{"id":261423,"date":"2025-11-04T16:38:12","date_gmt":"2025-11-04T16:38:12","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/261423\/"},"modified":"2025-11-04T16:38:12","modified_gmt":"2025-11-04T16:38:12","slug":"weekly-predictor-who-wins-in-the-division-finals","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/261423\/","title":{"rendered":"Weekly Predictor: Who wins in the Division Finals?"},"content":{"rendered":"

WHAT A START TO THE GREY CUP PLAYOFFS!<\/p>\n

After watching Division Semi-Final Saturday have two classic CFL games with unpredictable plays and down to the wire drama, it\u2019s kind of sad we only have three games left in the 2025 season.<\/p>\n

What will be ahead are three more classics, and the Tiger-Cats and the Roughriders are ready to defend their home field after a week off to prepare for their upcoming opponents.<\/p>\n

And in a week from now, Grey Cup Week in Winnipeg will be well underway!<\/p>\n

\"20232025 GREY CUP PLAYOFFS
\u00bb\u00a0Play CFL Pick \u2018Em presented by Old Dutch now!<\/a>
\u00bb Final four matchups set for Hamilton and Saskatchewan<\/a>
\u00bb Where to watch the CFL Division Finals<\/a>
\u00bb 6 stats that may loom large in the Division Finals<\/a>
\u00bb\u00a0Subscribe to the CFL\u2019s newsletter for exclusive offers and league updates<\/a><\/p>\n

But now it\u2019s time to decide which two teams will face each other in the 112th Grey Cup, and for the first time since 2017, it\u2019ll be a Division Final weekend that doesn\u2019t include the Winnipeg Blue Bombers.<\/p>\n

Shoutout to the Bombers for an incredible run of success!<\/p>\n

MONTREAL AT HAMILTON<\/p>\n

Saturday, November 8
3:00 p.m. ET
TSN\/TSN2<\/a>\/RDS\/CTV\/CFL+<\/p>\n

I wrote about Stevie Scott III before last week\u2019s Eastern Semi-Final and how the Alouettes have found a new dimension and threat to their offence. What a performance Scott III put on against the Bombers last week!<\/p>\n

162 total yards from scrimmage and two touchdowns for the bruising back. He\u2019s the type of runner you need as the wind whips up and the temperature dips.<\/p>\n

There is no question Jason Maas will be dialling up another strong dose of No. 8 for the Tiger-Cats to try to handle on Saturday. The Tiger-Cats run defence was the worst in the CFL this season, allowing over 110 yards rushing per game.<\/p>\n

Hamilton has to shut that down and make Davis Alexander<\/a> try to pass his way to victory. I\u2019ll be honest, I was a little worried about the Alouettes quarterback in the Semi-Final against Winnipeg, as later on in the game he did get up and appear to favour his throwing shoulder. He toughed it out and was able to make some key throws down the stretch.<\/p>\n

The Tiger-Cats, of course, have the league\u2019s top passer in Bo Levi Mitchell<\/a> this season, but it\u2019s crazy to think Bo hasn\u2019t started a playoff game since 2021!<\/p>\n

We\u2019ve all seen a rejuvenated Mitchell this season, even dating back to late in 2024, but without much of a run game, can Mitchell chuck it against this Alouettes defence?<\/p>\n

Zach Collaros<\/a> threw for over 300 yards last week, but those yards didn\u2019t come easy.<\/p>\n

I\u2019ve said for weeks that the Alouettes are the best team in the CFL when Davis Alexander<\/a> is at quarterback. I\u2019m not changing my mind.<\/p>\n

PICK: MONTREAL<\/p>\n

BC AT SASKATCHEWAN<\/p>\n

Saturday, November 8
6:30 p.m. ET
TSN\/RDS\/CFL+<\/p>\n

While I thought it might be a close game against the Stampeders, I didn\u2019t foresee the Lions needing a walk-off field goal to advance to the Western Final.<\/p>\n

Nathan Rourke<\/a> is such a dangerous quarterback, and will be deserving of every honour he\u2019ll likely be getting on CFL Awards night in Winnipeg next week, but he\u2019d much rather have his entire team there with him.<\/p>\n

However, it\u2019s going to be tough to get them all there when you have the best team in the league standing in your way.<\/p>\n

In the two games in which Rourke played against Saskatchewan this year, he finished strong, but had trouble early.<\/p>\n

In Week 7, the Roughriders had a 33-11 lead late into the third quarter when the Lions offence finally started to find some traction.<\/p>\n

Then, in the final week of the regular season, with the Roughriders resting starters, it wasn\u2019t until Trevor Harris<\/a> left the game and other starters started to see the sideline when Rourke and the Lions took that game over. Even then, they needed a go-ahead touchdown with less than five minutes left.<\/p>\n

I\u2019ll be interested to see what Roughriders head coach and defensive coordinator Corey Mace throws at Rourke this week in what could be a chilly and snowy affair at Mosaic Stadium.<\/p>\n

On the other side, you have the Riders, who haven\u2019t played a game that\u2019s worth anything in the standings in a month. However, they showed in the stretch run that it doesn\u2019t matter who is in or out of the lineup, they can play with anyone.<\/p>\n

The Riders are trending in the right direction injury wise, as Mace has some incredibly difficult roster decisions based on the amount of talent he\u2019ll have at his disposal.<\/p>\n

It\u2019s a great problem to have for the Riders and not great news for Lions.<\/p>\n

I also suspect that it\u2019s AJ Ouellette time for Saskatchewan. Their DNA is tough, physical football and BC will have to be able to go punch-for-punch (hopefully not literally).<\/p>\n

PICK: SASKATCHEWAN<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"WHAT A START TO THE GREY CUP PLAYOFFS! After watching Division Semi-Final Saturday have two classic CFL games…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":261424,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[437],"tags":[49,48,521,522,520,82],"class_list":{"0":"post-261423","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-cfl","8":"tag-ca","9":"tag-canada","10":"tag-canadian-football-league","11":"tag-canadianfootballleague","12":"tag-cfl","13":"tag-sports"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/261423","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=261423"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/261423\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/261424"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=261423"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=261423"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=261423"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}