CFL playoff picture unusually cloudy Everything is still up in the air with two weeks left in the CFL regular season, Dave Naylor writes. And good luck trying to come up with a Grey Cup favourite.

Dave Naylor TSN Football Insider Follow|Archive

It’s not often that the Canadian Football League playoff picture remains so clouded this late in the season.

Consider that with two games remaining and Toronto and Montreal eliminated from the postseason, not a single other team knows where in the standings they will finish, when their first playoff game will be or which team they will be playing. And one of them won’t be going to the dance at all.

As for a Grey Cup favourite? That would have been easy a few weeks ago, but after the struggling to beat the Montreal Alouettes and then losing back-to-back games at home, the Calgary Stampeders no longer stand above the rest of the field. Heck, they might not even finish first in the West.

Here is a team-by-team breakdown of the seven squads still in the hunt to raise the Grey Cup at the end of November.

Calgary Stampeders (12-4, first place in the West)

Remaining games: At Winnipeg, at B.C.

Best they can finish: First place in the West

Worst they can finish: Second place in the West.

Until recently, it looked like another year where the Stampeders were going to have to generate reasons to care about the last few weeks of the regular season.

But Calgary’s receiving unit has been decimated by injuries, slowing the offence down and putting more pressure on the defensive side of the ball. The Stamps have surrendered a combined 55 points the past two weeks in losses to B.C. and Saskatchewan, with both games representing a missed chance to clinch first place in the West Division. It would be one heck of a collapse if the Stampeders don’t finish first, but with road games at Winnipeg and B.C. remaining on their schedule that no longer seems like such a stretch.

Saskatchewan Roughriders (11-6, second place in the West)

Remaining games: Home to B.C.

Best they can finish: First place in the West

Worst they can finish: Third place in the West.

Saskatchewan followed up being shut out by the Winnipeg Blue Bombers with a win on the road at Calgary, in what was one of their most impressive offensive performances of the season. The Roughriders have been so good on special teams and defence this season that if their offence can improve its output and consistency, Saskatchewan is a team to be feared. The Roughriders are 8-2 since losing to Edmonton on Aug. 2.

BC Lions (9-7, tied for third place in the West)

Remaining games: At Saskatchewan, home to Calgary.

Best they can finish: Second place in the West.

Worst they can finish: Playoff crossover team.

No team has made greater strides since the beginning of the season than the Lions, who were considered also-rans in the tough West Division through most of the first half. But the Lions are 6-1 since losing to Saskatchewan on Aug. 25. While they aren’t blowing their opposition away week-to-week, this is a team that has developed a knack for winning close games. The defence is playing well and the additions of running back Tyrell Sutton and receiver DeVier Posey have changed the dynamic on offence. B.C. needs to defeat Saskatchewan by four or more points this week for a chance to finish second and host a playoff game. Anybody remember that season when Wally Buono’s Lions opened 0-5 and then won the Grey Cup?

Winnipeg Blue Bombers (9-7, tied for third place in the West)

Remaining games: Home to Calgary, at Edmonton

Best they can finish: Third place in West.

Worst they can finish: Miss the playoffs

In a straw poll of CFL football executives last week, the Bombers received more votes as ‘best team in the CFL right now’ than any other. And yet, they aren’t even guaranteed to make the playoffs. A little over a month ago, the Blue Bombers seemed in free fall, losers of four games in a row as quarterback Matt Nichols appeared to be having a crisis of confidence. But four straight wins – including the past two by a combined score of 61-3 – have changed the mood in Bomberland and set them up for a postseason run. A win this week over Calgary and Winnipeg is in. A loss means the Blue Bombers final regular- season game of the year would be essentially a playoff game for both teams – win and you’re in, lose and you’re out.

Edmonton Eskimos (8-9, fourth place in the West Division)

Remaining games: Home to Winnipeg

Best they can finish: Crossover playoff team.

Worst they can finish: Out of the playoffs

This team is the biggest mystery of the CFL season. It’s stunning that a team with Mike Reilly making every start at quarterback is in danger of missing the playoffs. The Eskimos have been getting progressively worse over the course of season, often failing to seize the moment at critical junctures of games, like being outscored 21-0 during the third quarter of Friday’s 42-32 loss at B.C. The Esks are 2-6 since beating Montreal on Aug. 18, which means they no longer control their playoff destiny. A win by Winnipeg over Calgary this week eliminates Edmonton.

Ottawa Redblacks (9-7, first place in the East Division)

Best they can finish: First in the East Division.

Worst they can finish: Second in the East Division.

Remaining games: At Hamilton, home to Toronto.

The Redblacks have been perhaps the toughest team to figure out this CFL season, given that each time they appear ready to break away from the pack, they fall to earth. In fact, Ottawa hasn’t won or lost more than two games in a row this season. They have, however, gutted out a pair of wins over Hamilton this season (including one in which they failed to score a touchdown), putting them in the driver’s seat for first place in the East.

Hamilton Tiger-Cats (8-8, second place in the East Division)

Best they can finish: First in the East Division.

Worst they can finish: Second in the East Division.

Remaining games: Home to Ottawa, home to Montreal.

The Tiger-Cats have the third-best point differential in the CFL this season but just a .500 record. That’s the signature of a team that’s been in nearly every game this season but has missed a lot of opportunities where a play or two would have produced a win. Hamilton’s attrition at receiver continued this past weekend when they lost Brandon (Speedy) Banks for the season with a broken collarbone, joining Chris Williams, Jalen Saunders, Terrence Toliver and Shamawd Chambers, all of whom are gone for the year. The Ticats have been competitive in every game they’ve played this season and, with one of the league’s best defences, are still capable of winning three playoff games in a row.​