Johany Jutras/CFL.ca
TORONTO — The stretch run of the 2017 season is in full swing as Week 13 kicks off Friday night.
The week gets started in Hamilton as the Tiger-Cats host the Saskatchewan Roughriders. The Ticats are riding a two-game winning streak after making a change at quarterback, swapping Zach Collaros for Jeremiah Masoli. Hamilton’s ground game has also come alive, with running back C.J. Gable scoring three touchdowns in his last two games. The Riders, on the other hand, lost the Banjo Bowl last week but that doesn’t mean Hamilton can take them lightly. Saskatchewan has one of the most dangerous receiving corps in the league and a stingy defence that includes Ed Gainey, who is leading the league in interceptions (six).
Things then move to Toronto for the first half of Saturday’s doubleheader as the Eskimos roll into town. The Argos are coming off a bye week and will be hungry for their first win of the season against a West opponent. The Esks, meanwhile, are coming off a loss to Calgary and will be hoping to snap its four-game losing skid. Derel Walker made an impact in his first game back in the CFL as Mike Reilly looked to him often in the loss in Week 12. Toronto has its own stellar pass-catcher in S.J. Green and has been Ricky Ray’s favourite target in 2017. It’s sure to be an air-raid on Saturday afternoon in Toronto.
The second half of the doubleheader heads to Calgary as the BC Lions pay a visit to the Stampeders. With Travis Lulay out for the rest of the season with a knee injury, the BC Lions’ offence is back in the hands of Jonathon Jennings. Jennings led the Lions to a win last week but can he continue that this week? The Stamps have won seven games in a row and continue to be the ones to beat this season. Will the Lions snap the Stamps streak or can Calgary keep things rolling?
And finally, things end in Montreal where the Alouettes play host to the Ottawa REDBLACKS. The Als will have a new bench boss this week in Kavis Reed, who is the interim head coach after dismissing Jacques Chapdelaine. Drew Tate will be starting for the REDBLACKS as Trevor Harris was placed on the six-game injured list with a shoulder injury. Both teams need a win to stay in the race in the East Division.
Buy Week 13 Tickets
» Friday, 7:00 p.m. ET: Saskatchewan at Hamilton
» Saturday, 4:00 p.m. ET: Edmonton at Toronto
» Saturday, 7:00 p.m. ET: BC at Calgary
» Sunday, 1:00 p.m. ET: Ottawa at Montreal
THIS WEEK IN THE CFL
TURNAROUND IN THE HAMMER
- The Ticats are 2-0 since handing the coaching reins to June Jones, beating East Division foes Toronto and Ottawa.
- It was the ninth in-season coaching change since 1958 for the Hamilton Tiger-Cats.
- When Saskatchewan comes into town on Friday, Jones is looking to make it three wins in a row. The last first-year head coach to take over in-season and win at least their first three games was Larry Donovan for BC in 1987.
- Since Jones named Jeremiah Masoli the starting quarterback, Masoli has passed for 450 yards and rushed for 84. His record as a starter is now 6-5 (.545) and he has won his last three starts dating back to 2016.
- Others to shine in the two wins include: running back CJ Gable (who has recorded 157 yards from scrimmage and three touchdowns) and Brandon Banks (who has recorded 152 receiving yards and a touchdown). Justin Capiccioti has three sacks in his last three games.
- Hamilton is looking to become the first-team ever to begin the season 0-8 and make the playoffs, as a win on Friday would put them within two points of Toronto and three behind Ottawa in the East Division playoff race.
STRONG IN SASKATCHEWAN
- In their last four games (since August 13th, 2017) the Roughriders have outscored their opponents 60-10 in the first quarter.
- Duron Carter now has a six-game streak of games with a touchdown reception, one game away from matching the CFL’s third-longest streak and tying the Saskatchewan club record set by Hugh Campbell in 1969 and tied by Weston Dressler in 2012.
- Fellow Roughrider Naaman Roosevelt has caught a pass in all 31 games he has played for Saskatchewan since entering the league in 2015. He enters Week 13 with back-to-back 100+ yard games and a three-game receiving TD streak.
- Jovon Johnson leads the league in knockdowns with 10, on pace to match the CFL record of 18. He has four in his last three games.
- If Kevin Glenn starts this week, he will look to extend his streak of four games with multiple touchdown passes. His career best is a streak of six games from September-October 2010. He is one win away from 100 career wins, which would tie him for eighth all-time.
WEEK 13 GAME NOTES
Double Trouble: Maurice Leggett made both a kick return touchdown and a defensive return touchdown in the same game in Week 12 – something that has been done only three times before in the CFL.
First Starts: Drew Tate starts for the first-time as a REDBLACK. He has a 10-4 career record as a starter. If Brandon Bridge starts this week it will be his second career start. His first was November 15, 2015 versus Saskatchewan.
Race to 1,000: Brandon Zylstra is 84 receiving yards away from his first 1,000-yard season.
Longest Streak Alert: The Stampeders, who face BC this week, are just one win against a West Division team short of tying the longest divisional win streak in CFL history (dating back to 1950). The record of 15 was set by Toronto over the 1996-1997 seasons.
Home Field Advantage: Calgary also has a 15-game home win streak, the seventh-longest in CFL history. They can tie Winnipeg (16 straight from 1983-1985) at #5 with a win this week at McMahon Stadium.
Bye Weeks: Teams coming off a bye this year are 6-4. The Argonauts are coming off a Week 12 bye to host the Eskimos.
Rely on Roy: Calgary’s Roy Finch has a punt return average of 16.7 yards. The best average in a season is 16.8 held by Leon Bright and Larry Highbaugh.
Iron Leg: Montreal’s Boris Bede has a kickoff average of 68.0 yards. The best-ever in a season is 67.9 (Jamie Boreham).
Close games: the average margin of victory is just 11.8 points, the lowest since 2001.
Get Smart: Teams are getting smarter, with just 8.4 2-and-outs per game, down 13% from 2016 and 31& from 2014.
3rd & Short: Teams have converted 90.5% of third and short (1-2 yards) conversions this season. Calgary has gone a perfect 16-for-16. The only other team to go perfect is Saskatchewan (9-for-9). Calgary was 25-for-31 last season, when Ottawa was the only team to go perfect, making all 15 attempts.
Go For Two: Teams are 39-for-66 (59%) on two-point converts this season. Ottawa leads the league with 10 successful attempts.
West Crossover: A West team taking the crossover two years in a row has only ever happened once before: Edmonton in 2008 followed by Saskatchewan in 2009.
Turnover Ratio: Only three teams have a positive ratio this year: Calgary +16, Saskatchewan +7 and Winnipeg +5. Hamilton has the best ratio in the East Division with -2. The three teams who have a positive ratio have a cumulative record of 22-9-1 (.703). The remaining teams are -28 and have a combined record of 26-39-1 (.402).
Go Long: Of the 3,637 pass attempts in 2017, 59% or 3/5 are short range, or eight yards or fewer while 16% (1 in 6) are “deep throws” for 20+ yards. However, throwing further downfield has paid off, with 47% (76 of 161) of 2017’s touchdown passes coming on deep throws.
Comeback Kids: Edmonton leads the league with three victories when trailing after three quarters. Edmonton also leads the league in victories when recording more turnovers.
Up Top: There have been 17 blocked kicks in 2017, more than in all of 2016 (15).
Penalties way down: 2017 has an average of just 15.8 penalties per game, down 11% from last year (17.8) and 23% from 2015 (20.4., the highest average since 2004).
Shorter Games: Game time is also down, with an average length of 2:49 compared to 2016’s 2:51 and 2014’s 2:55.
Scoring Up: Scoring is up 3% from 2016 and 20% from 2014 at 54.6 points per game.
QUAR: Matt Nichols leads all QBs in QUAR rating with 89.5 and has separated himself from the QBs above 80. Reilly 84.4, Glenn is 83.8 and Mitchell is 83.3. Through Week 5 Nichols’ QUAR rating was 70.5 which ranked him seventh in the CFL. Since then, his QUAR rating is 95.4 and Winnipeg has gone 6-1.
Linebackers: Solomon Elimimian is two starts shy of 100 for his career. He is now only one tackle ahead of Alex Singleton who has recorded 24 tackles in the last two games. Singleton will be making his 22nd career start.
100: Eddie Steele reached 100 career CFL games last week.
