{"id":160878,"date":"2025-09-22T06:45:06","date_gmt":"2025-09-22T06:45:06","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/160878\/"},"modified":"2025-09-22T06:45:06","modified_gmt":"2025-09-22T06:45:06","slug":"3downnation-cfl-power-rankings-calgary-stampeders-plummet-as-injury-bug-bites","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/160878\/","title":{"rendered":"3DownNation CFL power rankings: Calgary Stampeders plummet as injury bug bites"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"\"<\/a>Photo courtesy: Calgary Stampeders<\/p>\n

Week 16 of the 2025 CFL season is officially in the books, and while fans wait with bated breath to see what potential seismic changes await the league<\/a>, the playoff picture is finally clearing up.<\/p>\n

Saskatchewan and Hamilton look like locks to win their respective divisions, while the Redblacks and Elks are done and dusted in every way that isn\u2019t pure mathematics. That leaves five teams battling for four spots, and one of those has put themselves at a distinct disadvantage.<\/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

\"\"Photo courtesy: Electric Umbrella\/Liam Richards\/Saskatchewan Roughriders<\/p>\n

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

When you have the best record in the CFL and already have your ticket to the postseason punched, only one thing can make a bye week more enjoyable: your chief rival losing. The Riders got to celebrate that as they took time to get healthy in the secondary and recover from a classic trap game loss<\/a>. They\u2019ll return to action this week with a home playoff game within clinching distance.<\/p>\n

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

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

Marc Liegghio may need to ice his money maker after Saturday\u2019s performance, as he hit five field goals, including the game-winner as time expired, to power the Ticats to victory. A little more finish will be required for the Tabbies to have success in the playoffs, but they offered a solid performance all around with three sacks defensively, 311 passing yards from Bo Levi Mitchell, and 93 on the ground from Greg Bell. All of that puts Hamilton within a whisker of clinching a playoff spot and sealing up the East Division<\/a>.<\/p>\n

\"\"Photo courtesy: Leah Hennel\/CFL.ca<\/p>\n

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

Don\u2019t look now, but the Lions are roaring again after a blowout victory against the heavily-favoured Stampeders. Nathan Rourke was sensational with five total touchdowns \u2014 two through the air and three along the ground \u2014 and has firmly entered his name into the M.O.P. conversation<\/a>, while Keon Hatcher continued his reign atop the receiving charts by adding 147 more to his total. Even former NFL fullback Zander Horvath got in on the action, rushing for 152 yards and a long touchdown in his first CFL start.<\/p>\n

\"\"Photo courtesy: Calgary Stampeders<\/p>\n

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

The Stampeders\u2019 tumble down the charts this week isn\u2019t just because of how they lost; it\u2019s because of who they may have lost in the process<\/a>. After a dreadful first half that featured two interceptions and two more throws that should have been picked, Vernon Adams Jr. went down on the first drive of the second half with a suspected head injury and was unable to return. Even if he is able to return next week, Calgary no longer has an insurance policy, as backup QB P.J. Walker suffered a likely season-ending arm injury late in the game.<\/p>\n

\"\"Photo courtesy: Kevin Sousa\/CFL.ca<\/p>\n

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

McLeod Bethel-Thompson was back to playing ugly football with a three-interception performance on Friday, but the Alouettes got the right breaks at the right times to remain in the win column<\/a>. Mustafa Johnson, Isaac Adeyemi-Berglund, and Shawn Oakman all notched sacks amidst a strong defensive performance, and Wesley Sutton got away with a cheeky bit of pass interference to secure the winning interception.<\/p>\n

\"\"Photo courtesy: Patrick Doyle\/CFL.ca<\/p>\n

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

The Bombers secured another victory without starting QB Zach Collaros, but at what cost to viewers\u2019 eyeballs and the league\u2019s reputation? Chris Streveler completed just three of eight pass attempts for 54 yards and an interception<\/a>, rushing for 72 yards and a major to win for the third time as a starter in 2025. It wouldn\u2019t have been possible without returner Trey Vaval, who took a missed field goal 128 yards to paydirt, or defensive back Cam Allen, who recorded his first two career interceptions.<\/p>\n

\"\"Photo courtesy: Maggie Stemp-Turner\/3DownNation. All rights reserved.<\/p>\n

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

There was no showboating from Ryan Dinwiddie this week, as third-string quarterback Jarret Doege couldn\u2019t quite take the Argos across the finish line<\/a> in his debut start for the organization. A trio of first-half picks and a quartet of sacks by the defence, including two by Derek Parish, kept the Boatmen in contention, but a questionable call late caused a fatal interception. While fans are eager to blame the men in stripes, Toronto\u2019s fiery coach kept a stiff upper lip in light of their dwindling playoff hopes.<\/p>\n

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

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

For the second week in a row, the Elks saw their dreams dashed on a walk-off field goal<\/a>. It marked the team\u2019s fourth one-score loss this season and may well spell the end of their postseason hopes. Former first-overall CFL Draft pick Joel Dublanko continues to be effective with 11 tackles and a sack on defence, and Justin Rankin ripped off a 72-yard touchdown off a screen pass, though he was mostly bottled up on the ground.<\/p>\n

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

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

The Redblacks have endured some embarrassing defeats in recent years, though losing to a team incapable of completing more than three forward passes probably takes the cake. Dru Brown did manage to throw for 406 yards in his return from injury, but costly mistakes, including two interceptions, neutered the team\u2019s chances. Add in a couple of missed field goals by Lewis Ward, one of which was returned for points, and Ottawa\u2019s playoff chances are on life support<\/a>.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Photo courtesy: Calgary Stampeders Week 16 of the 2025 CFL season is officially in the books, and while…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":160879,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[437],"tags":[49,48,521,522,520,82],"class_list":{"0":"post-160878","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\/160878","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=160878"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/160878\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/160879"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=160878"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=160878"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=160878"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}