We have a return to division matchups for the next-to-last regular season week in the 2022 CFL season.
Ottawa starts off a home-and-home series with the Tiger-Cats in Hamilton to start out Friday Night Football. The RedBlacks slim playoff hopes require a win. So does Hamilton's larger playoff hopes.
The BC Lions travel to Edmonton for the final Elks game of 2022 in the nightcap. The Elks don't want to wait until 2023 to win at Commonwealth Stadium.
Toronto goes east to Montréal for the final home-and-home series on a late Saturday afternoon start time. An Argos win means a bye and hosting the East final.
Calgary and Saskatchewan meet for the first time in 2022. The first of 2 games in a row starts out in Regina. The Stampeders are in the playoffs but want to host a playoff game. The Roughriders want to make the playoffs.
Winnipeg may not want a rest but the Blue Bombers can pick apples and rake leaves.
TSN
Friday
Ottawa @ Hamilton, 7p
BC @ Edmonton, 9:30p
Saturday
Toronto @ Montréal, 4p
Calgary @ Saskatchewan, 7p
Bye week: Winnipeg
The Hamilton Tiger-Cats picked an amazing time to win the team's first road game of 2022. The Ticats pulled off the comeback win in Calgary to improve to 6-10 overall. Hamilton has to hit the road to win in the playoffs.
To give you an idea of the depth of time since the Tiger-Cats were victorious in Calgary, the streak was almost as long as the last time the Toronto Maple Leafs won a playoff round in the chase for the Stanley Cup (spring 2004).
This was a scenario where the Saskatchewan Roughriders were rooting for Calgary while the BC Lions were thrilled with the result.
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Hamilton and Saskatchewan are 6-10. One of these teams will travel to Montréal (likely) or Toronto (maybe) for the East semifinal. The Alouettes clinched a home playoff game with the comeback win over Ottawa. The Argonauts had their "you really need to see the last 3 minutes" kind of game, extending the Edmonton home losing streak to 16 games. Toronto won in Edmonton for the first time since 2013.
The Argos didn't score a touchdown until fewer than 4 minutes left in the game and the winning touchdown came in the final minute.
Toronto and Montréal finish the season in a home-and-home series. The Argos only need a win in the last 2 games to host the East final.
Saskatchewan is going with Mason Fine at quarterback over Cody Fajardo in the last home game of the regular season. The Roughriders hope to play one more home game in 2022, i.e., the 2022 Grey Cup at Mosaic Stadium.
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Thanks to Winnipeg resting a few key players, especially Zach Collaros, the BC Lions are a game up with 2 to play over Calgary and have the tiebreaker to host the West semifinal. The Lions know the difference between a warm dome in Vancouver versus a cold early November day in Calgary.
Even though the RedBlacks lost yet another home game, Ottawa has a chance to make the playoffs at 6-12 if the RedBlacks sweep Hamilton AND Calgary sweeps Saskatchewan. That would require Ottawa to win at home in 2022, something that has not happened so far.
CanadianCrossing.com CFL coverage
Duane Forde went from doing 3 games the previous week to 1 game last week. Marshall Ferguson and Forde with Claire Hanna were in Ottawa early on Friday night.
Dustin Nielson got to see both major Alberta cities, joining Glen Suitor with Farhan Lalji on Friday in Calgary and Matt Dunigan with Tom Gazzola on Saturday in Edmonton.
Rod Smith was in Vancouver with 2 people from the Calgary telecast — Suitor and Lalji — on Saturday night.
Tom Gazzola was new to us but works out of Edmonton. We will be highly curious about the 2023 CFL sideline reporters lineup.
Dave Naylor was in for Matt Dunigan both days on the CFL on TSN panel.
logo credit: CFL
photo credit: TSN
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