CFL Week 11 Recap: Tenth Time's the Charm

Ladies and gentlemen, the Edmonton Elks have won a game in 2023!

The Elks' season is pretty much over; they entered Hamilton having already lost the entire first half of their games. The team was coming off a huge disappointment in Week 10, going from being on the verge of pulling off a massive upset against the Winnipeg Blue Bombers, to blowing a sure thing and increasing their home losing streak. Regarding their meeting with the Hamilton Tiger-Cats, the Elks started with a good-sized lead. It wasn't 22 points, but still, it was a good lead for them.

They didn't blow it, this time. Honestly, I had a feeling that Edmonton would hold on. No, it's not because the TiCats are a bit on the faulty side. It's because the Elks had to have learned from their mistakes from the previous week. Plus, the Elks were on the road, so that helped a bit as well. The Elks won, 24-10, their first win of the 2023 season. Again, the Elks season is pretty much over, but at least their second half is off to a good start. Plus they have the remaining eight games to play spoiler.

Speaking of the Winnipeg Blue Bombers, they remained in Alberta to face the province's other franchise, the Calgary Stampeders. They were coming off narrowly avoiding a road loss to the Elks, and they ended up in a nail-biter in Calgary, edging the Stamps by a score of 19-18. Needless to say, Winnipeg's Alberta double dip has been more arduous than expected, but in the end, they left the province with wins. We would see another nail-biter on Saturday, as the Montréal Alouettes and the Ottawa Redblacks duked it out in an East Division battle...which looked like it would go Ottawa's way. However, Montréal knew that with the Toronto Argonauts off, this was their chance to capitalize and draw closer to the Boatmen, and they pulled off a fourth quarter comeback capped off by a clutch touchdown with 14 seconds left. The Als won, 25-24, moving closer to the Argos in the standings.

Week 11 ended in Regina with a West Division clash between the Saskatchewan Roughriders and the BC Lions. The latter of the two had been in a tight, back-and-forth race with the Bombers, and they needed a win to keep close with Winnipeg. They did not, however, count on the Riders' drive. I didn't think that Saskatchewan would take this, though I also didn't think BC would steamroll through the Riders. BC had their chances late, though a failed third down conversion gave the Riders possession in field goal range, though three points would be all they received. Down five, BC had one last chance, but they had to go all the way this time...and fell way short. The Riders won, 34-29, causing quite a shift in the West Division.

With only the back 10 weeks left, and with Labour Day Weekend closing in, here's how things look this season. In the West Division, the Winnipeg Blue Bombers stand alone in first place at 8-2, as the BC Lions dropped to 7-3 with their loss to the Saskatchewan Roughriders, who improved to 5-5. The Calgary Stampeders continue to struggle at 3-7, while the Edmonton Elks are now 1-9 with their first win of the season. All of a sudden, we have a little bit of a race in the West thanks to the Riders. They're still three out in the division, but the win over BC is important for positioning; second place in the division guarantees home field in the Division Semifinal.

In the East Division, the Toronto Argonauts remain at 7-1, while the Montréal Alouettes close in at 6-3. The Hamilton Tiger-Cats dropped to 3-6 with their loss, and the Ottawa Redblacks are now 3-7. The race between Toronto and Montréal has been tight and interesting, indeed, just like last year's race was. It's a pretty safe bet that these two teams will be battling it out in the Eastern Final come November.

Week 12 will kickoff on Thursday, August 24 with the aforementioned Montréal Alouettes heading to Winnipeg to face the Blue Bombers. On Friday, August 25, the Toronto Argonauts will be back in action against the one team who defeated them this year, the Calgary Stampeders. The BC Lions will host the Hamilton Tiger-Cats on Saturday, August 26, and on Sunday, August 27, the Edmonton Elks will look for back-to-back wins this season, as they host the Ottawa Redblacks in another attempt to end their long home losing streak.

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