{"id":147776,"date":"2025-09-16T09:39:15","date_gmt":"2025-09-16T09:39:15","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/147776\/"},"modified":"2025-09-16T09:39:15","modified_gmt":"2025-09-16T09:39:15","slug":"3downnation-cfl-power-rankings-montreal-alouettes-reset-expectations-with-stunning-riders-upset","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/147776\/","title":{"rendered":"3DownNation CFL power rankings: Montreal Alouettes reset expectations with stunning Riders upset"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"\"<\/a>Photo courtesy: Arthur Ward\/CFL.ca<\/p>\n

Week 15 of the 2025 CFL season is officially in the books, and, honestly, your guess is as good as ours.<\/p>\n

This has been the most challenging campaign to rank since we started doing this weekly, and it isn\u2019t particularly close. Chaos and parity continue to be the main themes, with a new team taking control of the top spot on the podium and a fresh cellar dweller yet again.<\/p>\n

3DownNation\u2019s power rankings are created by having 10 contributors rank each team from No. 1 to No. 9 independently, then averaging out the scores. The previous week\u2019s rankings are in brackets. As always, please be sure to check back every Monday morning for our updated power rankings following each week of action in the CFL.<\/p>\n

Enjoy the rankings and\u00a0feel free to roast us on social media\u00a0for anything you think we got wrong.<\/p>\n

\"\"Courtesy: Calgary Stampeders<\/p>\n

1) Calgary Stampeders (2)<\/p>\n

The Stampeders got the benefit of a bye week making voters forget how badly they stubbed their toe in the Labour Day rematch, while their top competitor lost in ugly fashion themselves. Vernon Adams Jr. has looked pedestrian the past few weeks, but a resurgence could be on the horizon as he prepares for a revenge game against B.C. Unfortunately, an Achilles injury to Folarin Orimolade<\/a> means there will be a permanent hole on the defensive line for the rest of the season, though former Alouette DE Byron Vaughns will try to plug it<\/a>.<\/p>\n

\"\"Photo courtesy: Saskatchewan Roughriders<\/p>\n

2) Saskatchewan Roughriders (1)<\/p>\n

There were a handful of offensive bright spots against Montreal, including a 95-yard outing from the recently repatriated Ajou Ajou, but Saskatchewan should consider burning all evidence of their defensive game plan<\/a>. With both starting cornerbacks scratched late due to injuries, the Riders gave 31-year-old career special teamer Kerfalla Exume his first career start \u2014 something he did not even do with regularity in college. The results were painfully predictable<\/a> and seemed almost cruel to watch, as Tyson Philpot cooked him deep repeatedly in a lopsided loss. Fortunately, Corey Mace\u2019s team had already clinched a playoff spot<\/a> due to earlier results.<\/p>\n

\"\"Photo courtesy: Hamilton Tiger-Cats<\/p>\n

3) Hamilton Tiger-Cats (3)<\/p>\n

The tragic death of general manager Ted Goveia<\/a> in the hours before the game set to be played in his honour cast a long shadow over the CFL this week, but his team continued to do his legacy proud<\/a>. Kenny Lawler produced 97 yards in his revenge game against Winnipeg<\/a>, but running back Greg Bell stole the show with 168 all-purpose yards and two touchdowns. The Tabbies did get a scare when outstanding rookie linebacker Devin Veresuk had to be carted off the field on a spineboard late in the fourth quarter, but it appears that he escaped any significant injury<\/a>.<\/p>\n

\"\"Photo courtesy: Toronto Argonauts<\/p>\n

4) Toronto Argonauts (4)<\/p>\n

Love \u2019em or hate \u2019em, you cannot question the entertainment value of the suddenly surging Argonauts. Even though Toronto gave away more footballs than John Candy tribute t-shirts, Andrew Chatfield triggered a fourth-quarter miracle<\/a> when he scooped up a Cody Fajardo fumble to gain the lead. What followed was high drama, as quarterback Nick Arbuckle went down with a calf injury<\/a> and had to be replaced by Jarret Doege, who set up Lirim Hajrullahu for a walk-off winner. The emotions seemed to get the better of head coach Ryan Dinwiddie, as he nearly triggered a fight with the Edmonton bench with his emphatic celebration<\/a>, though his team has their best success when they match his energy.<\/p>\n

\"\"Photo courtesy: Paul Yates\/B.C. Lions<\/p>\n

5) B.C. Lions (8)<\/p>\n

Nathan Rourke looked every bit the NFL-calibre quarterback that Doug Flutie thinks he is<\/a> in a dominant first-half showing, leading the Lions to touchdowns on each of their first four drives before coasting the rest of the way. Mathieu Betts finally had the breakout game he\u2019s been looking for all season<\/a> with four sacks, and Deontai Williams pitched in with a wild strip-sack that he returned for a touchdown. While avenging an upset was nice, the rubber will truly meet the road for B.C. when they face a familiar foe in Calgary.<\/p>\n

\"\"Photo courtesy: Montreal Alouettes<\/p>\n

6) Montreal Alouettes (9)<\/p>\n

McLeod Bethel-Thompson\u2019s return under centre provided the spark needed for the Alouettes to snap a five-game losing skid<\/a>, though his 379-yard, three-touchdown performance was nothing compared to his best receiver\u2019s. Tyson Philpot went off for the second-biggest night in franchise history, turning nine catches into 238 yards and two touchdowns. Stevie Scott III also had a breakout game with 125 yards on the ground, and even right guard Donald Ventrelli got in on the party by recovering a fumble for his first career major.<\/p>\n

\"\"Photo courtesy: Cameron Bartlett\/Winnipeg Blue Bombers<\/p>\n

7) Winnipeg Blue Bombers (5)<\/p>\n

Chris Streveler threw for 241 yards and rushed for 82 more with two total touchdowns, but that was mostly lipstick on the pig of a brutal outing against Hamilton<\/a>. Brady Oliveira will at least be satisfied with his usage, as he garnered 19 touches for 151 total yards, but the Bombers struggled to turn that into points. Winnipeg is now tied with B.C. for the final Western playoff spot, and if Zach Collaros\u2019 head injury holds him out long term<\/a>, their tie-breaker won\u2019t mean squat down the stretch.<\/p>\n

\"\"Photo courtesy: Edmonton Elks<\/p>\n

8) Edmonton Elks (6)<\/p>\n

Only the Edmonton Elks could generate four interceptions, win the turnover differential 6:1, and still lose on a last-second field goal.<\/a> Outstanding defensive efforts from the likes of Kordell Jackson, Tyrell Ford, and Jonathan Kongbo went to waste thanks to a dreary offensive outing plagued by poor offensive line play. Not even Justin Rankin could get going, finishing with just 35 yards after his 200-yard night the week prior, and Cody Fajardo was stripped at the worst possible time to hand the game away.<\/p>\n

\"\"Photo courtesy: Ottawa Redblacks<\/p>\n

9) Ottawa Redblacks (7)<\/p>\n

The Redblacks got out to another slow start against B.C., but couldn\u2019t repeat their \u201cCrumback\u201d magic from the week prior<\/a>. Backup QB Dustin Crum still looked impressive, however, throwing for 307 yards, rushing for 58 more, and scoring three total touchdowns. The defence provided little resistance to support those numbers, and while they technically aren\u2019t eliminated yet, Ottawa will essentially need to win out with a lot of help to make the playoffs.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Photo courtesy: Arthur Ward\/CFL.ca Week 15 of the 2025 CFL season is officially in the books, and, honestly,…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":147777,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[437],"tags":[49,48,521,522,520,82],"class_list":{"0":"post-147776","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-cfl","8":"tag-ca","9":"tag-canada","10":"tag-canadian-football-league","11":"tag-canadianfootballleague","12":"tag-cfl","13":"tag-sports"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/147776","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=147776"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/147776\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/147777"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=147776"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=147776"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=147776"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}