The Canadian Football League gifted their fans with the 2019 schedule in December for the second straight year. The league released the schedule early in 2018 which came to the surprise as many and they did it again. The league is smart to release it early so CFL fans can start planning their summer road trips with much more time to spare compared to all years prior to 2018. The league also has just two Sunday games scheduled for 2019 and both are before Labour Day. Let’s take a look at the Toronto Argonauts schedule for 2019.

First Third

• Week One: Bye
• Week Two: vs. Hamilton Tiger-Cats – 7:00pm – Saturday, June 22nd
• Week Three: at Saskatchewan Roughriders – 7:00pm – Monday, July 1st
• Week Four: vs. B.C. Lions – 7:00pm – Saturday, July 6th
• Week Five: at Winnipeg Blue Bombers – 8:30pm – Friday, July 12th
• Week Six: at Calgary Stampeders – 9:00pm – Thursday, July 18th
• Week Seven: at Edmonton Eskimos – 9:30pm – Thursday, July 25th

The week one bye. Every CFL fans worst nightmare. As the excitement for Week One builds, Argonauts fans are going to have to wait an extra week before the Corey Chamblin led Argos take the field at home against the Hamilton Tiger-Cats which should bring a nice crowd to the BMO Field home opener.

Much like 2018, the Argonauts get a lot of their Western opponents out of the way early with road trips to Saskatchewan, Winnipeg, Calgary, and Edmonton all finished before August rolls around. That could benefit the Argonauts but much like 2018, it could put them in an early season hole.

The first third of the schedule highlights include a game on a Monday night at Saskatchewan. That is Canada Day, so the atmosphere in Regina will be at a high. The Argonauts also finish the first third with an Alberta trip to Calgary and north to Edmonton. Both games are on a Thursday night, already doubling the amount of Thursday Night Football appearances the Argos had in 2018.

Second Third

• Week Eight: vs. Winnipeg Blue Bombers – 7:00pm – Thursday, August 1st
• Week Nine: Bye
• Week Ten: vs. Edmonton Eskimos – 7:30pm – Friday, August 16th
• Week Eleven: vs. Montreal Alouettes – 6:30pm – Sunday, August 25th in Halifax
• Week Twelve: at Hamilton Tiger-Cats – 1:00pm – Monday, September 2nd
• Week Thirteen: at Ottawa Redblacks – 1:00pm – Saturday, September 7th
• Week Fourteen: Bye

Two bye weeks in the second portion of the regular season bring the Argonauts to all three of their bye weeks well before October even rolls around. This part of the schedule finally gets back into the Eastern division with some home games and short road trips worked in.

The second third of the schedule has some pretty big highlights including a game in Atlantic Canada against Montreal and the Labour Day Classic returning to the 1:00pm time slot instead of 6:30pm. This is a great thing for Hamilton and Toronto fans.

Following a tough first portion, the Argonauts are going to have to make hay in this part of the schedule with some lighter opponents. Toronto didn’t hang with Winnipeg in either matchup in 2018 but could’ve swept Edmonton, shot themselves in the foot against Montreal once in 2018, and collapsed on Labour Day. Winnable games in this part of the schedule.

Final Third

• Week Fifteen: vs. Calgary Stampeders – 7:00pm – Friday, September 20th
• Week Sixteen: vs. Saskatchewan Roughriders – 7:00pm – Saturday, September 28th
• Week Seventeen: at B.C. Lions – 10:00pm – Saturday, October 5th
• Week Eighteen: vs. Ottawa Redblacks – 7:00pm – Friday, October 11th
• Week Nineteen: at Montreal Alouettes – 7:00pm – Friday, October 18th
• Week Twenty: vs. Ottawa Redblacks – 4:00pm – Saturday, October 26th
• Week Twenty-One: at Hamilton Tiger-Cats – 7:00pm – Saturday, November 2nd

The Argonauts have a lot of similarities in their 2019 schedule as they did to the 2018 schedule. They finish September with Saskatchewan at home and go to Vancouver to play the Lions on Thanksgiving. They then finish with a slew of games against the East.

There doesn’t seem to be any standout games that fans will circle their calendars for except for the last week of the season. How great would it be if the Argonauts and Tiger-Cats played for a playoff spot in the final week of the season? That definitely has the makings for some serious playoff implications and fans of both teams should be all here for it.

The Last Word

Overall, it seems like a solid schedule for the Argonauts. They get a ton of their Western games out of the way early, including all of their road trips out west except for B.C. There are some other exciting games on the schedule including all three games against Hamilton with Labour Day being at 1:00pm and the game on the East coast in late August. It should be a fun season and hopefully, Corey Chamblin’s Argos post more than four wins in 2019.

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