With six weeks remaining in the CFL regular season, the playoff picture will continue to get clearer with four games jampacked into two days of Week 16 action on TSN.

The week begins with a pair of matchups on Friday Night Football, beginning in Toronto as the Argonauts play host to the Montreal Alouettes, before the Calgary Stampeders, fresh off a bye, welcome in the BC Lions.

Saturday’s doubleheader will be out east, starting in the nation’s capital as the Ottawa Redblacks host the Winnipeg Blue Bombers, before the Hamilton Tiger-Cats look to win their third in a row as they take on the Edmonton Elks.

Watch every CFL game LIVE on TSN, with Data Enhanced feeds available on TSN+.

Alouettes vs. Argonauts

Kicking off the week is an East Division matchup with major playoff implications.

Watch the Alouettes take on the Argonauts LIVE at 7 p.m. ET / 4 p.m. PT across the TSN Network, streaming on TSN.ca and the TSN App.

With the Hamilton Tiger-Cats starting to create separation atop the East Division and the crossover very much in play, the matchup between the Alouettes and Argonauts has become increasingly important, especially for Toronto.

East Division Standings

CFL East Standings

Montreal currently holds the No.2 seed, while also holding the tiebreaker over Toronto, who are a game back. The Als took down the Argos both in Week 1 (28-10) and in Week 7 (26-25), meaning Toronto will have to be a full game ahead of Montreal to claim second place, as this is the final regular-season matchup between the two.

The fact the defending Grey Cup champions are even in the conversation is staggering. After a 2-8 start the team has rattled of three straight wins, including two on back-to-back Lirim Hajrullahu walk-off field goals.

Quarterback questions remain for Toronto, however, as Nick Arbuckle, who has started every game this season, appeared to have suffered a lower-body injury late in last week’s 31-30 win over the Elks. In came Jarret Doege for the final drive, who was able to get the Argonauts into field goal range, allowing Hajrullahu to do the rest.

With Chad Kelly’s return looming as well, it’s unclear at this point who will take snaps in this matchup.

The Alouettes have had injury issues at the quarterback position all year themselves but got a great game from McLeod Bethel-Thompson in his return from an elbow injury in last week’s 48-31 win against the league’s-best Saskatchewan Roughriders.

The 37-year-old completed 76.9 per cent of his passes for 379 yards and three touchdowns, helping the Alouettes snap a five-game losing streak in the process.

The Als are also getting healthier, as former East All-CFL members, Austin Mack, Marc-Antoine Dequoy, Justin Lawrence, and Mustafa Johnson have all returned to action over the past couple of weeks, as has 2023 Grey Cup Most Valuable Canadian Tyson Philpot, who is coming off a nine-catch, 238-yard, and two-touchdown game last week.

The Argonauts allow the most points per game (32.1), and if they want to boost their playoff chances with a win, they’ll have to try and contain their former pivot in Bethel-Thompson and his many receivers.

Lions vs. Stampeders

Friday’s doubleheader wraps up in Alberta as the Stampeders and Lions clash.

Watch the Lions battle the Stampeders LIVE at 9:30 p.m. ET / 6:30 p.m. PT across the TSN Network, streaming on TSN.ca and the TSN App.

Like the Argonauts, the Lions can greatly improve their playoff hopes with a win on Friday night, as they try to battle back to .500 for the first time since Week 11.

There’s more up for grabs than that, however, as a win against Calgary would keep the Lions hopes of a second-place finish in the West Division alive, while a loss would most likely be the final nail in the coffin.

West Division Standings

CFL West Standings

Winnipeg has the tiebreaker over BC after beating the Lions in back-to-back weeks earlier in the year. However, the Lions and Stamps have yet to play, and if BC can pull off a win this week and in Week 18 against them, things can get interesting.

That’s easier said than done though, as the Lions will have to clean up their defence. Over the past seven games, in which the team is 3-4, BC has allowed a league-high 34.1 points per game. That run includes giving up 52 points, the most points scored this season, to the Argonauts.

The big three of Canadian quarterback Nathan Rourke, the CFL’s rushing yards leader James Butler, and receptions and receiving yards leader Keon Hatcher can only do so much when the team can’t get a stop.

BC leads the league in offensive points per game (28), but they’ll now have to go up against a stout defensive squad and the squad many consider the No.2 team overall in the league.

Calgary has done very well this season defensively, allowing the least number of points (20.4), passing yards (265), total big plays (24), all while forcing teams to two and outs the most (35 per cent).

The defence did take a hit, however, with former East All-CFL member Folarin Orimolade suffering a torn Achilles, but this unit still packs a punch. Pair that with Vernon Adams Jr.’s big-play ability (it will be his first matchup against the Lions since trading him), the receiving core now almost healthy, and Dedrick Mills running over people behind a mauling offensive line, and Calgary could take a stranglehold on the No.2 seed in the West with a win.

Blue Bombers vs. Redblacks

The Redblacks will look to keep their playoff hopes alive as they host the Blue Bombers in the nation’s capital.

Watch the Blue Bombers battle the Redblacks LIVE at 3 p.m. ET / 12 p.m. PT across the TSN Network, streaming on TSN.ca and the TSN App.

It’s becoming increasingly more likely that the Redblacks will miss the playoffs for the fifth time in six seasons, after snapping the four-year skid in 2024. A loss in this one to the Blue Bombers would almost certainly bury the league’s worst team, as they still have the West’s best Riders and the East’s best Ticats coming up on their schedule.

Quarterback questions on both sides loom in this matchup, however, beginning with Ottawa, who could see the return of starter Dru Brown.

Brown dressed for the first time last week since exiting the team’s Week 11 loss to Winnipeg with a knee injury, serving as the team’s third-string pivot. The Palo Alto, Calif., native has had to deal with a variety of injuries this season, from a hip problem to concussion-like symptoms, to this knee injury.

Ottawa would surely love it if Brown were able to return to play against his former team, but if he isn’t able to, his backup has been putting on a show himself.

Dustin Crum has been great over the past two games, completing 80.6 per cent of his passes for 608 yards, while adding 127 yards along the ground and four total touchdowns. The 26-year-old set a career high in passing yards in both games and has given his team a chance to win both times.

It’s everything else around the quarterback play that has held Ottawa back, as the running game has been inconsistent while the defence finds itself near the bottom of the CFL in most categories.

The lone bright spot of Ottawa’s defence has been against the run, allowing only 89 yards per game (second). With Chris Streveler potentially making his second consecutive start, the Bombers’ offence changes into a more ground-based attack, with Brady Oliveira at the forefront.

Streveler made the start in last week’s 32-21 loss to the Tiger-Cats in place of the injured Zach Collaros, who took a high hit the week previous against the Riders. The 30-year-old Streveler completed 62.1 per cent of his passes for 241 yards, one touchdown, and two interceptions while adding 82 yards and a major along the ground.

Whoever wins in the trenches between the Redblacks and Blue Bombers could come out with the win.

Elks vs. Tiger-Cats

Rounding out the week will be a matchup with the West Division-worst Elks and the East Division-best Tiger-Cats.

Watch the Elks take on the Tiger-Cats LIVE at 7 p.m. ET / 4 p.m. PT across the TSN Network, streaming on TSN.ca and the TSN App.

Despite being last in the West Division and starting the year 1-6, Edmonton has gone 4-2 since and find themselves still in play for a crossover spot.

Crossover Standings

TeamRecordBC Lions6-7Toronto Argonauts5-8Edmonton Elks5-8Ottawa Redblacks4-9

***A team crossing over has to have a better record than a team in the division they are crossing over to, not tied.

The turnaround to even be in the conversation at all has been sparked by quarterback Cody Fajardo and running back Justin Rankin.

The 33-year-old Fajardo has brought a steadying presence to Edmonton, as among qualified pivots (minimum 200 pass attempts), Fajardo boasts the best completion percentage (77.0 per cent), the lowest number of interceptions (three), and the fourth most yards per attempt (8.8).

Rankin has done everything else offensively. The 28-year-old leads all running backs in receiving yards (541), sits fifth in rushing yards (715), and has nine total touchdowns (six rushing and three receiving) which is good enough for fourth in the CFL.

They’ll go up against a Ticats defence that has cleaned up its act to some degree over their two-game win streak, allowing only 30 points total in the last two weeks. This is much improved from the previous three games, in which they allowed 35 points per game (second-most over that stretch), losing all three contests.

Offensively, everyone knows about the fire power Hamilton’s possesses between quarterback Bo Levi Mitchell and the plethora of receivers he has at his deposal in Kenny Lawler, Tim White, Kiondre Smith, and Shemar Bridges, but it’s been running back Greg Bell that has emerged lately.

The 27-year-old has 358 combined yards and three touchdowns over the past two weeks, as Hamilton has started to run the ball more while continuing to use Bell in the pass game.

How the Elks, who allow the most offensive yards per game, contain this Tiger-Cats offence with a new wrinkle will be the key to winning the game, and keeping their playoff hopes alive.