After Week 15
Bye Saskatchewan

Tim Baines - Ottawa Sun
#Redblacks coach Rick Campbell: "It's a bit of a stretch to say SirVincent Rogers is coming back this season." Surgery on ankle today. #CFL

?‍? Was the best decision in the Wpg. - Calgary game, the decision to rest Paredes on kickoffs, when he was slightly injured, so that he had enough phoomph in his last second Field Goal attempt?

CFL.ca
Edmonton centre Justin Sorensen is having an all-star calibre season and he made it even better on Saturday. A victory over the Lions was immediately followed by him proposing to his girlfriend, Madyson, on the field. There’s video of it on the Esks’ website and it shows Sorensen – as you’d expect – being assignment sound, executing beautifully.

CFL Headlines
Defensive lineman expected to re-join Edmonton Eskimos after being released by Washington Redskins bit.ly/2dx6EwU #CFL Willie Jefferson
?‍? That was written in the Edmonton Journal
Oops..

-The Riders chances of making the playoffs went from zero to 0.1 percent 

Eric M_cfl
Bruce Johnson allowed three catches for 47 yards vs. CGY.
Heading into the game, he had allowed just 67 yards combined in previous 5 games.

cfl.ca Staff
According to CFL Simulation, 
With the divisional crossover taken into account, the Edmonton Eskimos chances of appearing in the Grey Cup are at 11.63%.
-An all-West Division matchup in November is the third most likely scenario at 8.78%, behind the second most likely of Ottawa versus Calgary at 33.40%.

PROBABILITIES OF APPEARING IN THE 104TH GREY CUP
Team    Projection
Calgary Stampeders    83.25%
Hamilton Tiger-Cats    46.27%
Ottawa REDBLACKS    39.79%
Winnipeg Blue Bombers    13.34%
Edmonton Eskimos    11.63%
BC Lions    4.06%
Montreal Alouettes    0.82%
Toronto Argonauts    0.79%
Saskatchewan Roughriders    0.05%
 

PROBABILITIES OF WINNING THE 104TH GREY CUP
Team    Projection
Calgary Stampeders    73.58%
Winnipeg Blue Bombers    10.57%
Hamilton Tiger-Cats    6.43%
Ottawa REDBLACKS    4.59%
BC Lions    2.65%
Edmonton Eskimos    2.05%
Montreal Alouettes    0.08%
Toronto Argonauts    0.05%
Saskatchewan Roughriders    Less than 1 in 10,000
 

MOST LIKELY 104TH GREY CUP MATCHUPS
Team    Projection
Hamilton-Calgary    38.32%
Ottawa-Calgary    33.40%
Edmonton-Calgary    8.78%
Ottawa-Winnipeg    6.39%
Hamilton-Winnipeg    6.05%

The model considers the following:
•             Each team’s current win-loss record.
•             Opponents already played (including whether it was a home or away game).
•             Margin of victory (or loss) in games previously played in the season.
•             Remaining opponents to be played (including whether those games are home or away).
•             Most recent results (a recent win is weighted more heavily than a win back in Week 1, for example)

The model calculates each team’s probability of victory in each remaining game. It then simulates 10,000 replications of the remaining regular season schedule.  The first place team in each division is the one with the most regular season wins.  For each replication, the model keeps track of which team finished first.

For instance, if Winnipeg finished first in the Western Division in 1,990 of the 10,000 replications, then its first place probability is 1,990 / 10,000 = 19.90%.

The model is updated weekly based on the results of games played that week.

CFL News
Austin on explanation given to him about @Filer64 procedure penalty, "I'd rather not comment for the league.. It happened." #Ticats #CFL

Ha, ha
CFL History
#CFL GMs have noted that they are receiving a lot more inquires about free agent camps from US based players since last night's Presidential debate

Gary Lawless
Coaches, players can't have contact with referees. Maybe it was accidental. But when u swing arm in direction of ref - there r consequences

Darrin Bauming
Mike O'Shea has said the #Bombers roster is not set up to employ a dual-tailback set. 

?‍? Well said
If you walk up to an official in anger and have your actions result in contact, there should be a suspension. - @garylawless #CFL

CFL News
Six internationals added to #CalStampeders practice roster calgaryherald.com/sports/footbal… #CFL
?‍? I say if Calgary is interested in these guys and others...let's keep our eyes open if they are dropped..

Chris Walby
@Wpg_Bombers Westerman is a class act a great man. Love how he plays and his emotion and respect for his fellow players regardless of team.
?‍? Whoa...that goes against everything BL Mitchell said..

Duron Carter
PSA 4 CFL: you fine and suspend players at will but when a coach continues to show "malicious intent"??? prolly wait and hope it blows over
?‍? Well, not exactly exaggocarter...not exactly.

Justin Dunk
#Alouettes inquired with #Riders about availability of Darian Durant 3downnation.com/2016/09/28/alo… #CFL

CFL News
Chapdelaine likes Vernon Adams  but he “isn’t a big fan of [Rakeem] Cato”, according to one source. - @JDunk12 #CFL #AlsMTL

Bob Young @CaretakerBob
@garylawless "Intent is irrelevant"?  So penalty should be the same if you intentionally cause harm than if it happens accidentally?
-@decorbs @WayneReeve @CFL_News @garylawless Determining severity of punishment requires judging intent.

CFL Communications
.@WestonDressler7 has moved up to #30 all-time in receiving at 8,487 yards. He has 25 catches in his last 4 games. #CFL

John Kling @KingKong70
Awesome first day as a #bluebomber excited to be part of such a great organization!

CFL News 
O’Shea did say he was hoping veteran O-lineman Jeff Keeping, who has been out all season, will still be able to see game action before the season is done.

Kirk Penton
BY THE NUMBERS
24,974 – Average CFL attendance this season, the second smallest mark since 2002
3 – One hundred yard games for Chris Williams in first three contests
1 – One hundred yard games for Chris Williams in last nine contests
0-3 – Jonathon Jennings’ starting record against the Eskimos

CIS Update. - 
Regina Rams upset #2 Calgary Dinos.
Manitoba Bisons beat the Saskatchewan Huskies
-Noah Picton completed 23 out of 35 passes for 452 yards for Regina.
Picton is tied for most touchdowns in the CIS with 14 and leads the nation in passing yards per a game with 428.5 yards.
-Mitchell Picton caught 13 catches for 215 yards and three touchdowns for Regina.
-Bison starting pivot Theo Deezar threw for 447 passing-yards, completing 28 of his 42 attempts with three touchdowns. 
-Michael O’Connor completed 27 out of his 36 passes for 413 yards and five touchdowns in the UBC Thunderbirds 62-0 romp over Alberta Golden Bears

Daniel Austin - Calgary Herald
"Me and my girlfriend were sitting there talking and she said ‘Flip a coin. Heads it’s Calgary, tails Ottawa’ and it fell on heads so it was Calgary.”
?‍? That's how Cordarro Law ended up in Calgary.

CFL.caStaff
Lucky number 18: BC Lions quarterback Jonathan Jennings completed his 18th career start last week against the Edmonton Eskimos. 18 career starts is equivalent to a full season in the CFL. During that time, Jennings has compiled a record of 11-7, 371 for 563 (65.8%) on pass attempts, 5,060 yards, 30 touchdown passes, 14 interceptions and a passer rating of 101.7.

This season, Jennings is third in the league in passing yards with 3,308 and fourth in touchdown passes with 15. He is completing 64.7% of his passes. Jennings is on pace for just under 5,000 passing yards for the 2016 season. In BC Lions history, only Doug Flutie, Dave Dickenson and Casey Printers have reached the 5,000 yardmark.

-In the last 15 games, the league-wide attendance has averaged 27,256, up almost 13% compared to the first 42 games of 2016.
-Rene Paredes, Justin Medlock and Chris Milo are on pace to record 200+ points.

-All three of Saskatchewan’s wins this season have been by 3 points or fewer (margins of 1, 3, and 2 points).
-There is a four-way tie for sacks leader in the CFL: John Chick, Charleston Hughes, Shawn Lemon and Alex Bazzie each have 10 sacks to their name.
-In the crossover era (1996-present) the poorest record to make the playoffs was 7-10-1 in 2000 (Winnipeg). Eight teams have crossed over since 1996. All crossovers have been made by West Division clubs.

Rod Pedersen
The rumour I'm getting out of Montreal is that Anthony Calvillo will be the Als' head coach next season even if he's not entirely ready.  There apparently are two reasons for this: 1) Calvillo's the popular choice as a fan favourite in Montreal and 2) Defensive Coordinator Noel Thorpe would've been in line for the job but he fell out of favour after trying to bolt for Edmonton in the off-season.

The gruellingtruth.net
The last time an East team beat a West side was on August 20, when Hamilton blew out Saskatchewan, 53-7. Since then, it’s West 9 games, East 0.

Derek Taylor
Late charting the Eskimos game, watching Mike Reilly throw one 67 yards downfield. Deepest I've charted in two years #damn

CFL News 
“Coach Austin told me that it was unintentional, it was accidental, and I did not find any evidence to the contrary,” Orridge said. “And the official also, when we interviewed the official, did not indicate that he recognized any intent.”

Brian Chrupalo, who serves as the Canadian Professional Football Officials’ Association president, agrees with that and is happy with the punishment.

CFL History
In the 1935 Grey Cup, the Winnipeg 'Pegs defeated the Hamilton 'We Spent More Than 10 seconds on Our Nickname' Tigers 18-12 #CFL
-(Winnipeg did not gain the title Blue Bombers till 1936 when they were referred to as Blue Bombers on a N Dakota radio broadcast) #CFL

Josh Smith - 3downnation
-the Ticats for the second straight game ran the ball just seven times and their backup quarterback was the team’s leading rusher in yards and carries. 
-Both Cassius Vaughn and the newly acquired Johnny Adams looked complete lost, especially when either was tasked with covering DaVaris Daniels. 
-"Bo Levi Mitchell had all day to operate behind his stout o-line"
- Zachary Collaros was knocked from Saturday’s game with an upper-body injury and his status going forward is uncertain.
Next up: back-to-back games against Ottawa that will determine the first place position. That comes after Hamilton has the bye.

Drew Edwards
ICYMI: #Ticats QB Zach Collaros left Saturday's game against #Stampeders with a head injury, per sources. #CFL 
-A source close the club termed it a "mild concussion" - m.thespec.com
Of further concern is Collaros' history: he missed five games in 2014 with a head and back injury after getting crushed by Edmonton's Odell Willis. There is, in other words, no way of knowing just badly Collaros is hurt or how much time he might miss – if any.

Kirk Penton
#Argos and #Alouettes both play #Stampeders twice. #Bombers won't even have to win another game to get in.

?‍? How could Chris Williams be so wide open in his TD against BC? And LaPo, were you and McDuffie watching?

?‍?BC vs Ottawa - 998 total yards in offence...and these are the teams the Bombers face next..

?‍?Adarius Bowman has 21 catches for 325 yards against the Bombers..

?‍?Chris Randle said. “We had a game plan" .....oh?

The Bombers lost the turnover battle for the first time since July, turning it over twice and only taking it away once. -Penton

Kirk Penton
Moe Leggett, pass interference – Those who saw this play again felt Mike O'Shea should have challenged its validity, but when viewed at regular speed Leggett clearly caught up to and bumped Nate Coehoorn before the ball arrived. It set up White's second touchdown of the first half and gave the Esks at 24-10 lead at the break.

?‍?No secret
Eric M
The #Bombers struggling mightily to get pressure on Mike Reilly in Friday's showdown, and he made them pay. #CFL
Reilly had an average of 2.56 seconds in the pocket, from snap to release, during game. #CFL #Bombers #Eskimos

CFL News
“It’s little things. It’s being late, it’s showing up not prepared, it’s screwing around." - Milanovich #CFL #Argos via @olearychris

-While the East is a joke, the Argos have regressed to the ranks of the incompetent - Zicarelli #CFL #Argos
-What’s looking more and more likely is for a crossover & real possibility of all-Western Grey Cup to be played in Toronto - Zicarelli #CFL
-“I thought he did pretty well for the most part," said Milanovich of Willy. - Zicarelli #CFL #Argos

Justin Dunk
The 2017 National Canadian Football League Combine will be held in Regina, per sources.

CFL News
You don't think that the best facility in #CFL will be a major attraction to free agents & prospects? Think again. - @rodpedersen #Riders
-I'm told it was a mutual parting-of-ways (between #Riders & Kendial Lawrence) - @rodpedersen #CFL

#CFL #Bombers announce DL Herb Gray will be going on the IGF Ring Of Honour at halftime on Saturday.

Rod Pedersen reports: Former Rider Stu Foord was in his hometown of Regina last week - visiting from Kelowna - and reported that the Seattle Seahawks routinely offer a fanbus from Kelowna for home games.  That's a 10-hour roundtrip drive, not including the game, and it habitually sells out.  That's a punch-to-the-gut for the B.C. Lions who are struggling at the gate this season.
?‍? OK - I haven't  heard of this here in Kelowna. KBF, Tacklewasher, can you confirm this?

Next Bye Week 16
Hamilton

 

 

Edited October 7, 20169 yr by Mr Dee

Thanks again, Dee. 

Best gem for me was:  Chris Randle said. “We had a game plan" .....oh?

Nice job, Dee. Rod Pederson can go **** himself.

9 hours ago, Mr Dee said:

 

Rod Pedersen reports: Former Rider Stu Foord was in his hometown of Regina last week - visiting from Kelowna - and reported that the Seattle Seahawks routinely offer a fanbus from Kelowna for home games.  That's a 10-hour roundtrip drive, not including the game, and it habitually sells out.  That's a punch-to-the-gut for the B.C. Lions who are struggling at the gate this season.
?‍? OK - I haven't  heard of this here in Kelowna. KBF, Tacklewasher, can you confirm this?

Next Bye Week 16
Hamilton

 

 

No idea what he's talking about.  Never heard of a fanbus to Seattle.  Google yields nothing.  I can't even confirm that Stu Foord lives in Kelowna.  It would be cool if there was a fanbus to Lions games.  That might be worth doing.

2 hours ago, kelownabomberfan said:

No idea what he's talking about.  Never heard of a fanbus to Seattle.  Google yields nothing.  I can't even confirm that Stu Foord lives in Kelowna.  It would be cool if there was a fanbus to Lions games.  That might be worth doing.

It's ******* Pederson. There should be a moratorium on having to read his stories.

5 hours ago, iso_55 said:

It's ******* Pederson. There should be a moratorium on having to read his stories.

But he keeps getting space in this forum.

He's full of ****.

Anthony Calvillo will be HC of the Allouette's next year?  His play calling hasn't exactly been stellar.  This just shows what kind of a **** show they're running in Montreal.

It's intriguing that the Bombers have only lost the turnover count once since July. Most posters here figured the July pace was unsustainable, and the stat has meaning.

 

thanks for the work mr. Dee. 

Those Bruce Johnson numbers are surprising. Guess he hasn't struggled as much as some, including myself, have thought 

14 hours ago, tracker said:

But he keeps getting space in this forum.

Dee, quit quoting Pederson.

CFL.ca Staff
who belongs where heading into Week 16:

BO LEVI MITCHELL CGY
THIS WEEK: 1 | LAST WEEK: 1

Against an aggressive defence in a tough place to play, Bo Levi Mitchell made facing the Ticats look easy, guiding his team to a 36-17 win in the Hammer. Leading the league in touchdown passes (26) and ranking second in passing yards (4,590) to go with a career .851 winning percentage (40-7-1), the Katy, Texas native is on track to add ‘Most Outstanding Player’ to his list of achievements.

MIKE REILLY EDM
THIS WEEK: 2 | LAST WEEK: 2

Mike Reilly pumped his fists hard after connecting with Derel Walker on an out route and watching him sprint for a 61-yard game-clinching touchdown, and for good reason — it led the Esks to their second straight victory against a West Division team ahead of them in the standings. Edmonton is a key player in the West again and Reilly is a critical part of that.

JONATHON JENNINGS BC
THIS WEEK: 3 | LAST WEEK: 3

It’s hard to imagine that Jonathon Jennings’ 348-yard, three-touchdown outing against Ottawa over the weekend was only his second best statistical performance of the season. The 24-year-old sophomore continues to thrive and has the Lions in a position to clinch a playoff spot for the 20th consecutive season — this time well ahead of schedule.

MATT NICHOLS WPG
THIS WEEK: 4 | LAST WEEK: 4

Matt Nichols was inconsistent for the second straight game, but still gave the Bombers a chance in a high-scoring affair against the Eskimos. Trailing 29-13 heading into the fourth, Nichols led Winnipeg to within six points, but in the end it was too little too late. A seven-game winning streak feels like ancient history as Nichols and the Bombers are in a dog fight in the West right now.

TREVOR HARRIS OTT
THIS WEEK: 5 | LAST WEEK: 6

Trevor Harris put on a clinic against the BC Lions in Vancouver, throwing for a career-high 485 yards — although it wasn’t enough to avoid Ottawa’s sixth loss in nine games. Harris’ quarterback rating of 119.5 continues to lead the league while his 74.7 completion percentage is second only to Ricky Ray. There’s a good chance he’ll be quarterbacking the REDBLACKS in the Grey Cup this year.

ZACH COLLAROS HAM
THIS WEEK: 6 | LAST WEEK: 5

After Zach Collaros left the game with what the team described as an upper body injury, the Ticats fell to 3-5 on the season with their starting quarterback under centre. The 28-year-old has thrown at least one interception in five straight games, including six interceptions against just three touchdowns in his last four starts — three of which were losses.

DARIAN DURANT SSK
THIS WEEK: 7 | LAST WEEK: 7

Just as Darian Durant was playing some of his best football and the Riders had won two games in a row, the bye week arrived for Chris Jones and the Green and White. The Riders will hope the week off doesn’t disrupt any of their momentum as they cling to their playoff hopes in Week 16.

RAKEEM CATO MTL
THIS WEEK: 8 | LAST WEEK: 8

Vernon Adams Jr. will have to wait. Rakeem Cato sliced and diced the Argos’ defence last weekend to the tune of a 78 per cent efficiency rating and four touchdown passes with no interceptions. Cato has completed 74.5 per cent of his passes this season and thrown six touchdown passes against one interception, and looked like a changed man altogether under Jacques Chapdelaine. A repeat performance will see him rise.

DREW WILLY TOR
THIS WEEK: 9 | LAST WEEK: 9

The Argos’ newly-added pivot didn’t get much help in his first start in double blue, but the numbers certainly don’t flatter Drew Willy. The 29-year-old threw for 226 yards on 24-of-35 passing (a meager 6.5 yards per attempt) in his team’s 38-11 loss to Montreal. He’ll get a chance to silence his critics in his first home game as the Stampeders pay a visit to BMO on Thanksgiving.

HENRY BURRIS OTT
THIS WEEK: 10 | LAST WEEK: 11

Any thought that a quarterback change might be coming in Ottawa was put to rest with Trevor Harris’ monstrous Week 15 performance. Still, last year’s Most Outstanding Player winner in Henry Burris provides plenty of value to a REDBLACKS team that leads the East Division and could play for another Grey Cup this season.

DAN LEFEVOUR TOR
THIS WEEK: 11 | LAST WEEK: 10

http://www.cfl.ca/2016/10/03/quarterback-index-harris-spot-despite-hard-luck-loss/

 

 

I'm not sure how they came up with these rankings. How is Nichols, who has been inconsistent for 3 weeks, ahead of Harris who threw for 485 yards with a 75% completion rate last week?

On 2016-10-03 at 1:54 PM, Mr Dee said:

Eric M_cfl
Bruce Johnson allowed three catches for 47 yards vs. CGY.
Heading into the game, he had allowed just 67 yards combined in previous 5 games.

Very interesting.

 

13 minutes ago, TBURGESS said:

I'm not sure how they came up with these rankings. How is Nichols, who has been inconsistent for 3 weeks, ahead of Harris who threw for 485 yards with a 75% completion rate last week?

Harris is moving up in the rankings and will have his chance to overtake Nichols with good performances here on in.

But there are some who consider that Nichols played one of his better games last week in a losing effort.

From the site: The CFL.ca Quarterback Index is a weekly power ranking of quarterbacks across the CFL. The ranking reflects recent performance, historical value, statistical indicators, team success and overall on-field play.

17 minutes ago, TBURGESS said:

I'm not sure how they came up with these rankings. How is Nichols, who has been inconsistent for 3 weeks, ahead of Harris who threw for 485 yards with a 75% completion rate last week?

You mean how the defense has been inconsistent for 3 weeks? Matt Nichols is doing his part. 65% passing over the past three games with 5 TD's and only 2 INT. The offense has averaged 35.3 points over the last three games which should be enough to win ANY football game if the defense is doing their part. Instead we've had Dan Lefevour torch us, and Mitchell and Reilly have their way with our secondary. But sure lets take shots at our QB.

I'm not taking shots at our QB.

QB rating has nothing to do with the way the defense played. 

Nichols played 2 really bad first half's followed by really good second half's. That's what I'm referring to as inconsistency.

Harris over the last 3 games: 68% passing, 4 TD's, 2 Int's, Passing Yards 1048 (Nichols: 849).

Both Ottawa and Winnipeg won 1 of the last 3 games, so the teams recent performances are about the same. Historically, Harris has been way better than Nichols. Our 1.5 more wins, have more to do with turnovers than QB play.

3 hours ago, TBURGESS said:

I'm not sure how they came up with these rankings. How is Nichols, who has been inconsistent for 3 weeks his entire career, ahead of Harris who threw for 485 yards with a 75% completion rate last week?

Inconsistency might be Nichols' defining characteristic.

It would be nice for the Bombers if the best of Nichols showed up for more than a quarter per game.

On 10/4/2016 at 2:12 AM, iso_55 said:

It's ******* Pederson. There should be a moratorium on having to read his stories.

spent a lot of time there too, never heard of it either. At this rate the rest of the league should kick in and form a fund to pay pederson to never ever publish any thing ever again. 

3 hours ago, Arnold_Palmer said:

You mean how the defense has been inconsistent for 3 weeks? Matt Nichols is doing his part. 65% passing over the past three games with 5 TD's and only 2 INT. The offense has averaged 35.3 points over the last three games which should be enough to win ANY football game if the defense is doing their part. Instead we've had Dan Lefevour torch us, and Mitchell and Reilly have their way with our secondary. But sure lets take shots at our QB.

D has been consistent, it just hasnt been very good. How many picks called back by penalties and how many db drops in that time? Nichols if any thing is consistent. Low production first half, good 2nd half, at his best late in the game. Gets breaks, but makes the most of his breaks.  

Our team has averaged 35.3 points, not our offense. 50+ yard fgs, and drives starting in side fg range ending in fgs is not our offense scoring. Its special teams/turn overs. 

3 hours ago, wbbfan said:

spent a lot of time there too, never heard of it either. At this rate the rest of the league should kick in and form a fund to pay pederson to never ever publish any thing ever again. 

D has been consistent, it just hasnt been very good. How many picks called back by penalties and how many db drops in that time? Nichols if any thing is consistent. Low production first half, good 2nd half, at his best late in the game. Gets breaks, but makes the most of his breaks.  

Our team has averaged 35.3 points, not our offense. 50+ yard fgs, and drives starting in side fg range ending in fgs is not our offense scoring. Its special teams/turn overs. 

So does the CFL just count points generated by the offence or all points?  Pretty sure it's the latter.  As was said, if we generated 35+ points, that should be enough to win, providing that the D holds. 

19 hours ago, mbrg said:

Inconsistency might be Nichols' defining characteristic.

It would be nice for the Bombers if the best of Nichols showed up for more than a quarter per game.

consistently inconsistent...?

For your perusal...in case you missed it.

THE INSIDERS SAY   (Kirk Penton)
CFL coaches and managers give their anonymous thoughts on what they’re talking about behind closed doors:

(Mike) Reilly might get 6,000 (passing) yards and still not be the MOP nominee in our division ...

I wish we had gotten our games with the Riders early in the season. They're going to be tough to beat now ... 

The release of all those Argos receivers isn't totally surprising. Let's just say the streets are tempting. Big city. Big lights. Self control needed. Otherwise football will suffer ... 

I'm biased when it comes to defence because I played on that side of the ball, but did you see Calgary's defence kick the (bleep) out of (Kent) Austin's offence? ... 

Want to beat the Stamps? You have to get them off their game by controlling the ball, winning the field position battle and getting (Bo Levi) Mitchell off his spot. Not sure George Hopkins has had to wash 19's jersey yet this season ... 

The MOP is Bo Levi Mitchell. Enough said ... 

The Eskimos are having success because they're running the football now. (Mike) Reilly and Co. can pass the ball with the best of them. Their defensive line is so tough to block for four quarters. They make an average secondary better ... 

How did Toronto end up where it is? First, you need to settle on one quarterback. If it's (Drew) Willy then trade (Ricky) Ray, or the room will always be divided. Next, if you're going to pay a mostly Canadian offensive line that much, they have to produce better. Also, top paid guys on defence can't be part time play makers. So many teams play a variation of coach (Rich) Stubler's style of D that without big plays it becomes easier to attack than years ago ... 

The Bombers are a team that feeds off turnovers and big specials teams plays. They are playing extremely fast, but the offensive personnel isn't dominant yet. They were/are playing above their skill set. Coming back to the median now. They're definitely a playoff team in 2016, but it will be interesting to see if they can regain that momentum ... 

Edmonton has a shot to pull it off and get back to the Grey Cup ... 

The most outstanding special teams player right now? (Chris) Rainey is probably the most dangerous guy out there. For whatever reason (Brandon) Banks has slowed down in the punt return game. They've had challenges special teams-wise. But what about (Sean) Whyte? He's had an outstanding year. I'd have to put him right up there. There have been return touchdowns, but it hasn't been very explosive this year ... 

So now it's OK to contact an official, intended or not. Just go coach from the booth. That's (bleep) ... 

The Argos need to find out who wanted Drew Willy and authorized giving up two high draft picks for him. Trump has a better chance of winning the Mexican vote than they do of winning that trade ... 

I've coached in a lot of games in an empty dome in Toronto, but I like their new stadium. That place should work with a winning team, but the Argos are a (bleep) sandwich and nobody call sell that. (Jim) Barker and (Scott) Milanovich shouldn't be sleeping good at night. It's almost firing season ... 

The Argos cuts were a little surprising. They plan on playing two first year Canadians in those spots. For a team that's still in a playoff hunt, that's extremely surprising. They even said it's going to take them a while to get used to it. You'd think with hosting a Grey Cup they'd want to keep trying ... 

The Tiger-Cats are no more banged up than some other teams, just at different spots. But with their Canadian content and quarterback they haven't played as well as people expected ...

Darian Durant should and will stay in Regina. I think they have the deal done already. Everything I've heard is he wants to be there and they're going to do it. It's hard for them to move on without him. He's played well. If they go in with an unknown guy like (James) Franklin, it's a pretty big risk.

BY THE NUMBERS
221 – Man games lost for the Roughriders going into Week 15, the most in the CFL
70 – Man games lost for the Lions going into Week 15, the fewest in the CFL
18 – Players who are on pace to be 1,000-yard receivers this season
3 – Players who were 1,000-yard receivers in 2014

You know one thing that isn't discussed when it comes to Nichols is how little playing time as a starter he has had.Due to injuries and then being behind Reilly. If he is inconsistent I think given time and experience he is only going to get better in this area. At least let's give him a full year as a starter.?