CFL Week 10 Recap: Deadlock

I absolutely, positively, love this league!

So Week 10 kicked off with a meeting between the Saskatchewan Roughriders and the Ottawa Redblacks, and it was slow at first. Scoreless after one and only 3-3 at the half. Ottawa led 7-3 entering the fourth. Then the scoring picked up in the fourth, but the result saw nothing settled after sixty minutes. 13-13 after regulation. We get CFL overtime! Ottawa had the first possession, and it results in touchdown. Oh boy. By rule, no extra points, two point conversions are mandatory in OT. The Redblacks' conversion fails. This means the Riders can win it with an eight-point touchdown, and here's where the insanity starts. Ottawa commits defensive pass interference, doesn't get called. Challenge is made, call overturned. OT continues, Riders score! Two-pointer fails.

The second and last minigame takes place, and this time, it's the Riders with the first possession. The defense improves this time; Riders are held to a field goal and take the lead. So it's up to the defense to hold them down, and they do: a sack and then a strip-sack fumble seals victory for the Riders.

Or so they thought.

A late review occurs, and get this. Roughing the passer on the Riders. Very late call made as the Riders were celebrating, but OT continues. Redblacks gain new life, they get in the red zone, but first and second down fail. Now, given that it was third and 3, I thought they'd go for it all, but Ottawa decided to take the tie with a chip shot field goal. Final score: Roughriders 22, Redblacks 22. I love ties in football; I'm one of the few fans who do, because ties cause chaos, they make the standings look interesting. This is the first tie in the CFL in seven years, and that also involved the Redblacks--the opening week tie with the Stampeders in 2017.

While I was entertained by the tie as a football fan, as an Argos fan, it was not pleasing. Thankfully, the following evening saw the Argos get payback on the Calgary Stampeders, who came back against the Argos on the previous week. This time, with the Argos at home, it was the Boatmen who came back from a halftime deficit and dominate the second half, resulting in a 39-25 victory to keep pace with not only the Redblacks, but the Alouettes as well. Montréal hosted the Hamilton Tiger-Cats on the week's Saturday night matchup, and it was over before it started. Yes, the score was only 33-23, but that's only because Hamilton found their groove when it was too late. It was done.

Finally, the Edmonton Elks hosted the BC Lions to end the week, and the Elks were coming off finally getting their first win of the season. However, the Elks were down 10-1 after the first quarter, but a funny thing happened--the Elks came back, big time. An 18 point second quarter. Only six points surrendered the rest of the way. A 33-16 win for the Elks. That's back-to-back wins! Are the Elks back in it?

Let's look at the standings, shall we?

At 5-3-1, the Saskatchewan Roughriders lead the West all alone thanks to the Lions' loss. The West is very close all around, the entire division is separated by three and a half games! I asked earlier, are the Elks back in it? They are 2-7, but they are only two games behind their provincial rivals, the Calgary Stampeders, for third place in the division--a playoff position! And the season's pretty much half over, so who knows? As for the East, it's Montréal's to lose for sure. The Argonauts and Redblacks are in a tight battle for second place, and it's getting closer and closer. These two teams haven't faced each other as of yet, yikes.

Week 11 kicks off on Thursday, August 15 with the Calgary Stampeders hosting the Ottawa Redblacks, and on Friday, August 16, the Montréal Alouettes and the Saskatchewan Roughriders face each other. On Saturday, August 17, it's a battle of the lowly franchises, with the Hamilton Tiger-Cats hosting the Edmonton Elks, and the week will end with the Winnipeg Blue Bombers and the BC Lions facing off in a West Division battle on Sunday, August 18.

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