M.O.P. Race heating up: Hamilton QB Bo Levi Mitchell helped out his case, making a couple of big-time throws and putting up a league-high 84.9 PFF passing grade. 

Julian Howsare wreaks havoc on Toronto’s passing game: The Hamilton edge rusher recorded a ridiculous five sacks and 12 total pressures en route to a 92.4 pass rushing grade.

Estimated Reading Time: 6 minutes

Week 18 only had three games, but all three ended up having playoff implications. The Ottawa Redblacks lost 20-13 to the Saskatchewan Roughriders, eliminating them from playoff contention. The Toronto Argonauts were also ousted after losing 47-29 to Hamilton. Finally, the B.C. Lions clinched a playoff spot with a 38-24 win over Calgary. As always, we’ll highlight the top performers from the week in our Team of the Week.

With their big win, it’s no surprise that the Hamilton Tiger-Cats led the way with nine players on this week’s team. Saskatchewan was second with eight, while British Columbia had five. Ottawa and Calgary both saw just one player make the team.

OFFENSE

QB: Bo Levi Mitchell, Hamilton

RB: James Butler, British Columbia

Receiver: Dohnte Meyers, Saskatchewan

Receiver: Keon Hatcher, British Columbia

Receiver: Jevon Cottoy, British Columbia

Receiver: Makai Polk, Toronto

Receiver: Brendan O’Leary-Orange, Hamilton

LT: Payton Collins, Saskatchewan

LG: Brandon Revenberg, Hamilton

C: Peter Nicastro, Toronto

RG: Liam Dobson, Hamilton

RT: Jermarcus Hardrick, Saskatchewan

DEFENSE

DI: Mike Rose, Saskatchewan

DI: Caleb Sanders, Saskatchewan

EDGE: Julian Howsare, Hamilton

EDGE: Malik Carney, Saskatchewan

LB: Micah Awe, British Columbia

LB: Micah Teitz, Calgary

Cover LB: Antoine Brooks Jr., Saskatchewan

CB: Garry Peters, British Columbia

CB: Jonathan Moxey, Hamilton

HB: Rolan Milligan, Saskatchewan

HB: Destin Talbert, Hamilton

S: Stavros Katsantonis, Hamilton

SPECIAL TEAMS

K: Lirim Hajrullahu, Toronto

P: Nik Constantinou, Hamilton

Returner: Kalil Pimpleton, Ottawa

QUARTERBACK OF THE WEEK: QB BO LEVI MITCHELL, HAMILTON

We’re coming down to the wire, and it’s looking like the Most Outstanding Player award is a two-man race between Mitchell and B.C. QB Nathan Rourke.

While both had good weeks last week, Mitchell takes the spot here thanks to his excellent performance. Mitchell recorded a 79.2% adjusted completion rate and made two big-time throws with just one turnover-worthy play. He posted a 12.1-yard average depth of target, the second-highest in the league, and led all quarterbacks with an 84.9 PFF passing grade.

Mitchell paces the league this season with 29 big-time throws, but also has the most turnover-worthy plays at 28. That’s the main reason his passing grade is “just” 84.1 despite a 32-to-9 touchdown-to-interception ratio this season.

OFFENSIVE PLAYER OF THE WEEK: WR DOHNTE MEYERS, SASKATCHEWAN

There were a few receivers with impressive performances last week, but what Meyers did deserves credit.

He was targeted seven times and caught six passes for an impressive 157 yards and a touchdown. That score was an impressive 66-yard catch and run in which he broke a tackle and then outran four Ottawa defenders to the end zone. Meyers also added two contested catches, forced two other missed tackles and averaged 4.49 yards per route run (second only to Hamilton’s Brendan O’Leary-Orange).

Meyers is quietly having a fantastic season for the Roughriders. He currently ranks inside the top 10 in explosive receptions (22), contested catches (12) and yards per route run average (2.14). 

OFFENSIVE LINE OF THE WEEK: SASKATCHEWAN ROUGHRIDERS

The season of Saskatchewan’s offensive line dominance continued last week with yet another impressive performance. The Roughriders didn’t have much success in the run game, but that was more to do with their running backs averaging just 1.5 yards after contact per play. As a unit, the team’s 69.5 PFF run-blocking grade was second-highest last week.

It was Saskatchewan’s pass blocking that really shined. On 39 dropbacks, the Riders’ offensive line allowed just six total pressures. That 15.4% pressure rate was the best mark in the league, as was their 74.5 PFF pass-blocking grade as a unit. 

The bunch was led by LT Payton Collins, who didn’t permit a single pressure all game. RT Jermarcus Hardrick, arguably the favourite for Most Outstanding Offensive Lineman this year, had a down game by his standards. For him, that meant giving up a single sack (his fourth surrendered all year) and two total pressures (his fourth game all season allowing more than one pressure).

PASS RUSHER OF THE WEEK: EDGE JULIAN HOWSARE, HAMILTON 

Howsare didn’t just have the best pass-rushing game of the week. He had one of the best pass-rushing games of the season.

Howsare recorded a ridiculous five sacks in this game, along with two hits and five hurries. He totaled four additional pass rush wins. Howsare led the league with a 28% pass rush win rate and a 17.0 pass-rushing productivity score. It’s no shock that his 92.4 PFF pass-rushing grade led the league.

Howsare now ranks first on the season with 14 sacks, 68 total pressures and a 91.6 pass-rushing grade.

RUN DEFENDER OF THE WEEK: DI JAYLON HUTCHINGS, CALGARY

There weren’t a ton of overly impressive run-defense performances this week, but Hutchings stood at the top.

Calgary held B.C. RB James Butler to just 42 yards on 15 carries, and Hutchings was a big reason why. He made three tackles in the run game, including a huge tackle for loss. Hutchings didn’t record a negative grade on any of his 15 run-defense snaps and finished with an 80.5 PFF run-defense grade. 

Hutchings has made 18 solo stops in the run game this year, the second-most among non-linebackers. His 89.7 run-defense grade ranks third in the league for the season.

COVERAGE PLAYER OF THE WEEK: S STAVROS KATSANTONIS, HAMILTON

It wasn’t a perfect game for Katsantonis last week. He allowed four catches in coverage for 44 yards and a couple of first downs.

However, he more than made up for it with three interceptions of Toronto QB Jarret Doege. One of those was a little luck-based, having come after a Makai Polk dropped pass. The other two, though, were excellent reads on deep seam passes, where he jumped in front of the ball and took it the other way. Katsantonis could’ve had a fourth one too: Early in the game, he jumped a short route and got his hands on the ball but couldn’t quite bring it in.

Katsantonis also recorded six tackles in the pass game, the most of any player this week. Katsantonis is in the midst of a phenomenal season. He’s currently the highest-graded safety in the league this year at 88.2 overall.