Patrick Doyle/CFL.ca Photo
Things are heating up on the field as the CFL season moves into its final month.
They’re also starting to heat up in #TotalPickEm, with nerves creeping in as the top of the leaderboard edges closer to the $5,000 end-of-season grand prize.
broncodc6 is the first player to eclipse the 10,000-point mark on the season, but has a number of players hot on their heels.
Let’s take a look at the Week 17 matchups.
Friday | Winnipeg at Ottawa
Friday Night Football this week pits a Winnipeg (7-7) team fresh off a statement win against a REDBLACKS (8-5) outfit returning from a bye week.
Both scored signature victories in the month of September; the Bombers stunned the rest of the league with a 30-3 drubbing of the Eskimos in Edmonton last week, while Ottawa beat both Saskatchewan and Edmonton leading into its bye week.
It could come down to the run game; if William Powell continues his ridiculous, near-150-yard form for the REDBLACKS, that will open up Trevor Harris‘s options; if Andrew Harris is his usual dual-threat self, Winnipeg will have a decent chance.
PICK: Ottawa, because William Powell has kicked into another gear in recent weeks, and Trevor Harris‘s recent body of work is significantly better than that of Matt Nichols.
Saturday | Toronto at BC
Two teams of varying desperation levels, both the BC Lions (6-7) and Toronto Argonauts (3-10) need a win on Saturday in their bid for playoff football.
The Lions were handed their lunch in a 40-10 loss at Hamilton last week, coming out completely flat and having their winning streak snapped at three; the crossover is still very much in play, however, and a win on home turf against the Argos could propel them up into a West Division playoff spot.
Toronto’s season, meanwhile, is effectively on the line on Saturday night: Marc Trestman’s team is eight points out of a playoff spot with five games left, so the margin for error is pretty much non-existent.
PICK: BC, because the Lions are 5-1 at home this season and — despite last week’s blowout loss — still a better team than Toronto, which will be without its only premium offensive weapon in running back James Wilder Jr.
Monday | Calgary at Montreal
The Calgary Stampeders have only lost eight regular season games since the beginning of 2016.
Improbably, 25 per cent of those have come in Montreal, on the road against the Alouettes.
With that said: It’s near-impossible to see Calgary (11-2) slipping up against the last-place Als (3-11), who would be mathematically eliminated from playoff contention with a loss OR Edmonton and Winnipeg victories.
PICK: Calgary, because that Montreal offensive line simply does not look capable of protecting Johnny Manziel — especially against the Stamps’ scary D-line. The two teams’ respective records say it all.
Monday | Edmonton at Saskatchewan
The Esks travel to Regina to face a Riders squad that is coming off two narrow wins out east.
Scripts have been flipped in recent weeks; where Saskatchewan (9-5) was once the team struggling back into the playoff picture, it is now Jason Maas’s Esks (7-7) who are in a dogfight to make the playoffs.
Neither team has played their best football by any stretch in recent weeks, but it’s the Esks who make the trip across the prairies needing the win more.
PICK: Saskatchewan, because Charleston Hughes and that pass rush are a scary proposition which could seriously trouble Mike Reilly and the struggling Esks offence.
Week 16: 3-1
Season: 38-23 (.623)
