Johany Jutras/CFL.ca
TORONTO — It wasn’t long after turning the page on Week 6 that a new chapter begins, as the calendar turns to August and the next portion of the Canadian Football League schedule kicks off.
Week 7 showed up quickly on the heels of a holiday Monday, starting with some mid-week action on a Wednesday night in Winnipeg as the Ticats and Bombers square off. Matt Nichols leads a depleted Bomber receiving corps with a second straight win in his sights while Jeremiah Masoli will make at least one more start for the Ticats as Zach Collaros works his way back from injury.
There’s no time for a breather after that, as Thursday Night Football arrives with a double-header, starting with a clash between the BC Lions and upstart Montreal Alouettes in La Belle Province. The Als look to keep the momentum going after a 41-3 home win over the Riders last weekend, but will be tested by the red-hot Jonathon Jennings and accompanying Lions offence.
The evening concludes with what should be a charged up rivalry matchup between the Riders and Stampeders, as these Western foes kick off a home-and-home at Calgary’s McMahon Stadium. The Riders are aiming to bounce back while the Stampeders haven’t lost since the season’s opening week.
A day of no football on Friday only lets anticipation mount ahead of this week’s marquee matchup, which arrives Saturday in the form of a Grey Cup rematch between the Eskimos and REDBLACKS. Their Week 1 matchup was a classic, as Henry Burris and Trevor Harris lit up the scoreboard to lead Ottawa to an eventual thrilling overtime victory. Expect plenty more fireworks in this one, a battle of the first- and second-ranked offences.
BUY WEEK 7 TICKETS
» Wednesday, 8:30 p.m. ET: Hamilton at Winnipeg
» Thursday, 7:00 p.m. ET: BC at Montreal
» Thursday, 10:00 p.m. ET: Saskatchewan at Calgary
» Saturday, 7:00 p.m. ET: Edmonton at Ottawa
THIS WEEK IN THE CFL
Scoring up, penalties down: Scoring remained high in Week 6, matching last week’s highest weekly average of 56.3 points per game. Meanwhile, penalties were at their lowest level of the 2016 season at 17.0 per game – the second-lowest weekly total in the last three years.
Close calls: Three of the four games in Week 6 were decided by a touchdown or less (two decided by three points each). Eight out of 24 games in 2016 have been decided by four points or fewer. Two games were won with fourth quarter scoring drives (Total in 2016: 8 in 24 games).
No lead is safe: Teams that have trailed at the end of the third quarter have won seven of 21 games (33 per cent). Meanwhile, Calgary’s comeback from 15 points was the seventh from a deficit of 10 or more points in 2016.
Long time coming: Winnipeg won on the road in Edmonton for the first time since July 2006, a stretch of nine previous games.
Everyone’s in it: Much like early last season, parity continues to be a theme throughout the first six weeks of 2016 as eight clubs now have at least two wins. Only two wins separate first from last in the East.
300 is the new 200? Five QBs passed for 300-plus yards in Week 6 including Logan Kilgore of Toronto in his first career start. Quarterbacks have eclipsed the mark 25 times in 2016, a frequency of more than half the starts made through 24 games. In all of 2015, only 40 games of 300-plus yards were recorded by CFL quarterbacks. In 2016 quarterbacks are on pace to record 84 300-plus yard games, more than twice as many as 2015.
300 is the new 200 Pt. 2: Edmonton’s Mike Reilly passed for 300-plus yards for the eighth consecutive game, one off the CFL record of nine set by Sam Etcheverry in 1956 and tied by Kent Austin in 1991.
Kicking back: After a slow start to 2016, the kickers responded in a big way in Week 6, connecting on 23 of 25 attempts — easily the best of the year at 92 per cent.
Bo knows: Bo Levi Mitchell has pushed his career winning percentage to .808 at 31-7-1, the highest winning percentage on record in CFL history. He also has a touchdown pass in 20 straight games, putting him within one of Anthony Calvillo and Doug Flutie for fourth on the all-time list.
» THE WEEKLY SAY: A question for every team in Week 7
Chris Jones will look to get the Riders back on track in Week 7 vs. Calgary (Matt Smith/CFL.ca)
WEEK 7 GAME NOTES
BC’s two losses in 2016: The Lions are 3-2 but could have very easily started their season 5-0. They’ve led by six and 15 points prior to yielding their two losses, while fast starts have been the norm after allowing only a total of 12 first quarter points all season thus far.
Als aim for two straight: The last four times that Montreal has won it has failed to get to two wins a row. The Als are now 1-6 when coming off a win the week before since Nov. 8, 2014. With a 2-3 record, the Alouettes have a chance this week to reach .500 at least six games into a season for the first time since the end of the 2014 season.
Bryan Burnham: Has recorded two consecutive 100-yard receiving games for BC, the first two of his CFL career. He was caught 14 passes on 18 Targets for 242 yards with seven of them resulting in second down conversions for the Lions.
Jonathan Jennings 3 TD passes (2x): Jennings has thrown three TD passes in each of the last two games – the last BC QB to do that was Jennings himself (Oct. 3-10, 2015 with seven TDs in total). Before Jennings you have to go back to Travis Lulay in the final two games of 2011.
Brandon Rutley: Stepping in for Tyrell Sutton, the Alouettes have found a great contributor in Brandon Rutley. He had 107 yards on 16 “touches” last game (42 rushing, 65 receiving). He has caught four passes in each of the last three games, five of which have gone for second down conversions (rare for a running back).
Perfect at home: The Stampeders are now the only CFL club yet to lose at home this season having beaten Winnipeg and BC after slow starts. Calgary scored 33 points across the second and third Quarters in the 36-22 win over Winnipeg, and then came back from 15 points down to BC with under 3:00 to play to win in overtime 44-41.
22 points in Q4: Calgary scored 22 points in the 4th Quarter vs BC, their largest 4th Quarter output since Oct. 24, 2014 when they counted 25 in a 40-27 win over Saskatchewan. It was the sixth time in Stampeders history that they had scored 22 or more points in the fourth quarter of a regular season game.
Tyler Crapigna: The CFL rookie kicker for Saskatchewan ranks #2 in the CFL with a 16-of-18 record on his FG attempts including a 5-of-6 mark from 40-plus yards and beyond. His current made FG streak has reached six in a row since he missed his final try on July 16, 2016.
