CFL 2024 Postseason: Divisional Semifials Preview

    

Grey Cup/Coupe Grey

CFL PLAYOFFS

Last November, the Alouettes de Montréal stunned the Canadian sports world by enjoying a Cinderella run that culminated in them pulling off a major upset over the defending champs, Winnipeg, and winning the 110th Grey Cup. It was the first title for the franchise since 2010, so the better part of a decade and a half.

Now, it's time for the CFL playoffs to start again. The Montréal Alouettes and Winnipeg Blue Bombers are both back for the playoffs. The Alouettes raced out to an undefeated start, and despite some losses late in the season, they had the East pretty well locked up almost from the first. The Blue Bombers, meanwhile, overcame a disastrous start and just got better as the season went along. They eventually managed to win the West. So those two teams are the top seeds, which means they both enjoy a bye week to rest, as they will watch the games this weekend to find out who they will be playing next weekend.

So let's take a look at the games scheduled for this first weekend of the CFL playoffs this year:

Ottawa Redblacks at Toronto Argonauts

The first game this weekend will be in the East. The Toronto Argonauts, who won the Grey Cup just two seasons ago, will host the vastly improved Ottawa Redblacks.

Toronto has been very impressive towards the end of the season. They won four of five games before dropping a largely meaningless regular season game in which they could afford to rest their starters. Not only do they enter this game with home field advantage, but they also have considerable playoff experience to fall back on.

Ottawa, meanwhile, unlike Toronto, won a largely meaningless game in the regular season finale. However, that win snapped a five-game skid for them. Indeed prior to last weekend, they had not won since an early September game against this same Toronto team. The fact that they beat the Argonauts in that game may bode well. But the five-game losing streak does not. Their defense has been quite suspect towards the end of the season. And while they have scored some decent points in their last two games, they generally were no so impressive on offense during that skid lasting five games prior to that.

All of that adds up to a prediction that the home team with the superior playoff experience should be able to take this one.

My pick: Toronto

British Columbia Lions at Saskatchewan Roughriders

On Sunday, we shall see the Western Division Semifinals. Earlier this season, the BC Lions got off to a hot start, to the point where they appeared to be the top team in the West. Instead, they are heading on the road and will play this game in Saskatchewan. 

As I mentioned earlier, the Lions had looked like an elite team early this season, but they cooled off significantly as the season wore on. The last time that these two teams met was also in Regina, Saskatchewan. And the BC Lions had better hope and work to make sure that it works out better for them than that one did. They lost that game 39-8, so it could hardly work out worse for them, although you never know. That had been the third loss in a span of four games. Earlier in the season, from sometimes in July until well into August, BC also lost five straight games, and most of them were blowout losses. So it seemed that they lost a lot of momentum as the season wore off. 

The Roughriders, meanwhile, also got off to a hot start, then also cooled off, much like the Lions. However, the started to get into a rhythm again late in the season, winning four straight to clinch the number two spot - and home field advantage in this particular playoff game - before losing a meaningless game last week, when they rested their starters in anticipation of this one. The Roughriders have momentum, and they also will be pretty much as full strength, as they are as healthy as you can expect them to be after a full season's play. All of that makes them dangerous, and that is why they are my pick to take this one.

My pick: Saskatchewan