• Is Cody Fajardo the CFL's Most Outstanding Player? He’s made 14 big-time throws and just six turnover-worthy plays in seven games.
• Ottawa’s Lorenzo Mauldin IV on pace for a career year: Mauldin’s 54 total pressures this season are just 11 fewer than he had all of last season. He’s on pace to set a career-high in pass rush win rate t 13.9%.
• Unlock your edge with a PFF+ subscription: Get full access to all of our in-season fantasy tools, including weekly rankings, WR/CB matchup charts, weekly projections, the Start-Sit Optimizer and more. Sign up now!
Estimated reading time: 9 minutes
BRITISH COLUMBIA LIONS VS. MONTREAL ALOUETTES
The B.C. Lions finally got back on track last week with a blowout win over the Ottawa Redblacks. Despite five straight losses before that, the Lions find themselves tied for the lead in the West Division, and a win here would be huge for their chances. QB Nathan Rourke (58.1 season grade) is starting to look more like his old self, and they’ll also have QB Vernon Adams Jr. (92.4) available as he’s recovered from his injury. Winning won’t be easy though. The Montreal Alouettes have won 18 of their last 19 games, the best stretch in the CFL since 1961. They are getting elite play from their defense, led by star CB Kabion Ento. The defensive back ranks second in the league with an 86.5 overall grade. Montreal is the best all-around team in football, and it’s going to be a challenge for any team to beat them this season.
MATCHUP TO WATCH: WR CHARLESTON RAMBO, MONTREAL VS. CB GARRY PETERS, BRITISH COLUMBIA
Montreal has dealt with a rash of injuries at the receiver position this season. The Alouettes have lost Tyler Snead, Tyson Philpot, Kaion Julien-Grant and now the recently signed Austin Mack. Their one constant has been rookie Charleston Rambo. He grades out as a top-15 receiver in football and ranks third with 11 contested catches. No receiver has seen more press coverage than Rambo, and that’s unlikely to change this week. Peters is one of the CFL's most physical corners and also one of the best. His 80.8 coverage grade ranks fifth in the league, and he’s allowed just nine first downs while forcing 11 incompletions. With Montreal’s constant injuries, if Peters can shut Rambo down, then it could be just what the Lions need to come out on top.
PLAYER TO WATCH: QB CODY FAJARDO, MONTREAL
Despite missing a third of the season to injury, Fajardo is the odds-on favorite to win this year’s Most Outstanding Player award. While that’s more a reflection of what’s been going on in the league this year, Fajardo has still been fantastic. He’s made 14 big-time throws and just six turnover-worthy plays in seven games. He’s been a near-lock to go over 300 yards passing every game despite a revolving door of receivers. Plus he’s been an effective rusher whenever he’s decided to leave the pocket, picking up 15 first downs this year and ranking third among quarterbacks with seven explosive runs. A big Fajardo game here could help lock him into his first-ever Most Outstanding Player award.
TORONTO ARGONAUTS VS. OTTAWA REDBLACKS
rThe Redblacks gave the Argonauts a chance to pull within a game of them last week, as they lost handily to the B.C. Lions. However, Toronto followed that up with a loss to the lowly Hamilton Tiger-Cats. The result of this game could massively shape the remainder of the season for these two teams. A Toronto win and the Argonauts are just a half-game back of Ottawa for second place in the East. Nonetheless, an Ottawa win moves the Redblacks 2.5 games ahead with just six remaining. Toronto will need a big game from QB Chad Kelly. He’s been good, not great since his return, putting up an 81.3 overall grade. For Ottawa, QB Dru Brown followed up his best game of the season in Week 12 with his worst game in Week 13. He didn’t have a single big-time throw and four turnover-worthy plays. He’ll need to step up if Ottawa wants to take a commanding lead over the Argos.
MATCHUP TO WATCH: RT DEJON ALLEN, TORONTO VS. EDGE LORENZO MAULDIN IV, OTTAWA
Once again, the best pass blocker in the CFL is named Dejon Allen. On the season, he’s allowed just two sacks and 11 total pressures. That’s despite facing some of the toughest opponents without any help blocks week after week. That’s exactly what will happen again this week as he’ll go up against the league leader in pressure. Mauldin’s 54 total pressures this season are just 11 fewer than he had all of last season. He’s on pace to set a career-high in pass rush win rate at 13.9%. These two battling in the passing game will be a sight to behold. One area to watch for as well is the run game. Mauldin’s 82.5 run-defense grade is one of the highest in the CFL, while Allen’s 63.2 run-defense grade ranks ninth among tackles.
PLAYER TO WATCH: WR DAMONTE COXIE, TORONTO
It wasn’t the best start to the season for Coxie, through very little fault of his own. Toronto simply didn’t have the skill at quarterback to get him the ball consistently. That’s changed with Kelly back at QB though, and Coxie is reaping the rewards. His 11 catches for 179 yards in the past two games both rank second in the CFL. His 2.28 yards per route run average ranks in the top ten. That’s a marked difference from the 1.18-yard average he had over the first half of the season. Simply put, when Coxie is playing with Chad Kelly, he’s one of the best receivers in the CFL.
SASKATCHEWAN ROUGHRIDERS VS. WINNIPEG BLUE BOMBERS
After a huge win by Winnipeg over Saskatchewan last week, the Blue Bombers will get the chance to do it all over again this week. The Blue Bombers almost shockingly find themselves at the top of the West Division after a horrendous start to the season. Saskatchewan was on top for almost the entire first half of the year, but the Roughriders have fallen off in a big way in recent weeks. Another win for Winnipeg could be the death blow to Saskatchewan’s dreams of winning the division. The Bombers will seemingly have QB Zach Collaros this week after he left last week’s game with an injury. However, he has not been good this season, and he’ll need to be if Winnipeg wants to come away with another win. Across from him, Saskatchewan QB Trevor Harris has been having a solid season but will need to clean up some of his turnover-worthy plays (nine in six games) if he wants to lead his team to victory.
MATCHUP TO WATCH: WR ONTARIA WILSON, WINNIPEG VS. CB DEONTAI WILLIAMS, SASKATCHEWAN
Winnipeg has been another team that has seen their receiver room decimated throughout the season. As such, the Blue Bombers have had to rely on a rookie receiver to carry the load and he has done exactly that. Wilson’s 73.3 receiving grade ranks seventh among all CFL receivers. He has the fourth-highest yards per route run average at 2.07. He caught just three passes last week but gained 75 yards. He’ll look to have a big game against Williams, who has struggled at times this season. Williams is giving up 1.50 yards per coverage snap, among the higher marks in the league. If Wilson can get past him a few times this game, Winnipeg could keep this remarkable turnaround going.
PLAYER TO WATCH: ED MALIK CARNEY, SASKATCHEWAN
Carney has been the best pass rusher in the CFL this season and it isn’t particularly close. Here’s a list of pass-rushing categories that he leads the league in: sacks (8), pass-rush win rate (17.6%), pressure percentage (15.5%) and pass-rushing productivity score (9.1). His 82.9 pass-rush grade ranks first among all edge defenders. Carney has been virtually unblockable all year long. Last week, he earned PFF’s “Pass Rusher of the Week“ award against Winnipeg. If he can do that again this week, it might be enough to see them end up on the winning side this go around.
CALGARY STAMPEDERS VS. EDMONTON ELKS
The Edmonton Elks are officially one win away from finding themselves out of the West Division basement. After an 0-7 start, the Elks are 4-1 in their last five and are looking like they could actually be the team to beat in the West. They beat these very Stampeders last week by two scores thanks to an all-time performance from QB McLeod Bethel-Thompson. Calgary meanwhile, needs to figure something out to stop its slide. The Stampeders will need their defense to come up big and will hope to have a big performance from a star like WR Reggie Begelton (72.3 receiving grade). If Calgary can’t find a way to beat Edmonton, then it might be on the outside looking in to the West playoffs for the rest of the season.
MATCHUP TO WATCH: LT MARTEZ IVEY, EDMONTON VS. ED CLARENCE HICKS, CALGARY
Calgary hasn’t exactly been a pass-rushing machine on defense, but Hicks has been the best of their lineup when he’s been in there. His 75.5 pass-rushing grade leads the Stamps defense, and his 14.4% pass-rush win rate is one of the highest in the league. He’s also been a solid run defender. He’ll have his work cut out for him whenever he goes up against Ivey, though. The left tackle has been one of the most impressive players this year and is currently the highest-graded tackle in the league at 75.6 overall. Ivey is a beast in the run game, posting a league-leading 80.9 run-blocking grade. Nonetheless, he’s also a good pass-blocker. Either one of these guys getting an edge over the other may decide this game.
PLAYER TO WATCH: QB JAKE MAIER, CALGARY
It’s once again been a roller coaster of a season for Jake Maier in Calgary. His 79.2 overall grade seems very average, but it doesn’t tell the story of Maier as a player. He is seemingly incapable of playing just average. He either plays incredibly or struggles mightily. He has three games this season with a grade above 85.0 and four games with a sub-60.0 grade. He’s dead even with 15 big-time throws and 15 turnover-worthy plays. When Maier is on, he looks like one of the best quarterbacks in the league. When he’s off, like he was in last week’s loss when he threw four interceptions, he looks like one of the worst. Calgary needs to hope that Maier has a bounce-back game if it wants to win this one.
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