West division truly up for grabs after unexpected Week 11 in CFL

With the 2024 CFL season officially on the back nine and just two-and-a-half games separating the top team in the West Division from the bottom, the playoff race is shaping up to be a tight - and impossible to predict - one.

At the forefront of the standings shakeup is the Edmonton Elks, who have won three straight under interim head coach Jarious Jackson.

Edmonton started the season 0-5 under Chris Jones, who was fired after tallying a record of 8-33 over his two-plus seasons coaching and serving as general manager.

With Jackson leading the way, Edmonton has looked like the best team in the division, even with difficulties at the quarterback position. Tre Ford was named the starter heading into Week 9 after McLeod Bethel-Thompson's prolonged struggles forced a change, but was injured in his second start against the BC Lions.

"When I look at this roster, we all saw the potential, we all thought with the young talent they have on defence, and now two good quarterbacks ... The Elks are officially a contender in the West," said TSN's Davis Sanchez after their 47-22 victory over the Hamilton Tiger-Cats on Saturday.

Entering Week 12, Edmonton (3-7) ranks tops in the league in scoring, as their recent explosion against the Tiger-Cats jumped their average to 29.6 points per game.

On their three-game winning streak, they've been boosted by huge performances from many different players on the offence - Ford and Bethel-Thompson have each contributed multi-touchdown performances, while running backs Javon Leake and Justin Rankin have combined to go over 500 yards with eight touchdowns between them.

Problems in BC

For all that is going well in Edmonton, the Lions (5-5) have struggled to the same extent on their current four-game skid. 

The offence had a rough showing against the Winnipeg Blue Bombers at home on Sunday, scoring just one touchdown in a 20-11 loss despite the return of Canadian superstar QB Nathan Rourke.

"I'm not going to make excuses, I know that I'm better than this," said Rourke after the game on Sunday. "I'm sorry to the team ... and the rest of my teammates."

Rourke completed just eight of 25 passes for 126 yards and a pair of interceptions. Last time he was on the field for BC was in 2022, when he earned Most Outstanding Canadian honours after throwing for 3,349 yards and 25 touchdowns in 10 games. He spent the last two seasons with various teams in the NFL, including the Jacksonville Jaguars, New England Patriots, New York Giants and Atlanta Falcons.

Vernon Adams Jr., who was considered by some to be a Most Outstanding Player frontrunner in the first half of the season before suffering a knee injury in early August, was relegated to backup duty when Rourke signed. He still ranks second in the league in passing yards (2,469), despite not playing the last two games.

“It doesn’t matter who our quarterback is, we’ve got to play better as a football team and as a whole offensive unit,” head coach Rick Campbell said after the loss on Sunday.

Things don't get any easier for the Lions, as their next two games are a home-and-home series against the Ottawa Redblacks, who own the second-best record in the CFL at 6-2-1.

Blue Bombers rounding into form

The Blue Bombers have gotten onto a bit of a roll of late along with the Elks, as they've won two in a row.

Winnipeg's defence has been at the heart of their recent turnaround, as the unit has allowed fewer than 20 points in four straight contests - and average 19.7 points allowed per game on the season, which is best in the league.

The one ingredient missing for most of the season has been consistent QB play, but Zach Collaros - a two-time CFL MOP with Winnipeg - has started to play better in recent weeks.

Collaros missed their Week 5 contest against the Redblacks with a thorax injury, and has been improved since returning to the lineup.

In the first four games of the year, Collaros threw for 796 yards with four interceptions and no touchdowns. In his five games since, the 35-year-old has amassed five touchdowns against five interceptions, with 1,510 yards.

Winnipeg has represented the West Division in the Grey Cup each of the last four seasons under head coach Mike O'Shea.

Can Saskatchewan pull it together?

The current leader after 11 weeks in the West Division is the Saskatchewan Roughriders, though they haven't looked good in a little while either.

Their last victory came against the Blue Bombers on July 19 - and if not for a tie against the Redblacks two weeks ago, they'd be looking at a four-game losing streak.

Saskatchewan jumped to a 4-0 start with Trevor Harris looking like an MOP candidate, but the veteran missed six games with a sprained MCL and only returned to the lineup in their Week 11 loss to the Montreal Alouettes.

Over their four game winless skid, Saskatchewan has faced Montreal twice, Ottawa and Edmonton - teams with a combined record of 27-11-1, with Edmonton playing like the hottest team in the league despite their 3-7 mark. 

Saskatchewan battles the Toronto Argonauts in Week 12, followed by two crucial games against the Blue Bombers.

The standings in the West Division haven't been this close since the third week of the campaign - if any team in the division were to get hot now, they could make a strong push for the postseason. Failure to do so may result in a lost season just as quickly.