It’s the final week of the CFL regular season, and we know what the playoff picture looks like. So, this week feels a bit anti-climactic. That said, last week, we went 3-4, as the BC Lions once again showed why they need to fix their defensive woes as the Stamps stomped them at home and gave us our only loss. Let’s finish the season strong with our CFL week 21 predictions.
The Power Rankings didn’t change much from last week, with only Calgary and Edmonton switching spots at sixth and seventh.
Winnipeg Blue Bombers at Calgary Stampeders
Both of these teams are playoff-bound. The Stamps did it in style by whooping the BC Lions, which stamped their ticket to the playoffs and, in turn, gave the Bombers first in the West. Now, both these teams face each other in a game with no real stakes, so expect some starters to be sitting.
The Blue Bombers have been fantastic on the offensive side of the ball this season and racked up 7,041 total yards for the year and 32.8 PPG. They’re running game is led by Brady Oliveira, who helped them average 137.1 yards on the ground, which is tops in the CFL. Calgary has surrendered 2,074 rushing yards (122.0 yards per game) and 13 touchdowns by way of the ground game this season. That’s a bit of a red flag, especially when both teams will be sitting some of their starters on the defensive side of the ball.
Even Winnipeg’s B squad can put up points on Calgary. We’ll stick to our guns and go with the Bombers. However, “the upset” is prime for the picking here.
Prediction: Winnipeg Blue Bombers
Hamilton Tiger-Cats at Montreal Alouettes
This is the third time these two teams have met this season, and guess what? They’ll be meeting next week in the Division Semi-Finals. Montreal has dominated the Ticats so far and has a pair of victories in Hamilton by double-digit margins. The Als have won four straight and have averaged 31 points per game during their run.
Both teams will be sitting starters, but look for Bo Levi Mitchell to get some snaps for Hamilton as he tries to find his groove after a long injury. They’ll need him ready for the playoffs. The Als will probably trot out Cody Farjado and Caleb Evans to get some QB action under their belt, and both can rack up the points.
The Als play well against mid to low-tier teams but struggle with the elite teams. Hamilton is one of those teams we can’t consider top-shelf competition-wise, so we’re going with the Als to beat the Ticats again.
Prediction: Montreal Alouettes
Toronto Argos at Ottawa Redblacks
This is a meaningless game for both teams. We’ve been saying that a lot this week. The Redblacks missed the playoffs for the fourth straight year, while the Argos are looking to finish this final week without injury, so expect them to sit several key starters. Toronto absolutely owned Ottawa this year, and it wasn’t even close, having won 44-31 in Week 10 and 40-27 in Week 19.
Offensively, the Redblacks are seventh in the CFL in total yards per game (345.1), last in passing yards per game and sixth in points per game (23.1). Defensively, they rank last in total yards allowed per game (398.2), last in passing yards allowed per game (311.1) and seventh in points allowed per game (28.2). They’re just not that good. We’ll take the Argos in this matchup, as they have one thing to play for, and that’s a new franchise record in wins by going 16-2-0 if they beat Ottawa on Saturday.
Prediction: Toronto Argos
