2014 Playoff Picture

[ArgoRavi]

This past weekend's games have clarified the playoff picture in the West somewhat but have not clarified the East picture at all.

In the East, each of Montreal, Hamilton and Toronto have as good of a chance to finish first as they do of finishing third. All three teams have exactly the same opponents over the final three weeks as well. It will come down to the head-to-head matchups as well as to whether Ottawa can play spoiler at all to determine who finishes where.

In the West, Calgary has clinched first place and Edmonton has all but clinched second. The only way that Edmonton doesn't finish in second is if B.C. wins their remaining games including beating the Esks by more than 7 points and the Esks lose their game to Saskatchewan. The Roughriders are in real danger of finishing in fourth and having to cross over to the East where they have already been blown out by all of Toronto, Hamilton and Montreal. The Lions trail the Riders by two points with one game in hand and B.C., very importantly, owns the season series over the Riders by point differential. Winnipeg's playoff hopes are hanging by a thread. They need to win their final two games, have B.C. lose their remaining games and have one of Toronto, Hamilton or Montreal finish with fewer than 8 wins.

It looks like there will be a western crossover. The only way that it doesn't happen is if B.C. loses all of their remaining games and Toronto, Hamilton and Montreal all win at least 8 games. While Winnipeg could upset B.C. this week, I strongly suspect that Calgary will be resting many of their players for their season finale in B.C. which could make life quite easy on the Lions.

This is the way I see the West playing out:

1. Calgary
2. Edmonton
3. British Columbia
4. Saskatchewan
5. Winnipeg

The East is simply too close to call with any scenario possible between the Argos, Ticats and Als. I do think that Saskatchewan will cross over but be eliminated in the opening round of the playoffs.

[Stouffvillain]

Here is a picture for the playoffs. Calgary/Edmonton Western Final. That should be a game for the ages.

[RICKEARS]

here is a update on crossover so far

http://www.cfl.ca/article/2014-cfl-p...#Crossover2014

[Argo]

IMO the Argos will fail to make the playoffs because of (finally) this loss to the Als.
If they do in fact miss the playoffs, any and all advisable changes to be made will be difficult to effect given the big-picture mess the team is floundering within.

[ArgoRavi]

IMO the Argos will fail to make the playoffs because of (finally) this loss to the Als.
If they do in fact miss the playoffs, any and all advisable changes to be made will be difficult to effect given the big-picture mess the team is floundering within.

The Argo season could go either way at this point. They are in very much a similar situation as they were in two years ago at this time when they needed to win their next five games to win the Grey Cup after a disappointing home loss to Winnipeg. They accomplished that task back then - and virtually no members of this forum gave them any chance to be successful at that time - and we shall see if they can do the same this year amid many doubts.

[ArgoZ]

The Argo season could go either way at this point. They are in very much a similar situation as they were in two years ago at this time when they needed to win their next five games to win the Grey Cup after a disappointing home loss to Winnipeg. They accomplished that task back then - and virtually no members of this forum gave them any chance to be successful at that time - and we shall see if they can do the same this year amid many doubts.

After watching many years of the CFL, I agree. Any eligible playoff team this year, even Montreal, can go on a 4 game win streak resulting in a Grey Cup berth.

[Argo57]

The Argo season could go either way at this point. They are in very much a similar situation as they were in two years ago at this time when they needed to win their next five games to win the Grey Cup after a disappointing home loss to Winnipeg. They accomplished that task back then - and virtually no members of this forum gave them any chance to be successful at that time - and we shall see if they can do the same this year amid many doubts.

You could sense the Argos hitting stride during the last portion of the 2012 season, the D in particular kept improving and quite frankly I think they had a better coaching staff that season as well. I find Milanovich's demeaner a little troubling lately during his press conferences, he almost seems resigned to the fact that this season isn't going anywhere at all.

[ArgoRavi]

You could sense the Argos hitting stride during the last portion of the 2012 season, the D in particular kept improving and quite frankly I think they had a better coaching staff that season as well. I find Milanovich's demeaner a little troubling lately during his press conferences, he almost seems resigned to the fact that this season isn't going anywhere at all.

You may or may not be right about the coaching staff but I think that many of us have rose-coloured glasses when we recall the 2012 season. I honestly don't think our defence looked any better prior to the final two regular season games in 2012 than it does today. The Argos were 7-9 at one point in 2012. They had just played three consecutive home games and lost all of them. The first two were played with Jarious Jackson at QB as Ray was hurt but our defence still looked awful in two of those losses - a 36-10 Thanksgiving Day blowout at the hands of Saskatchewan and a 44-32 loss to a wretched Winnipeg team that managed to pass and run all over the Argo defence that night. Adriano Belli was hauled out of retirement prior to the Winnipeg game which indicated some concern with the defensive line. After the Winnipeg game, the defence played better in a 31-26 win over Saskatchewan before ending the season with a memorable 43-40 win over Hamilton when the Argos played many, many backups. It was only in the playoffs that the defence started to come together which culminated in the best performance of the season in the Grey Cup.

If anyone can go back and look at the forum posts from two years ago, after that Winnipeg loss, you will see members at their lowest point when it came to belief in their football team. The Montreal loss on Saturday may be a sign of things to come but it could also just as easily be a red herring. I think that we will have a better sense about this football team after the Hamilton game this Saturday. Until then, I see a season that could range in anything from a disaster to one for the ages.