Hello, Bernice Espy, of Calgary. Congrats on winning 200 bucks in groceries on Ottawa\u2019s final-play touchdown on Saturday.<\/p>\n
\u201cGarbage time\u201d TDs are meaningless? Don\u2019t try telling that to Bernice.<\/p>\n
Here are the Week 16 takeaways.<\/p>\n
RELATED THE DOUBLE DOUBLE IS DEFINITELY IN PLAY<\/p>\n \u00a0<\/p>\n After he turned in another stellar performance, BC Lions\u2019 quarterback Nathan Rourke<\/a> is the front-running candidate for Most Outstanding Canadian in 2025.<\/p>\n When you break Russ Jackson\u2019s record for passing yardage by a Canadian in a single season \u2014 a record that withstood the passage of time for 56 years \u2014 it is so.<\/p>\n But there is something else.<\/p>\n Winnipeg\u2019s Brady Oliveira<\/a> doubled up in 2024 by winning both MOC and Most Outstanding Player and Rourke has put himself in a position to perhaps pull off that double himself a year later.<\/p>\n The 27-year-old threw for 331 yards and two touchdowns against Calgary on Friday night, rushing for three more and totalling 43 yards on the ground.<\/p>\n Rourke\u2019s 2025 passing numbers put him among the leaders this season, ranking him third, just behind Toronto\u2019s Nick Arbuckle<\/a> and a mere 250-ish yards behind the league leader, Hamilton\u2019s Bo Levi Mitchell. He\u2019s now piled up nine 300-plus yard games in 12 starts.<\/p>\n He\u2019s the top-rushing pivot in the CFL, standing eighth, overall, behind seven running backs.<\/p>\n With four games left to play, if Rourke and the Lions keep surging, another double-up by a Canadian is a definite possibility.<\/p>\n MATH, THEY SAY, IS HARD. EVEN HARDER NOW<\/p>\n \u00a0<\/p>\n After tough losses in Week 16, the Ottawa REDBLACKS, Toronto Argonauts and Edmonton Elks are looking at some hard math in their quests for playoff berths.<\/p>\n \u201cWe have to win every game as we go forward,\u201d Ottawa coach Bob Dyce told TSN 1200 after his team\u2019s loss to the Winnipeg Blue Bombers.<\/p>\n \u201cNow, we got four games,\u201d Toronto coach Ryan Dinwiddie told reporters after the Argos fell to Montreal. \u201cProbably gotta win \u2018em, all four.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cI think we gotta win out, just to have a chance,\u201d said Edmonton quarterback Cody Fajardo<\/a> in a post-game scrum following a loss in Hamilton.<\/p>\n Did I say the math was hard? Okay, it\u2019s not the actual math that\u2019s hard for the Elks, REDBLACKS and Argonauts. They each face a zero-sum kind of reality in the weeks ahead.<\/p>\n It\u2019s what is needed to make the numbers add up that\u2019s hard.<\/p>\n PASSING? IT\u2019S NOT MANDATORY, YOU KNOW<\/p>\n \u00a0<\/p>\n Absolutely incredible to see the statline in the wake of Winnipeg\u2019s victory over Ottawa on Saturday.<\/p>\n Even more incredible to know that quarterback Chris Streveler<\/a>\u2019s passing line (3-8 for 54 yards) was not even a Blue Bombers\u2019 club record for lowest aerial output by a QB in a single game.<\/p>\n Over at BlueBombers.com<\/a>, writer Ed Tait informs us that the great Kenny Ploen actually went oh-for-nine in a rain-soaked game back in 1960.<\/p>\n Guess what? Winnipeg won that one, too, over Edmonton, by an 18-14 score.<\/p>\n Whatever critical words you\u2019d use to describe the Bombers\u2019 26-18 win over the REDBLACKS, they are going to use a different one to characterize it.<\/p>\n \u201cGritty,\u201d was the word used by both Streveler and running back Brady Oliveira<\/a>, post-game.<\/p>\n Asked to assess the Winnipeg offence afterward, head coach Mike O\u2019Shea \u2014 appearing mildly annoyed by the question \u2014 replied: \u201cWe won. That\u2019s it.\u201d<\/p>\n Because passing, it turns out, is optional.*<\/p>\n BONUS TAKEAWAY: *At least when you get a 128-yard missed field goal return for a touchdown and rush for 172 yards, it is.<\/p>\n THEY DON\u2019T WATCH HIM KICK. BUT IT\u2019S NOT FOR THE SAME REASONS AS BEFORE<\/p>\n \u00a0<\/p>\n
\u00bb Commissioner Johnston to make major announcement on game changes<\/a>
\u00bb MMQB: A new MOP contender enters the mix<\/a>
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