The Crazy Football League

It's official: The CFL stands for Crazy Football League. The final four games of the 2011 regular season, which might have been one of the craziest on record, produced some wacky results.

The B.C. Lions, who started the season 0-5, won their final game to finish 11-7 and tied with Edmonton and Calgary for first in the West. The Lions claimed the division crown because they beat the Stamps and Eskimos in head-to-head play.

The Lions didn't just win their final game, they annihilated Montreal 43-1. Had the Lions lost, they would have fallen to third in the West because Calgary and Edmonton had also won their final games. The Eskimos, who started out 5-0 then crashed to reality in August when their receiving corps dwindled due to injuries, were all out to win their final regular-season game. They prevailed beating Saskatchewan 23-20. The Roughriders finished with a league-worst 5-13 after qualifying for the Grey Cup the last two years and three times in the last four years. They are set to overhaul or drastically alter their football operations department. Calgary, meanwhile, won its final three games after deciding to supplant starting quarterback Henry Burris, who was voted the CFL's Most Outstanding Player only a year ago, and replacing him with unproven starter Drew Tate. At one point this season, the Stamps were looking like a good bet to finish first in the West, but even finishing with three consecutive wins and an 11-7 record, they were pushed down to third.

Had the Als won, they would have clinched first in the East. Instead, their loss gave the Winnipeg Blue Bombers the division crown, even though they lost 30-24 earlier in the day to Calgary. This is the same Bombers' team that had a 7-1 record after the first eight games and looked indomitable, particularly on defence. But that whole Swaggerville thing disappeared as the Bombers finished with a 3-7 record the rest of the way.

The Als head into the playoffs with three consecutive losses and following one of their most embarrassing defeats since Marc Trestman became head coach in 2008 and led them to three consecutive Grey Cup appearances and victories in the last two.

That's to say nothing of the Hamilton Tiger-Cats, who scored a stunning 42-10 win over B.C. to end the Lions' eight-game win streak, then fell apart in their final two regular-season game, losing to Saskatchewan and Toronto, the teams with the worst records in the CFL.

You can look at Winnipeg, Montreal and Hamilton and say with certainty that none appear to be better than any of their West Division counterparts who made the playoffs. But you also can't say for certain that Montreal will win the division, either, which makes things interesting instead of the same old, same old.

And here's another thing: Winnipeg has a backup, Alex Brink, who may be their best chance as the starter because Buck Pierce had a grossly inconsistent season, notably down the stretch, although he played his best games for the most part against East Division squads. If Pierce starts in the East Division final, he will be coming off a layoff of three weeks, considering he was pulled midway through his last game due to a leg injury. Head coach Paul LaPolice faces an interesting decision. If Pierce is healthy, you have to think he'll get the start, but if he falters how long do you wait to go to Brink? And what's with the Bombers' receiving corps, which really hasn't been functioning well? Their best receiver - no, their best overall playmaker - is running back Chris Garrett. This is a guy who has only started six games because he was pressed into duty following season-ending injuries to two guys ahead of him on the depth chart.

And what of Toronto, which found a way to win when its playoff chances had long since expired? Is it any coincidence that when running back Cory Boyd beaked off on Twitter about not getting the ball enough - and later claimed he was only joking - that the Argos gave him the ball more and started winning? That said, any team without a bonafide starting quarterback simply can't win in the CFL. Say what you want about Henry Burris' current status in Calgary, but for whatever reason he tailed off this year and clearly needs a change of scenery. Burris has been a consummate professional since losing his job three games ago. Argo general manager/head coach Jim Barker can talk all he wants about Steven Jyles and plans to extend his expiring contract, but Burris simply has to be an Argo next year to market something - anything - to the limited audience that still cares about the Argos. As for Barker, who knows what his status is going forward? If he wanted to give up coaching to concentrate on his managerial duties, he would have announced it already. Or maybe Argo owner David Braley has his own ideas and simply can't do anything because it might involve someone employed by another team still in the playoffs? Then again, Braley is probably thinking more about his other team, the Lions, which potentially could play the Grey Cup in their own city. And how crazy is that considering their sluggish start? This could turn out to be a huge cash bonanza for Braley, then again his other team will undoubtedly eat away some of the profit he'll make with the Lions.

And here are a few more morsels of craziness. Several critics outside of Montreal wondered how receiver Jamel Richardson wasn't chosen as the Als' Most Outstanding Player this year, considering he dominated his group and finished with 1,777 yards. The Montreal media chose quarterback Anthony Calvillo, who posted more than 5,000 passing yards, as the team's MOP. Calvillo completed just nine of 17 passes for 63 yards before he was pulled in the second half against the Lions with the game totally out of reach and finished with his lowest quarterback rating (98.2) this season since 2007. Richardson, meanwhile, had all of two catches for five yards in the loss to the Lions, his longest reception nine yards. Yes, one of his catches produced negative yards. Richardson came into the game with six consecutive games of 100 or more receiving yards. The last time Richardson has a regular-season game with single-digit receiving yards came in the 2009 season finale, in which he had a one catch for five yards. It also happened to be a meaningless game in which Calvillo wasn't even playing.

Lions' quarterback Travis Lulay completed 19 of 30 passes for 280 yards and had four touchdown passes and only one interception in the win over Montreal. He probably also solidified his chances of being voted the league's MOP. He was replaced in the fourth quarter when he suffered a charleyhorse, and it was incredibly fortunate it wasn't worse. There was absolutely no reason Lulay should have remained in the game at that point.

Lions' middle linebacker Solomon Elimimian finished second in defensive tackles by six to league-leader Jerrell Freeman of Saskatchewan, who played one and a half games more. Elimimian wasn't even nominated as his team's Outstanding Defensive Player because the Lions' media chose rush end Keron Williams, who was one of the league's best in terms of sacks but simply isn't nearly as complete a player in terms of his speed, coverage ability and hitting.

And lastly, the league's eldest player, 41-year-old Paul McCallum, sets a league record for the percentage of successful field-goal attempts. He continued his consistency in the final game.

What a crazy season.

Wonder what the playoffs and Grey Cup will be like? Then again, nothing could be crazier than the 2009 Grey Cup.

Now that was really crazy.

Perry Lefko keeps you connected to all the news in the CFL on Sportsnet.ca.