The standings once again became increasingly congested with Toronto winning over BC to tighten things up in the East division while BC was prevented from taking the lead in the West. Hamilton defeated Ottawa to bring them just a game and a half behind 3rd in the West for a possible crossover. The week wrapped up with a stalemate as Montreal tied Calgary on the road after 2 overtimes were not enough to break the tie.
The Crown Holder and the Court Jester
Crown Holder 👑 – The Toronto Argonauts stole the Crown from the BC Lions on the road 33-17. Toronto will host Hamilton on Friday.
Court Jester 🃏 – The Saskatchewan Roughriders were on the bye last week. They will look to force the title of Court Jester onto the Calgary Stampeders on the road on Friday.
If a team defeats the Crown Holder they steal the Crown and become the new Crown Holder.
If a team loses to the Court Jester they become the new Court Jester thus freeing the previous team from being the Court Jester.
#1 Montreal Alouettes (10-2-1)
Previous Rank: 1
Week 13: Bye week.
Week 14: Lost to BC 23-37 at home.
Week 15: Tied Calgary 19-19 on the road.
Week 16: Visiting Ottawa on Saturday.
The Montreal Alouettes forced overtime thanks to a 42-yard field goal from Jose Maltos to tie the game in the dying seconds of regulation. Maltos accounted for the majority of the Alouettes’ points as he made all 4 of his field goals including 2 in overtime and a 53-yarder in regulation. The overtime saw Montreal and Calgary trade field goals twice each before the game ended in a 19-19 tie. Cody Fajardo completed 19 of his 26 passes for 204 yards. Kaion Julien-Grant led the team in receiving in his return from injury catching 8 passes for 71 yards. Walter Fletcher rushed 7 times for 90 yards with the longest being a 55-yard rip down the middle.
Montreal will travel to Ottawa to face the RedBlacks on Saturday. Montreal will do well to scheme better against the run moving forward and could benefit from incorporating more of a run game in their offense for better balance.
#2 Winnipeg Blue Bombers (7-6)
Previous Rank: 4
Week 13: Defeated Saskatchewan 35-33 on the road.
Week 14: Defeated Saskatchewan 26-21 at home.
Week 15: Bye week.
Week 16: Visiting Edmonton on Saturday.
The Winnipeg Blue Bombers sit in a familiar spot atop the West after turning around their season that saw them start 0-4. They will face the Edmonton Elks on the road on Saturday.
#3 Ottawa RedBlacks (8-4-1)
Previous Rank: 2
Week 13: Lost to BC 12-38 on the road.
Week 14: Defeated Toronto 41-27 at home.
Week 15: Lost to Hamilton 21-37 on the road.
Week 16: Hosting Montreal on Saturday.
Ottawa had a high point with a big win over BC in week 13, then a low point in week 14 losing by 2 scores to Toronto. Last week Ottawa again lost by 2 scores as they fell to Hamilton 21-37. Dru Brown completed 17 of his 27 passes for 164 yards before he was replaced by Jeremiah Masoli with 3 minutes left in the third quarter. Masoli completed 13 of his 19 passes fro 183 yards and 2 touchdowns with 2 interceptions. Dominique Rhymes caught 10 passes for 129 yards and a touchdown. Justin Hardy also broke the century mark as he caught 8 for 103 yards. Khalan Laborn rushed 13 times for 84 yards, 6.5 yards per carry.
Ottawa will look to get back in the win column Saturday when they host the Montreal Alouettes.
#4 Edmonton Elks (5-8)
Previous Rank: 5
Week 13: Defeated Calgary 35-20 on the road.
Week 14: Defeated Calgary 37-16 at home.
Week 15: Bye week.
Week 16: Hosting Winnipeg on Saturday.
The Elks were on the bye last week. They will look to continue their strong run that saw them win 5 of their last 6 games at home on Saturday against the Winnipeg Blue Bombers.
#5 Toronto Argonauts (7-6)👑
Previous Rank: 6
Week 13: Lost to Hamilton 28-31 on the road.
Week 14: Lost to Ottawa 27-41 on the road.
Week 15: Defeated BC 33-17 on the road.
Week 16: Hosting Hamilton on Friday.
The Toronto Argonauts won on the road last weekend over the BC Lions 33-17 in a game that saw their defense have a lot of success. The Argos finished the game with 7 sacks. Ralph Holley was credited with 3, Robbie Smith with 2, Jake Ceresna and Derek Parish also had a sack. Ceresna was notably generating pressure often.
Chad Kelly completed 18 of his 28 passes for 268 yards and a touchdown and also led the team in rushing as he rushed 10 times for 56 yards and a touchdown. Makai Polk led the team in receiving as he caught 6 passes for 116 yards and a touchdown. It was the 2nd week in a row that saw Polk have over 100 yards in what is becoming a strong rookie season. On the ground, Ka’Deem Carey rushed 11 times for 41 yards.
Toronto will host the Hamilton Tiger-Cats on Friday.
#6 B.C. Lions (7-7)
Previous Rank: 3
Week 13: Defeated Ottawa 38-12 at home.
Week 14: Defeated Montreal 37-23 on the road.
Week 15: Lost to Toronto 17-33 at home.
Week 16: Bye Week.
The BC Lions struggled to get the offense rolling in a 17-33 loss to Toronto last weekend. Toronto’s pass rush generated 7 sacks against BC in a game that saw all 3 of the Lions’ quarterbacks get some playing time. Nathan Rourke completed 6 of his 12 passes for 110 yards. Vernon Adams Jr. replaced him in the 2nd half and completed 4 of his 7 passes for 75 yards and an interception. Chase Brice finished the very end of the game and completed 2 of his 4 passes for 32 passes and a touchdown. Justin McInnis led the team in receiving catching 4 passes for 95 yards.
The Lions had done so well in being a strong running team for much of this season but it was not a significant priority in the loss to Toronto. William Stanback was handed the ball only 6 times and rushed for 21 yards, 3.5 yards per carry. Jordan Terrell got some carries late in the 4th quarter and rushed 4 times for 24 yards.
BC will be on the bye next week and will host Hamilton in week 17.
#7 Hamilton Tiger-Cats (4-9)
Previous Rank: 8
Week 13: Defeated Toronto 31-28 at home.
Week 14: Bye week.
Week 15: Defeated Ottawa 37-21 at home.
Week 16: Visiting Toronto on Friday.
The Hamilton Tiger-Cats were in full control at home as they defeated Ottawa 37-21 in a game that saw them outscore their opponent in every quarter except the 4th which saw Ottawa close the gap by 7 points. Bo Levi Mitchell completed 20 of his 27 passes for 299 yards and 2 touchdowns with 1 interception. Steven Dunbar Jr. caught 8 passes for 151 yards and a touchdown breaking 100 yards for the first time this season. Greg Bell rushed 15 times for 99 yards and a touchdown. With Hamilton having the greatest imbalance of passing the most in the league while running the least, it was refreshing to see the ground game more at play last week.
Hamilton will travel to Toronto on Friday as they look to revive their playoff push.
#8 Saskatchewan Roughriders (5-7-1) 🃏
Previous Rank: 7
Week 13: Lost to Winnipeg 35-33 at home.
Week 14: Lost to Winnipeg 21-26 on the road.
Week 15: Bye week.
Week 16: Visiting Calgary on Friday.
The Saskatchewan Roughriders were on the bye last week. They will look to end their 7-game winless streak next week against the Calgary Stampeders.
#9 Calgary Stampeders (4-8-1)
Previous Rank: 9
Week 13: Lost to Edmonton 20-35 at home.
Week 14: Lost to Edmonton 16-37 on the road.
Week 15: Tied Montreal 19-19 at home.
Week 16: Hosting Saskatchewan on Friday.
The Calgary Stampeders needed to end a 4-game losing streak coming into week 15 and they did that by tying the 1st place Montreal Alouettes 19-19 with overtime being unable to decide a winner after 2 periods. Rene Paredes was the team’s leading scorer in the win as he made 4 of his 6 field goals with 2 in overtime. Jake Maier completed 29 of his 37 passes for 236 yards and a touchdown. Marken Michel led the team in receiving catching 6 passes for 73 yards and a touchdown. Reggie Begelton caught 7 for 68 yards. Dedrick Mills rushed 21 times for 122 yards, a 6.4 average. Calgary had a lot of success creating holes for him to run through against Montreal’s 3-man defensive line formations as well as some of the wide 4-man formations.
Calgary will host Saskatchewan on Friday night.
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