• Huge return for Lions QB Vernon Adams Jr.: He made three big-time throws and 78.2% of his 385 yards were air yards. He ended the game with a 91.9 passing grade, the highest in the CFL.
• Hamilton QB Bo Levi Mitchell still in the Most Outstanding Player hunt: He made five big-time throws, finishing with an 80.0% adjusted completion rate and an 84.1 passing grade.
• Big day for Calgary Edge James Vaughters rushing the quarterback: Vaughters finished with a 16.7% pass-rush win rate and a pass-rushing productivity score of 5.6, which helped contribute to his league-high 75.7 pass-rush grade.
Estimated reading time: 5 minutes
The penultimate week of the CFL regular season has come and gone, and we saw one of the most explosive passing weekends of the season. Four quarterbacks finished with more than 300 yards passing, with two of them breaking 400 yards. Unfortunately, there can only be one quarterback named to the “Team of the Week.”
With only three games being played, it’s no surprise that the three winning teams each had the most players named to the team. Hamilton led the way with seven players, while Toronto was right behind them with six, and British Columbia had five. The Redblacks had the fewest players with two.
OFFENSE
QB: Vernon Adams Jr., B.C.
RB: Greg Bell, Hamilton
Receiver: Dejon Brissett, Toronto
Receiver: Damonte Coxie, Toronto
Receiver: Steven Dunbar Jr., Hamilton
Receiver: Justin Hardy, Ottawa
Receiver: Keon Hatcher, B.C.
LT: Ryan Hunter, Toronto
LG: Brandon Revenberg, Hamilton
C: David Beard, Hamilton
RG: Christy Nkanu, Calgary
RT: Jamar McGloster, Montreal
DEFENSE
DI: Ralph Holley, Toronto
DI: Trevon Mason, Hamilton
Edge: James Vaughters, Calgary
Edge: Mathieu Betts, B.C.
LB: Tyrell Richards, Montreal
LB: Tyrice Beverette, Montreal
Cover LB: Carthell Flowers-Lloyd, Hamilton
CB: Tre Roberson, Calgary
CB: Benjie Franklin, Toronto
HB: Ronald Kent, B.C.
HB: Richard Leonard, Hamilton
S: Christophe Beaulieu, B.C.
SPECIAL TEAMS
K: Lirim Hajrullahu, Toronto
P: Joseph Zema, Montreal
Returner: Kalil Pimpleton, Ottawa
QUARTERBACK OF THE WEEK: QB VERNON ADAMS JR., BRITISH COLUMBIA
There were plenty of impressive quarterback performances this week, with Ottawa’s Dru Brown, Toronto’s Chad Kelly and Hamilton’s Bo Levi Mitchell all having phenomenal games. But we’ll honour the quarterback who made his first start since Week 9 and immediately reminded fans, and his own team, why he was the odds-on Most Outstanding Player award favourite at the time.
Adams Jr. finished this game with an 80.0% adjusted completion rate while leading the league with a 14.0 yard average depth of target. He made three big-time throws, and 78.2% of his 385 yards were air yards. He ended the game with a 91.9 passing grade, the highest in the CFL. This performance likely cemented Adams Jr. as the Lions’ starting quarterback for their West Division semifinals game in two weeks.
OFFENSIVE PLAYER OF THE WEEK: QB BO LEVI MITCHELL, HAMILTON
With the number of impressive quarterback performances this past week, we’ll highlight another one in Mitchell. The Hamilton passer threw four touchdown passes in the first half en route to a 30-0 lead in the second quarter. He made five big-time throws, finishing with an 80.0% adjusted completion rate and an 84.1 passing grade. His lone mistake of the game was floating a pass to the sideline that resulted in a pick-six for Calgary late in the second quarter.
With that game, Mitchell became the first quarterback since 2018 to break 5,000 yards in a season. That was also the last time Mitchell himself hit the 5,000-yard mark, and he also won the Most Outstanding Player award that season. Could history repeat itself in 2024?
OFFENSIVE LINE OF THE WEEK: HAMILTON TIGER-CATS
The Tiger-Cats may not have a path to the playoffs anymore, but that didn’t stop them from putting up one of the most dominant offensive performances of the year last weekend. The TiCats dropped back in pass protection 39 times and allowed just one sack and six total pressures, good for a pass-blocking efficiency score of 93.6 (second-highest). They also dominated in the run game, finishing with a team run-blocking grade of 83.0.
They were led by LG Brandon Revenberg, who didn’t allow a single pressure all game and had a solid run-blocking grade. Revenberg is one of just two offensive linemen in the CFL to have both a run-blocking and pass-blocking grade above 73.0.
PASS RUSHER OF THE WEEK: Edge JAMES VAUGHTERS, CALGARY
With quarterbacks having such a marquee day, there weren't a ton of overly impressive pass-rushing performances this week. Vaughters was one of the few bright spots. The edge rusher didn’t record a sack, but he managed a hit and three hurries as well as four additional pass-rush wins. Vaughters finished with a 16.7% pass-rush win rate and a pass-rushing productivity score of 5.6, which helped contribute to his league-high 75.7 pass-rush grade.
This was Vaughters’ best-pass rushing performance of the season, and the only game in which he finished with a pass-rush grade above 70.0. The veteran will have to look to build on this performance going into next season for the Stampeders.
RUN DEFENDER OF THE WEEK: LB BEN HLADIK, BRITISH COLUMBIA
It was a huge day for the Lions defence, as they held the first-place Montreal Alouettes to a mere 216 yards and three points. Montreal RBs gained just 50 yards on 13 carries thanks in large part to the play of BC’s Will linebacker.
Hladik finished with six total tackles in the run game. Of those six tackles, three of them were solo stops, and all three of those happened on goal-to-go plays for the Alouettes offence. On one of those goal-line stops, Hladik even forced a fumble. All that contributed to his impressive 83.0 run defence grade. Hladik missed time in the middle of the season, but since his return in Week 17, he ranks second in the CFL with an 88.6 run defence grade.
COVERAGE PLAYER OF THE WEEK: FS CHRISTOPHE BEAULIEU, BRITISH COLUMBIA
As stated above, it was a massive day for the Lions defence. The secondary played tight coverage all game and prevented the Alouettes from getting anything going through the air. Montreal finished with just 134 passing yards, its lowest mark of the season.
Beaulieu was the architect from his free safety position, providing help over the top on multiple plays and preventing any deep completions. Beaulieu forced an incompletion on a deep shot in the second half and also had tight coverage on a couple of goal line passes by the Als. At the end of the day, he finished with a league-best 86.7 coverage grade.
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