CFL.ca Game Notes: A look at Week 16

CFL.ca Staff

TORONTO — There are three games on tap this weekend as Week 16 in the CFL gets underway on Friday night.

First up is an East Division battle between the Montreal Alouettes and Hamilton Tiger-Cats. The Ticats are coming off a big win over the defending Grey Cup Champion Winnipeg Blue Bombers and will be looking to keep the momentum going as they eye passing the Alouettes for second in the East. Montreal, on the other hand, returns from a Week 15 bye hoping to hold the Ticats behind them in the standings.

Saturday’s doubleheader starts in Ottawa as the Toronto Argonauts visit TD Place to take on the REDBLACKS. Toronto has won three in a row, including the last meeting between these two teams in Week 14, and will hope to make it four this week. Meanwhile, Ottawa will look to get their first win of the season at home.

And finally, the week ends in BC as the Calgary Stampeders head to BC Place to take on the Lions. This battle for second in the West Division is the second half of a home-and-home between these two clubs as the Lions took the win last week in overtime at McMahon Stadium. Find out who gets the win this week on Saturday night.

Buy Tickets
» Friday, 7:30 p.m. ET: Tiger-Cats at Alouettes
» Saturday, 7:00 p.m. ET: Argonauts at REDBLACKS
» Saturday, 10:00 p.m. ET: Stampeders at Lions

THE LAY OF THE LAND
(Team | Remaining opponents | Combined record)

West Division

Winnipeg | Bye, SSK, EDM, @BC, Bye, BC | 28-24 (.538)
BC | CGY, OTT, @TOR, WPG, @EDM, @WPG | 46-33 (.582)
Calgary | @BC, TOR, Bye, HAM, @SSK, SSK | 32-33 (.492)
Saskatchewan | Bye, @WPG, @HAM, CGY, @CGY | 32-21 (.604)
Edmonton | Bye, MTL, @WPG, TOR, BC | 33-17 (.660)

East Division

Toronto | @OTT, @CGY, BC, @EDM, @MTL, MTL | 34-41 (.453)
Montreal | HAM, @EDM, OTT, @OTT, TOR, @TOR | 28-47 (.373)
Hamilton | @MTL, Bye, SSK, @CGY, OTT, @OTT | 25-38 (.397)
Ottawa | TOR, @BC, @MTL, MTL, @HAM, HAM | 34-40 (.459)

END OF SUMMER STRETCH: WEEKS 10-15

Every team had at least one loss and none had more than three wins
Toronto and Winnipeg had the best records (3-1)
Ottawa went 2-2 and Montreal went 2-1, after finishing below .500 in the first half of the season
Only Winnipeg has clinched a playoff berth; the remaining eight teams are all in playoff contention

LOCKING IT DOWN

Only two starting quarterbacks hold a career winning record against Calgary.
- BC’s overtime win in Week 15 improved Vernon Adams Jr. to 4-2.
- Zach Collaros is 8-5.
The league’s seven remaining starting quarterbacks are a combined 3-23-2 (0.143) in their careers against the Stampeders.

QUICK SLANTS

The CFL is averaging 51 points per game – the highest since 2017.
League-wide passing efficiency sits at 94.7 – the third highest in CFL history.
Kickers this season have made 240-of-256 (93.8 per cent) converts. Last season, kickers finished at 91.8 per cent.
Road teams are 32-26 (.552) this season. Road teams last finished at least six games above .500 in 2016 (43-37) and 1962 (35-29).
Teams are 9-7 off the bye this year. Coming off byes this week are Toronto (2-0), Montreal (0-2) and Ottawa (0-2).
The winners of the Tiger-Cats-Alouettes and Argonauts-REDBLACKS games will capture their season series.
2022 CFL Draft first round selections, Jalen and Tyson Philpot, are Top-2 in average kickoff return yards – Calgary’s Jalen has 14, averaging 28.7 yards, while Montreal’s Tyson has 12 averaging 28.5.
Hamilton’s victory over Winnipeg in Week 15 represented one of the largest standings-gaps overcome – the Ticats with three wins defeated Winnipeg with 12.
Dane Evans’ five touchdown passes last week matched Nathan Rourke for the league’s season-high.
Montreal’s Trevor Harris needs three more touchdown passes to reach 150 in his career. His 147 are the second most among active players, trailing Bo Levi Mitchell’s 188.
Harris is a career 8-4 against Hamilton.
Eugene Lewis (954) is eyeing his second 1,000-receiving yard season; he notched 1,133 in 2019. He has 253 yards on 15 receptions against Hamilton this year.
Toronto’s McLeod Bethel-Thompson is coming off a season-high 365-passing yard performance in Week 14. He is a career 7-1 against Ottawa with five games over 300 yards.
Kurleigh Gittens Jr. has 14 receptions for 245 yards against Ottawa this season.
Wynton McManis has collected 16 tackles in two games versus the REDBLACKS in 2022.
Ottawa is 3-3 (.500) following a 0-6 start.
Ottawa’s Lorenzo Mauldin has four sacks in his last two games. He has three sacks in two meetings with Toronto this season.
Ottawa’s Nigel Romick has 98 career special team tackles in 97 games. He is second among active players behind Mike Miller (222 in 186 games)
Dave Dickenson will be helming the Stampeders for the 100^th time and holds a record of 69-28-2 (.707).
Calgary’s Ka’Deem Carey (773) is 97 rushing yards from setting a new career-high. He has already equaled his personal-best of seven rushing majors set in 2021.
Malik Henry (909) is looking to reach 1,000 receiving yards for the first time in his career.
Rene Paredes leads the league with 39 made field-goals this season.
Calgary’s Cody Grace and BC’s Stefan Flintoft lead the league in average net punt yards (39.71).
The Lions are looking to sweep the season series against Calgary – a feat they have not achieved since going 2-0 in 2005.
BC’s Dominique Rhymes (1,016) has notched his second season with 1,000+ receiving yards and is 41 away from surpassing his personal best of 1,056 set in 2019.
Bryan Burnham has 15 receptions and 265 yards (17.7 yards per catch) in two games against Calgary this season.
Sean Whyte leads the league in field-goals made percentage (91.3).

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