The CFL season kicks-off today and so do my hot takes. Here are my predictions for the 2018 season, a little mix of what I think will happen versus what I hope will happen.
Standings
EAST
Toronto Argonauts: 11-7
Hamilton Tiger-Cats: 9-9
Ottawa Redblacks: 7-11
Montreal Alouettes: 3-15
WEST
Edmonton Eskimos: 12-6
Calgary Stampeders: 11-7
Saskatchewan Roughriders: 11-7
Winnipeg Blue Bombers: 9-9
B.C. Lions: 8-10
Toronto never impresses in the regular season, I would be shocked if they posted a better record than 11-7 but they’ll get hot for the playoffs. Hamilton with a full season under June Jones should see improvements this season, though Masoli will be looking over his shoulder throughout the entire season. Ottawa has very shaky Canadian Depth and unless Harris can stay healthy the entire season, I don’t see this team going far in 2018. Montreal… well, I just… yeah.
Edmonton will be very good this year, they have the proper protection for Mike Reilly and though they incurred some losses at receiver, Walker and co. should supplement that. Every year I pick Calgary to fall off and it never happens, their system and Bo Levi are too good to not be at least top two in the division. The Riders and Bombers will duke it out for 3rd place in the division. Matt Nichols being out 4-6 weeks could give the Riders a much needed head start. The Lions season is on the shoulders of a Johnathon Jennings rebound.
CFL Playoffs
East Semi-Final:
Winnipeg 26 Hamilton 16
West Semi-Final:
Saskatchewan 32 Calgary 30
East Final
Winnipeg 28 Toronto 20
West Final
Saskatchewan 25 Edmonton 21
GREY CUP
Saskatchewan 19 Winnipeg 10
GREY CUP CHAMPIONS
Saskatchewan Roughriders
Grey Cup MVP: Ed Gainey
Most Valuable Canadian: Jerome Messam
Ok, so this is where my bias takes over. Obviously playoffs are a coin flip, I mean look at the last two Grey Cups. (Never forget Calgary choked in two Grey Cups in a row that they were heavily favoured in.) So who knows what will happen. If the Riders O-Line fails to protect Collaros, they might not even make it to the playoffs. That’s the fun of the CFL. If you have predictions of your own, DM @roughridersdaily on Instagram, I’ll share the best ones in my stories.
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