Week 11 of the 2024 CFL regular season is officially in the books, which means it’s time to reassess how the league’s nine teams stack up.
3DownNation’s power rankings are created by having twelve contributors rank each team from No. 1 to No. 9 independently, then averaging out the scores. The previous week’s rankings are in brackets. As always, please be sure to check back every Monday morning for our updated power rankings following each week of action in the CFL.
Enjoy the rankings and feel free to roast us on Twitter — yes, we still call it “Twitter” — for anything you think we got wrong.
1) Montreal Alouettes (1)
It wasn’t their finest hour but the reigning Grey Cup champion Alouettes still found a way to beat the Riders despite being outgained by over 100 yards offensively. James Letcher Jr. broke things wide open with a 128-yard missed field goal return for a touchdown in the fourth quarter and Davis Alexander finished the job with a gutsy touchdown run down the sideline — which may or may not have been out of bounds. With Cody Fajardo dressed and ready to return soon, Montreal has two quarterbacks capable of late-game heroics.
2) Ottawa Redblacks (3)
Jeremiah Masoli didn’t do any more than he had to in his return from nearly two years’ worth of injuries, but he still steered Ottawa to a feel-good victory. Ryquell Armstead was the offensive engine with 120 yards and a touchdown on the ground, as Lewis Ward hit a walk-off winner to topple the Stamps. With their winning formula still working, there’s no reason for the Redblacks to rush Dru Brown back onto the field.
3) Toronto Argonauts (4)
The Argonauts will return from the bye week with their prayers answered, as reigning CFL Most Outstanding Player Chad Kelly was officially reinstated by the league on Sunday following a nine-game suspension. The return comes under the terms of a last-chance agreement for the star quarterback and it remains to be seen how he reacts to the souring sentiments against him — or rebounds from his abysmal East Final outing last year.
4) Winnipeg Blue Bombers (6)
Winnipeg’s defence shut out the B.C. Lions before their recent bye week and followed up that performance by stifling the Lions again, limiting Nathan Rourke to 126 passing yards and two interceptions in his much-anticipated CFL return. The Blue Bombers have already won the season series over B.C. and Calgary and can do the same against Saskatchewan if they sweep the upcoming annual home-and-home between the rival clubs. Before that, they’ll have a date at Princess Auto Stadium with the lowly Tiger-Cats.
5) Saskatchewan Roughriders (2)
Trevor Harris’ much-anticipated return from injury delivered as advertised as the 38-year-old finished a spectacular 31-of-39 for 355 yards and two touchdowns. Unfortunately, the offence struggled to consistently find the end zone and kicker Brett Lauther proved to be a liability, missing four field goals. One of those was returned for points and another wasted a shot at overtime as time expired, raising serious questions about why head coach Corey Mace refused to gamble on third-and-short so often in this game.
6) B.C. Lions (5)
Nathan Rourke was supposed to be B.C.’s saving grace but his stats were a disgrace against Winnipeg, completing only eight-of-25 passes for 123 yards and two interceptions. William Stanback put up 100 yards for the first time as a member of the Lions but it wasn’t close to enough to beat Winnipeg as the offence managed only three points until adding a garbage time touchdown with four seconds left. Now on a four-game losing skid, it’s time for the Lions to do some serious soul searching.
7) Edmonton Elks (7)
It turns out the Edmonton Elks don’t even need Tre Ford in the lineup to obliterate opponents anymore, as they dropped 47 points on the Tiger-Cats with McLeod Bethel-Thompson at the helm. Rookie running back Justin Rankin went over the century mark for the first time in his career, amassing 108 yards and three touchdowns, while both Derrick Moncrief and Kordell Jackson stole likely scores away from the Ticats. New owner Larry Thompson now has the best winning percentage of any CFL governor — at least for a week.
8) Calgary Stampeders (8)
The Stampeders were already a sub-.500 team before this week, but their last-second loss to Ottawa stung just a little bit more because it was their first defeat in the friendly confines of McMahon Stadium. In an even matchup, Calgary’s lack of rushing attack and their inability to stop the ground game proved to be the difference, though we’d be talking about a different result if Demerio Houston could have plucked a bouncing ball away from Jaelon Acklin on Ottawa’s final drive.
9) Hamilton Tiger-Cats (9)
Nothing could go right for the Ticats on Saturday night, as two players had to be taken to hospital with suspected head injuries in the first 10 minutes of the game. Both receiver Luther Hakunavanhu and quarterback Taylor Powell have since been discharged but the Tabbies never recovered from the tough start, falling by 25 points. Rookie running back Greg Bell was the lone bright spot, collecting 173 all-purpose yards. Chris Jones’ defences in Edmonton weren’t any good but maybe he can help Hamilton’s improve.
