• QB Chad Kelly puts stamp on season: Kelly played three quarters of football and posted an 80.0% adjusted completion rate in addition to three big-time throws and just one turnover-worthy play. His 87.8 passing grade led the league this week and was the fourth-highest weekly grade he’s put up this season.
• Huge day for Calgary RB Peyton Logan: He forced seven missed tackles, had three explosive runs and gained a league-best 4.9 yards after contact per carry. His 91.6 rushing grade was the highest of the week by a large margin.
• DI Woody Baron a pass-rushing menace for BC: Baron finished with two sacks, one hit, two hurries and two additional pass-rush wins. His 43.8% win rate was by far the highest mark of the week, as was his 87.1 pass-rush grade.
Estimated reading time: 5 minutes
With only six teams playing in the second-last week of the season, there were a lot of top players from the same team. The Toronto Argonauts had eight players on this week’s ‘Team of the Week’, while BC and Calgary each had five. Calgary’s P Cody Grace made the team for the sixth time this season, while Winnipeg WR Kenny Lawler joined the five-timer club. Check out all the positions as well as some weekly awards below.
Team of the Week
Offense
- QB: Chad Kelly, Toronto
- RB: Peyton Logan, Calgary
- Outside WR: Eugene Lewis, Edmonton
- Slot WR: Justin McInnis, BC
- Slot WR: Jevon Cottoy, BC
- Slot WR: Kian Schaffer-Baker, Saskatchewan
- Outside WR: Kenny Lawler, Winnipeg
- LT: Stanley Bryant, Winnipeg
- LG: Ryan Hunter, Toronto
- C: Michael Couture, BC
- RG: Patrick Neufeld, Winnipeg
- RT: Brett Boyko, Edmonton
Defense
- DI: Josh Banks, BC
- DI: Shawn Oakman, Toronto
- Edge: Bryan Cox Jr., Saskatchewan
- Edge: Thomas Costigan, Toronto
- LB: Micah Awe, Calgary
- LB: Wynton McManis, Toronto
- Cover LB: Adarius Pickett, Toronto
- CB: Qwan’tez Stiggers, Toronto
- CB: Jonathan Moxey, Calgary
- HB: Mason Pierce, Toronto
- HB: Marcus Sayles, BC
- S: Kobe Williams, Calgary
Special teams
- K: Dean Faithfull, Edmonton
- P: Cody Grace, Calgary
- Returner: Deontez Alexander, Edmonton
Players of the week
Quarterback of the Week: QB Chad Kelly, Toronto
In what will likely be his last significant playing time before the Eastern Division Finals, Kelly tied a bow around an incredible season with another fantastic game. Kelly played three quarters of football and had an 80.0% adjusted completion rate to go with three big-time throws and just one turnover-worthy play. His 87.8 passing grade led the league this week and was the fourth-highest weekly grade he’s put up this season. It remains to be seen if Kelly will play much, if at all, next week. If he doesn’t, he’ll finish the season with a 91.8 overall grade (currently highest in the league), a 7.7% big-time throw rate (tied second) and a 3.7% turnover-worthy play rate (tied for fourth lowest). That’s a Most Outstanding Player-level season.
Offensive Player of the Week: RB Peyton Logan, Calgary
While Ka’Deem Carey got the bulk of the carries for Calgary, Logan did the most damage and helped lift Calgary to a playoff berth. Logan’s 105 yards on eight carries was ridiculously impressive. He forced seven missed tackles, had three explosive runs and gained a league-best 4.9 yards after contact per carry. His 91.6 rushing grade was the highest of the week by a large margin. Logan has missed most of the season due to injury. But now that he’s healthy, the return specialist is showing that he can also be a threat at running back. Right in time for the playoffs.
Offensive Line of the Week: Winnipeg Blue Bombers
There’s been plenty of talk this season about how the Bombers offensive line is getting older and slowing down. While that is true to an extent, they are still one of the best offensive line units in the league. This game proved exactly that. Winnipeg quarterbacks dropped back 28 times and saw just three hurries. No sacks, no hits, just those three hurries. They were led by future Hall of Fame left tackle Stanley Bryant, who didn’t allow a single pressure. The Bombers also rushed for 151 yards, with almost 40% of those yards coming before first contact.
Pass-Rusher of the Week: DI Woody Baron, British Columbia
While teammate Mathieu Betts had a great game, Baron was the star of this Lions pass rush in their Week 20 game. Baron finished with two sacks, one hit, two hurries and two additional pass rush wins. His 43.8% win rate was by far the highest mark of the week, as was his 87.1 pass rush grade. Baron has been one of the best pass-rushing interior defenders all season. His 86.4 pass-rush grade and 55 total pressure both rank second at the position. He’s also batted two passes down at the line.
Run Defender of the Week: LB Cameron Judge, Calgary
The BC Lions’ run game found basically no success against Calgary on Friday night. It gained just 40 yards on 16 designed attempts, with only 17 of those coming after first contact. Judge was a big reason why. The linebacker was all over the field, constantly disrupting the BC rushing attack. Judge had three tackles in the run game, including one solo stop. His biggest play was a forced fumble on a QB sneak from the goal line, stopping a touchdown that would have pulled BC to within three points near the end of the first half. Judge has been more of a coverage defender this season, with an 88.9 season coverage grade that ranks third in the league among all defenders.
Coverage Player of the Week: S Nick Hallett, Winnipeg
After Winnipeg clinched the top spot in the West, they elected to give some playing time to backups in the second half of this game. Nobody benefited more than the special teamer Hallett. He went in at safety and made three tackles in the passing game. He didn’t allow a single reception, and on back-to-back plays late in the fourth quarter, forced an incompletion on a deep pass attempt. Hallett will go back to his usual special teams role come playoffs, but it was nice to see the Canadian shine when given a chance to play some defense.
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