The big story in Week 4 was that the Edmonton – Toronto game was postponed due to a number of Elks players testing positive for COVID-19. According to the CFL’s protocol, the league will attempt to reschedule the game; if it can’t be rescheduled, Toronto would be awarded a 1-0 win. Luckily for the Elks, the league was able to reschedule the game into Week 16. Unfortunately for the Elks, though, that means they’ve got 3 games in 7 days at the end of the season.
In Friday night’s game, Hamilton thumped Montreal 27-10. It was Hamilton’s first win of the season, and was highlighted by kick returner Frankie Williams, who gained 184 yards on returns and also made an interception on defense.
In Saturday’s game, BC defeated Ottawa 24-12. Quarterback Michael Reilly passed for 301 yards in a winning effort.
In Sunday’s final game of the week, Winnipeg won a squeaker over Calgary, 18-16. Winnipeg kicker Marc Liegghio booted a 45 yard field goal with 37 seconds left to take the lead, and Calgary almost came back, but Rene Paredes’ last-second attempt from 52 yards fell short, giving Winnipeg the victory. On the losing side, Calgary rookie quarterback Jake Maier completed his first 17 passes, including a perfect first half, and finished 30 for 39 and 307 yards.
As always, it’s a big set of Labour Day weekend games. The biggest game, of course, comes Sunday as the top two teams in the league, Saskatchewan and Winnipeg, face off in the Labour Day Classic. Another interesting game to watch will be Edmonton at Calgary on Monday, as both teams try to get their seasons on track. The other two games are Montreal at Ottawa on Friday and Toronto at Hamilton on Monday.
Week 4 Results
Postponed: Edmonton at Toronto
Hamilton 27 at Montreal 10
British Columbia 24 at Ottawa 12
Calgary 16 at Winnipeg 18
McDonald CFL Power Ratings
Not many changes in the rankings this week. Saskatchewan retains the top spot, although with their bye week and Winnipeg’s win, Winnipeg has closed the gap. The top spot in the rankings will be up for grabs in their Labour Day Classic game in Regina on Sunday. The only change in the rankings was Montreal; with their big loss to Hamilton, they’ve dropped down to 8th in the rankings, pushing Toronto, Edmonton, and B.C. up one spot each. However, there are only 5 rating points separating teams 5 through 8, so there’s really no clear better team in that group.
It’s interesting to note that only three teams have ratings above the baseline of 1500; are Saskatchewan and Winnipeg that much better than the rest of the league? Possibly.
| Ranking | Team | Rating | Record |
| 1 | Saskatchewan | 1557 | 3-0, 1st West |
| 2 | Winnipeg | 1551 (▲10) | 3-1, 2nd West |
| 3 | Hamilton | 1525 (▲14) | 1-2, T-2nd East |
| 4 | Calgary | 1496 (▼9) | 1-2, T-3rd West |
| 5 (▲1) | Toronto | 1487 | 2-1, 1st East |
| 6 (▲1) | Edmonton | 1484 | 1-2, 4th West |
| 7 (▲1) | British Columbia | 1483 (▲14) | 2-2, 3rd West |
| 8 (▼3) | Montreal | 1482 (▼14) | 1-2, T-2nd East |
| 9 | Ottawa | 1454 (▼14) | 1-2, T-2nd East |
Grey Cup Predictions
Saskatchewan remains our favourite to win the Grey Cup, although their chances dropped slightly to 21%. Hamilton is now the number-2 favourite, jumping 6 percentage points to a 19% chance of winning it all. Winnipeg also closed the gap on Saskatchewan, and now have an 18% chance of winning. Perhaps most surprising is Calgary, who are ranked 4th in the McDonald CFL Power Ratings, but with their 1-3 record in the strong West division, only have a 5% chance of winning the Grey Cup. We’re still giving a 55% chance of a Western division team winning the league championship, versus a 45% chance of an Eastern team, no change from the last two weeks.
| Grey Cup Ranking | Team | Rating | Win Grey Cup |
| 1 | Saskatchewan | 1557 | 21% (▼2) |
| 2 (▲1) | Hamilton | 1525 | 19% (▲6) |
| 3 (▼1) | Winnipeg | 1551 | 18% (▲2) |
| 4 (▲1) | Toronto | 1487 | 12% (▲1) |
| 5 (▼1) | Montreal | 1482 | 8% (▼4) |
| 6 (▲3) | British Columbia | 1483 | 6% (▲1) |
| 7 (▼1) | Ottawa | 1454 | 6% (▼2) |
| 8 | Edmonton | 1484 | 5% (▼1) |
| 9 (▼2) | Calgary | 1496 | 5% (▼2) |
Our Full Predictions
| Team | Rating | Make Playoffs | Host Playoff Game | Win Division | Make Division Final | Make Grey Cup | Win Grey Cup |
| Saskatchewan
3-0 |
1557 | 92% | 73% | 46% | 71% | 39% | 21% |
| Hamilton
1-2 |
1525 | 78% | 63% | 36% | 60% | 34% | 19% |
| Winnipeg
3-1 |
1551 | 89% | 65% | 34% | 64% | 34% | 18% |
| Toronto
2-1 |
1487 | 77% | 60% | 34% | 55% | 28% | 12% |
| Montreal
1-2 |
1482 | 60% | 41% | 16% | 39% | 18% | 8% |
| British Columbia
2-2 |
1483 | 65% | 28% | 9% | 33% | 13% | 6% |
| Ottawa
1-2 |
1454 | 53% | 36% | 14% | 32% | 14% | 6% |
| Edmonton
1-2 |
1484 | 47% | 19% | 6% | 25% | 11% | 5% |
| Calgary
1-3 |
1496 | 39% | 14% | 4% | 21% | 9% | 5% |
Week 4 Game Predictions
Montreal (47%) at Ottawa (52%)
Winnipeg (42%) at Saskatchewan (57%)
Toronto (38%) at Hamilton (61%)
Edmonton (41%) at Calgary (58%)