THANKSGIVING WEEKEND, PRESENTED BY PUROLATOR, IN THE CFL
Stats and storylines heading into this week's action
THREE AND OUT
(Team | Remaining schedule | Combined record)
West Division
- Winnipeg | TOR, Bye, @MTL | 19-10-1 (.650)
- Saskatchewan | BC, Bye, CGY | 12-18-1 (.403)
- BC | @SSK, MTL, Bye | 19-11-2 (.625)
- Edmonton | @CGY, Bye, TOR | 12-17-1 (.417)
- Calgary | EDM, @HAM, @SSK | 22-24-1 (.479)
East Division
- Montreal | OTT, @BC, WPG | 26-20-1 (.564)
- Ottawa |@MTL, @TOR, HAM | 25-20-1 (.554)
- Toronto | @WPG, OTT, @EDM | 23-23-1 (.500)
- Hamilton | Bye, CGY, @OTT | 12-16-2 (.433)
SUPER SMASH BROS.
- Four players are nearing 100 defensive tackles on the season:
- Nyles Morgan | EDM | 97
- Nick Anderson | EDM | 94
- Darnell Sankey | MTL | 94
- Tyrice Beverette | MTL | 89
- Morgan and Sankey are looking to reach the mark for the second time.
- Only two pairs of teammates in league history have hit the milestone together:
- 2022 | SSK | Darnell Sankey (120) and Larry Dean (101)
- 2016 | BC | Solomon Elimimian (129) and Adam Bighill (108)
QUICK SLANTS
League-Wide
- Since Week 13, games have averaged 55 points.
- The number of drives per game resulting in a touchdown or a field goal has risen to 10.0 from 9.2 in 2023 – a 3.5 per cent increase.
- Games are averaging 3.77 turnovers (down from 4.4 in 2023) – the second lowest in league history.
- Official Tom Cesari will work his 200th game on Monday.
TOR at WPG
- Toronto is 63-61-2 in the all-time series. The last four meetings have been decided in the final three minutes.
- The Argonauts won the teams’ first meeting 16-13 in Week 8. Toronto has not swept a two-game series between the teams since 2015.
- Toronto has scored 30+ points in each of its past three games.
- Former Blue Bomber Janarion Grant needs 85 yards to reach 2,000 combined yards on the season.
- Ka’Deem Carey is 44 rushing yards shy of his second 1,000-yard season.
- Chad Kelly has averaged 320 passing yards as a starter this season, while leading the team to 370+ net yards of offence. Kelly will make his first start against Winnipeg. He is 8-1 against the West.
- Royce Metchie is five defensive tackles away from 300 in his career.
- Winnipeg has won six straight home games against the Argonauts, dating back to 2015.
- Winnipeg has the No. 1-ranked pass defence. In the last three games, the team has four interceptions, while allowing an average of 217 passing yards.
- Zach Collaros is two shy of 200 career passing touchdowns. He also needs 244 passing yards for his third straight 4,000-yard season.
- Nic Demski has set a new career best with 69 receptions. With 911 receiving yards, he is 89 shy of his second 1,000-yard season and 96 away from a new career-high.
- Tyrell Ford is second in the league with seven interceptions. The last Canadian to lead the league was Rob Hitchcock in 2002, who tied atop the leaderboard with eight.
- Brady Oliveira has three rushing majors and one receiving touchdown in his past three games.
EDM at CGY
- Edmonton won the teams’ first two meetings. They have not swept a three-game season series since 2004.
- Edmonton enters the game with the second-best rushing offence, averaging 119 yards per game.
- Eugene Lewis needs 64 receiving yards for his third career 1,000-yard campaign. He has had one receiving touchdown in six straight games and he leads the league with eight. No player has had touchdowns in seven in a row since Ben Cahoon in 2003. In the team’s two meetings this year, he had 12 receptions for 209 yards and two majors.
- Tre Ford is 7-9 as a starter, including 1-2 against Calgary.
- Dave Dickenson’s next win will tie him with Tom Higgins (84) for 13th all-time.
- Matthew Shiltz is 6-5 as a starter. He has not yet made one as a Stampeder.
- Reggie Begelton is six receiving yards away from his third 1,000-yard season. He is in the midst of a 67-game streak with a reception. In the teams’ first two matchups, he had 15 receptions for 241 yards.
- Demerio Houston’s next defensive tackle will be the 150th of his career.
- Micah Awe needs six defensive tackles to reach 450.
- Cameron Judge is four shy of 350 defensive tackles.
BC at SSK
- BC has won five of the teams’ last seven meetings and is looking to win the season series for the third straight year.
- The Lions can host the Western Semi-final if they win their two remaining games.
- BC won last week without an offensive TD.
- Nathan Rourke was the starter in BC’s two previous victories in Saskatchewan.
- In the last two games, Sean Whyte was 11-for-11 on field goal attempts.
- In the teams’ Week 6 matchup, Justin McInnis had 14 receptions for 243 yards and a touchdown.
- Both teams’ top receiver is Canadian: McInnis (1,244) leads the league and Samuel Emilus (970) is fifth.
- In their past three games, the Roughriders have averaged 429 net yards with a 79.3 completion percentage.
- In the last two games, Saskatchewan has allowed 3.4 yards per carry and 84 rushing yards in total.
- Emilus is 30 yards away from his second 1,000-yard season. In the teams’ Week 6 meeting, he had eight catches for 161 yards.
- This will be Trevor Harris’s first start against BC as a Roughrider.
- Rolan Milligan Jr. can become the first player in league history to lead in three separate categories. He is first in interceptions (eight) and special team tackles (20), and tied for first in knockdowns (10).
OTT at MTL
- Both teams are coming off a bye week. Montreal is 1-1 on a week’s rest, while Ottawa is 1-0-1.
- Justin Hardy ranks second in receiving yards (1,241) and first in receptions (90). He is 231 yards shy of Gerald Alphin’s team record (1,471) set in 1989. An Ottawa player has not led the league in receiving yards since Tony Gabriel managed the feat in 1977.
- Marco Dubois will play in his 100th game.
- Montreal has won the teams’ past seven matchups.
- Montreal has not reached 12-or-more wins since 2010.
- The Alouettes first played a Thanksgiving Monday home game in 1957. They are 14-14 on the holiday, including 4-4 against Ottawa.
- Jason Maas (61) is currently tied with Chris Jones and John Payne for 24th on the all-time wins list.
- Cody Fajardo is a career 8-1 against Ottawa, including 5-0 as an Alouette.
- James Letcher Jr. (2,035) is currently the only player to eclipse the 2,000-yard mark.
Lucas Barrett
Associate Vice-President, Communications & Public Affairs, Canadian Football League