TORONTO — As we count down the weeks until the regular season is over, who will – or will not – make the playoffs is anything but clear. However, Week 16 could provide some answers and that’s something CFL fans can be thankful for on Thanksgiving Weekend.
The week starts in Winnipeg as the Blue Bombers play host to the Hamilton Tiger-Cats. With a win last week the Bombers have improved to 10-3 on the season and are still looking to catch the Stampeders for first in the West. The Ticats, on the other hand, are third in the East and are four points out of a playoff spot. It’ll be Alex Green in the backfield for the Tabbies as he looks to build on his 140-yard performance from two weeks ago. Can the Ticats take down the Bombers or will Winnipeg keep their winning ways alive?
Things then move to Toronto where the Saskatchewan Roughriders pay a visit to the Argonauts. Saskatchewan’s offence has cooled off over the last few weeks but that doesn’t mean Kevin Glenn and co. won’t be itching to get back to it. The Argos have won their last three contest and still sit in the top spot in the East. With a win, the Argos will clinch playoffs and a home playoff date. The Riders, on the other hand, are in a close battle for position in the West with three teams separated by just two points.
The second half of Saturday’s doubleheader features the Ottawa REDBLACKS and BC Lions. The REDBLACKS will likely have Trevor Harris back under centre as they look to gain ground on the Argos for first in the East. The Lions, meanwhile, are sitting in last place in the West and are in danger of missing the playoffs. Can the Lions turn things around with a win at home or will the REDBLACKS use the return of Harris to get back in the win column?
And finally, the week ends in Montreal on Thanksgiving as the Edmonton Eskimos visit the Alouettes. The Esks offence got a bit more dangerous this week with the addition of running back C.J. Gable. Perhaps he will provide the spark to help Edmonton snap their six-game losing skid. Meanwhile, the Alouettes have struggled this season finding ways to win and will be looking to expose a team that hasn’t won a game in almost a month.
Buy Week 16 Tickets
» Friday, 8:30 p.m. ET: Hamilton at Winnipeg
» Saturday, 4:00 p.m. ET: Saskatchewan at Toronto
» Saturday, 7:00 p.m. ET: Ottawa at BC
» Monday, 2:00 p.m. ET: Edmonton at Montreal
THIS WEEK IN THE CFL
REMAINING SCHEDULE
| Team | Opponents | Opponents Cumulative Record |
| BC Lions | OTT, @WPG, EDM, @WPG, TOR | 39-28-1 (.581) |
| Edmonton Eskimos | @MTL, TOR, @BC, CGY, @SSK | 35-32-1 (.522) |
| Calgary Stampeders | @HAM, SSK, @EDM, WPG | 27-25 (.519) |
| Saskatchewan Roughriders | @TOR, OTT, @CGY, MTL, EDM | 34-34-2 (.500) |
| Winnipeg Blue Bombers | HAM, BC, @TOR, BC, @CGY | 34-32-1 (.515) |
| Hamilton Tiger-Cats | @WPG, CGY, @MTL, @OTT, MTL | 33-35-2 (.486) |
| Toronto Argonauts | SSK, @EDM, WPG, @BC | 30-22 (.577) |
| Ottawa REDBLACKS | @BC, @SSK, HAM | 16-23 (.410) |
| Montreal Alouettes | EDM, HAM, @SSK, @HAM | 20-32 (.385) |
- Schedule with the highest winning percentage: BC Lions 39-28-1 (.581)
- Schedule with the lowest winning percentage: Montreal Alouettes 20-32 (.385)
- Most road games remaining: Edmonton Eskimos and Hamilton Tiger-Cats, three each
- Most home games remaining: BC Lions, Saskatchewan Roughriders and Winnipeg Blue Bombers with three each
5,000 PASSING YARDS
- Four quarterbacks are on pace to reach 5,000 passing yards this season: Mike Reilly (4,260), Ricky Ray (4,079), Matt Nichols (3,844) and Bo Levi Mitchell (3,978).
- In order for the four quarterbacks to hit 5,000 yards they would need to average the following amounts in the final weeks of the season:
Mike Reilly – 148 yards per game
Ricky Ray – 231 yards per game
Matt Nichols – 232 yards per game
Bo Levi Mitchell – 256 yards per game
- Four quarterbacks passing for 5,000+ yards in a season has only happened twice previously:
- 2004: Anthony Calvillo (6,041), Jason Maas (5,270), Casey Printers (5,088) and Danny McManus (5,034)
- 1993: Doug Flutie (6,092), David Archer (6,023), Kent Austin (5,754) and Tom Burgess (5,063)
- Both Trevor Harris and Kevin Glenn have a chance to reach 5,000 yards. Harris would need to average 426 yards per game and Glenn would need 313 yards per game.
- There have never been five quarterbacks with 5,000+ yards in the same season.
- Last season Mike Reilly (5,554), Bo Levi Mitchell (5,385) and Jonathon Jennings (5,226) eclipsed the benchmark.
- 5,000 yards has been reached 38 times in CFL history by 19 different players.
- There are six players with 20+ touchdown passes already this season. This marks the most since 2005 when there was seven: Anthony Calvilio (34), Damon Allen (33), Kevin Glenn (27), Ricky Ray (25), Kerry Joseph (25), Henry Burris (23) and Dave Dickenson (21).
KEEPING IT 100
- Calgary’s Alex Singleton became the first player to reach 100+ defensive tackles this season. He’s averaged 7.3 tackles per game this season.
- To this point, there are four additional players on pace for 100+ tackle seasons:
- Solomon Elimimian – 133 tackles
- Alex Singleton – 131
- Kyries Hebert – 116
- Larry Dean – 109
- Bear Woods – 100
- Elimimian needs seven tackles in his game in hand to surpass Singleton for the league-lead.
- Last season four players reached 100+ defensive tackles: Solomon Elimimian (129), Bear Woods (126), Adam Bighill (109) and Deon Lacey (103).
- On the offensive side of the ball, four receivers are on pace for 100+ receptions: Brandon Zylstra, Brad Sinopoli, Andrew Harris and Luke Tasker.
- Andrew Harris is on pace for 116 receptions
- Brandon Zylstra is on pace for 109 reception
- Brad Sinopoli is on pace for 105 receptions
- Luke Tasker is on pace for 100 receptions
- Last season five players reached the 100 receptions mark: Adarius Bowman (120), Derel Walker (109), Emmanuel Arceneaux (105) and Andy Fantuz (101).
- Andrew Harris needs 19 receptions to set a new league-record for receptions for a running back. Craig Ellis had 102 in 1985 with Saskatchewan.
- Among Sinopoli’s 88 receptions 41 of them were for second down conversions. He has three games to break the league record held by Ben Cahoon in 2004 with 45.
WEEK 16 GAME NOTES
Bye Weeks: Teams coming off a bye this year are 8-5. The BC Lions are coming off a Week 15 bye to host the Ottawa REDBLACKS on Saturday night.
It’s Good: Calgary’s Rene Paredes has now taken over number one all-time in career field goal percentage. He has accomplished this in part due to his current streak of 18 consecutive made field goals. His career percentage is now 86.8%. Winnipeg’s Justin Medlock was ahead of Paredes but went 0 for 3 last week in field goal attempts to bring his average to 86.2%.
Special Special Teams: The Stampeders have become the first team to have two players record multiple punt return TDs in the same season since 2004 (Toronto: Bruce 2, Levingston 2) and only the fourth team ever to do so. Roy Finch leads the CFL with three TDs this season while teammate Tunde Adeleke is now up to two having made another in last week’s win over Montréal.
Ground Game Strong: Only one player has ever had 800+ rushing and receiving yards in the same year, a mark that Harris has outpaced in 2017. He is now just six yards off a 1,000-yard receiving pace. He’ll have to average 56.4 yards per game to reach 1,000 on his receptions, and 41.4 rushing yards to get to 1K there.
Bombers Trending Up: Winnipeg’s 10-3 start is the best start they have had since 2001 when they began the season 11-2.
Go Long: SJ Green has had the most 20+ yard targets this season with 42, followed by Greg Ellingson (35) and Darvin Adams (30). Green also has the most receptions downfield 20+ yards with 19 (45%). Bryant Mitchell has the best percentage by catching 8 of 10 targets 20+ yards down field.
Low Penalties: Penalties are down 12% compared to last season at 15.57 per game.
Red Zone: BC has the best red zone efficiency at 70.5%. The East Division-leading Toronto Argonauts have a league-low 44.4%.
Turnovers: 27 % of Winnipeg’s points scored this year have come after forcing a turnover.
Go for Two: Ottawa has attempted (19) and converted (13) the most two-point converts this season. Winnipeg has the fewest attempted (4) and fewest converted (1).
1,000 Yard Club: Brandon Zylstra and Darvin Adams joined Greg Ellingson and SJ Green in the 1,000 receiving yards club. The next closest receivers are Brad Sinopoli (989) and Naaman Roosevelt (929).
Home Field Advantage: Home teams this year are 34-26-1 (.566)
Touchdowns: Three teams this year have scored 40+ touchdowns: Calgary (47), Winnipeg (45) and Saskatchewan (42).
Hang on to the Ball: Edmonton has the highest average time of possession per game with 31:58. Hamilton has the lowest with 27:01.
CFL-wide punt return average: The 10 punt return TDs have driven the league-wide average up to a near-record level in 2017. The 11.0 yards per return in 2017 is the second highest in CFL history, just behind the all-time record of 11.3 set last year.
