CFL 'Quick Kicks': Week 16

By Chris Lawton

Welcome to week sixteen of our weekly review of each CFL game week for the 2024 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 Hamilton Tiger-Cats visiting BMO field in Toronto. This was a chance for the tabbies to sweep the Boatmen for the first time since 2019, and they did just that with a walk off win on a Marc Liegghio field goal to take the spoils 33-31. The win moves the Ticats to 5-9 on the season and drops Toronto to 7-7. If the Argos continue to falter on a tough run in, then Hamilton holds the edge with their sweep of the season series.

Hamilton are starting to show some form as this is their third win in a row, and Bo Levi Mitchell, who finished 31 of 40 for 362 yards and a touchdown here leads the league in passing yards and surpassed 4,000 yards in a season for the fifth time in his career.

Greg Bell, who had amassed 231 yards from scrimmage in the two previous meetings with Toronto was out for this one. So, it fell to James Butler to pick up the slack and he did just that with 102 yards from scrimmage split between 11 carries for 58 yards on the ground and 4 catches on 4 targets for a further 44 yards.

We always say here that special teams are important and that kickers matter. Well, it certainly helped here that for Hamilton that Liegghio hit on all six field goal attempts and went 8 for 8 on all kicks, as well as keeping his cool to hit the game winner.

The next game paired two teams in the West desperately seeking to regain traction in their seasons as the Calgary Stampeders hosted the Saskatchewan Roughriders. Incredibly, the Roughriders had not recorded a win post Labour Day since 2021 prior to this. But they broke that hoodoo here with a 37-29 win over the Stampeders in Calgary to halt a seven game winless streak.

After we had seen one veteran QB lead his team, we saw another do it in a different style here as Trevor Harris was uber accurate going 16 of 18 for 248 yards and a score.

Saskatchewan also had considerable success in the running game as recently acquired Ryquell Armstead had 25 carries for 207 yards. Armstead, who was released by the Ottawa RedBlacks earlier this month despite being fourth in the league in rushing at the time, delivered the fourth highest single game rushing total in Roughriders history. Overall, the Riders had 244 yards on the ground, their highest total in over 10 years, (when they had 268 yards on the ground in the 2013 Grey Cup game).

The real talking point here though was Stamps backup QB Tommy Stevens. He showed off his short yardage skills early on turning a second and one situation into a 69-yard touchdown run to give Calgary the lead first. Stevens often delivers close to the goal-line or when short yardage bursts are needed. Meaning it was a surprise when he wasn’t in on third and one and down 37-29, and Jake Maier (25 of 31 for 197 yards, 2 touchdowns and 1 pick) was picked off on the play. It is a choice that left long time Stampeders watchers scratching their heads.

The Riders also had success with their own short yardage game as backup QB Shea Patterson ran in 1 and 2-yard touchdowns, and Harris stayed in to deliver a 1-yard TD of his own.

This game marks the fourth time in a row Saskatchewan has won coming off a bye. Something for the Stamps, (now 4-9-1), to consider when these two meet again in the final game of the regular season as the Riders, (6-7-1), will be coming off their final bye of the year.

The third game of the weekend was a table topper in the East as the Ottawa RedBlacks welcomed the Montreal Alouettes. It was the latter who walked away with the points following a convincing 24-12 victory.

For Montreal this marked the tenth consecutive time they have toppled the RedBlacks. Clearly if Ottawa want to get anywhere in the Grey Cup playoffs this year that is a statistic they will have to overcome. Particularly as this win, moving Montreal to 11-2-1 guarantees them at least a home playoff game and inches them that much closer to a bye. Especially as they knocked Ottawa back to 8-5-1 with this result.

Something had to give in this one as Ottawa were unbeaten at home and Montreal were unbeaten on the road. It was the Als who kept up their record moving to 6-0-1 away from home in 2024. In fact, their overall road win streak now stands at 9-0-1 reaching back to last year and has set a Franchise record. This was an important win for Montreal too as it made their fall from a lofty 10-1 to 10-2-1 look more like blip than part of a pattern of decline.

Montreal built their 2023 championship and defence of that title this year on a clear identity. A hard hitting, opportunistic D that is complemented by an offence that takes the chances presented and efficient special teams. All of that complementary football was on display here.

A lot of the win was centred around a defence that forced three turnovers, (2 interceptions including a pick-six, and once on downs), and batted down nine passes.

Cody Fajardo put in a workman like performance connecting on 16 of 27 passes for 226 yards and adding 7 carries for 29 yards and a touchdown.

You could tell the Als weren’t firing on all cylinders here as Joseph Zema was called on to punt 11 times. But at the same time Dru Brown left the game for Ottawa having gone 8 of 16 for 69 yards and 2 interceptions to be replaced by Jeremiah Masoli, (17 of 26, 218 yards, 1 TD).

For Ottawa the biggest star on offence was Justin Hardy who hauled in 9 receptions for 117 yards and a touchdown.

Montreal were up 20-6 at halftime and it never really felt like they were in any real danger after that in all honesty.

The final game of the weekend was in Edmonton where the Elks hosted the Winnipeg Blue Bombers for a game between two in form teams who had gone 10-1 between them since Week 9 of the season.

It was Winnipeg who kept up the winning run here with a confidently put together 27-14 win. This marks the Blue Bombers sixth consecutive win, and by moving them to 8-6, gives them 2 points separation as they stand alone at the top of the West Division standings.

When they stood at 0-4, and later 2-6, there were some whispers that Winnipeg had not done enough to replenish talent, that they were ageing and losing their grip. It seems we forgot that winning is a habit, and this is a team that went 51-17 over the previous four seasons, appearing in four Grey Cup games and winning two. Experience of winning matters and the Blue Bombers have that in spades.

One thing that is often pivotal to their success is the play of running back Brady Oliveira. Here he led the attack with 18 carries yielding 127 yards and 2 touchdowns.

Winnipeg had a solid defensive performance for much of this game as they held Edmonton scoreless for almost two thirds of game time (39 minutes) yet going into the final frame it was tied at 10-10. However, Winnipeg pulled away, scoring 17 fourth quarter points to put the game out of reach for Edmonton.

The Blue Bombers held Tre Ford to going 10 of 17 for 131 yards, with 1 score and 2 picks. Perhaps just as importantly they contained him on the ground as he finished with 2 carries for 9 yards. The brightest spot for Edmonton was Justin Rankin who had 14 carries for 157 yards.

Winnipeg has now won 11 consecutive games against Edmonton dating back to November 2018. The Elks will want to amend that in the return contest next week in Winnipeg. Right now, that looks unlikely, but that is why they play the games. You never know.

MOP's: Week 16

O – Brady Oliveira, RB, Winnipeg Blue Bombers: 18 carries for 127 yards and 2 touchdowns. 2 catches for 11 yards.

D – Tony Jones, LB, Winnipeg Blue Bombers: 6 tackles, 1 sack, 1 interception, 1 fumble recovery, and 1 special teams tackle.

ST – Marc Liegghio, K, Hamilton Tiger-Cats: 6 for 6 on Field Goals, including a walk off game winner, 8 for 8 on all kicks. 4 kickoffs for 255 yards (63.8 average).

Interdivisional Standings 2024 This Week: East Division 0 West Division 0

Interdivisional Standings 2024 season: East Division 19 West Division 11 Ties 2

Into the Grey Cup playoffs: Montreal Alouettes

Out of the Grey Cup playoffs: n/a.

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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