How the Edmonton Elks could still make the CFL playoffs
Photo courtesy: Edmonton Elks
The Edmonton Elks are down but they’re certainly not out when it comes to this year’s playoff picture with three games left on their regular-season schedule.
The Elks (6-9) can finish no higher than third in the West Division as the Saskatchewan Roughriders and B.C. Lions, both of whom have already clinched playoff spots, are out of reach. Edmonton can still technically match B.C.’s nine wins, though the Lions have already clinched the head-to-head season series, putting them out of grasp.
The same isn’t true for the Calgary Stampeders and Winnipeg Blue Bombers, who remain within Edmonton’s reach. The two teams have matching 8-7 records, putting them four points ahead of the Elks with both season series still up for grabs.
Edmonton and Calgary split their annual Labour Day home-and-home early last month, leaving the third and final matchup scheduled for Week 21 as the rubber match. If the Elks win that game, they would only need to be two points better than the Stampeders over the next two weeks in order to make the playoffs. This would have been unthinkable a month ago but Calgary is currently riding a four-game losing skid.
Edmonton can still win the season series against Winnipeg, too, though this task is a little tougher. The Blue Bombers won the first of two head-to-head matchups in late June by a score of 36-23, meaning the Elks will have to win this week’s game by more than 13 points in order to earn the season series. If Edmonton wins this week’s game by exactly 13 points, the tiebreaker would come down to which team has a better divisional record, which has yet to be determined.
There is also the unlikely but real possibility that Edmonton, Calgary, and Winnipeg finish with identical records at 8-10 or 9-9. In the event of a three-way tie, the teams would be ordered based on their winning percentage among one another. In this case, Calgary would finish first followed by Edmonton or Winnipeg, depending on how things play out. If the Elks win this week, they would clinch second place over the Blue Bombers in the event of a three-way tie, which would secure the crossover playoff spot.
Edmonton hasn’t made the playoffs since 2019. Though ending that drought remains a tall task, it’s not impossible that we’ll see the Green and Gold in the postseason in 2025.
The Edmonton Elks (6-9) will host the Winnipeg Blue Bombers (8-7) at Commonwealth Stadium on Saturday, October 11 with kickoff slated for 7:00 p.m. EDT. Both teams are coming off bye weeks with the Blue Bombers still in the thick of the playoff hunt and the Elks looking to keep their faint postseason hopes alive.
The weather forecast in Edmonton calls for a high of 6 degrees with a 30 percent chance of showers. The game will be broadcast on TSN in Canada and CFL+ internationally. Radio listeners can tune-in on 880 CHED in Edmonton and 680 CJOB in Winnipeg.
