Week 16 resulted in a shakeup in the power rankings as every team that played a game found their position changing in this week’s ranking. Winnipeg currently has earned their way to the top riding a 7-game win streak but will need to continue winning to hold the spot. Hamilton is at their highest position in the ranking so far this season as they are now on a 4-game win streak. Saskatchewan bounced back up to the middle of the rankings after a strong victory over Ottawa.
The Crown Holder and the Court Jester
Crown Holder 👑 – The Hamilton Tiger-Cats defended the crown successfully defeating BC 32-29 in overtime. Hamilton will host Winnipeg on Friday night.
Court Jester 🃏 – The Calgary Stampeders held the title of Court Jester through their bye week last week. They will have a chance to force the title onto the BC Lions on the road Friday night.
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 Winnipeg Blue Bombers (9-6)
Previous Rank: 2
Week 13: Defeated Saskatchewan 35-33 on the road.
Week 14: Defeated Saskatchewan 26-21 at home.
Week 15: Bye week.
Week 16: Defeated Edmonton 27-14 on the road.
Week 17: Defeated Edmonton 55-27 at home.
Week 18: Visiting Hamilton on Friday.
Winnipeg is the hottest team right now and are coming off a big win that extends their win streak to 7 games. Winnipeg’s most recent win was at home by a score of 55-27 over Edmonton. Heading into last week Collaros had only 9 touchdowns which was 20 less than the 29 he had at that time last year. Collaros woke up just as September ended and racked up 432 yards and 6 touchdowns. Kenny Lawler led the team with 8 catches for 130 yards and 2 touchdowns, Nic Demski caught 4 for 117 yards and 2 touchdowns, and Keric Wheatfall caught 3 for 80 yards and a touchdown. Brady Oliveira rushed 16 times for 86 yards (5.4 yards per carry) and also had a 33-yard touchdown reception that was primarily YAC with broken tackles on the way.
Redha Kramdi led the team in tackles with 6. Michael Ayers recorded the lone sack for the Bombers in the win. Winnipeg had 2 turnovers on downs forced. The first being in the first quarter when TyJuan Garbutt stopped Edmonton in short yardage on third down in the 1st quarter and again late in the game when Evan Holm broke up a pass on 3rd and 10.
Winnipeg will travel to Hamilton to take on the Tiger-Cats on Friday night.
#2 Montreal Alouettes (11-3-1)
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: Defeated Ottawa 24-12 on the road.
Week 17: Lost to Toronto 37-31 on the road.
Week 18: Bye week.
In week 16 cornerback Dionte Ruffin opened the scoring with a pick 6. This past weekend he had another 1st quarter interception that gave Montreal the ball at Toronto’s 10-yard line. The next play Montreal scored a touchdown taking a 7-3 lead. Late in the first half, a 100-yard punt return touchdown from James Letcher Jr. saw to it that the game was sent to halftime tied at 22-22. Montreal ultimately lost the game 31-37 struggling to find a way to slow down Toronto’s run game.
Cody Fajardo completed 20 of his 29 passes for 225 yards and 2 touchdowns with 1 interception. Cole Spieker led the team in receiving as he caught 3 passes for 99 yards and a touchdown. On the ground, Walter Fletcher rushed 8 times for 44 yards (5.5 average) and also caught a 10-yard touchdown pass. Montreal not only lost the game but they lost starting left tackle Nick Callender who left the game late in the 4th quarter due to injury.
On defense, Wesley Sutton led the team in tackles with 7. Linebackers Darnell Sankey and Geoffrey Cantin-Arku both had a sack. Isaac Adeyemi-Berglund had a large presence in the pass rush as there were 6 plays in which he was the primary Alouette to generate pressure in the pass rush including 1 QB hit.
Montreal will go on the bye this coming week before they host Ottawa in week 19.
#3 Hamilton Tiger-Cats (6-9)👑
Previous Rank: 4
Week 13: Defeated Toronto 31-28 at home.
Week 14: Bye week.
Week 15: Defeated Ottawa 37-21 at home.
Week 16: Defeated Toronto 33-31 on the road.
Week 17: Defeated BC 32-29 on the road in overtime.
Week 18: Hosting Winnipeg on Friday.
The Hamilton Tiger-Cats have won their last 4 games with the most recent being a 32-29 win in overtime. Despite starting the season 0-5 Hamilton now has the most wins out of any team not currently sitting in a playoff position and are just 1 game behind BC for third in the West. If Hamilton later crosses over to the West it will be the first time that an East Division team has done so.
Bo Levi Mitchell would have finished the game with 30 completions in a row if not for a drop breaking up the streak. He finished the game with 34 completions on 40 attempts for 315 yards and 2 touchdowns with 1 interception. Kiondre Smith led the team in receiving with 8 catches for 92 yards and a touchdown. Tim White was the 2nd most targeted and caught 7 passes for 74 yards. Greg Bell rushed 7 times for 40 yards and a touchdown, 5.7 yards per carry.
Linebacker Ryan Baker led the team in tackles with 7 in his return to his home province for the first time in his professional career. Hamilton had 3 sacks in the win which came from Casey Sayles, David Menard, and Dewayne Hendrix. Defensive backs Stavros Katsantonis and Destin Talbert both had a pass breakup.
Hamilton will host the Winnipeg Blue Bombers on Friday. Hamilton has the most pass attempts in the league while having the 2nd fewest rushes. I have a hunch that the imbalance in playcalling could later come back to bite them. Hamilton has the most points allowed and rarely provides significant run support. It’s a situation that has too much riding on a single player.
#4 Toronto Argonauts (8-7)
Previous Rank: 5
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: Lost to Hamilton 31-33 at home.
Week 17: Defeated Montreal 37-31 at home.
Week 18: Bye week.
The Toronto Argonauts had a big win at home last week over Montreal by a score of 37-31 and have now won the season series against the Alouettes 2-1. Lirim Hajrullahu set a franchise record for most field goals made in a single game as he went 8 for 8 and also made an extra point. While the score was close, the overall offensive production was not as Toronto had 517 yards of offense to Montreal’s 288.
Chad Kelly completed 19 of his 30 passes for 287 yards with 1 interception. CFL rookie Makai Polk led the team in receiving as he caught 5 passes for 103 yards. Polk has three 100-yard games in his last 4. Like last week, Toronto utilized 3 runningbacks in the run game. Ka’Deem Carey rushed 13 times for 90 yards and a touchdown (6.9 average), Deonta McMahon rushed 5 times for 67 yards and a touchdown (13.4 average), and Daniel Adeboboye rushed 8 times for 39 yards (4.9 average).
DB Mark Milton and LB Wynton McManis both had a team-leading 4 tackles. Defensive end Folarin Orimolade had a sack. DE Jake Ceresna had 6 plays where he was the primary player to apply pressure in the pass rush including 1 QB hit. DT Ralph Holley did not appear on the stats sheet but made a positive impact as he assisted on 3 run stops.
Toronto will be on the bye this week before they travel to Winnipeg in week 19.
#5 Saskatchewan Roughriders (7-7-1)
Previous Rank: 8
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: Defeated Calgary 37-29 on the road.
Week 17: Defeated Ottawa 29-16 at home.
Week 18: Visiting Edmonton on Saturday.
Saskatchewan is back to .500 with wins in the last 2 games following what was a stretch of 7 games without a win. Last week saw the Riders win at home over Ottawa 29-16. Trevor Harris completed 27 of his 36 passes for 315 yards. CFL rookie KeeSean Johnson caught 6 passes for 101 yards which was his first CFL game over 100 yards. Dhel Duncan-Busby had his first CFL start and caught all 7 of his targets for 92 yards. On the ground, Ryquell Armstead rushed 10 times for 32 yards until he was injured early in the 2nd half on a play that also saw receiver Samuel Emilus go down with an injury. Thomas Bertrand-Hudon took over the run responsibilities from that point on and rushed 9 times for 72 yards (8 yards per carry) including a 26-yard touchdown.
Amari Henderson led the team in tackles with 6. Defensive linemen Caleb Sanders and Habakkuk Baldonado both had a sack. 3 defensive backs had an interception in the win which came from Rolan Milligan Jr., Marcus Sayles, and Adam Auclair.
Saskatchewan will travel to Edmonton on Saturday.
#6 Ottawa RedBlacks (8-6-1)
Previous Rank: 3
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: Lost to Montreal 12-24 at home.
Week 17: Lost to Saskatchewan on the road 29-16.
Week 18: Bye week.
Ottawa is coming off their third loss in a row and only has 1 win in the last 5 games after falling last week to Saskatchewan 16-29 on the road. All 4 of the recent RedBlacks losses have been by 2 scores. It is a dark contrast to the 6 game stretch without losses ran from week 6 through week 12. Now Ottawa finds themselves in danger of slipping out of 2nd in the East as Toronto is just half a game behind them.
Last week saw Jeremiah Masoli get the start with Dru Brown out with an ankle injury. Masoli completed 26 of his 36 passes for 278 yards and a touchdown with 1 interception. Justin Hardy led the team in receiving as he caught 5 passes for 111 yards. Kalil Pimpleton caught 6 passes for 45 yards and a touchdown. On the ground, Khalan Laborn rushed 8 times for 42 yards, 5.3 yards per carry.
Alijah McGhee led the team in tackles with 8. Defensive lineman Aidan John had 2 sacks while Lorenzo Mauldin had 1 as well. Ottawa had great run stopping in the first half that saw Ryquell Armstead held to 3.2 yards per carry but then in the 2nd half Saskatchewan was able to get some big plays in the run game.
Ottawa will be on the bye this week and then will travel to Montreal in week 19.
#7 B.C. Lions (7-8)
Previous Rank: 6
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.
Week 17: Lost to Hamilton 29-32 at home in overtime.
Week 18: Hosting Calgary on Friday.
Last week seemed like it was going to be a win for the Lions as they went into halftime with a 16-0 lead. However, Hamilton battled back to force overtime and the game resulted in a 29-32 loss for BC. Nathan Rourke completed 22 of his 36 passes for 264 yards. Jevon Cottoy led the team in receiving as he caught all 5 of his targets for 81 yards in what was his biggest game so far this season. William Stanback had another successful game on the ground as he rushed 15 times for 103 yards, 6.9 yards per carry.
Linebacker Ryder Varga led the team in tackles with 12. Ronald Kent Jr. had an interception for the Lions. Christian Covington, Garry Peters, and Emmanuel Rugamba all recorded a sack. LB Ayinde Eley had 3 QB hurries and 2 QB hits. Defensive tackle Josh Banks had 4 QB hurries.
BC will host Calgary on Friday night.
#8 Edmonton Elks (5-10)
Previous Rank: 7
Week 13: Defeated Calgary 35-20 on the road.
Week 14: Defeated Calgary 37-16 at home.
Week 15: Bye week.
Week 16: Lost to Winnipeg 14-27 at home.
Week 17: Lost to Winnipeg 27-55 on the road.
Week 18: Hosting Saskatchewan on Saturday.
The hot streak of the Edmonton Elks has been cooled down with back-to-back losses to the Winnipeg Blue Bombers, the most recent being 27-55 on the road. McLeod Bethel-Thompson completed 19 of his 34 passes for 223 yards and 3 touchdowns. Eugene Lewis led the team in receiving as he caught 5 passes for 72 yards and a touchdown. Dillon Mitchell had 3 receptions for 54 yards and a touchdown while Tevin Jones had the other receiving touchdown. On the ground, Justin Rankin rushed 14 times for 109 yards (7.8 average) and Kevin Brown rushed 5 times for 44 yards (8.8 average).
On defense, LB Nick Anderson led the team in tackles with 6, and LB Nyles Morgan had the lone sack of the game for Edmonton.
Edmonton will host Saskatchewan on Saturday in a game they must win to maintain a realistic shot at the playoffs. With Edmonton 2 games out of the playoffs with only 3 remaining the margin for error will be slim to none.
#9 Calgary Stampeders (4-9-1)🃏
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: Lost to Saskatchewan 29-37 at home.
Week 17: Bye week.
Week 18: Visiting BC on Friday.
Calgary was on the bye in week 17. They will travel to BC to take on the Lions on Friday night. Calgary currently has the fewest wins in the league but they are also the only team with 4 games remaining. It looks bleak for them to make the playoffs as they sit 3 games behind BC for third in the West and 3 and a half behind Saskatchewan. If they can win their upcoming game against BC and cut it down to 2 games behind BC then they will have a chance to push for the playoffs. BC’s other 2 games will be against Saskatchewan and Montreal so it is possible for those to both be losses. Saskatchewan has matches coming up against Edmonton and BC before playing Calgary in their final match.
Calgary will need to finish 4-0 and have help to make the playoffs.
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