The race in the west tightened up over the weekend, while in the east it became advantage Montreal as the CFL wanders towards the end of the 2011-12 regular season and on into the post season.
A big weekend for Argo fans, who finally found something to celebrate, while in Saskatchewan, the dreams of the pre season have given way to the cold reality that there will be no playoff football at Mosaic Field this year.
Week sixteen unfolded as thus.
British Columbia at Saskatchewan
The CFL's hottest team met up with the coldest one as the wrap to week sixteen of the CFL season, and while the Riders put on a pretty good show for the hometown crowd, the Lions eventually got into gear and claimed the two points, extending their winning streak to eight and keeping their name atop the CFL West standings, sharing space with Edmonton for another week.
The Lions 29 to 16 victory was enough to eliminate the Roughriders from even fanciful thoughts of playoff football this season, but in Vancouver the victory has provided for the prospect that the Grey Cup host city may actually have a rooting interest at the end of November.
Three quarters provided little in the way of excitement, but as the fourth progressed the Lions provided some visuals as to why they've been so successful over the last two months, mostly on the strength of Travis Lulay's arm and the sure hands of Geroy Simon and Arland Bruce III.
A pass to Bruce, his only catch of the game as things turned out proved to be the nail in the Riders coffin for the game and post season plans as the Lions receiver trotted 72 yards for a touchdown that propelled the Lions into the lead and on to victory.
Combined with Geroy Simon, the Lions offensive weapons in the aerial attack provide perhaps the best combination in recent CFL history, as the final weeks progress one imagines that Bruce will be getting more looks down field, if only to keep CFL defences honest, a move that can only add benefit to both Simon's stats and the prospect of adding to the running game numbers as well.
Defensively the Lions have been solid since about August, keeping the opposition numbers down while the offence found the time and the recipe for success, heading towards playoff time, the Lions have put it all together at exactly the right moment.
Vancouver Sun-- Lions overcome rough start to dispose of Riders
Vancouver Province-- Lions defeat Roughriders 29-18
Globe and Mail-- BC Lions kick aside Riders
National Post-- Roughriders eliminated from playoffs
Hamilton at Montreal
Inconsistency has been the hallmark of the Tiger Cats season thus far, every step forward seemingly followed by a couple of steps back. Such was the case on the weekend as the Cats with the possibility of closing some ground on the top two teams of the CFL East.
Yet by the time the final gun sounded at Percival Molson Stadium, the Alouettes once again claimed the two points on the strength of the 27 to 25 victory, while the Tiger Cats could at least claim a playoff spot (thanks more to the troubles of the Roughriders) for their efforts.
And while post season play is guaranteed now, the longevity of that play could be short lived unless the Tiger Cats begin to get their act together on the field.
Montreal on the other hand seems to be finally hitting its stride, mainly on the arm of Anthony Calvillo who has continued to make the fall of 2011 a memorable time for CFL fans.
The Also are dominant on both offence and defence, the few problems of the early part of the season now seemingly taken care of, the game plan from Marc Trestman seems quite in place with everyone on the same page.
The big test for the Als comes this weekend when they travel to Winnipeg, a victory there most likely puts them in the drivers seat down the final weeks of the season to yet another first place finish and a chance to host the CFL Eastern final.
The early part of the season is very much part of the past for the Alouettes, with football weather settling in and the season's weeks dwindling to a few, the Als are back where everyone expects them to be, battling for first place and looking to the playoffs.
Globe and Mail-- Alouettes clinch home playoff date with victory over Ticats
Canada.com-- Alouettes gamble nearly backfires
Hamilton Spectator-- Ticats make playoffs for third straight season
Toronto Sun-- Alouettes narrowly edge Tiger-Cats
Winnipeg at Edmonton
Swaggerville met the City of Champions on Saturday, both titles a little tattered of late, indicative of the hard path there is to keeping your momentum alive in any sport.
The Bombers arrived in Edmonton in a tooth and nail battle with the Alouettes for claim to first in the East, the Eskimos have surprised CFL followers this year by taking a rebuilding year and turning it into a potential first place drive, by the time the bodies stopped clashing and the injured were tended to the Esks would prevail with a hard earned 24 to 10 victory.
It was one of the most physical of CFL games this season so far, two teams that made some crushing tackles, attacked the offensive and defensive lines with relish and created havoc for quarterbacks on both sides of Commonwealth Stadium.
Still, for the most part it was all Eskimos, as the defence shut down Buck Pierce and his offensive squad, more than a few of the Bombers players seemingly taking the night off, perhaps with thoughts of how best to prepare for Montreal in the weekend to come.
Ricky Ray led the Eskimos to their second win in a row, taking his team to the top of the CFL West, now tied with the BC Lions who have been on a roll over the last two months. The Eskimo win, combined with the Stamps loss on Friday adds a bit of swagger (if they can borrow from the Bombers) to Northern Alberta, fans of the Eskimos will take great pleasure in the prospect of an Eskimo playoff home date, whether a semi final or Western final, anything as long as the cousins to the south have to come for a visit.
For Winnipeg, it's simply a case of putting what the Free Press described as a "stink bomb" behind them, writing the loss off to a lost opportunity, needing to quickly turning their attention to Montreal, which comes to town on the weekend with the sole purpose of securing first in the East for themselves, with room to spare.
Edmonton Sun-- Bomber's can't snap Commonwealth jinx
Edmonton Journal-- Eskimos defence comes up big
Globe and Mail-- Ricky Ray leads Eskimos past Bombers
Winnipeg Sun-- Good Bombers gone missing
Calgary at Toronto
By the time that Greg Wilson took to the field for Wendy's Kick to win at half time, he probably had an inkling that it wasn't going to be Calgary's day. While Wilson was making his mental preparations for the half time kick to win contest, his hometown Stampeders were stumbling around making the Toronto Argonauts look like potential Grey Cup champs.
In the end, Wilson at least walked away with a 31,000 dollar cheque from Wendy's and their fellow sponsors, the Stamps, well they ended up on the losing side of 31 to 29 score and dropped a valuable opportunity to keep pace with the Lions and Eskimos in the CFL West.
The defeat at the hands of the Argos, probably left more questions in the mind of John Hufnagel, who only a few weeks ago questioned his squads dedication to the craft and toughness in a blistering assessment post game.
The loss has once again stoke some emotion in Calgary, where the fans are finding that the road to the Grey Cup isn't going to be a smooth and traffic free ride, but rather one along a congested trail with many a problem to come along and set them back.
High among their concerns it seems is a bit of dissatisfaction with the performance of Henry Burris this year, Burris like the team he leads has been wildly inconsistent this year and while there are calls for Drew Tate to take his place, not everyone believes that is the root of the Stampeder problem.
Still perhaps as a final wake up call before it's too late, Hufnagel has announced that Tate will start against the Riders this weekend, not surprisingly Burris isn't happy about that decision, a situation that may work in Hufnagel's favour by making his starter more competitive when he gets back in the line up, or it could spell the end of the Stampeder season if it wraps up in an aura of finger pointing and frustration.
Regardless, it makes for an interesting sub plot to the final weeks of the season in Calgary.
As for Toronto, a win is a win, a building block a building block, though they still almost managed to snatch defeat from the jaws of victory in the late going, however, for Argo fans hoping for better days ahead, Friday's game was at least an indication that the current roster still wants to compete, both for jobs and for the remainder of the schedule.
Globe and Mail-- Argos put the boot to Stampeders
Calgary Sun-- Argos upset Stamps
Calgary Herald-- Burris only part of Stampeders' problems
Toronto Sun-- Boyd and Kackert lead Argos
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