Week 16 of the CFL season is in the books and we have an unfamiliar face at the bottom of the league standings.
3DownNation’s power rankings are created by having eleven contributors rank each team from No. 1 to No. 9 independently, then averaging out the scores. The previous week’s rankings are in brackets.
Enjoy the rankings and feel free to roast us on Twitter for anything you think we got wrong.
1) Toronto Argonauts (1)
With nothing left to play for and key starters already resting, most expected a letdown for Toronto this week. Instead, they swept the four-game season series against the rival Ticats in dominant fashion, thanks to a pair of touchdowns from Dejon Brissett and a couple of interceptions from Wynton McManis. If the Argos can’t even stop themselves, is there anyone who can?
2) B.C. Lions (2)
It wasn’t their finest game of the year, but at least the Lions had no need for a last-second comeback in their victory over the Elks. A fantastic defensive game plan from Ryan Phillips kept Tre Ford under wraps all game, whilst running back Taquan Mizzell finally woke up with 112 yards and two touchdowns. The only major concern is the return of Vernon Adams Jr.’s turnover bug, which has now bitten the team in back-to-back weeks.
3) Winnipeg Blue Bombers (3)
The Bombers slumbered through their bye week and have awoken to a dog fight in the race for top spot in the West Division. The B.C. Lions are now tied for first place at 10-4, with the next four weeks set to determine the first-round bye.
4) Montreal Alouettes (6)
There are only three certainties in life: death, taxes, and the Montreal Alouettes beating sub-.500 teams. That saying proved true once again in Calgary, as Jason Maas’ team snapped their recent losing skid by beating up on one of the league’s basement dwellers. Shawn Lemon and Marc-Antoine Dequoy did most of the heavy lifting defensively and Cody Fajardo managed things offensively to catapult the Larks back into second place in the East.
5) Hamilton Tiger-Cats (4)
Taylor Powell dropped a dud of a performance in Toronto, highlighted by a pair of bad interceptions that led to points. Still, it’s not as if the Argos being better than their QEW rivals was new information and the loss hasn’t taken away the playoff shine in Hamilton just yet. A loss to the Boatman has been the free space on everyone’s Bingo card this season, the Ticats just got four of them.
6) Edmonton Elks (5)
There may be no better illustration of the startling improvement of the Edmonton Elks in the second half of the season than them putting up 29 points against the team that shut them out twice earlier in the year, though it still wasn’t good enough to get a win. Tre Ford has been the engine for the turnaround, but victories won’t happen consistently in pro football if he continues to pack all his best plays into the fourth quarter.
7) Ottawa Redblacks (9)
After a seemingly endless parade of close defeats, the Redblacks finally put together a game they could be proud of from start to finish. The losing streak was shuttered at seven games, the playoffs are still technically a possibility, and Dustin Crum is back to looking like a promising young passer. If you live in Ottawa, that’s about as positive as things have looked in several years.
8) Saskatchewan Roughriders (7)
For a team under a tremendous amount of pressure in the playoff race, Saskatchewan sure didn’t play like it in Ottawa. Jake Dolegala finally struggled, they abandoned a productive run game with Frankie Hickson, and got soundly torched on the ground themselves. Having now endured three straight losses down the stretch, a sense of deja vu is beginning to haunt those in Regina.
9) Calgary Stampeders (8)
Oh, how the mighty have fallen. Once the class of the CFL, the Stampeders are now bringing up the back of the pack after another inept performance against Montreal. Some hard questions will need to be asked in Calgary going forward; namely, is Jake Maier the right man for the job?
