Eighty-one games later, the dust finally settled around us, we can look at the cars in the playoff race and say that this has been one of the craziest rides of a regular-season in recent memory.

It was just two weeks ago that we were looking at 64 different possible playoff outcomes, thanks to the log-jammed West Division. It was all resolved late on Saturday night, with Calgary locking up the West Division with its convincing win over BC.

Before we go full bore into the playoffs, let’s take a final look at the three cars that have been parked for the season and where they stand. As we dive into this, keep in mind that free agency casts question marks over every single roster in the league this winter. The still-to-be-negotiated CBA is another factor for the offseason and is something to consider as you evaluate what teams might look like for 2019.

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Toronto Argonauts

Our preseason picks on where the Argos would land could have varied, but did anyone see it within the realm of possibility that the team would ever let Marc Trestman go? This season was an unmitigated disaster for the defending Grey Cup champs. The first task now, of course, will be for Jim Popp to find a new head coach; one that by the sounds of it will be firmly in the corner of James Franklin.

Maybe that involves hiring a defensive-minded coach. All of the aggression and hunger of the Argos championship-winning defence seems to have tried to follow Corey Chamblin out of the CFL. Some key pieces were injured or traded away this year (Shawn Lemon should feel comfortable chasing Jeremiah Masoli at Tim Horton’s Field on Sunday), but the bottom line was that Toronto’s defence lagged in just about every facet. They were last in sacks (22) and interceptions (12) and as a team gave up a league-worst 536 points. For reference: Montreal gave up the second-most points, at 484.

Offensively, they’ll have a ways to go, but I don’t think they’re that far away. Let’s assume for now that you can get starter-calibre play from Franklin at QB. You’ve got a versatile running back in James Wilder that, despite the Argos’ struggles put up near all-star numbers before he was injured. He didn’t light the league on fire like he did in 2017, but he showed himself to be one of the top ‘backs in the league in 2018. Any running back or quarterback is only allowed to work when the offensive line works, and the Argos’ wasn’t bad this year. The group allowed 36 total sacks, putting them in the middle of the pack with the rest of the league. Some receiver depth would help. S.J. Green managed to find greatness in a difficult season and Armanti Edwards (974 yards) was a close second. National Llevi Noel had a promising third season in the league but was probably looked to too often.

Also, Drew Brown. Keep Drew Brown. Lirim Hajrullahu was sorely, sorely missed this year.

Edmonton Eskimos

If this were a video game, you could simulate 1,000 seasons and you’d be hard-pressed to find one where this team misses the playoffs. How did the Esks miss the playoffs? For the next year, this is the thing that’ll dance around in my head when I wake up at 4 a.m. and can’t get back to sleep.

We all know what the top priority will be this offseason, but let’s get to the first task on GM Brock Sunderland’s clustered looking plate. He has to figure out what he wants to do about his coach. Firing Jason Maas could mean an entirely new coaching staff, which would mark the third time that the Esks’ organization has gone through this since they won the Grey Cup in 2015. Keeping Maas will likely keep a grumbling portion of the fanbase just as grumbly at least until next season starts (that’s the best case scenario). One possible solution: Keep Maas, maybe hire an offensive coordinator, make a change at defensive coordinator and promote from within (Barron Miles from DBs to DC, anyone?) to maintain some continuity for your roster.

The top priority for the Esks, of course, will be re-signing Mike Reilly. If he stays, Sunderland can make the tweaks necessary to the roster to start plotting a 2019 revenge season that ends in the Stamps’ locker room at the end of November. If Reilly goes to another team, Sunderland will be tasked with finding another elite quarterback to take Reilly’s place. You can’t replace a player like Mike Reilly, but with just about every QB in the league a pending free-agent, it may not be the Herculean task that it seems.

To me, Edmonton was the most dangerous team in the league and it somehow fell short on the one, bare-minimum thing that everyone assumed they’d do this year. They’re not that far off. Tweaks to the offensive and defensive line, maybe some help in the linebacking corps and (assuming they have an MOP-calibre QB on their roster) the Esks are back in the mix in 2019.

Montreal Alouettes

By now, you should know that Kavis Reed is a huge, longtime fan of the Philadelphia 76ers. He felt the pain of the team’s tank-today-for-a-better-tomorrow era but would always drop the now famous trademark of that era: Trust the process. We know how it panned out in Philly, with a pair of generational players drafted and a playoff berth last year.

Take a look at the Als’ now four non-playoff seasons by win total. Six in 2015; seven in 2016; three in 2017 and five in 2018. The process has been painful, but there are some baby steps being taken in Montreal. Some of their biggest issues from this time a year ago have been or could be answered in 2019.

They have a batch of young quarterbacks to choose from. Johnny Manziel will have the benefit of a full offseason and training camp next year and Vernon Adams Jr., Jeff Matthews and Antonio Pipkin will all provide competition at the position when the team reconvenes. Do we know enough about Manziel yet to say whether he’ll make a difference for the Als? No (which makes their usage of him in their final games puzzling), but there are players in place where the team was directionless at its most important position a year ago. Pipkin and Adams have been intriguing in bursts and could do well with a chance.

It’s hard to say the Als improved defensively when you look at their 484 points allowed, but they’ve made some progress at least in terms of personnel. Henoc Muamba is an all-star-level linebacker. Brandon Dozier (five interceptions) took a big step forward in his second year in the league and Tevaughn Campbell (two interceptions) put in a good year as well. That could have been because teams were throwing away from Tommie Campbell. They could use help on the defensive line but they also would have been helped if the offence could have stayed on the field longer this year. Montreal had the worst time of possession average in the league this year (27:09 as of Week 20).

Of course, this is all moot if the offensive line isn’t addressed. Part of the reason that we don’t know more about Manziel, about Adams, about Pipkin or any quarterback the Alouettes used this year is because they all very often ended up running for their lives when the ball was snapped. The Als allowed a league-worst 66 sacks in 2018. The O-line needs to be Kavis Reed’s top priority in free-agency in 2019 and in the draft.