TORONTO — Week 15 and its three games turned out to provide a perfect palate of the unpredictable.
CFL.ca’s writers and people playing CFL Pick ‘Em all saw a clear path in last week’s picks and then each game kicked off, zagging where we collectively zigged.
The Toronto Argonauts and Hamilton Tiger-Cats each scored upsets in their games and then the rarest of outcomes found us all in the Montreal Alouettes-Calgary Stampeders game, with a 19-19 tie.
That marks the second time that we’ve had a tie this season. It’s the first time the CFL has seen two ties since 2007.
For clarity’s sake, we give the writers each a win when we have a tie, unless one of the writers went out on a limb and called the draw. That’s something we haven’t seen happen yet.
With parity sprawling itself out across the league, treating it like its own futon, pick making has been especially difficult this year. Let’s take a look at this week’s games and see where our writers landed.
Don’t forget to head over to the CFL’s Game Zone to make your picks with CFL Pick ‘Em presented by Old Dutch
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HAM at TOR
We open Week 16 with an important game featuring two classic rivals. While the Argos (7-6) have the better record, the Ticats (4-9) have already taken the season series, thanks to wins over the Double Blue in Week 7 and on OK Tire Labour Day Weekend. The Argos are coming off of an impressive win over BC in Vancouver, where their defence shut down Nathan Rourke and Vernon Adams Jr. The Ticats, meanwhile, are playing their best football of the season. Their defence has been sparked with the arrival of Chris Jones as senior defensive assistant and the offence is a balanced, dangerous attack with Greg Bell asserting himself at tailback. The Argos are 6.5-point favourites, but our writers are split down the middle on this one.
PICK
Writers: 50-50 split
SSK at CGY
Given each team’s troubles of late, you can call Friday night’s game in Calgary the Desperation Bowl. The Riders are on a seven-game winless stretch and the Stamps’ dry spell stretches five games, thanks to that 19-19 tie with the Als last week. While the Stamps have fared well at McMahon Stadium this year (4-2-1), the writers lean toward the Riders, who come into Calgary off of a bye week. With the Elks surging and threatening to clog up the West Division race, the Riders need to hold onto their third-place spot in the standings. As bad as things have gone for the Stamps of late, they’re just two points back of the Riders for that final playoff spot.
PICK
Writers: 66% Saskatchewan
MTL at OTT
Just a two-hour train ride apart from one another, the Alouettes-REDBLACKS rivalry has never really flared up the way you’d hope it would. That could be in position to change this year, as the first-place Als and second-place REDBLACKS are strong potential playoff opponents. Saturday will be the second of three regular season clashes for them this year, with their season series wrapping up on the holiday Monday of Thanksgiving Weekend presented by Purolator. The Als are playing to secure a home playoff date, while the REDBLACKS are looking for a win to make their playoff return official, ending a drought that stretches back to 2018. For the most part, the writers see the Als getting back on track and carrying out the difficult task of handing the REDBLACKS their first loss at TD Place this season.
PICK
Writers: 83% Montreal
WPG at EDM
We close out the week with what appropriately feels like a main event-type game. The Bombers and Elks are No. 1 and 2 in our CFL.ca Power Rankings presented by AMSOIL this week and give us a difficult game to predict. It’s rare to see two teams meeting as they come out of a bye week. The Elks’ 5-8 record shouldn’t fool anyone at this point, as they’ve won five of their last six, while the Bombers have won five in a row to climb into first in the West. This is the first of back-to-back meetings for these teams, which will pit Edmonton QB Tre Ford against his brother, Tyrell, the Bombers’ cornerback who is tied for the league-lead in interceptions, with six. This promises to be a great matchup and the writers like the Elks at home.
PICK
Writers: 83% Edmonton