Welcome back CFL Fans! With Week 15 in the history books, we can now focus our attention on recalculating the Week 16 Power Rankings. Week 15 was an exciting one, where we had two important matchups in the West Division. Edmonton vs Saskatchewan, and BC vs Calgary, had all of the potential to shake up the PR’s. The heavily favoured Blue Bombers are in no danger of losing the 1st position in the PR’s, but the Hamilton Tiger-Cats may have something to say about that! Let’s have a look at Week 15 results and how they affect the Power Rankings for Week 16.
***CAVEAT –
This is the point in a season where teams have to balance the benefit of winning a game, vs the risk of losing a franchise player to injury. The Winnipeg Blue Bombers are the most talented team in the CFL, but at this point they aren’t forced to make sacrifices to secure a win. Disagree? Comment and post your picks! Join the CFL Fans Group at https://www.linkedin.com/groups/12670386/
Edmonton Elks @ Saskatchewan Roughriders
The 3-10 Edmonton Elks travelled to Regina to battle with the 6-7 Saskatchewan Roughriders at Mosaic Stadium on Friday. The Roughriders were heavily favoured in this game, but both the Riders and the Elks have a lot to lose. The Elks are facing imminent elimination from the post-season, and the Riders are hanging their hopes on a thread. Edmonton seized the day by establishing a reliable running game, which loosened up the backfield for passing. Elks QB Taylor Cornelius and RB Kevin Brown combined for 203 yards rushing, allowing Cornelius to pick up 237 yards in the air. Saskatchewan’s defense was valiant, and DL’s Miles Brown and Charbel Dabire were able to sack Cornelius twice, but it was not enough. As it would turn out, the Elks would seal the victory with a late field goal to take it 26-24.
Winnipeg Blue Bombers @ Hamilton Tiger-Cats
Hamilton hosted Winnipeg on Saturday at Tim Horton’s Field, where the 3-9 Tiger-Cats took on the 12-1 Blue Bombers. With their playoff future already decided, the Blue Bombers appeared to play a “Mr. Casual” brand of football that we haven’t seen this season, especially on defense. Hamilton QB Dane Evans was allowed to pick the Winnipeg defensive backfield apart. Evans completed 25 of 32 passes for 327 yards, and 5 TD’s against zero interceptions! The Blue Bombers moved the ball well, but were not effective in scoring, with only 2 TD passes against 2 INT’s. The Bombers usually staunch defense gave the Tiger-Cats ample opportunities and did not register one single QB Sack. Winnipeg will likely perform similarly in their next 4 games, as their playoff destiny is already set. I have to bring the Bombers down from their top spot in the PR’s, and allow Hamilton to climb to 6th.
BC Lions @ Calgary Stampeders
The Saturday evening game in Week 16 had the 8-4 Calgary Stampeders hosting the 8-3 BC Lions at McMahon Stadium. These teams are in a tug-of-war over 2nd place in the West Division standings, and their Week 16 faceoff was sure to be a thriller. The BC Lions have been stumbling since the loss of star Canadian QB Nathan Rourke, but they may have found a solution. Lions QB Vernon Adams Jr. led the team to a 31-29 overtime victory with 294 passing yards, a 78% completion rate and zero interceptions. This game was a see-saw affair with the lead being passed back and forth in each quarter of the game. In the end, the teams entered OT at 23-23, BC started the scoring on a 18 yard run by RB James Butler and a 2 point convert. Calgary replied with a TD pass to WR Jalen Philpot, but they could not convert. With this result the Lions will climb to 4th and I am anointing the Stampeders as 1st in the PR’s for the first time in this season.
Written by: Jack Cameron @TheBrysh
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