p
TSN
Friday
Saskatchewan @ Hamilton, 7:30p
Saturday
BC @ Toronto, 4p
Edmonton @ Winnipeg, 7p
Monday
Ottawa @ Montréal, 1p
Bye week: Calgary
A 100 YARD RETURN!!!!#CFLGameday | @MTLAlouettes pic.twitter.com/cwqHVh1cy8
— CFL (@CFL) October 1, 2022
The Edmonton Elks now have the longest home losing streak in CFL history with 15. The previous mark had been 14 with the 1987-1988 Ottawa Rough Riders. The last home win at Commonwealth Stadium came on October 12, 2019.
Taylor Cornelius and the Elks were driving deep in Montréal territory around the 6-minute mark of the 4th quarter. Adarius Pickett deflected the Cornelius pass. Alouettes linebacker Tyrice Beverette caught the ball and ran 100 yards for a Pick 6.
That was likely a 15-point turnaround that was a key factor in the Montréal win. The Alouettes have won 3 in a row and 5 of the last 6 games.
The Alouettes went from August 11 (in Winnipeg) to October 1 without a road game. Montréal did have byes as well.
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The rumblings had been there. The Ottawa RedBlacks fired head coach Paul LaPolice the day after the team loss in Vancouver. The RedBlacks went 6-22 in almost 2 seasons with LaPolice and 1-13 at home. Bob Dyce, the special teams coach, will serve as the interim coach in Ottawa.
In a league where in-season firings are rare, this was the second CFL midseason firing. Montréal GM Danny Maciocia fired Khari Jones after a 1-3 start and put himself into the interim coach position. The Alouettes lost star running back William Stanback in the opening game.
A healthy Jeremiah Masoli would have helped Ottawa. LaPolice, known for his offence playcalling, was the offensive coordinator with the RedBlacks. Quite frankly, the offence wasn't that impressive.
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Vernon Adams Jr. and the BC offence played much better in this home game against Ottawa versus the previous home game with Calgary. The Lions are trying to fight off Calgary for what will likely be the West semifinal host.
The Stampeders easily got past Toronto. The Argonauts scored 2 more points than you did on Saturday. The Stampeders have to take the bye but would likely like to keep playing.
Winnipeg swept Saskatchewan this season. The Roughriders are in the "crossover or no playoffs" path. The Roughriders are 2 games up on the Tiger-Cats with 4 games to play but have to finish with a better record.
The Montréal 3-game winning streak puts the Alouettes a game behind the Toronto Argonauts. The Alouettes have a 3-game lead over the Tiger-Cats with the tiebreaker.
Winnipeg, Toronto, Calgary, and BC are in the CFL playoffs. No team is eliminated, yet.
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Rod Smith was out west with Duane Forde in Winnipeg and Glen Suitor in Calgary. Farhan Lalji worked with Suitor in Vancouver on Friday night. Dustin Nielson and Matt Dunigan worked their lone game of the week in Edmonton on Saturday.
We said last week that Brit Dort needed some help out west over this past weekend. Dort was in Winnipeg Friday night. Blake Price, who works the sidelines when Farhan Lalji calls games in Vancouver, was there again. Ryan Rishaug made his 2022 CFL debut in Edmonton. Matthew Scianitti flew out west to help out in Calgary.
Dave Naylor sat in Matt Dunigan's chair on the CFL on TSN panel. We saw former CFL receiver Andy Fantuz at the desk for the panel though your humble narrator did not hear him speak.
logo credit and Twitter capture: @CFL
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