CFL 'Quick Kicks' 2025: Week 16

By Chris Lawton

Welcome to week sixteen of our weekly review of each week of the 2025 CFL season. ‘Quick Kicks’ brings you week to week news of how the games went, scores, surprises, and a general feel of ‘what we learned’ from the games.

Let’s dive right in. The first game of the weekend saw the Toronto Argonauts hosting the Montreal Alouettes. This was a battle between the teams contesting second in the East. It was the visitors who came away with a hard fought 21-19 win. That wins moves the Als to 7-7 and really solidifies their second place in the East Division. Not least because they have swept the Argos and own all the tie breakers now too. It Leaves Toronto at 5-9 and in a struggle to take that third spot against teams from the West who are looking at taking a crossover playoff spot.

One thing that remains a constant in the CFL it seems is the inconsistency of McLeod Bethel-Thompson at QB. Last week he was precise and kept the Offence humming. This week the former Argo struggled much more, finishing the game 18 of 30 for 238 yards with 2 touchdowns and 3 interceptions. Last week he never looked like turning the ball over. But the Boatmen could not capitalise. Partially thanks to the Montreal D. For the first three quarters of play they restricted Toronto to 102 total yard and three field goals. Crucial in a game that was decided by 2 points.

Argos fans, and coaches to an extent, were pointing to some pass interference calls that they felt unfairly went against them. But I doubt they would get a mention had they won. Such is the way of professional sports.

In his first start for the Argonauts, third-string quarterback Jarret Doege finished 25-of-37 for 207 yards with one touchdown and an interception. The latter clinching the win for the Alouettes as Wesley Sutton picked him off with 30 seconds remaining. Sutton now has interceptions in back-to-back weeks, as he came up with a key takeaway in Montreal’s win over the Roughriders last week too.

The Argos receivers had trouble hanging on to deep passes from Doege and maybe should have looked across the field for inspiration as Tyler Snead and Austin Mack made a couple of spectacular grabs during the game.

With Chad Kelly out all season and Nick Arbuckle now injured the Argos are working their way through the QBs this season. As we will see, it isn’t about to get any easier for the Double Blue either as they next travel to the BC Lions.

The second game of the weekend had the BC Lions face the Calgary Stampeders in Cow Town. It was the visitors that came away with an impressive 52-23 victory. So dominant were the Lions early on in this one that they had picked off Vernon Adams Jr twice and were up by three scores, 21-0, before Calgary registered a first down for the first time late in the opening quarter.  

By halftime it was 28-7 and the Stamps had allowed four touchdowns without scoring a major of their own (2 field goals and a rouge making up their points).

Calgary looked to build some momentum as Erik Brooks ran back a 41-yard kickoff return for great field position. Unfortunately, Adams Jr took a knee to the head diving for a first down and went off for the game with a probable concussion not long after. PJ Walker came in relief and gave some life to the Stamps, but every time they scored so did BC.

It was quite the performance from Nathan Rourke for the Lions as the Canadian pivot finished the game 20 of 24 for 331 yards with 2 touchdowns, as well as having 6 carries for 43 yards and 3 touchdowns. He has now thrown for over 3,900 yards on the season which is a single-season CFL record for a Canadian QB. Right now, he would be the favourite to win the Most Outstanding Canadian award.

Rourke was ably assisted on offence by Keon Hatcher who had 8 catches for 147 yards and Justin McInnis who had 5 receptions for 88 yards and 2 touchdowns. All of this happened without the league leading rusher going into the weekend, James Butler who was out, but his replacement Zander Hovarth did a sterling job with 12 carries for 152 yards and a score.

BC racked up 527 yards of net offence in this game, keeping them on track with the 400+ yards a game they have been notching so far – something not seen since the Stamps did it back in 2010.

For Calgary the loss will sting but nobody will have felt it more that Adams Jr who found himself replaced as Leos QB by Rourke and who had a poor showing (11 of 16 125 yards, 2 picks), before going off with a head injury here. A couple of bright spots for the Stamps were PJ Walker going 8 of 9 for 64 yards and a touchdown in relief of VA, and Derick Mills continuing his productive season with 15 carries for 72 yards.

The win for BC really opens up the West behind Saskatchewan as the Lions are now 7-7 and sit just two points behind a now 8-5 Calgary.  

The third game of the weekend was in Ottawa where the Ottawa RedBlacks welcomed the Winnipeg Blue Bombers. It was the visitors that walked away with a 26-18 win. A win that must be perplexing for Ottawa fans when they see the Blue Bombers finished the game in a ‘passing league’ with QB Chris Streveler completing 3 of 8 passes for 54 yards and an interception.

So, how did they do it? Winnipeg found enough from their ground game and special teams to pull this off. A real game changer came with the score at 7-0 to Ottawa, as the home side lined up for a field goal attempt and two score lead. Only for the kick to be missed and Trey Vaval returning it 128 yards for a touchdown, (the longest play in Winnipeg franchise history), to tie the game up instead.

Winnipeg got 172 yards on the ground in this one with Oliveira converting 20 carries into exactly 100 yards, and Streveler having 11 carries for 72 yards and a touchdown. Defensively Cam Allen had 2 interceptions which was key to slowing down an Ottawa team that outgained the visitors by 452 yards to 210.

In fact, for Ottawa the returning Dru Brown had 33 completions on 45 attempts for 406 yards and 2 touchdowns, but those two interceptions by Cam Allen came at key moments to derail this. Eugene Lewis led the RedBlack receivers with 9 catches for 155 yards and Justin Hardy had 7 grabs for 101 yards too.

For a long time, Ottawa fans are going to look back on this one and wonder just how their team lost to a CFL side that completed three passes in an entire game. It’s all about the big moments and Winnipeg found just enough of those to take the win.

This defeat drops Ottawa to 4-10 and means RedBlacks fans are enduring their fourth season in five years with double digits in the loss column. On the flip side, and seemingly against the odds with their current QB situation, the Blue Bombers have made it back to .500 at 7-7 and remain competing for a playoff spot at third in the West.

The final game of the weekend was in Hamilton as the Edmonton Elks travelled to face the Hamilton Tiger-Cats. This was the 2025 HOF members induction game, an annual tradition in Hamilton. It was the home team that won, in the closest contest of the weekend, 29-27 with a walkoff field goal for the win.

This was the best game of the weekend, a back-and-forth affair, settled as time expired with a walk off field goal. There were plenty of good performances from players on both teams to enjoy too. All too often special teams, and especially kickers can be overlooked unless things go wrong. Well Marc Liegghio deserves his flowers here, hitting on five of five field goals, including from 45 yards and later 41 yards as time expired. In a game the Ticats won by 2 points he put up 17 points from the kicking game alone and made a real difference.

Bo Levi Mitchell finished the game 28 of 40 for 311 yards, 2 touchdowns and a pick. Kiondre Smith led all Hamilton receivers with 7 catches for 89 yards whilst Kenny Lawler and Brandon O’Leary-Orange hauled in a touchdown each. Greg Bell maintained some balance in the ground game with 17 carries for 93 yards.

Elks quarterback Cody Fajardo was 21-for-29 passing for 280 yards with 2 touchdowns. Justin Rankin had 118 total yards, (41 on the ground, 77 receiving), and took in one of those touchdowns whilst Kurleigh Gittens Jr was on the receiving end of the other score. Meanwhile Edmonton linebacker Joel Dublanko had 11 tackles and the only sack of the game for the green and gold.

Because of BC winning earlier in the weekend the Ticats couldn’t clinch a playoff spot yet, but their win does see them move to 9-5 and strengthen their position 4 points clear at the top of the East Division. Edmonton meanwhile fell to 5-9 which puts them last in the West behind all the other teams that are at least at .500.

Looking ahead: Week 17 starts with the Alouettes hosting the Stampeders in the early hours of Saturday morning. The best game for UK based fans to watch timewise though will be the Hamilton Tiger-Cats visit to face the Blue Bombers at 8:00PM UK time on Saturday. That said, all the games are available free on CFL+. The league’s free streaming service is a terrific way to check out some CFL action and see what you think of it. They are also available to catch up the next morning so there is every chance to see some three-down action.

MOP's of Week 16:

O – Nathan Rourke QB, BC Lions: 20 of 24 for 331 yards and 2 touchdowns; 6 carries for 43 yards and 3 touchdowns.

D – Cam Allen DB, Winnipeg Blue Bombers: 3 tackles, 2 interceptions with 90 return yards.

ST – Marc Liegghio K, Hamilton Tiger-Cats: 5 for 5 on field goals including a 41-yard walkoff winner. 7 for 7 on all kicks. 2 kickoffs for 113 yards.

Interdivisional Standings 2025 This Week: East Division 1 West Division 1

Interdivisional Standings 2025 season: East Division 12 West Division 18

Playoff Scenarios:

In: Saskatchewan Roughriders.

CHRIS LAWTON

CFL ANALYST

Chris originally started following the NFL with the ‘first wave’ of fans when it was shown on Channel 4 in the 1980’s. He has been a keen supporter of the Miami Dolphins since 1983. Chris first encountered the CFL in 2016 and instantly fell in love with the Canadian game. He has been writing about the CFL 2017. Chris has a degree in history, postgraduate degree in librarianship and can be found on twitter as @CFLfanUK

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