October 20, 2016

CFL.ca Game Notes: A look at Week 18

The Canadian Press

TORONTO — It’s Week 18 of the CFL’s 2016 season and this week features two doubleheaders, that may bring some clarity in the playoff picture, especially in the East.

It all starts on Friday night when the Hamilton Tiger-Cats pay a visit to the nation’s capital to take on the REDBLACKS. These two teams met last week, in a back-and-forth contest that saw the visiting REDBLACKS win by just a single point. This week, the Tiger-Cats will be looking for revenge as they hope to stay in the race for first place in the East. Without their star quarterback and special teamer (Brandon Banks will be out serving the first of his two game suspension) the Tabbies will rely on Jeremiah Masoli to lead the offence and newly signed Kendial Lawrence on returns. Ottawa, meanwhile, will go back to the steady hand of Henry Burris, who had a stellar outing in Hamilton in his first start since Week 9. Burris and co. will be anxious to put more space in between them and the Tiger-Cats with a win on home turf.

The action then moves to Calgary where the Argonauts and the Stampeders clash in the second half of Friday’s doubleheader. There has yet to be a team since Week 1 that has been able to solve the Stampeders, as the club has won 13 straight contests. While most focus on the stellar Bo Levi Mitchell and his offence, Calgary’s defence has been just as good. The defence is leading the league in total points allowed (339), sacks (48) and pass knockdowns (75). The Argos, meanwhile, have lost seven of their last eight contests and will hope for a spark in their offence with the return of Ricky Ray to the huddle this week.

In the first half of Saturday’s doubleheader, the Montreal Alouettes head west to take on the Saskatchewan Roughriders. The Riders are rolling with three straight wins and are hoping to keep it going this week despite already being eliminated from playoff contention. The Als, meanwhile, released two receivers last week, Duron Carter and Kenny Stafford, and will look to Vernon Adams Jr. to take the reins of the offence this week. The start will be Adams’ first of his CFL career as he hopes to improve his team’s 4-11 record.

And finally, the Edmonton Eskimos head to BC for a matchup with the Lions. Both teams will be fighting for position in the West with the Esks just two points behind BC, who sit in third place. The Lions are coming off back-to-back losses against the Blue Bombers and will be looking to turn things around at home. Edmonton, meanwhile, will be refreshed coming off its Week 17 bye, not to mention rolling with confidence from a three-game winning streak. If the Esks want to rise up the standings, and out of the crossover position, they’ll need a win on the road.


BUY WEEK 18 TICKETSThe Canadian Press

» Friday, 7:00 p.m. ET: Hamilton at Ottawa
» Friday, 9:00 p.m. ET: Toronto at Calgary
» Saturday, 4:00 p.m. ET: MTL at Saskatchewan
» Saturday, 7:00 p.m. ET: Edmonton at BC


THIS WEEK IN THE CFL

West dominance: Following Saskatchewan’s victory over Toronto and Calgary’s victory over Montreal, the West Division has won 15 consecutive inter-divisional games and owns the overall record this season at 24-8.

Ground game on its way up: Teams continue to find success running the ball, particularly in the last five weeks. Last week’s games averaged 204 rushing yards per game, meaning the average has reached the 200+ yards mark in four of the last five weeks. Prior to Week 13, no weeks in 2016 averaged more than 200 yards per game.

Low penalties: Last week’s games averaged a season-low 13 penalties per game.

Short game: The Ottawa/Hamilton game lasted two hours and 36 minutes, making it the second fastest game of the season. The fastest game took place in Week 11 between BC and Toronto (2:30).

1K Club: Last week, Calgary’s Marquay McDaniel (1,074) and Ottawa’s Ernest Jackson (1,024) eclipsed the 1,000-yard mark for the season. McDaniel and Jackson grew the list of receivers with over 1000 yards to nine, joining: Adarius Bowman (1,609), Derel Walker (1,464), Chris Williams (1,246), Emmanuel Arceneaux (1,186), Bryan Burnham (1,151), Naaman Roosevelt (1,095) and Greg Ellingson (1,100).

The next receivers looking to join the club this week include: Andy Fantuz (938), Brad Sinopoli (928) and Nik Lewis (901).

Ottawa is looking to become only the second team in CFL history to have four receivers with 1,000+ receiving yards in back-to-back seasons. They could also become the first team with the same set of receivers (Chris Williams, Greg Ellingson, Ernest Jackson and Brad Sinopoli) to record 1,000+ yards for the same team in consecutive years.

Toronto native Jerome Messam still leads the league in rushing yards (1,051) and is the only running back to rush for over 1,000 yards. Messam has added 470 receiving yards on top of his rushing total. Toronto’s Brandon Whitaker is second in the league with 855 rushing yards and Winnipeg’s Andrew Harris is third with 816 yards. However, Whitaker (1,352) and Harris (1,327) as well as Edmonton’s John White (1,105) have 1,000+ yards from scrimmage.


» PHOTOS OF THE WEEK: THE BEST PHOTOS FROM WEEK 17


WEEK 17 GAME NOTES

Fantuz records: Andy Fantuz has a career-high 93 catches this year (and is on pace for 112) and 623 for his career. He is only four back of Jock Climie’s 627 for #17 all-time, having recently moved into the all-time Top 20. He is currently the fifth all-time Canadian on the list, trailing Ben Cahoon’s 1,017 receptions.

Team 100: BC’s Solomon Elimimian starts Week 18 with 113 tackles while Montreal’s Bear Woods has received credit for one additional tackle (from a post-game stats review) and now sits at 110. Adam Bighill, with three games left to play, needs four tackles to reach 100 for the third time in his career.

Ground game rolling: Over the first 49 games of the 2016 season, CFL clubs averaged only 160 rushing yards per game on 33.8 attempts. Over the last 20 games, those same numbers have risen to 204 yards on 37.3 rushes per game – a 28% increase in yardage and a 10% increase in attempts. The average gain in rushing was only 4.7 yards in the first 49 games, and has been 5.5 yards in the last 20 games.

Quarterbacks throwing yards: Both Bo Levi Mitchell (5,127) and Mike Reilly (5,054) have thrown for over 5,000 yards; Reilly still has a realistic chance at 6000+ in 2016. BC’s Jonathon Jennings (currently at 4,405) can make it three quarterbacks with 5000+ yards in 2016. The last time that the CFL had three passers go over 5,000 yards in the same season was 2008 and the record is four in one season.

6K for Reilly?: Mike Reilly will continue to try to keep his pace for a 6,000+ passing yard season. He is currently on pace to pass for 6,064 passing yards this season.

Gotta catch ’em all: Reilly’s teammate Adarius Bowman is on pace for 131 receptions this season, which would be the second-most in CFL history. He is also on pace for 1,930 yards. Bowman and Derel Walker have a combined 3,073 yards, on pace for a CFL tandem record of 3,688. The current CFL record is 3,318 yards by Jermaine Copeland and Ben Cahoon for Montreal in 2003. Bowman is three receptions short of his own Edmonton club record of 112, set in 2014.

Rebuild in full swing: The Saskatchewan Roughriders have set new CFL records in 2016 with 91 different players with at least one game, and a record 99 individuals spending time on the Active Roster or Injured List. The old record was 88 with one game or more by Hamilton in 2013. BC is 30 back with the fewest at only 61 different players this season 15 games.

Comeback kids: The Saskatchewan Roughriders have staged one of the greatest in-season turnarounds in CFL history. They are only the second team ever to win four games in a row following a seven-game losing streak. The only other team to follow a losing streak of seven games or more with a winning streak of four games or more was Edmonton in 1971.

Low flying ball hawks: This year there have been an all-time low number of interceptions made in the CFL (118 total, or a rate of just one in every 42.5 pass attempts – 2.35%). The previous record was 2.79% in 2014 or once every 35.3 passes.

Total kick return yards: Calgary’s Roy Finch leads the league with 2,122 total kick return yards. However the top four, which includes Chris Rainey (2,110), Stefan Logan (2,085) and Brandon Banks (2,023) are separated by only 99 yards. The record for most kick return yards in a single season is held by Winnipeg’s Eric Blount in 1998 where he tallied 2,878 return yards.