Landry: 3 non-playoff reasons Week 21 matters

Don Landry

CFL.ca

We all know the big drama and the high stakes implications involved in this week’s CFL action lie with the settling of first place in the West and so I won’t go into that too much here.

Beyond the importance of outcomes for the Winnipeg Blue Bombers and Saskatchewan Roughriders, there are other compelling reasons to keep an eye on what happens in this, the CFL’s final week of regular season action.

THE REDBLACKS ARE IN DIRE NEED OF A WIN

It wouldn’t move them up in the standings, as the Ottawa REDBLACKS are locked into third place in the East, with a date at Toronto next week for the Eastern Semi-Final.

But how they go into that playoff game is the question, as the REDBLACKS look to snap an ungainly five-game losing streak when they play host to the Hamilton Tiger-Cats in Week 21.

After being blown out by the Argos over the first three quarters of last week’s matchup in Toronto, the REDBLACKS staged a stunner of a comeback that ended up falling just short after they outscored the Boatmen by a score of 25-nothing in the fourth quarter.

This is a team desperate to show that they more closely resemble the comeback kids that finished that last game rather than the ones who started it.

The REDBLACKS nabbed a little optimism in that fourth quarter in Toronto. But can they fan that flicker into a fully-formed flame?

FREE AGENCY JUST AHEAD: HE’LL WANT TO SEND A MESSAGE

Tre Ford has thrown for 812 yards, seven touchdowns, and five interceptions so far this season (CFL.ca)

When the Edmonton Elks host the Toronto Argonauts on Friday night, Elks quarterback Tre Ford will be looking for a statement game.

In a season where the 26-year-old has not been a starter, then a starter, then not a starter and once again a starter, Ford will want to rip it up in his final chance to do so before becoming (potentially) a free agent in the coming off-season.

Lots of people think Tre Ford should be somebody’s QB1. And lots of people aren’t sold as of yet. If Ford can come up with a top-tier pro performance against the Argos – and against a defence that will want to show that last week’s fourth quarter slip-and-fall was just a lapse – he will bolster his shot at being a depth chart topper in 2025.

Be that in Edmonton or elsewhere.

THE ALOUETTES WOULD LOVE A BOUNCE-BACK EFFORT

Obviously, the Montreal Alouettes are not in nearly the same spot as the Ottawa REDBLACKS are heading into this weekend’s action but after a Week 20, 27-3 roasting at the hands of the BC Lions, the defending champs would love nothing more than to head into their bye prior to hosting the Eastern Final with a much better outcome than the one they suffered in Vancouver. And consider this: In their last six games, the Als are 2-3-1.

Montreal will get a real test in this game, what with the Winnipeg Blue Bombers – one of the hottest teams in the league right now – paying them a visit with first place in the West within their grasp.

Montreal’s Jason Maas has some interesting decisions to make for this one, as he pulls the head coach levers, finding what he thinks is the right balance for his team. Does he go all-in on his usual starters, looking for a decisive win heading for the bye? Does he rest a ton of his top-line players knowing it’s been a long, long season and that one week off is good, but two weeks off would be even better?

“We know that we’re gonna be in for a fight here in the next little while,” Alouettes’ general manager Danny Maciocia told TSN 690 Radio this week. “And we’re gonna have to play the way we’re capable of playing if we wanna keep on winning football games.”

The Als need to sharpen up. They also need to be smart about managing the health of the team’s starters.

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