September 29, 2016

CFL.ca Game Notes: A look at Week 15

Arthur Ward/CFL.ca

TORONTO — It’s Week 15 of the CFL’s 2016 season and this week features a weekend full of football.

It all starts on Friday night when the Edmonton Eskimos pay a visit to the Winnipeg Blue Bombers. The Esks currently hold the crossover playoff spot after their win last week over the Lions combined with an Argonauts loss. The Esks relied on the ground game instead of their usual aerial attack with Shakir Bell rushing for 108 yards on 23 carries and a major score. The Bombers, meanwhile, had their seven-game winning streak snapped courtesy of the Calgary Stampeders. Even though they didn’t get a win, Winnipeg gave Calgary a run for their money, almost completing the comeback in the wild second half. A win for the Bombers this week will widen the gap between themselves and the Esks in the West.

The action then moves to Hamilton for the first half of Saturday’s doubleheader. The Tiger-Cats, filled with injuries and with their bench boss removed from the sidelines, will look to be only the second team to beat the Stampeders this season. Hamilton’s last second loss to the Riders in Week 14 will be fresh on their minds as they hope to move to .500. Calgary, meanwhile, has already clinched a playoff spot but every win is crucial to winning the West.

The second half of Saturday’s doubleheader features the BC Lions hosting the Ottawa REDBLACKS. West Division teams have won against East Division teams in eight-straight games, but the REDBLACKS will do everything they can to end that trend this week. It won’t be easy for Ottawa’s defence as the Lions boast the league’s best rushing attack and has a trio of receivers – Emmanuel Arceneaux, Bryan Burnham and Shawn Gore – that can make any secondary dizzy. However, with one of the league’s most efficient pivots in Trevor Harris under centre, the REDBLACKS have what it takes to push back.

Finally, the Argos head to Montreal to tussle with the Alouettes for an East matchup. The contest will be Jacques Chapdelaine’s first as head coach of Montreal and the club will hope that change can spark their offence to start to turn the corner. Meanwhile, the Argos look to Drew Willy, who will be making his first start in the Double Blue, to help engnite their own offence. With the crossover threat looming, both teams will need a win to keep pace in the tight East Division.


BUY WEEK 15 TICKETSJohany Jutras/CFL.ca

» Friday, 8:30 p.m. ET: Edmonton at Winnipeg
» Saturday, 4:00 p.m. ET: Calgary at Hamilton
» Saturday, 10:00 p.m. ET: Ottawa at BC
» Sunday, 1:00 p.m. ET: Toronto at Montreal


THIS WEEK IN THE CFL

2016 Esks vs. 1995 Stamps: With his six catches for 121 yards in Week 14, Adarius Bowman is continuing his torrid pace towards 2,000-yards this season. He’ll need to average 120 yards per game to reach the mark. Bowman continues to lead the league in receiving yards with a total of 1,400 in 13 games and is five receptions short of 100 catches.

Not far behind is Derel Walker, the second-leading receiver and Bowman’s teammate. Walker has notched 1,248 yards on 84 receptions. Bowman is on pace for 132 receptions, which would be the second-highest of all-time behind Allen Pitts (160). Walker is projected to reach 116 receptions.

The only time two players on the same team recorded 100 receptions in the same year was in 1995 when Dave Sapunjis (111) and Allen Pitts (100) did so for the Stampeders. That season Sapunjis finished with 1,655 yards and Pitts recorded 1,492 yards.

Calgary Stampeders quarterbacks Doug Flutie and Jeff Garcia teamed up to pass for a combined 6,146 yards and 41 touchdown passes in the same season.

Following last week’s game versus BC, Mike Reilly is on pace for 6,027 passing yards. After his 300-yard passing game last week Reilly has now passed for 300 or more yards 10 times this season with five games to go. The record for most 300-yard passing games in a season is 14, set by Doug Flutie during the 1991 season with BC.

Lucky number 18: BC Lions quarterback Jonathan Jennings completed his 18th career start last week against the Edmonton Eskimos. 18 career starts is equivalent to a full season in the CFL. During that time, Jennings has compiled a record of 11-7, 371 for 563 (65.8%) on pass attempts, 5,060 yards, 30 touchdown passes, 14 interceptions and a passer rating of 101.7.

This season, Jennings is third in the league in passing yards with 3,308 and fourth in touchdown passes with 15. He is completing 64.7% of his passes. Jennings is on pace for just under 5,000 passing yards for the 2016 season. In BC Lions history, only Doug Flutie, Dave Dickenson and Casey Printers have reached the 5,000 yardmark.

Walk off wins and game-winning drives: During Week 14, Rene Paredes kicked a 52-yard field goal to win the game for the Stampeders; Tyler Crapigna did the same for the Roughriders with a 29-yard field goal. Each game-winning field goal was the final play of the game.

This season there have been six games won on the final play of the game, including four in the last two weeks:

Date Team Opponent Scoring Play Player
Aug 30/16 BC 16 TOR 13 30-yard FG Richie Leone
Sept 4/16 WPG 28 SSK 25 43-yard FG Justin Medlock
Sept 16/16 HAM 20 MTL 17 10-yard FG Brett Maher
Sept 18/16 (OT) SSK 26 EDM 23 6-yard run Darian Durant
Sept 24/16 CGY 36 WPG 34 52-yard FG Rene Paredes
Sept 24/16 SSK 20 HAM 18 29-yard FG Tyler Crapigna

 

Three of the four winning teams last week produced fourth quarter game-winning drives, increasing the total to 21 this season. Mike Reilly, Bo Levi Mitchell and Mitchell Gale led their respective teams to late drives to pull out wins in Week 14.

The BC Lions lead the league with four late-game winning drives. They’re followed by a four-way tie for second: Calgary, Edmonton, Saskatchewan and Winnipeg have each produced three. Toronto has one, and Montreal has zero.


» PHOTOS OF THE WEEK: THE BEST PHOTOS FROM WEEK 14


WEEK 15 GAME NOTES

Rookie coach: Dave Dickenson is two wins shy of tying the record for most wins by a first-year head coach. Three other coaches achieved 13 wins: Adam Rita (1991, Toronto), John Hufnagel (2008, Calgary), and Mike Benevides (2012, Edmonton).

Coaching changes: Jacques Chapdelaine’s appointment to head coach of the Alouettes was the 59th in-season head coaching change in the CFL since 1950. The 58 prior coaches have gone 27-31 (.466) in their first games.

Home teams at .500: Home teams have won nine games in a row and have levelled the record to 28-28-1 against road teams.

The wild, wild West: West Division teams have now won eight consecutive games against East Division opponents. West teams are 17-8 versus the East for the season.

Feel the momentum: In the last 15 games, the league-wide attendance has averaged 27,256, up almost 13% compared to the first 42 games of 2016.

Breaking a record?: Edmonton defensive back Pat Watkins has 63 tackles, leading all non-linebackers. He is on pace for 87 defensive tackles this season, the most by any DB since Joey Boese set the CFL record with 92 in 2004.

All he does is win: Bo Levi Mitchell continues to increase his win percentage. He is now 39-7-1 (.840%) as a starter in the CFL.

Stalemate?: The game between Ottawa and BC this week features the #1 run defence in the CFL (Ottawa) against the #1 rushing offence (BC, at 106.9 yards per game).

Kickers doing kicker things: Rene Paredes, Justin Medlock and Chris Milo are on pace to record 200+ points.

Smith to the house: Jamill Smith returned a missed field goal 109 yards for a touchdown, the longest return by an Ottawa player since Jason Armstead’s 115-yard return in 2004 for the Renegades.

Small margin of victory: All three of Saskatchewan’s wins this season have been by 3 points or fewer (margins of 1, 3, and 2 points).

Weston moving North: Weston Dressler has moved up to #30 all-time in receiving at 8,487 yards. He has 25 catches in his last 4 games.

Points on points: The last two Winnipeg games have been wild, high-scoring ones with 145 total points and 16 combined touchdowns.

Lions on the loose: Adam Bighill and Solomon Elimimian are still on pace for 100+ tackles each this season. No team in CFL history has ever had two players reach 100+ tackles in the same season.

Milestones: Emmanuel Arceneaux (956), Marquay McDaniel (947) and Greg Ellingson (892) are next in line to reach the 1,000-yard mark.

Here comes the boom: There is a four-way tie for sacks leader in the CFL: John Chick, Charleston Hughes, Shawn Lemon and Alex Bazzie each have 10 sacks to their name.

Edmonton in the East?: If the playoffs started today, the road team in the East Semi-Final would be Edmonton.

All West crossovers: In the crossover era (1996-present) the poorest record to make the playoffs was 7-10-1 in 2000 (Winnipeg). Eight teams have crossed over since 1996. All crossovers have been made by West Division clubs.