CFL Week 20 Game Preview: Ottawa Redblacks at Toronto Argonauts In Pivotal Showdown with Playoff Ramifications
There are two weekends left in the 2024 CFL regular season. With all six playoff spots sewn up, all that remains is determining where three postseason games will be played. Out West, the hosting teams haven’t been determined yet.
But in the East, defending Grey Cup champion Montreal will host the East Final on Saturday, November 9.
The Alouettes will square off with either Toronto or Ottawa, who will meet on November 2. But before we get there, there’s the matter of where the East Semi-Final will be played.
Week 20’s showdown between the 9-7 Argos and 8-7-1 Redblacks on Saturday afternoon in Toronto could determine who hosts that pivotal playoff contest.
It took 14 regular season weeks for Ottawa and Toronto to square off for the first time. The two Ontario rivals will now see each other twice in the next three weeks.
Back on September 7, the RedBlacks soundly defeated the Boatmen in resounding fashion, racing out to a 31-3 halftime lead at home before closing up shop with a 41-27 victory. Since then, Ottawa has lost four straight games. Despite the late-season slump, Bob Dyce’s squad locked up a spot in the postseason for the first time since 2018.
Conversely, Toronto has won three of its last four games since being humbled by Ottawa in Week 14. The Argonauts have clinched a postseason spot for the fourth consecutive season after back-to-back triumphs over Montreal and Winnipeg. Exacting revenge on Ottawa this weekend would guarantee Double Blue its first home Semi-final playoff game since 2012.
DraftKings has the Argos as 4.5-point favorites at home. The Over/Under is set at 49.5. The current kickoff forecast by Weather.com shows sunny conditions with a high of 18C. Winds SW at 10 to 15 km/h.
- The Redblacks have never swept a season series with Toronto; the last Ottawa team to do so was the Rough Riders in 1985.
- Toronto leads the all-time series versus Ottawa, 150-110-5, including 18-6 against the REDBLACKS.
- Chad Kelly is 2-1 as a starter against Ottawa. He had a career-high 463 passing yards and three touchdowns in the team’s Week 14 matchup.
Ottawa enacted a perfect storm against Toronto the last time these two rivals squared off. The Redblacks forced seven total turnovers and four interceptions by Kelly, two of them pick-sixes, immediately taking control and forcing the Argos to play catch-up mode down 28 points.
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