The CFL is now in the home stretch of the season. Playoff scenarios are starting to pop up for teams, and talk of who’s legit and who isn’t is being had. Although the football was amazing this week, we have to mention the terrible schedule that saw both the Ottawa Redblacks and the Toronto Argonauts play two games in week 10. Never do that again, CFL. But here’s our week 10 power rankings.

9. Edmonton Elks (2-6)

The Edmonton Elks were predictably dominated by the Winnipeg Blue Bombers in week 10 and Trevor Harris was pulled from the game in favour of Taylor Cornelius in the second half. Since then, it has been announced that Harris won’t even dress in their week 11 game against the Bombers, and it doesn’t sound like it is injury-related. This team and organization is an absolute tire fire right now, and there is little they can do to save themselves from this cruel fate right now. When you decide that Cornelius, the guy who has double as many interceptions as he does touchdowns is your better option, it’s saying something about the state of the team, and more importantly, the guy he’s replacing.

8. Ottawa Redblacks (2-7)

The Ottawa Redblacks are not a good football team right now. There are things that should give them hope for the future including Caleb Evans who was pressured to an extent that no quarterback should ever have to endure in their second game of week 10, but unlike the Elks, they are only a mess on the field. They are a couple of losses away from having the lights turned off on their season, but hey, they are improving. The offensive line just isn’t up to snuff, especially not when you have a rookie quarterback at the helm.

7. Hamilton Tiger-Cats (4-5)

Welcome back to the bottom, Hamilton. I know that Tiger-Cats fans will be all up in arms about this ranking and will probably talk about that field goal to end the first half that shouldn’t have counted, but guess what, too bad. What happened to the thought that this team might be the best team in the league this season? What happened to all that noise about the East Division being the Tabbies to lose? What happened to all the talk about Dane Evans and Brandon Banks being the best players at their respective positions? Fair warning here, the Ti-Cats are in serious danger of missing the playoffs right now, so they better pick it up and get moving.

6. Montreal Alouettes (4-4)

Things could be looking different had the Montreal Alouettes not come back to beat the Redblacks on their final drive of the game, but they certainly don’t come out of that game feeling too optimistic about their circumstances. Of course, Vernon Adams Jr. was knocked out of the game and it’s not yet known if or when he will get back onto the field. In the meantime, Matthew Shiltz will lead them, a guy with five touchdowns and nine interceptions on his career 172 passing attempts. Anything can happen with the Alouettes from here on out.

5. BC Lions (4-4)

A couple of weeks ago, you would be looking at the Lions’ fixture with the Stampeders and saying it was the Lions’ game to lose, but now, that seems to be completely changed. This is a critical juncture in the Lions’ season. If they lose to the Stampeders, they will be trying to force their way into an East crossover, and despite the losing ways of the East teams, the Lions would have to win games against tough opponents to get there. They almost need to win this game to keep themselves in contention for third in the West.

4. Saskatchewan Roughriders (5-4)

Riders’ fans won’t like us for this, but let’s be honest here, a team that has gone 2-4 in their last six games does not deserve to be around the top of these rankings. Two losses coming against the Blue Bombers and Stampeders tells us just about everything we need to know about the Riders right now, they are the third-best team in the West Division. Cody Fajardo is struggling, their offensive line hasn’t been good, they aren’t getting big plays out of their offence right now, and their defence hasn’t been amazing either. They now have a bye week and play the Stamps a third straight time. It’s not a must-win game, but it would be embarrassing to lose to them three consecutive weeks in your season.

3. Toronto Argonauts (6-3)

I’m not sure that I’m buying into this Argos’ hype, but here they are, six wins and three losses and winners of three straight games. McLeod Bethel-Thompson has come back and started winning games. He almost has the cockroach-like mentality. No matter how many times the Argos try to move on from him, he finds his way back into the lineup and produces and wins football games. Is this team good? Depends who you ask, but the road to the Grey Cup seems like it’s going to go through Toronto this season.

2. Calgary Stampeders (4-5)

Last week they were seventh, but this week, we are calling them the second-best team in the CFL. Bo Levi Mitchell is back and as good as ever, and he has the Stampeders peaking at the end of the season. There is still lots to play for, but as CFL fans know, the Stampeders always seem to be in the conversation at the end of the season, and if they somehow find a way to hoise the Grey Cup at the end of the season, it should come to the surprise of nobody. They are back, and they look like legitimate threats in the West.

1. Winnipeg Blue Bombers (8-1)

It’s getting hard to think of new things to say about this team, so I’m going to keep it short and sweet. They are the undisputed best team in the league right now and they will be very difficult to beat in the playoffs. They just need to keep things going and pray that they don’t get key injuries down the stretch. On paper, the Bombers are in a class of their own, but that doesn’t mean they should get complacent.

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