As the playoffs loom larger, it's the missed opportunities that may prove to be the biggest factor for success and failure in the quest for the Grey Cup this year.
Toronto and Saskatchewan perhaps are both in the same boat at the moment, having let much needed wins escape them, in the case of Toronto surrendering the Eastern lead to the Alouettes while the Riders now must keep a watchful eye on the Edmonton Eskimos who are starting to stir once again after their September long meltdown.
The Lions continued on with their march towards the Western Final, another solid victory over the very confusing (and confused) Hamilton Tiger Cats, a team which can't decide from week to week whether it's going to finally figure this football thing out.
The Stampeders kept their hopes of catching the Lions alive, as well as put a bit more space between themselves and the Riders as they brought the Bombers back to the reality of what a mess their CFL season has been.
Just a few of the plot lines from week sixteen
The review of the week is as follows
British Columbia at Hamilton
The Lions rolled on over another opponent this weekend past, laying waste to any ideas that the Hamilton Tiger Cats may have had to making a late season run at their Eastern division compatriots.
The Cats who from week to week morph from one extreme to another, one week a team that looks like the Grey Cup is an option, to the team that showed up this weekend which is decidedly not likely to making plans to play on Grey Cup Sunday.
The Lions offence led by Travis Lulay held onto the football for two thirds of the football game, controlling the play for almost forty minutes, scoring seemingly at will to the total of 37-17, a game which continued on Lulay's streak of 26 straight games with a touchdown pass, a streak that brings him ever closer to Sam Etcheverry's legendary CFL record of 34 consecutive games.
The Lions control of the play, left the Cats Henry Burris and his vast collection of offensive threats to but sit on the sidelines and watch how the defending Grey Cup champs take charge of a game.
The frustration of the Tiger Cat defensive unit perhaps boiled over in the first half when a questionable hit by Dee Webb forced Lions receiver Marco Iannuzzi from the game with a suspected concussion, the hit was quickly labeled a cheap shot by the Lions with injured receiver Geroy Simon in particular expressing the anger of the Lions with two a simple term on twitter that best not be repeated here.
The Tiger Cats, held off the offensive game as they were never really found a groove to work with, the few offensive downs for them for the most part were unspectacular, though they did find some room to score with their 17 points, but in the end that was nowhere near enough to turn the tide on Friday night.
The loss could be doubly troublesome for the Cats, who not only lose ground on the Als and Argos in the East, but face the very real possibility of being eliminated by the Eskimos in the CFL's crossover process, the Eskimos who have found their winning ways again as the final weeks arrive have jumped over the Cats in overall points, a situation that could send them east for a playoff date at the expense of Hamilton at season's end.
The previews and reviews of the Lions and Cats can be found here.
Calgary at Winnipeg
Any thoughts that some of the dedicated Bomber fans of a miracle season ending rush to the playoffs probably vaporized after the Saturday afternoon match up between Stamps and Bombers on Saturday.
Calgary made amends for some of their stumbles of the last few weeks with a solid attack on the Bombers defensive unit, aided quite a bit by a number of turnovers by the Bombers on the offensive game, a problem area that provided much for misery for the fans on Saturday.
Still, the Stamps couldn't quite put the Bombers away, Winnipeg made a bit of noise in the second half clawing back some of the lost points of the game, but as has been the case for much of the season, the prospect of success remained but a rumour by games end.
Joey Elliot wore the badge of blame and with his 4 interceptions he probably was right in taking some of the heat, but the failings of the Bombers clearly run deeper than just the struggles of a quarterback trying to make things happen, sometimes with the anticipated result of the desperate.
The fact that the Stamps could put 32 points on the board tells you that defensively the Bombers had another problematic performance in their own end, nothing really new there this year, as a quick scan of the Points For and Against outline, the Bombers have surrendered the second largest amount of points on the season at 460, only Hamilton's defensive unit (481 points against and counting) is worse.
There are many things to correct in Winnipeg, the consensus in the city perhaps being that start at the top in the GM's office and work your way down the managerial ranks and roster positions.
While Winnipeg probably can start to contemplate how best to turn around this year of woe towards a hopeful new start in a new stadium next spring, the Stampeders have other matters on their mind.
The chase of the Lions may be out of reach after the Stamps let the Lions take then down a few weeks back, but until the final game is played there is still a sliver of hope to claim first, though the more pressing situation most likely is secure second place and at least the home date for the Western Semi Final.
They helped their cause on Saturday on that mission, with three weeks to go, they can focus on that project with a bit more confidence.
The previews and reviews of Saturday's Bombers/Stamps game can be found here.
Saskatchewan at Edmonton
They were good for a volume of seats in the stands at Commonwealth Stadium on Saturday, but the presence of the travelling band of Roughrider fans would once again go home from Edmonton disappointed as the Eskimos rose to the occasion and slowed down the Riders ambitions in the West for at least one week.
With Edmonton looking to reverse their horrid month of September, the Esks took up the challenge of knocking off the streaking Roughriders with 37 - 20 victory in front of a large crowd at Commonwealth.
The Eskimos picked up some steam in their quest for a playoff spot, the most likely path at the moment being a trek through the East with a crossover berth in the Eastern Semi Final, the impressive win over Saskatchewan moves the Eskimos ahead of Hamilton in Total points, a status which if it stands by season end could render the Tiger Cats eliminated and have the Eskimos chart a path to the Grey Cup through Montreal and Toronto.
The Riders stumbling as they did last weekend provided a shot in the arm for the Stampeders, who parley their win of Saturday, combined with the Riders loss into a step up in the standings in the West, the Lions still within their reach, the Riders a little further back in the rear view mirror after week sixteen.
The previews and reviews of the Riders and Eskimos can be found here.
Montreal at Toronto
For the second week in a row the Toronto Argonauts let the opportunity to punch their own ticket to the CFL Eastern final slip by them
The Argos who now look up at the Alouettes with a four point deficit, could have made a statement game out of Sunday's showdown with the Als, a chance to draw even with Montreal and hold the hammer for the run to the end of the season.
Instead it was the Als who did the hammering, sending the Argos to their second defeat in a row with a 24 1-2 victory in front of the Argos largest crowd of the season.
For the first thirty minutes it appeared that maybe the Argos were going to make some noise, all be it in dribs and drabs as the game got off to a low scoring singles festival.
Eventually Jarious Jackson found the end zone, to boost the lead to 9-1, though the Als would answer that and take charge of the game, for the most part built on Argonaut penalties that proved very costly and turnovers which sealed their fate.
It was not one of Anthony Calvillo's highlight reel games, he struggled quite a bit in the first half, the defensive unit for the most part keeping the Als hopes alive until they could make their adjustments and take charge in the second half.
Still, it's the two points that matter not how you get them and on Sunday, when those two points loomed large, it was Montreal that found the will to win, collecting their treasure and gaining some space between themselves and the Argos who now might want to keep an eye on the free fall they are in, with Hamilton looking for any motivation to keep their hopes alive, the prospect of catching the Argos and letting Edmonton eliminate the Boatmen could be about all that might salvage the Tabbies season.
Incentive like that makes the final three weeks still riveting for the East, not on any sense of accomplishment but on how best to avoid humiliation.
The previews and reviews of the Als and Argos can be found here.
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