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TORONTO — The Hamilton Tiger-Cats and Edmonton Elks have won a combined seven of their last nine games and seem to be rounding into form as we enter the final stretch of the season.
The Toronto Argonauts and BC Lions also took care of business in Week 15 by getting a boost from different units across their roster.
Even amongst teams that didn’t achieve the results they were looking for – like the Saskatchewan Roughriders – there are groups who excelled, spelling optimism for the future.
Check out who dominated in Week 15 on CFL.ca’s Weekly Team Grades Powered by PFF:
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PFF utilizes extensive review of game footage to provide additional context for every action on the field. Highly-trained PFF staff break down every game, player and play to provide over 200 unique data points, which are used to compile Player Grades – a numerical representation up-to-100 of performance at their specific position.
For more information on PFF, Player Grades, the Grading Scale and more, please visit pff.com/grades.
*All player grades required a minimum of 15 snaps played in Week 15 of 2023
Toronto Argonauts (72.5 offensive grade, 70.0 defensive grade)
Key area: 75.1 coverage grade
Toronto’s coverage unit shows up here one more time after allowing a league-low 9.5 yards per reception while keeping Montreal to 13 passing first downs, third-best mark of Week 15.
Leading the way was safety Mason Pierce with an 88.8 coverage grade after allowing no catches over three targets with two forced incompletions.
Montreal Alouettes (65.9 offensive grade, 61.5 defensive grade)
Key area: 85.3 rushing grade
An area that was working for the Als against Toronto was the running game, albeit sporadically. Montreal rushed only 16 times but five of those went for a first down with three missed tackles forced.
The Als also had the majority of their rushing yards coming after contact, with 41 of the 71 total yards coming after the runner had been met by the defence.
Edmonton Elks (77.1 offensive grade, 65.6 defensive grade)
Key area: 80.6 passing grade
Edmonton’s offence has become a staple on Team Grades after stringing together a series of efficient eye-opening performances. This time it’s the passing game’s turn to be highlighted in the win against the Roughriders.
The Elks had zero turnover-worthy plays over 21 passing attempts as pivot Tre Ford completed 66.7 per cent of his passes with the second highest average depth of target in Week 15 (13.1).
Saskatchewan Roughriders (69.6 offensive grade, 54.0 defensive grade)
Key area: 85.8 passing grade
Saskatchewan also got another efficient passing outing by its quarterback, as Jake Dolegala threw for three touchdowns with only one turnover worthy play.
Dolegala led all quarterbacks in passing grade (81.6) and trailed only Vernon Adams Jr. in air yards percentage with 78.3, meaning most of the yardage was a product of a vertical passing attack led by the Riders pivot.
Hamilton Tiger-Cats (69.3 offensive grade, 67.9 defensive grades)
Key area: 72.7 coverage grade
The Tiger-Cats have won three of the last four and a big part of that is a defensive unit that stopped the two top teams in the West in the Blue Bombers and Lions.
Hamilton had three interceptions against Zach Collaros to go alongside a league-high 14.7 forced incompletion percentage.
Winnipeg Blue Bombers (73.2 offensive grade, 68.6 defensive grade)
Key area: 70.3 pass rush grade
Winnipeg registered three sacks, one hit and 11 hurries against the Tiger-Cats in their loss on Saturday.
The Bombers also led the league in Week 15 in pressure percentage (48.5) as their defence caused problems for quarterback Taylor Powell on almost half of his dropbacks.
BC Lions (68.6 offensive grade, 66.4 defensive grade)
Key area: 72.8 run defence grade
Both defences did a good job stopping the running game on Saturday in Vancouver. The Lions kept a dangerous REDBLACKS’ running game to only 3.8 yards per attempt while leading the league in stops with 15.
Ottawa had a chance to ice the game by rushing the ball late in the game but BC’s defence stopped the run and forced a crucial punt that ended up giving Adams Jr. and the offence a chance to seal the comeback.
Ottawa REDBLACKS (72.1 offensive grade, 76.5 defensive grade)
Key area: 87.5 run defence grade
The REDBLACKS also kept the Lions running game in check throughout the entire game. BC had only 59 rushing yards, mostly on scrambles by Adams Jr. who finished with 45 yards on five attempts.
Lions’ running back Taquan Mizzell had five carries for only 13 yards against a stout Ottawa defensive front.
| TEAM | OFFENSIVE GRADE* | DEFENSIVE GRADE* | OVERALL OFFENSIVE GRADE** | OVERALL DEFENSIVE GRADE** |
| Toronto Argonauts | 72.5 | 70.0 | 84.3 | 88.3 |
| BC Lions | 68.6 | 66.4 | 76.7 | 88.8 |
| Montreal Alouettes | 65.9 | 61.5 | 73.5 | 82.4 |
| Saskatchewan Roughriders | 69.6 | 54.0 | 66.7 | 76.0 |
| Winnipeg Blue Bombers | 73.2 | 68.6 | 87.4 | 87.3 |
| Calgary Stampeders | Bye | Bye | 68.0 | 83.0 |
| Hamilton Tiger-Cats | 69.3 | 67.9 | 71.4 | 75.9 |
| Ottawa REDBLACKS | 72.1 | 76.5 | 69.6 | 81.5 |
| Edmonton Elks | 77.1 | 65.6 | 70.8 | 62.6 |
*Grades based on team-performance in Week 15 of 2023
**Cumulative grades based on team-performance in Weeks 1-15 of 2023
