CFL Playoff Picks, Semi-Finals Round

Saskatchewan Roughriders/Ottawa Redblacks: an odd season for the 2016 Grey Cup champion Ottawa Redblacks. They played well enough early on but kept losing close games that made them appear inept in the standings. They took their dismal record and turned it around as 2017 progressed, however, finishing with a modest yet respectable 8-9-1 that doesn’t inspire tremendous confidence, but indicates they can win on any given Sunday. It’s a similar situation for the Roughriders. They played well enough this year after a slow start, and even managed to throttle some perennial CFL West favourites, after struggling for the last two years. But some weeks they just didn’t show up and went home knowing full-well they could have achieved more. They played each other twice, recently, both teams winning a game by a single point. Thus, I imagine the rubber will be quite the spectacle, their first playoff meeting in 41 years, Saskatchewan with the better record, Ottawa in possession of home field. Once again, I’m picking Saskatchewan. Could they pull off the blowout?

Edmonton Eskimos/Winnipeg Blue Bombers: I’d like to see Winnipeg win this one. They’ve struggled for years and have a great team plus a great shot at winning the Cup for the first time in decades. They’ll have to beat a hot Eskimos team to do it, however, a team they’ve already defeated twice this season. Edmonton played well this Summer, picking up multiple wins in a row even though they were injury plagued. But injuries eventually caught up with them and they languished for awhile afterwards, before finishing well, after everyone came back I imagine. The Blue Bombers lived up to their name in 2017, scoring the most points in the league while crushing their opposition several times. But playoff miscues haunt some clubs for some unfathomable reason, whether it’s Mexico in the World Cup of Soccer or the NFL’s Cincinnati Bengals, and Winnipeg will have to perform exceedingly well to play again next Sunday. Will they perform? Will they indeed be victorious? I honestly haven’t the slightest clue. But methinks they will. And I’m a pickin’ the Bombers.