The #CFL playoffs are set.
— Kristina Costabile (@kcostabile1) October 26, 2024
Eastern Semi-Final: Ottawa at Toronto
Western Semi-Final: BC at Saskatchewan
Eastern Final: TBD at Montreal
Western Final: TBD at Winnipeg
The 2024 CFL playoffs are very distinct as compared to the 2022 and 2023 versions, which were exactly alike.
Ottawa is back in the playoffs for the first time since 2018, though on the road. Saskatchewan returns with a home playoff game, having been out of the playoffs since 2021. Winnipeg is back and with a bye. Montréal hasn't had a bye since the 2012 East final, which was to this day the last CFL game played at Olympic Stadium.
The BC Lions have the worst playoff record at 9-9. A huge upgrade from last year, where the 6-12 Calgary Stampeders were in the CFL playoffs.
The teams start fresh in the playoffs though the Ottawa RedBlacks are happy to snap a 5-game losing streak. Barely beating Hamilton on the final play of the game is significant, given the Ticats success down the stretch.
Toronto wants to show that last year's loss in the East final to Montréal was a fluke. A win gives them a trip to … Montréal.
The Roughriders want a Banjo Bowl rematch for the right to go to the Grey Cup. The Lions would love to get to the Grey Cup at home at BC Place. The problem is having to go through Regina and Winnipeg to get back home.
CTV
Saturday
Ottawa @ Toronto, 3p
TSN
Saturday
Ottawa @ Toronto, 3p
BC @ Saskatchewan, 6:30p
Ottawa (9-8-1) jumped out to a 31-3 halftime lead before beating Toronto (10-8) 41-27 at TD Place in Ottawa on September 7. Toronto jumped out to a 28-0 lead before beating Ottawa 38-31 on October 19 at BMO Field.
The RedBlacks have never played the Argonauts in the playoffs. The short-lived (4 years) Ottawa Renegades never made the playoffs against any team. The cities matched up in 1990 in the East semifinal where the Argos (10-8) defeated the Rough Riders (7-11) 34-25 at SkyDome in Toronto.
The BC Lions (9-9) won 35-20 at home on July 13 over the Roughriders (9-8-1). Saskatchewan blew out the Lions 39-8 in Regina on October 12.
The teams have not met in the CFL playoffs since 2013 when the Roughriders won the West semifinal 29-25 over the Lions at Regina. Saskatchewan went on to win the Grey Cup that season. The game was in Regina because Saskatchewan won the season series from BC.
2024 CFL Week 21 preview: Final regular season weekend
Crossover? We had inklings of a potential East team (Hamilton) crossing over to the West but that didn't come too close. Our 2022 CFL playoffs preview has a look at the CFL crossover history.
The Ottawa RedBlacks were last in the playoffs in the 2018 Grey Cup. Curious if we see red and black in the crowd in Toronto given the long drought of playoff football in the federal capital.
This will be the RedBlacks' first road playoff game in franchise history. To date, the franchise has played 7 playoff games in its 10-year history. 4 have been at home (with 3 wins) and 3 have been in the Grey Cup. Since Grey Cups don’t count as road games, this year will be the RedBlacks' first road playoff game.
The team won the 2016 Grey Cup at BMO Field so Ottawa is technically 1-0 on that field.
Your heart might go out to the 3rd-place teams — BC or Ottawa — given their great starts and recent collapses. Your humble narrator was going to ask about their likelihood of advancement into the division finals. Since the CFL on TSN panel addressed this issue, we felt their expertise would dazzle by comparison.
2024 CFL Week 20 preview
For the first time since 2021, all of the Grey Cup playoff games, outside of the actual Grey Cup, will be outdoors. This didn't used to be a big deal when SkyDome/Rogers Centre and Olympic Stadium were in play. The CFL went 2017-2021 without an indoor playoff game.
Vancouver has hosted the Grey Cup 16 times, the most recent time was 2014.
The division semifinals and finals are on Saturdays for the second year in a row.
A WALK-OFF PUNT!
— CFL (@CFL) October 26, 2024
A ROUGE WINS IT IN OVERTIME FOR EDMONTON!!@GoElks @CFL pic.twitter.com/Q5JQI8Q9Xi
We have wondered about the use of the punt single to win a game with a rouge. We saw Edmonton use this successfully in its final home game of the season against Toronto.
If a CFL playoff game goes to overtime, the teams play until there is a winner.
2024 CFL Week 19 preview
The CFL current playoff streaks are: Winnipeg 9; Montréal 5; Toronto 4; BC 3; Ottawa 1; Saskatchewan 1; Calgary 0; Edmonton 0; Hamilton 0.
Last year with home playoff games
2024 Montréal Toronto Winnipeg Saskatchewan
2023 BC
2021 Hamilton
2019 Calgary
2018 Ottawa
2015 Edmonton
Calgary had an 18-season playoffs streak. Hamilton had a 5-season playoffs streak, reaching the Grey Cup in 2019 and 2021.
| Team | Total | Home | Road |
| Hamilton | 11 | 6 | 5 |
| BC | 10 | 5 | 5 |
| Edmonton | 10 | 4 | 6 |
| Winnipeg | 8 | 4 | 4 |
| Montréal | 7 | 5 | 2 |
| Saskatchewan | 7 | 4 | 3 |
| Calgary | 7 | 3 | 4 |
| Toronto | 6 | 3 | 3 |
| Ottawa | 4 | 1 | 3 |
The CBS Sports Network stuck mostly to its original 2024 schedule. Added a Calgary-Winnipeg game and deleted a Montréal-Hamilton game. Added Touchdown Pacific in Victoria, BC.
Hamilton zoomed up to 11 of its 18 games with BC and Edmonton having 10 games on U.S. TV. 3 teams tied for 7 appearances. Ottawa finally got good and only had 4 games, including road games in Victoria, BC (Touchdown Pacific) and Canadian Thanksgiving in Montréal.
Division winners Montréal (7) and Winnipeg (8) had 15 appearances combined.
CBS Sports Network 2024 CFL schedule
June 6 Montréal @ Winnipeg, 8:30p
June 8 Saskatchewan @ Edmonton, 4p (tape delayed at 7p)
June 9 BC @ Toronto, 7p
June 15 Calgary @ BC, 7p
June 16 Saskatchewan @ Hamilton, 7p
June 22 Edmonton @ Toronto, 7p
June 23 Hamilton @ Saskatchewan, 7p
June 29 Winnipeg @ Calgary, 7p
June 30 Hamilton @ Ottawa, 7p
July 6 Calgary @ Montréal, 7p
July 7 BC @ Hamilton, 7p
July 12 Calgary @ Winnipeg, 8:30p
July 13 Saskatchewan @ BC, 7p
July 14 Ottawa @ Edmonton, 7p
July 20 Toronto @ Hamilton, 7p
July 21 BC @ Calgary, 7p
July 27 Winnipeg @ Toronto, 7p
July 28 Hamilton @ Edmonton, 7p
August 3 Edmonton @ Saskatchewan, 7p
August 10 Hamilton @ Montréal, 7p
August 11 BC @ Edmonton, 7p
August 16 Montréal @ Saskatchewan, 9p
August 17 Edmonton @ Hamilton, 7p
August 18 Winnipeg @ BC, 7p
August 23 Hamilton @ Winnipeg, 8:30p
August 25 Edmonton @ Montréal, 7p
August 31 Ottawa @ BC, 7p
September 1 Winnipeg @ Saskatchewan, 7p
September 2 Toronto @ Hamilton, 2:30p
September 2 Edmonton @ Calgary, 6p
September 6 BC @ Montréal, 7:30p
September 13 Toronto @ BC, 10p
September 27 Edmonton @ Winnipeg, 8p
October 14 Ottawa @ Montréal, 1p
October 18 Calgary @ Hamilton, 7p
CFL+ has a 48-hour window to watch the regular season and playoffs, including the Grey Cup. Those on the U.S. side will appreciate the small concession versus last season.
The Grey Cup will air in the United States on the CBS Sports Network, as we learned last month. CFL+ would apply for the Grey Cup outside of Canada and the United States.
CTV is carrying the East playoff games and the Grey Cup in a TSN simulcast, meaning the games are not exclusive to CTV, unlike the regular season.
Your humble narrator will be at an event on Canadian soil during the first round of the playoffs, so CFL+ isn't viable. You can watch the video recaps of the playoff games. Canadians can record the games, go out and have a real life, and come back to watch the CFL playoff games. No one else in the world has this luxury.
THAT MONTREAL WEATHER 🍁
— CFL (@CFL) October 26, 2024
The Autumn wind forces a short punt!#CFLGameday on CTV & RDS
📲: Stream on CFL+ pic.twitter.com/YShRAyIJkv
2023 was the year of the mini punt from the Alouettes. The final regular season game in Montréal had a different kind of short punt. The wind helped field position so the Winnipeg Blue Bombers could kick a game-winning field goal to clinch the West Division crown.
After miserable home records for Edmonton and Ottawa in 2023, the RedBlacks were 7-1-1 at home while the Elks were 3-6. Calgary won for the first time since August 4 against Toronto and got its first and only road win of 2024 in Regina.
Justin McInnis (BC) and Brady Oliveira (Winnipeg) made Canadian history in 2024. They are the first Canadian duo to lead the CFL in receiving and rushing, respectively.
Randy Ambrosie’s decision to step-down follows a vote on his future earlier this month where the votes were not present to dismiss him but it was clear he did not enjoy full support of the BOG. #CFL
— Dave Naylor (@TSNDaveNaylor) October 26, 2024
Randy Ambrosie will stay on as CFL commissioner until his replacement has been selected. Usually, the week is filled with coach firings. The league’s board of governors reportedly voted not to renew Ambrosie's contract.
Good and bad during his reign but the first thing to stick in my mind was not getting some kind of 2020 season when other leagues made that work.
Dave Dickinson will return as Calgary coach, though the team released several assistants. Edmonton has to decide on a permanent general manager as well as coach, though the Elks did name a new president.
2024 CFL preview
CanadianCrossing.com CFL coverage
Hamilton @ Ottawa: Rod Smith/Duane Forde/Claire Hanna
Toronto @ Edmonton: Dustin Nielson/Glen Suitor/Tom Gazzola
Winnipeg @ Montréal: Marshall Ferguson/Duane Forde/Kenzie Lalonde
Calgary @ Saskatchewan: Dustin Nielson/Glen Suitor/Brit Dort
Bell Media has a nice press release for the division finals coverage.
The game in Montréal set a high water mark for the CFL on CTV. The Saturday game drew 576,000 with Winnipeg in town and 252,500 via RDS. The other games were below 357,000 each.
The previous high number in the CTV experiment was 571,000 for the Banjo Bowl.
A reminder that the CTV playoff games (East semifinal, East final, and Grey Cup) will also air on TSN.
Twitter captures: @kcostabile1; @CFL (x2); @TSNDaveNaylor
logo credit: CFL
photo credit: CBS Sports Network/CFL
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