Thanksgiving Weekend is almost here! Yes, the real Thanksgiving. I talked about this a couple years ago as to why Canadian Thanksgiving is superior to American Thanksgiving – you can check it out here – but in a nutshell, it’s superior due to A) typical warmer weather than what happens in late November (all y’all in California, Florida and southern states don’t count), B) no pre-Christmas hyper-capitalist bullshit going on, and C) there’s TWO football leagues running simultaneously to keep you satiated while you stuff yourself full of food and ignore your dipshit relatives. What’s not to like about that? Even if you think I’m wrong, I invite you to come up here and give my mother’s turkey stuffing a try – it’s delicious and will almost definitely change your mind about Canadian Thanksgiving. No, that’s not a euphemism. Zip it, you heathens.

Onto the games!

WEEK 15 RECAPS

Saskatchewan 18 vs. Ottawa 17: The REDBLACKS absolutely blew this one. With a 17-0 lead in the third quarter, they just needed to play some safe football… and did the exact opposite of that. With Riders return man Christion Jones sparking the comeback with a 97-yard punt return TD to get Saskatchewan on the board, the floodgates were open, and Ottawa couldn’t respond. With Ryan Lindley having another middling night as the starting QB for the REDBLACKS, going 17-31 for 164 yards, a TD, and a late interception that sealed Saskatchewan’s win, Ottawa was fortunate to have RB William Powell step up for this one; he set a new franchise single-game rushing record, racking up 187 yards on 26 carries. Unfortunately, it wasn’t enough, as a punt single from Josh Bartel was enough to give the Riders the lead and the win at the very end of the game – another heartbreaking collapse for the REDBLACKS, which they can ill afford as the playoff race in the East continues to tighten.

PICK: Saskatchewan

RESULT: Saskatchewan

Montreal 11 vs. Calgary 59: The Stamps more than made up for their surprise early-season defeat to the Alouettes – this was one was all Calgary from wire to wire. With starting RB Jerome Messam out for this game, backup Terry Williams got his first CFL start and proceeded to run roughshod, racking up 156 yards and 3 TDs on 16 carries. Bo Levi Mitchell also got some rest after an excellent start, throwing for 265 yards and 2 TDs on 14 of 19 attempts before sitting in the third quarter. Montreal had very little in the way of positives – but RB Tyrell Sutton was probably the biggest, with 37 yards rushing, 35 receiving and the Alouettes’ only touchdown of the night. With the win, Calgary has now racked up 17 consecutive home victories – an extremely impressive streak indeed.

PICK: Calgary

RESULT: Calgary

Toronto 43 vs. Hamilton 35 (OT): Another weirdly excellent game from the QEW rival cities; the Argos got revenge on the Tabbies for their loss in the Labour Day Classic last month. It’s also the Argos’ first-ever victory at Tim Hortons Field, which has been open since 2014 – about time, really! Hamilton saw the return of Canadian receiver Andy Fantuz to the lineup – a big addition for them; he’d been out since the final week of the 2016 regular season due to a torn ACL. The passing game was on for both teams in this one – Jeremiah Masoli had 288 yards and 2 TDs on 18-32 attempts, while Jalen Saunders and Brandon Banks each had 100+ receiving yards on the night. Ricky Ray racked up 330 yards, 3 TDs and a pick on 25-38 attempts, and DeVier Posey paced the Argos with 104 yards and 2 TDs on 7 catches, including the game-winning score in overtime. While RB James Wilder Jr. didn’t crack the 100-yard mark on rushing for the first time in 3 games, he was still an important factor on the night with 49 yards rushing and 37 yards receiving. For the Ti-Cats, CJ Gable had an excellent game to end off his career in Hamilton, racking up 157 yards and 2 touchdowns. The win means Toronto built their lead over Ottawa for first in the East and clinched the season series against Hamilton, and with three wins in a row now, they’re coming on at just the right time of the year.

PICK: Toronto

RESULT: Toronto

Winnipeg 28 vs. Edmonton 19: This was a closer one than the score indicated; were it not for a late pick-six from Bombers DB Chris Randle, Edmonton well could have come back and won this one in the end. Mike Reilly threw for 311 yards on 31-46 attempts, including 2 TDs and, unfortunately, the late pick-six that sealed the deal for Winnipeg; receiver Brandon Zylstra, who has been one of the best emerging talents in the West Division this year, paced the Eskimos with 152 receiving yards on 9 catches. The Winnipeg defence, fortunately, was able to put together enough key plays to keep the Edmonton air attack reasonably neutralized. On the Winnipeg side, RB Andrew Harris had yet another stellar game, leading the way with 135 all-purpose yards and a rushing TD, while receiver Darvin Adams had an awesome one-handed TD grab as one of his two catches on the night. Edmonton’s fullback, Calvin McCarty, also had a one-handed TD grab of his own – lots of entertainment in this game to be had for sure. All the same, another tough loss for the Eskimos, who’ve now dropped six straight after starting the season 7-0. Their playoff chances are in serious peril if they can’t figure out a way to turn things around soon.

PICK: Winnipeg

RESULT: Winnipeg

BYE: BC (6-7)

WEEK 16 PREVIEWS

Hamilton (3-10) vs. Winnipeg (10-3), Friday, October 6th, 8:30 PM EST: With the trade of star running back CJ Gable to the Eskimos, the Ti-Cats have lost a key piece of their offence; while their playoff chances are still slim, they are, all the same, no longer last in the East and also not mathematically out of it yet. While Alex Green performed very well in starting duties a couple weeks ago when Gable was out, will he be able to step in and fill the loss of Gable permanently from here on out? Meanwhile, Winnipeg’s offence continues to roll – they constantly find ways to keep moving the ball downfield. While the defence still gives up a lot of yards, and will need to be careful with the mobility of Hamilton QB Jeremiah Masoli and his tendency to escape the pocket, they’re good when it counts, and are lucky to have such a potent O to bail them out as needed.

PICK: Winnipeg

Saskatchewan (7-6) vs. Toronto (7-7), Saturday, October 7th, 4:00 PM EST: After a big comeback win last week, Saskatchewan is staying out east and is hungry for more success. The team stayed in Ottawa for a few days after their win, and practised on the lawn of Parliament Hill, right downtown – now quickly becoming an annual tradition for the Riders. At any rate, with a gutsy team effort to come back so late against the REDBLACKS, they’re now up against a team with their #1 quarterback available to them – how will the Riders respond? The Argos need to continue to find ways to get James Wilder Jr. involved in the offence; he’s proven to be an X-factor for them in this second half of the season and without a doubt a key reason the team has looked so good in their last few games. This will also be the CFL debut of former Alabama star Trent Richardson – I don’t know what the over/under is on his rushing yards in this one, but I wanna keep it modest and say 50 – and I think I’m gonna take the under, based on history…

PICK: Saskatchewan

Ottawa (5-9-1) vs. BC (6-7), Saturday, October 7th, 7:00 PM EST: After missing the last three games, Trevor Harris says his shoulder should be good to go – and his return to the lineup can’t come soon enough, particularly since the offence has unfortunately looked rather inert being led by Ryan Lindley in the past 2.5 games. Hopefully Ottawa’s number one QB will be able to pick up where he left off – even after missing 3 games, he’s still second in the league in touchdown passes thrown this year, with 23 (behind Matt Nichols’ 26). BC is coming off a bye week and is hopefully feeling rested, and needs a win in order to keep pace with the rest of the division. In these teams’ last matchup, Jonathon Jennings was terrible before getting pulled for Travis Lulay, who managed to almost close the gap on a big Ottawa lead and bring the Lions back – but with Lulay gone for the year now, will Jennings be able to not stink up the joint against Ottawa this time around?

PICK: Ottawa

Edmonton (7-6) vs. Montreal (3-11), Monday, October 9th, 2:00 PM EST: I think you’d be hard-pressed to find a team more desperate than the Eskimos right now. They’ve lost six in a row after starting with seven straight wins, and even with a crossover playoff spot as a possibility, they’ve also just been leapfrogged in the standings by the Roughriders, who share an identical record but far superior point differential. At any rate, Edmonton made a splash on the trade market this week by acquiring RB CJ Gable from Hamilton, in exchange for two players on their negotiation rights list. Gable’s contract is expiring, but his presence will hopefully be a boost to the Edmonton ground game, who have been chewing through running backs this year since their top man John White went down in the first game of the season. Meanwhile, Montreal just wants this season to be over with, I’m certain – after a dismal showing against the Stampeders last week, they’re returning home with the likelihood that Drew Willy will start his second straight game at QB, as Darian Durant is still nursing a hamstring injury. While GM and interim head coach Kavis Reed says he’s not planning any sweeping roster changes yet, even upcoming in the offseason, I legitimately don’t see what the path forward is anymore for Montreal.

PICK: Edmonton

STANDINGS AND STATS

East Division Standings

West Division Standings

Passing Yards

1. Reilly, EDM – 4260
2. Ray, TOR – 4079
3. Mitchell, CGY – 3978

Passing TDs

1. Nichols, WPG – 26
2. Harris, OTT – 23
3. Reilly, EDM – 22

Rushing Yards

1. Messam, CGY – 897
2. Harris, WPG – 793
3. Johnson, BC – 752

Receiving Yards

1. Ellingson, OTT – 1232
2. Zylstra, EDM – 1134
3. Green, TOR – 1102

Sacks

1. Hughes, CGY – 8
2. Butler, TOR – 8
3. Johnson, CGY – 8

Interceptions

1. Gainey, SSK – 8
2. Randle, WPG – 5
3. Heath, WPG – 4

Field Goals

1. Paredes, CGY – 44
2. Medlock, WPG – 39
3. Hajrullahu, TOR – 38

PICK POOL

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