It was the penultimate weekend of the summer, and the CFL had four games on the schedule. In Thursday Night Football, Calgary looked to close the gap against Winnipeg, but it was not to be, as Winnipeg defeated Calgary in a close game, 31-29. Quarterback Zach Collaros led the Bombers with a 19-for-26, 294 yard, two touchdown (but two interceptions) effort, helped out by receivers Nic Demski’s eight catches for 117 yards and a touchdown, and Greg McCrae’s five catches for 95 yards and another touchdown. Calgary’s QB Jake Maier, making his first start of the season, was equally, if not more, impressive, going 23 for 28 for 294 yards and three touchdowns, and receiver Henry Malik caught 7 of those passes for 122 yards and three touchdowns, but it wasn’t enough.
There was a doubleheader on Friday. The early game featured 3-7 Hamilton travelling to Toronto to face the 4-5 first place Argos. Featured? Come on, McDonald CFL Power Ratings author, get serious. Well, whatever — Toronto beat Hamilton 37-20. Despite being down 16-10 at the half, the Toronto defense, led by DB Jamal Peters three interceptions, one of which was returned for a 67 yard touchdown, held Hamilton to 4 second half points and Toronto racked up 27 of their own for the victory. Argonaut quarterback McLeod Bethel-Thompson went 19-for-32 for 258 yards, three touchdowns, and an interception, while Hamilton’s QB tandem of Dane Evans and Matt Shiltz combined for 32-for-45, 388 yards, one touchdown, but three interceptions.
Friday’s late game saw Saskatchewan travel to British Columbia. The wheels on the Rider bus have come off lately, but they were looking to turn things around against Nathan Rourke-less BC, who lost their quarterback to injury last week. In a welcome turnaround for Rider fans, Saskatchewan defeated British Columbia 23-16. Saskatchewan QB Cody Fajardo looked good (finally), going 19-for-24 for 321 yards and two touchdowns. He was helped by receiver Kian Schaffer-Baker, who caught 5 passes for 170 yards, and backup running back Frankie Hickson (playing for an injured Jamal Morrow) who picked up 129 yards on 15 carries and caught 3 passes for another 30 yards. BC’s backup quarterback Michael O’Connor didn’t have an impressive performance, going 6 for 15 for 94 yards before being injured in the second quarter, and his replacement, Antonio Pipkin, also didn’t look good, going 9 for 17 for 112 yards and a touchdown.
The weekend ended with two last place teams facing each other, with Eastern laggard Ottawa heading to Edmonton to face the Western laggard Elks. In a game of interest to maybe only the players’ parents, Ottawa beat Edmonton 25-18. Ottawa scored three touchdowns in the first half to hold a 20-3 lead, and their defense was able to hold Edmonton to 15 points in the second half for the win. Ottawa’s Nate Behar had four catches for 101 yards, while Kenny Lawler of the Elks caught three for 146 yards.
Week 12 Results
Calgary 29 at Winnipeg 31
Hamilton 20 at Toronto 37
Saskatchewan 23 at British Columbia 16
Ottawa 25 at Edmonton 18
McDonald CFL Power Ratings
There was very little change in the rankings this week, as the only change was Calgary and British Columbia swapping spots in 2nd and 3rd. Winnipeg remains the top-ranked team in the league, by far. The top 4 teams are all from the West, with the top-ranked Eastern team, Toronto, just barely above the 1500 rating point “average” line. With Ottawa’s win over Edmonton, they’ve gone back above the 1400 point “stink” line.
| Ranking | Team | Rating | Record |
| 1 | Winnipeg | 1628 (▲9) | 10-1, 1st West |
| 2 (▲1) | Calgary | 1544 (▼8) | 6-4, T-3rd West |
| 3 (▼1) | British Columbia | 1542 (▼16) | 8-2, 2nd West |
| 4 | Saskatchewan | 1526 (▲16) | 6-5, T-3rd West |
| 5 | Toronto | 1501 (▲10) | 5-5, 1st East |
| 6 | Montreal | 1490 | 4-6, 2nd East |
| 7 | Hamilton | 1463 (▼10) | 3-8, 3rd East |
| 8 | Edmonton | 1425 (▼16) | 3-8, 5th East |
| 9 | Ottawa | 1405 (▲16) | 2-8, 4th East |
Grey Cup Predictions
Winnipeg remains the favourite to win the Grey Cup, and with their win over Calgary and British Columbia’s loss to Saskatchewan, their odds are now at 39%, up 4% from last week. That loss to Saskatchewan pushed British Columbia down to a 12% chance of winning it, still 2nd-best from the West but now 3rd-best in the league, behind Toronto at 15%. Saskatchewan, with a 6th-best chance of 9%, have their chances bolstered by being the team most likely to crossover in the playoffs, with a 58% chance of that happening. Of course, that would mean that they finish 4th in the West, but then they would get to face the weaker Eastern teams in the playoffs, albeit on the road.
Overall, there’s a 71% chance of a Western team winning the Grey Cup, up 1% from last week’s report. We’ve also determined that there’s a 90% chance of a 4th-place Western team crossing over to the East for the playoffs (up from 82% last week), versus less than a 1% chance of an Eastern team crossing over to the West (same as last week).
| Grey Cup Ranking | Team | Rating | Win Grey Cup |
| 1 | Winnipeg | 1628 | 39% (▲4) |
| 2 (▲1) | Toronto | 1501 | 15% (▲2) |
| 3 (▼1) | British Columbia | 1542 | 12% (▼4) |
| 4 | Montreal | 1490 | 11% (▼1) |
| 5 | Calgary | 1544 | 10% (▼1) |
| 6 | Saskatchewan | 1526 | 9% (▲2) |
| 7 | Hamilton | 1463 | 3% (▼2) |
| 8 | Ottawa | 1405 | 1% |
| 9 (▼1) | Edmonton | 1425 | <1% (▼1) |
Our Full Predictions
Here’s our full predictions.
| Team | Rating | Make Playoffs | Host Playoff Game | Win Division | Make Division Final | Make Grey Cup | Win Grey Cup |
| Winnipeg 10-1, 1st in West |
1628 | >99% | 98% | 85% | 94% | 60% | 39% |
| Toronto 5-5, 1st in East |
1501 | 91% | 90% | 59% | 75% | 41% | 15% |
| British Columbia 8-2, 2nd in West |
1542 | >99% | 71% | 13% | 56% | 22% | 12% |
| Montreal 4-6, 2nd in East |
1490 | 81% | 79% | 35% | 60% | 30% | 11% |
| Calgary 6-4, T-3rd in West |
1544 | 97% | 26% | 1% | 49% | 18% | 10% |
| Saskatchewan 6-5, T-3rd in West |
1526 | 90% | 5% | 1% | 43% | 18% | 9% |
| Hamilton 3-8, 3rd in East |
1463 | 25% | 20% | 3% | 15% | 7% | 3% |
| Ottawa 2-8, 4th in East |
1405 | 12% | 11% | 3% | 7% | 3% | 1% |
| Edmonton 3-8, 5th in West |
1425 | 3% | <1% | <1% | 1% | 1% | <1% |
Week 13 Game Predictions
Friday: Ottawa (31%) at Montreal (68%)
Sunday: Winnipeg (56%) at Saskatchewan (43%)
Monday: Toronto (48%) at Hamilton (51%)
Monday: Edmonton (27%) at Calgary (72%)