Just one week remains in the 2016 CFL regular season! With a win against the Blue Bombers, Ottawa has now locked up the East Division title for the second year in a row, but there’s still some intrigue left in the West, where the order for second, third, and the crossover playoff spots has yet to be settled. There may be a few snoozers this week with some teams electing to rest starters, but there’s still plenty hinging upon strong finishes to this long, gruelling season. Let’s check out what happened last week!

WEEK 19 RECAPS

Edmonton 29 vs. Hamilton 26: Depending on how the BC and Winnipeg games shape up this coming week, this game might have been a playoff preview of the East semi-final. It was a tight game with a number of lead changes and lots of back-and-forth action; Hamilton took a 10-6 lead into the first while Edmonton was up 12-11 at halftime. After a 10-point third quarter by the Eskimos, they had to weather the storm as Hamilton pushed hard to try and tie it up. The Ti-Cats pushed hard, scoring a touchdown with just over a minute left to make it 29-26 Eskimos, but they couldn’t quite finish the comeback. Derel Walker caught two touchdowns for the Eskimos, while Mike Reilly rushed for another; the Ti-Cats had majors on pass from Zach Collaros to Terrence Tolliver, as well as rushes by CJ Gable and Jeremiah Masoli.

PICK: Edmonton

RESULT: Edmonton

Ottawa 23 vs. Winnipeg 10: Winnipeg was coming off the bye, hoping to be rested, but instead looked just rusty. Matt Nichols, who’d only thrown five interceptions all year in the starter’s role for the Blue Bombers, threw three in the first half alone, and had a fourth somehow ruled incomplete. It was not a good game for Winnipeg – Ottawa dictated pace and smothered them at every opportunity. A late touchdown from Nichols to Darvin Adams, in his first game back after spending 10 weeks on the Disabled List, made the score look closer than it actually was; for the REDBLACKS, the running game was key this matchup. Henry Burris made up for throwing an interception with a rushing score of his own, while Mossis Madu ran for 125 yards and touchdown on 21 carries. With the win, and with the Tiger-Cats’ loss the previous night, the REDBLACKS clinched first in the East and a bye into the East Final for the second straight season.

PICK: Winnipeg

RESULT: Ottawa

BC 24 vs. Saskatchewan 6: The final game at Mosaic Stadium, a farewell to the only home the Roughriders have ever known in the CFL, was spoiled with a Lions win. Jeremiah Johnson had another strong game out of the backfield, with 101 yards on 16 carries, and a touchdown to go along. Jon Jennings threw for 241 yards and two more majors to go along with it. As for the Riders, they couldn’t get much of anything going on offence; Tyler Crapigna had two field goals, both in the second quarter, and that was all she wrote for the whole game. With the win, and with the Bombers’ loss, the Lions move back into sole possession of second place in the West; the third spot is now open to Winnipeg and Edmonton, with the lower of the two crossing over to play Hamilton in the East semifinal.

PICK: BC

RESULT: BC

Calgary 8 vs. Montreal 17: With the top seed in the West secured, the Stampeders elected to rest most of their starters in the lead-up to the West Final on November 20th; unfortunately, their quest to set the all-time record of 16 wins in an 18-game season was ground to a halt thanks to some inspired play by Montreal against Calgary’s backups. In his first start of the season, Drew Tate went 22-37 for 218 yards and two picks; a disappointing outing in replacement for certain. Despite losing Vernon Adams to a leg injury in the third quarter, Montreal managed to get momentum going on offence to go along with strong defensive pressure throughout the game; Rakeem Cato, replacing Adams in the third quarter, threw 9 passes, connecting 5 times for 78 yards and a touchdown, as well as adding another 73 yards on the ground. With Calgary having wrapped their season up early, Montreal hopes to finish their disappointing 2016 season on a high note, looking for back-to-back wins against the Stamps and Ti-Cats.

PICK: Calgary

RESULT: Montreal

BYE: Toronto (5-12)

WEEK 20 PREVIEWS

Winnipeg (10-7) vs. Ottawa (8-8-1), Friday, November 24th, 7:00 PM EST: With the REDBLACKS having wrapped up the East Division last week, they’ll be resting most of their starters in this final tilt against the Blue Bombers. Brock Jensen and Danny O’Brien, the #3 and #4 quarterbacks on the team, will split snaps, with #2 Trevor Harris serving as the replacement guy and doing the holding duties. For the Bombers, this is a must-win game, with the Eskimos nipping at their heels to jump over them for the third spot in the West playoffs; if they drop to fourth, they’ll cross over to Hamilton and play in the East semifinal. All things considered, though, that might end up being a more favourable matchup, so even with Winnipeg planning on dressing its starters, we’ll see what happens with the rosters once the game starts…

PICK: Winnipeg

Montreal (6-11) vs. Hamilton (7-10), Saturday, November 5th, 1:00 PM EST: After all this time, and even with the Alouettes already eliminated from the playoffs, it’s hard to believe they’re only a game back from the Tiger-Cats. Hamilton will rest their starters, knowing that they can’t finish any higher than second in the East, and will play host to either Edmonton or Winnipeg on Saturday, November 13th. Even with Jeremiah Masoli or even former Notre Dame/Florida State pivot Everett Golson getting snaps, Hamilton will still have a chance; Montreal’s inert offence is their window of opportunity to make this last chance for points count. The Ti-Cats will, however, be without the services of WR Andy Fantuz, DB Johnny Adams, and DB Derrius Brooks, all injured last week against the Eskimos; none of the injuries look promising, with Fantuz’s looking the worst of all, to his left knee. No timetable on when he’s going to return, which may not even happen this season.

PICK: Hamilton

Toronto (5-12) vs. Edmonton (9-8), Saturday, November 5th, 4:00 PM EST: Toronto comes off the bye just looking to run the clock down on their year. Edmonton hopes to win this last one to try and leapfrog Winnipeg to grab the third spot in the West Division, and force the Bombers to cross over. Mike Reilly’s already locked up the passing yards crown for this season, and if he can somehow have a superhuman effort and throw for five touchdowns, could also clinch the passing TDs crown as well, though that’s asking a lot.

PICK: Edmonton

Saskatchewan (5-12) vs. BC (11-6), Saturday, November 5th, 7:00 PM EST: A rematch of last week’s closing game of Mosaic Stadium and the 81st and final regular season game of the 2016 CFL season. This might be the final chance we see a Riders team with Darian Durant at the helm; his contract is up after this year concludes, and with a rebuild still necessary to improve upon the base built this season by GM and coach Chris Jones, nobody’s quite certain on what to expect on the 34-year-old quarterback, who still has a few good seasons of football left in him for sure. BC hopes to win this one as well to keep ahead of Winnipeg, who with a win, and a BC loss, could still finish second in the West thanks to having swept the two-game series this year against the Lions. Depending on how Friday’s game with Winnipeg and Ottawa shapes up, there could end up being a lot of pressure on the Leos to perform in this one…

PICK: BC

BYE: Calgary (15-2-1)

STANDINGS AND STATS

East Division Standings

West Division Standings

Passing Yards

1. Reilly, EDM – 5554
2. Mitchell, CGY – 5385
3. Jennings, BC – 4919

Passing TDs

1. Mitchell, CGY – 32
2. Rielly, EDM – 28
3. Jennings, BC – 24

Rushing Yards

1. Messam, CGY – 1198
2. Harris, WPG – 914
3. Whitaker, TOR – 892

Receiving Yards

1. Bowman, EDM – 1761
2. Walker, EDM – 1618
3. Arcenaux, BC – 1386

Sacks

1. Hughes, CGY – 16
2. Chick, HAM – 14
3. Lemon, TOR – 14

Interceptions

1. Leggett, WPG – 7
2. Heath, TOR/WPG – 7
3. Davis, HAM – 5

Field Goals

1. Paredes, CGY – 56
2. Medlock, WPG – 56
3. Milo, OTT – 47

Game picks this week: 2-2

Game picks this season: 42-35