CFL ' Quick Kicks' 2026: Week 21

By Chris Lawton

Welcome to week twenty-one of our weekly review of each week of the 2026 CFL season. ‘Quick Kicks’ brings you week-to-week news of how the games went, scores, surprises and what we learned.

This is the last edition of the regular season, so it comes with extras: every record I could find that fell, was matched or was very narrowly dodged in 2026, a full look at the playoffs, and a trip to the alternate universe where we’re already using next year’s playoff format. This week we learned that when nothing is at stake, CFL coaches will rest anybody with a pulse and a contract, and that special teams never take a night off. Four games (dates and times at Touchdown Towers are UK times), a kicker who went seven-for-seven, a punter who tried an extra point, a gale in Regina that made two kickers look like they were aiming at a different postcode, and a Redblacks season that has finally, mercifully, finished. So, get the kettle on and the biscuits out, there’s a lot to get through.

The first game was in Toronto, where the Alouettes beat the Argonauts 33-16 in a game neither side needed. Both teams had already locked up the top two spots in the East, so both rested starters, and Montreal rested the three men who make the Alouettes the Alouettes: Davis Alexander, Tyson Philpot and Tyler Snead stayed in their slippers. By the time the East Final comes round on the 7th of November they will have gone 26 days without a game, which in CFL terms is a sabbatical. Jason Maas is either a genius or has just bought a very expensive lottery ticket.

Dustin Crum started in his place, only his second start of the season, and he was very good: 17-of-20 for 153 yards and two rushing touchdowns, plus a first win over Toronto at the fifth attempt. Caleb Evans played the second half and threw two fourth-quarter touchdowns, to Charleston Rambo and Kaseem Ferdinand, finishing 11-of-14 for 82 yards with one interception. The Als finish 14-4, the first 14-win season since 2004, and their 33 points took them to a new franchise record for points in a season (624).

Special teams, naturally, provided the best of the weirdness. Montreal had brought in Lewis Ward to cover for the injured José Maltos Díaz, and he made two field goals but missed a routine one, and at one point punter Joseph Zema was asked to take an extra point and missed it, which is the football equivalent of the goalkeeper going up for a corner and conceding on the break. On the plus side, Mekhi Mews, who hasn’t exactly set the return game alight this year, finally found some room, with a 44-yard punt return that set up Rambo’s touchdown and another dangerous run back after a missed field goal. For Toronto, Lirim Hajrullahu hit a 53-yarder, his longest of the season, and Dymere Miller, in just his third CFL game, caught seven passes for 115 yards, including a 71-yard touchdown on the first pass of Tucker Horn’s first career start, while also returning kickoffs and a missed field goal. Horn finished 20-of-26 for 215 yards with one touchdown and one interception, but only 47 of those yards came in the rest of the first half, which is the football equivalent of leading the pub quiz after round one and then going to the bar.

Kevin Mital also passed 1,000 receiving yards, joining Damonte Coxie, Tyler Kahmann and David Ungerer III to give Toronto four 1,000-yard receivers, something only five teams in CFL history have managed and the Argos never. Not bad for a team that finished 9-9.

Player of the Game: Dustin Crum, QB, Montreal. Efficient, mobile, and a convincing answer to the question of what happens if the star goes down. 17-of-20, 153 yards, 2 rushing TD.

The second game was at BC Place, where Winnipeg beat the Lions 34-10 and clinched a playoff place for the tenth season running. The Bombers needed the win; the Lions, already through, rested nine offensive starters including Nathan Rourke, plus Mathieu Betts and Deontai Williams on defence, and for a long time it showed up in exactly the wrong place for Winnipeg. The Bombers scored three points in the first 43 minutes and trailed 10-3 against what was, to be polite, the Lions’ B and C teams. Zach Collaros was 9-of-20 for 105 yards and an interception before leaving late in the third quarter after a sack that drew a roughing flag. His leaving did looked precautionary. Enter Dru Brown, who went 11-for-11 for 185 yards and two touchdowns, to Dorian Singer and Nic Demski, as Winnipeg scored 31 unanswered points. In the middle of it, Brady Oliveira opened the fourth quarter with a 63-yard touchdown run, the longest of his career, and finished with 149 yards and two scores, his best game of the season on the very last day. That left him on 1,493 yards for the year and a third rushing title.

Special teams, normally Winnipeg’s strongest phase, was a bit of a mess. Trey Vaval muffed a punt return in the first quarter, Sergio Castillo went 2-for-3 with a 54-yarder that fell short, and Seven McGee muffed one for the Lions just to even things up. Elsewhere, Zander Horvath came in two touchdowns short of Milt Stegall’s single-season record, touched the ball twice and did not score, so Stegall’s 23 from 2002 survives for another year. And in Calgary, the Stampeders, who led the CFL in scoring with 632 points, sat at home on their bye needing the Lions to win, didn’t get it, and are out of the playoffs for the second time in three years. The best offence in the league, and out. Football is a cruel game.

Player of the Game: Dru Brown, QB, Winnipeg. Honourable mention to Oliveira, but the man who came off the bench and did not miss a throw gets it. 11-of-11, 185 yards, 2 TD.

The third game was in Hamilton, where the Tiger-Cats beat the Redblacks 35-22 and Ottawa’s 2026 ended exactly where we feared it might: 1-17, which ties the 2003 Tiger-Cats for the worst record in CFL history. Both Saturday games kicked off at 8 PM UK time, at exactly the same moment, so if you followed both on a phone, I salute you.

Bryson Barnes, so wonderful in his first start last week, looked more like a rookie in his second, going 13-of-26 for 163 yards and two interceptions before Jake Maier came on and threw two touchdowns in garbage time. Hamilton took full advantage of four turnovers, three of them in a row in the second quarter, including Wynton McManis’s interception returned for a score, and Tre Ford (18-of-25 for 170 yards and two touchdowns, plus 52 on the ground) was Tre Ford. His best moment came at the end of the first half: he stepped up, ran, checked the clock and slid with two seconds left, which for Tre Ford is easily the most conservative thing he has ever done. Marc Liegghio then trotted out and hit a 53-yard field goal to make it 22-9 at the break.

Liegghio finished seven-for-seven on field goals, with that 53-yarder the longest, plus two converts, on an afternoon when Ottawa’s special teams were a net negative and a blocked punt set up another Hamilton touchdown. Not one of those seven made the record book, which tells you what sort of year it has been for kickers (see below). Kalil Pimpleton, meanwhile, had the day we all hoped he would. His 55 punt return yards, 98 kickoff return yards and 69 receiving yards took him to 3,404 all-purpose yards, past Jason Armstead’s Ottawa record of 3,353 from 2005, and his 1,834 kickoff return yards broke Ian Smart’s CFL record of 1,805 from 2008. A cynic would say he had plenty of chances because Ottawa’s defence kept conceding. The cynic would be wrong: he led the league at 24.5 yards per return. Ottawa conceded 673 points, third-most in CFL history, but Anthony Gosselin became the most-capped Redblack ever with his 129th game, and the team still hasn’t won in Hamilton since 2018. The offseason, as they say, can’t come soon enough.

Player of the Game: Marc Liegghio, K, Hamilton. A kicker getting this to himself is rare, so enjoy it. Seven from seven, long of 53, plus two converts.

The fourth game was in Regina, where the Roughriders beat the Elks 16-9 in what was part football game, part wind-tunnel experiment. It was also the last Riders home game with a 55-yard line, but more on that at the end. Both teams rested people (Edmonton sat 13 regular starters, and Saskatchewan didn’t even dress Trevor Harris as the emergency third-stringer), so we got Jack Coan in his first CFL start (15-of-26 for 178 yards and an interception) and Brayden Schager for the Riders, and Taylor Powell making his starting debut for the Elks (87 per cent on 30 passes, sacked six times). The other Powell, running back ShunDerrick, had a career-high 101 rushing yards on 11 carries, so it was a Powell double bill.

The wind was the real star of this game though. Vincent Blanchard and Brett Lauther both had converts bend sideways, kickoffs were landing on the opposing 30-yard line, and Edmonton were punting, or going for it on third down, inside the Riders’ 40 because Blanchard couldn’t get a sensible look at kicking for points. Oscar Chapman got some use out of the gale with a 58-yard punt for a single late in the fourth, and Blanchard hit a 24-yarder with 27 seconds left before the Elks’ onside kick was recovered by the Riders. Together the teams were flagged 25 times for 261 yards, the most in the CFL this season, and the Riders’ first touchdown came on a five-play, 67-yard drive that included 62 yards of Edmonton penalties: a 42-yard pass interference, two offsides and an unnecessary roughness. The Riders’ own offence contributed one five-yard run.

Tommy Stevens did the rest, with two one-yard touchdown runs that took him to 17 rushing touchdowns on the year. That is the most ever by a CFL quarterback in a season, and a new Riders single-season record for any player, passing the legendary George Reed’s 16. Edmonton (13-5) finished first in the West, their first division title since 2015, with a bye, while Saskatchewan (10-8) took third and will stay in the West.

Player of the Game: Tommy Stevens, QB, Saskatchewan. Honourable mention to Chapman for taking on the wind with a boot. 2 rushing TD, 17 on the season.

The 2026 Record Book

It was a season for breaking things, so here is the full(ish) list, starting with the one nobody wanted.

Ottawa’s 22-game losing streak, which ran back into last season, is the longest in modern CFL history and second only to the 25 straight defeats by the Ottawa Rough Riders between 1928 and 1932. The 0-16 start was the worst opening in league history, passing the 1994 Shreveport Pirates, and the 1-17 finish matches that 2003 Hamilton side as the worst record ever. The 673 points they allowed are the third-most the CFL has seen. The reason it isn’t 0-18 is Barnes’s 24-yard touchdown to Ayden Eberhardt with six seconds left to beat Toronto 40-39 in Week 20.

Vincent Blanchard’s nine field goals in Edmonton’s 37-35 double-overtime win over Hamilton on 26th September broke the CFL record of eight, which had been matched five times. A week later Sean Whyte kicked a Lions-record eight against Toronto, passing the mark he shared with Lui Passaglia, and scored all 24 of BC’s points in a 24-17 win, which is a very efficient way to run an offence. Kickers also made a league-record 46 attempts from 50 yards or more through Week 20, and Pimpleton took the kickoff return yardage record. For the highlight reel, add Tyreik McAllister’s 118-yard missed-field-goal return touchdown for Calgary in Week 8.

Davis Alexander set a CFL record with 356 consecutive pass attempts without an interception and began his career with a record 13 straight wins. Vernon Adams Jr. threw more touchdown passes before his first interception than anyone has ever managed to start a season, passing Ricky Ray. Cody Fajardo’s 510 yards (four touchdowns, no interceptions) against Saskatchewan in July was the first 500-yard game in the CFL since 2017. Alexander (5,257 through Week 19), Trevor Harris and Chad Kelly all passed 5,000 yards, and Fajardo, sat down in the finale, stalled on 4,778, 222 short of the fourth that would have tied the record of four in a season. League-wide, the passer rating was 102.8 through Week 20, and no season has ever finished above 100.

Tyson Philpot, nailed on for MOC, led the league with 124 catches, 1,809 yards and 13 touchdowns. He broke Terry Evanshen’s 1967 mark of 1,662 receiving yards by a Canadian, passed Brad Sinopoli’s 116 catches for the most by a Canadian in a season, set an Alouettes record for receptions, and reached 1,000 yards in eight games, the fastest ever by a Canadian and level with Hal Patterson and Terry Greer for the fewest by anyone. Five Canadians topped 1,000 yards, tying the CFL record (Tyson and his twin Jalen Philpot, Ungerer, Justin McInnis and Kian Schaffer-Baker), so their mums have presumably stopped telling them to get a proper job.

Brady Oliveira’s 1,493 yards made it five straight 1,000-yard seasons, breaking a 68-year-old Canadian record held by Norman Kwong (four in a row, 1955 to 1958). Stevens’s 17 rushing touchdowns are the quarterback record, and the Riders’ record. Zander Horvath finished with 21 total touchdowns (18 rushing, three receiving), one short of Cory Philpot’s Lions record, one short of Mike Pringle’s 19 rushing touchdowns and two short of Stegall’s 23.

Pimpleton’s 1,834 kickoff return yards are the CFL record, his 3,404 all-purpose yards are an Ottawa record, and he became just the 11th player to top 3,000 combined yards in a season. As he has said himself, it’s a record that’s going to be hard to beat. We’ll come back to why.

The touchdown total was already a record for a nine-team league by Week 20 (472 of them, at 6.1 a game, up 15 per cent on last year), offences averaged 6.93 yards a play, the best in league history, and Winnipeg drew a record 321,356 fans across ten home games, 99.4 per cent of capacity. Across the CFL, though, attendance dipped 1.6 per cent after four straight years of growth. Edmonton, meanwhile, went from 7-11 to 13-5 and allowed the fewest points in the league (24.3 per game), the kind of turnaround that gets you a first division title since 2015.

One more thing for special teams fans. The finalists for Most Outstanding Special Teams Player are announced on Wednesday, and I already have a shortlist: Pimpleton, Blanchard, Liegghio and Whyte. Try to pick one. I can’t.

The Playoffs

Six teams are left, one bracket, and a lot of familiar faces.

East Semi-Final: Winnipeg Blue Bombers (9-9) at Toronto Argonauts (9-9), Saturday 31st October, 1 PM ET (5 PM UK). A quirk for this week only: the UK clocks went back on Sunday and North America’s don’t until the 1st, so we’re four hours ahead rather than five, which means a civilised 5 PM kick-off. Take it while it lasts. For Winnipeg it’s a second straight crossover, which is a polite way of saying a long trip east. It also recreates a fair bit of recent history: these two met in the Grey Cup in 2022 (Toronto 24-23 on a blocked field goal in Regina) and in 2024 (41-24 in Vancouver), and Toronto went into that second one 8-0 all-time against Winnipeg in the Grey Cup. Winnipeg were also here last year, crossing over to Montreal and climbing out of a 25-6 half-time hole to take the lead before losing 42-33. No crossover team has ever reached the Grey Cup, 13 tries and 13 failures, and Winnipeg would be number 14.

The story is at quarterback on both sides. Collaros (38) is the man in the frame for Winnipeg, though Dru Brown was taking first-team reps in practice on Tuesday and nothing has been announced. Chad Kelly hasn’t played in a playoff game since breaking his ankle in the 2024 East Final at Montreal. This week he signed a five-year extension that makes him the first $1 million player of the salary cap era, and Mike Miller expects him to start despite a knee injury. On special teams, Winnipeg will want Castillo’s leg and Vaval’s hands in better shape than they were in Vancouver, while Toronto have a question about Derek Slywka, their special teams ace, who left the Montreal game with his arm heavily wrapped.

West Semi-Final: Saskatchewan Roughriders (10-8) at BC Lions (10-8), Saturday 31st October, 4:30 PM ET (8:30 PM UK). They have the same record, but the Lions get the home field advantage after winning the 2026 series 2-1. This is the third straight year these two meet in the playoffs. Saskatchewan won the 2024 West Semi-Final 28-19 in Regina, then took the 2025 West Final 24-21 on Tommy Nield’s touchdown catch with 11 seconds left, and went on to win last year’s Grey Cup 25-17 over Montreal. The Lions, after a 1-5 start and a 9-1 run, finished with two losses while resting half the offence. The Riders had lost four in a row before beating a pair of resting opponents. Neither team has exactly arrived in form, so expect the kickers to matter.

Division Finals, Saturday 7th November. Montreal host the East Final, sold out and rested, with Maltos Díaz expected to be back from his wrist injury, which is just as well given Ward’s showing in Toronto. If Toronto win the semi, it’s the Als and Argos in the East Final for the fourth time in five years (Toronto 34-27 in 2022, Montreal 38-17 in 2023, Toronto 30-28 in 2024, the one where Kelly was hurt). If Winnipeg win, it’s a rerun of last year’s East Semi-Final and the 2023 Grey Cup, which Montreal won 28-24. Edmonton host the West Final, their first home playoff game since the 2015 season in which they went on to win the Grey Cup. Wouldn’t it be a story if…

The 113th Grey Cup, Sunday 15th November, McMahon Stadium, Calgary. In an ironic twist to the scheduling, the Stampeders, who led the CFL in scoring, will watch the Grey Cup from their own house as guests. It could also be a rematch of last year’s final if Montreal and Saskatchewan both come through, and Montreal did win 44-24 when they met in Week 19.

The Last Dance of the Old Format

2026 is the last year of the playoffs as we know them: six teams, two divisions, the third-place side visiting the second-place side and the crossover rule doing its thing. From 2027, eight of the nine teams make it, over four rounds and nine games including the Grey Cup. The top two in each division play each other in ‘Division Showdowns’, hosted by the division leader, and the winners get a bye to the Grey Cup Semi-Finals. The losers drop into Elimination Games, where they host the winners of two Play-In games. The Play-Ins feature the teams outside the top two in their division, re-seeded 5 to 8 by record regardless of division (five hosts eight, six hosts seven), and the ninth seed misses out. The CFL’s announcement notes that it also introduces the possibility of postseason rematches, so the top two in a division could meet twice.

So how would 2026 have looked? In the Division Showdowns, Montreal (14-4) would host Toronto (9-9), and Edmonton (13-5) would host BC (10-8, ahead of Saskatchewan on the tiebreaker). The Play-In seeds would be Saskatchewan (10-8) at five, Winnipeg and Calgary (both 9-9, and I’ve kept Winnipeg ahead as they were this year) at six and seven, and Hamilton (6-12) at eight, which makes the Play-Ins Saskatchewan hosting Hamilton and Winnipeg hosting Calgary. That means only Ottawa would be sat at home, and to be fair, they’ve had the practice.

It would have changed a lot. The crossover would be gone, so instead of Winnipeg flying to Toronto, they’d be hosting a playoff game. Calgary’s league-leading 632 points would have earned them a game, Hamilton would have had a reason to play in Week 21, and the Week 21 games would have meant far more than a bunch of resting starters. Montreal and Toronto, for one, might have been playing each other with something at stake. As the Tiger-Cats themselves might say, a team that finished 6-12 would have been in the playoffs and the Redblacks’ 1-17 season would have been the only one done by Halloween. Whether that’s better or worse is a debate for the pub, but it’s certainly different.

Looking Ahead

As for the rest of next season, the game itself will look different too. The season will start on Victoria Day weekend in May, the 114th Grey Cup will be at Mosaic Stadium in Regina on the 7th  of November 2027, and the field will shrink to 100 yards with 15-yard end zones, 20 yards shorter in total. That’s great news for Kalil Pimpleton’s records, which now look like they’ll stand for a very long time, and sad news for the 55-yard line, which the Riders waved goodbye to on Saturday, and which will get its last outing at McMahon on the 15th of November. I’ll be watching special teams closely to see what a shorter field does to the part of the game I love most. Sleep well, 55-yard line. You were a good friend.

Until the playoffs, CFL friends!

CHRIS LAWTON

CFL ANALYST

Chris originally started following the NFL with the ‘first wave’ of fans when it was shown on Channel 4 in the 1980’s. He has been a keen supporter of the Miami Dolphins since 1983. Chris first encountered the CFL in 2016 and instantly fell in love with the Canadian game. He has been writing about the CFL 2017. Chris has a degree in history, postgraduate degree in librarianship and can be found on twitter as @CFLfanUK

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