2022 CFL Playoffs See Two Long Playoff Droughts End On Same Day

 

The CFL playoff are underway.

Yesterday, the first two playoff games took place, one in the East and one in the West. 

Let's take a look at how the two games played out:

Montreal Alouettes 28, Hamilton Tiger-Cats 17

The Alouettes were the second best team in the East pretty much all season long. And against Hamilton, they proved it. Hamilton just could not get going early on, allowing Montreal to explode early on, scoring three touchdowns in heir first four possessions. From there, they were basically able to dictate the tempo of the rest of the game. The Tiger-Cats were never able to recover, allowing Montreal to end a playoff win drought that had stretched to eight years. Now, the Alouettes will travel to Toronto to face the Argonauts on Sunday to see who gets to represent the East in the Grey Cup CIX in Regina, Saskatchewan.

British Columbia Lions 30, Calgary Stampeders 16

Remember when Calgary raced out to an unbeaten 4-0 start, and appeared to be the most serious challenge for the defending champion Winnipeg Blue Bombers? Well, they were quite inconsistent from that point on throughout the rest of the season. They had to play this playoff game on the road, and it did not go so well for them. The Lions were able to go up early and keep the lead, even a fairly narrow one, as they only led 13-6 by halftime. But they were determined and hung on for the first playoff win for the Lions in many years. They will not travel to Winnipeg to take on the juggernaut of the CFL now for the past few years, the Blue Bombers. 

Below are the links to the two articles I used in writing this particular entry about the first weekend of this year's CFL playoffs:

Slow start dooms Tiger-Cats as season ends in Montreal by Steve Milton, Spectator Columnist Sun., Nov. 6, 2022:

The chance to keep a late-season push going and play in a third-straight Grey Cup game dies at the hands of the Alouettes, writes Steve Milton 

https://www.thespec.com/sports/ticats/opinion/2022/11/06/hamilton-tiger-cats-fall-to-alouettes-in-cfl-east-division-final.html

BC Lions land in West Final with statement win over Calgary Stampeders Ben Steiner | Nov 6 2022:

https://dailyhive.com/vancouver/bc-lions-calgary-stampeders-2022-cfl-playoffs