CFL 'Quick Kicks': Division Finals

By Chris Lawton

Welcome to our weekly review of each CFL game week for the 2024 season. ‘Quick Kicks’ brings you week to week news of how the games went, scores, surprises, and a general feel of ‘what we learned’ from the games. This time it’s the playoffs as we look back at the East and West Division Finals, and see who will be contesting the 111th Grey Cup.

Let’s dive right in. The opening game of the weekend saw the Toronto Argonauts travel to face the Montreal Alouettes, and it was the Argos who moved on to the Grey Cup in Vancouver after posting a 30-28 win here.

It’s an old adage in football that if you win the turnover battle, you win the game. There’s a reason that saying exists, because more often than not it’s true, and it certainly proved to be the case here.

Early on Argos QB Chad Kelly was probably having flashbacks to last year’s Division Final when the Alouettes repeatedly picked him off and used a strong D to ride their way to the Grey Cup. This time around he had thrown two picks early but neither had been taken back for a score, but Montreal were in control and leading comfortably 16-7 before committing in total six turnovers, including a pick-six for the Boatmen. To make it worse they had fumbled away chances three times within field goal range before all was said and done in a close game.

A key moment came in the game at that 16-7 point too, as Janarion Grant returned a punt 71 yards for a score to bring Toronto back into the game. This swung momentum in their direction and was followed by a turnover and touchdown pass from Kelly to Coxie to give the Argonauts the halftime lead.

Kelly would finish the game 11 of 22 for 122 yards with 1 score and 2 picks before leaving with an injury that will ultimately require surgery. The injury came with Toronto up 24-16 and took the wind out of the Argos sails a little. Following a Toronto field goal, Montreal responded with a touchdown of their own and failed 2-point conversion to make it 27-22.

Nick Arbuckle had to step up and he did so going 5 of 8 for 73 yards and setting up Lirim Hajrullahu to make it 30-22. Montreal scored again late on and again failed on the 2-pointer. Had they taken two singles the game would have been tied but hindsight is always a lot clearer that what is seen in the moment on these things.

Montreal will miss a chance to defend their Grey Cup title, but their fans will have enjoyed the first two seasons with Jason Maas as Head Coach who has led the Als to a 23-12-1 record over two years and won a championship. Not bad for a team that hadn’t been to a Grey Cup since 2010 prior to his arrival.

The second Division Final game was in Winnipeg where the hometown Winnipeg Blue Bombers overcame the Saskatchewan Roughriders by a 38-22 margin. This all makes the early season 0-4 and 2-6 standings of the Blue Bombers a distant memory as they claim their fifth West Final title in a row.

We have noted before that if Brady Oliveira rushes for over 100 yards the Blue Bombers tend to win. Well here he had 20 carries for 119 yards and a touchdown, but the real focus of the win falls on the Winnipeg passing attack. Zach Collaros hit on 19 of 26 passes for 301 yards and 4 touchdowns and the bulk of his success went to Kenny Lawler who hauled in 4 passes for 177 yards and 3 touchdowns. Lawler becomes the first Blue Bombers receiver to have over 100 yards receiving against Saskatchewan in a playoff game.

To get Collaros out of rhythm you have to get physical, but Saskatchewan recorded zero sacks here. If you give Collaros time, then he has shown before he can work his way through a CFL defence and that was no different here.

One area that really helped Winnipeg get the win here was on second down as they converted on 60% of their second down chances while Saskatchewan were limited to a success rate of less than a third on their conversion attempts.

The Winnipeg D made their mark too, holding Saskatchewan to 77 yards on the ground, sacking Trevor Harris twice and forcing three turnovers. Meanwhile the Blue Bombers totalled 482 yards of net offence, averaging 8.6 yards per play.

A key play came when Winnipeg were leading 31-16 in the fourth and Saskatchewan went for it on third and three on their own 24-yard line. The Bombers D stopped them, and Oliveira immediately went for 21 yards and a 3-yard touchdown scamper to make it 38-16 and effectively put the game out of reach.

For Saskatchewan and first year coach Corey Mace this has been a year of development. After back-to-back 6-12 seasons a 9-8-1 finish and first appearance in a first West Final since 2021 will give Riders fans something to hope they can build on.

Meanwhile Kian Schaffer-Baker set a Roughriders single game playoff franchise record with 12 receptions, which covered 162 yards.  

Next Week: The 111th Grey Cup

Now we know. This year’s Grey Cup will feature the Toronto Argonauts and Winnipeg Blue Bombers. A rematch of the 109th Grey Cup which Toronto won by the slenderest of margins 24-23.

For the fifth year in a row the Blue Bombers will represent the West Division. There is no doubt they are a West Division Dynasty, but if they could win their third Grey Cup in five years, then they could argue they have a Grey Cup Dynasty too. They will be seeking their 13th win in 29 appearances in the big game. It would be icing on the cake for Head Coach Mike O’Shea who has led the Blue Bombers into their most successful era since the 1950’s and this season became the team’s all-time winningest Head Coach (107-69).

Meanwhile, the Toronto Argonauts are seeking their second Grey Cup title in three years, having made four straight East Division Finals and two Grey Cups under coach Ryan Dinwiddie (46-22). They will be seeking their 19th win in 25 appearances. They will also hope to extend their record of having won seven straight times in the championship game dating back to 1991.

The talking point around this game will centre around Nick Arbuckle starting in place of the injured Chad Kelly for the Argos and how that will play into Winnipeg’s hands. There is little doubt that Winnipeg will be favoured, but as we have seen in many recent title matches, once the game kicks off there are no guarantees. It’s going to be fun to see how this one plays out.

MOP's of CFL Division Finals Week:

O – Kenny Lawler, WR, Winnipeg Blue Bombers: 4 catches for 177 yards and 3 touchdowns.

D – Benji Franklin, DB, Toronto Argonauts: 4 tackles, 2 interceptions.

ST – Janarion Grant, KR, Toronto Argonauts: 2 punt returns for 85 yards and a touchdown, 3 kickoff returns for 62 yards. 1 carry for 12 yards, 2 catches for 57 yards.

Grey Cup Playoffs:

111th Grey Cup: Toronto Argonauts [12-8] v Winnipeg Blue Bombers [12-7].

West Division Final:  Saskatchewan Roughriders 22 at Winnipeg Blue Bombers 38.

East Division Final: Toronto Argonauts 30 at Montreal Alouettes 28.

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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