The objective is to outscore your opponent. In mathematical terms: Pmyteam>Popponent
Having a lead is always good. Here is a breakdown of Edmonton’s win-loss record with and without a lead after each quarter. As expected, the bigger the lead later in the game, the higher the winning percentage, but there is always a chance.
| Elks Record when: | |||
| After the first quarter | After the second quarter | After the third quarter | |
| Elks leading by 14+ points | 53-5-0 (0.914) | 183-4-1 (0.976) | 264-5-0 (0.981) |
| Elks leading by 10+ points | 129-15-1 (0.893) | 279-22-1 (0.925) | 363-13-1 (0.964) |
| Elks leading by 7+ points | 236-38-2 (0.859) | 348-37-3 (0.901) | 424-29-3 (0.933) |
| Elks leading by 3+ points | 368-106-3 (0.775) | 496-80-7 (0.857) | 529-73-5 (0.876) |
| Elks tied | 97-78-6 (0.552) | 40-33-1 (0.547) | 20-15-5 (0.563) |
| Elks losing by 3+ points | 163-284-5 (0.366) | 97-356-6 (0.218) | 86-400-8 (0.182) |
| Elks losing by 7+ points | 66-165-2 (0.288) | 42-269-6 (0.142) | 43-325-7 (0.124) |
| Elks losing by 10+ points | 19-85-0 (0.183) | 19-191-2 (0.094) | 20-246-2 (0.078) |
| Elks losing by 14+ points | 9-36-0 (.200) | 5-127-0 (0.038) | 7-172-1 (0.042) |
| Elks never lost a game when winning by: | 18+ pts (10-0-0) | 19+ (92-0-0) | 17+ (197-0-0) |
| Largest Come Back: | 16 pts | 27 pts | 18 pts |
| When: | Sep. 2, 1985 at Cgy | Sep. 28, 1975 at Cgy | Oct. 5, 1997 vs Cgy |
| Elks never won a game when losing by: | 17+ pts (0-13-0) | 28+ (0-18-0) | 19+ (0-100-0) |
| Largest Opp. Come Back: | 17 pt twice | 18 pts | 16 pts |
| When: | Oct. 23, 1965 at Wpg Oct. 26, 1980 vs Cgy | Jul. 23, 2016 vs Ham | Nov. 1, 1987 vs BC |
As a fan, the closer the game, the more exciting it becomes. I find it more enjoyable to cheer on your team while they are winning during the game.
In the past five seasons, the Elks have only been winning 31.9 per cent of the time during the games while losing 53.4 per cent or tied 14.7 per cent of the time.
With the change of coaching staff last season, there was hope to increase the time winning, but actually dropped 2.8 per cent from 2024. The good news is that the time losing also dropped, decreasing 3.8 per cent. The time the two teams were tied went up 6.6 per cent.
To give a comparison, the first time I did this analysis was 2018. The Eskimos were 9-9 that year and their breakdown in winning, losing and tied was: 49.3 per cent, 35.4 per cent and 15.4 per cent.
This is not a statistic that is openly tracked but each fan can subconsciously feel it.
| Minutes Winning, Losing or Tied | ||||
| Winning | Losing | Tied | Total | |
| 2021 | 225.1 | 495.8 | 119.0 | 840.0 |
| 2022 | 240.1 | 699.6 | 140.3 | 1080.0 |
| 2023 | 332.5 | 576.6 | 170.9 | 1080.0 |
| 2024 | 438.7 | 512.4 | 128.9 | 1080.0 |
| 2025 | 408.2 | 471.2 | 200.6 | 1080.0 |
| Total | 1644.7 | 2755.6 | 759.8 | 5160.0 |
| Percentage of Time Winning, Losing or Tied | ||||
| Winning | Losing | Tied | Total | |
| 2021 | 26.8% | 59.0% | 14.2% | 100.0% |
| 2022 | 22.2% | 64.8% | 13.0% | 100.0% |
| 2023 | 30.8% | 53.4% | 15.8% | 100.0% |
| 2024 | 40.6% | 47.4% | 11.9% | 100.0% |
| 2025 | 37.8% | 43.6% | 18.6% | 100.0% |
| Average | 31.9% | 53.4% | 14.7% | 100.0% |
Close finishes
One of the thrills in the CFL is a close finish. Last season, 48 CFL games were determined in the last three minutes and 16 games were determined by three points or less.
The craziest games are the one-point games. 1991 was a bad year for your nerves as Edmonton was involved in five one-point games, winning two of those games.
Below lists record by opponent of one-point games in team history (ties excluded):
BC: 3-6-0 (0.333)
Calgary: 14-8-0 (0.636)
Hamilton: 6-4-0 (0.600)
Montreal: 4-0-0 (1.000)
Ottawa: 1-4-0 (0.200)
Sacramento: 1-0-0 (1.000)
Saskatchewan: 6-10-0 (0.375)
Toronto: 8-7-0 (0.533)
Winnipeg: 5-10-0 (0.333)
Total: 48-49-0 (0.495)
When expanding to look at 3-pt games (including ties), the records by opponent are:
BC: 13-16-4 (0.455)
Calgary: 29-20-3 (0.587)
Hamilton: 16-12-1 (0.569)
Montreal:8-5-2 (0.600)
Ottawa: 6-9-2 (0.412)
Sacramento: 1-0-0 (1.000)
Saskatchewan: 23-28-2 (0.453)
Toronto: 16-15-1 (0.516)
Winnipeg: 18-21-3 (0.464)
Total: 130-126-18 (0.507)
Is it June yet?
