CFL.ca Game Notes: A look at Week 15

TORONTO — The leaves are starting to fall and the air is getting cooler which means we’re headed into the final stretch of the CFL season.

Week 15 gets started in Ottawa where the Saskatchewan Roughriders take on the REDBLACKS. Trevor Harris isn’t ready to return to the field just yet which means it’ll be Ryan Lindley’s team for the time being. The Riders are coming off a loss to the Calgary Stampeders where they failed to score a touchdown. Kevin Glenn and co. will be hungry to find the end zone this week. Both teams need the win to keep pace in their respective divisions if they want to stay in the playoff race.

Things then move to Calgary for the second half of Friday night’s doubleheader where the Montreal Alouettes visit the Stampeders. Montreal’s struggles continued last week and they’ll be looking to try an turn things around with a win at McMahon Stadium. Calgary, meanwhile, have continued to tear through the Canadian Football League and will be tough to stop at home where they hold a 6-0 record this season.

Saturday’s doubleheader begins in Hamilton as the Tiger-Cats play host to the Toronto Argonauts. Hamilton has won three of their last four games as their playoff hopes are still alive in the wide open East Division. The Argos, on the other hand, are sitting on top of the East and will look to keep the Ticats behind them in the standings.

And finally, the week ends in Edmonton as the Blue Bombers look to keep the Esks out of the win column and behind them in the standings. The Esks will have a dangerous Bombers offence to deal with on Saturday night as they return from a Week 14 bye. Keeping Matt Nichols’ and co. off the field will be key for Edmonton. Winnipeg, on the other hand, will have to contain Mike Reilly and his receivers, Derel Walker, Brandon Zylstra and Adarius Bowman. Can the Bombers keep winning or will Edmonton snap their losing skid?

Buy Week 15 Tickets

» Friday, 7:00 p.m. ET: Saskatchewan at Ottawa
» Friday, 9:30 p.m. ET: Montreal at Calgary
» Saturday, 6:30 p.m. ET: Toronto at Hamilton
» Saturday, 9:30 p.m. ET: Winnipeg at Edmonton

THIS WEEK IN THE CFL

ARGONAUTS’ WILD THING

• Toronto Argonauts running back James Wilder Jr. has had an incredible two week span. Week 13 versus the Edmonton Eskimos, Wilder Jr. compiled 257 combined yards (190 rushing, 67 receiving) and a touchdown. In Week 14 versus the Montreal Alouettes, Wilder Jr. notched 218 combined yards (141 rushing, 77 receiving) and a touchdown.
• In the two games he has 475 combined yards and two touchdowns.
• His first CFL touchdown in Week 13 was the longest in the CFL (76 yards), but in Week 14 he exceeded the mark with a 85-yard touchdown.
• The FSU products 331 rushing yards in the last two games are the most in the Argos modern era surpassing Cory Boyd’s 290 yards over a two-game stretch in 2010. Former Alouettes RB Mike Pringle holds the CFL record for rushing yards over two games with 425 yards in 1994.
• His 331 yards rushing in the past two games is the most since Jon Cornish rushed for 338 yards in 2013. Wilder Jr.’s 331 yards ranks 17^th all-time among two-game rushing totals in CFL history.
• The three-game record is 548 yards is held by Troy Mills (230, 131 and 187 yards).
• Additionally, Wilder Jr.’s 85-yard touchdown in the third quarter was the club’s longest carry since Chuck Ealey’s 86-yard run in 1976.
• During Wilder Jr.’s recent surge the Argonauts are riding a two-game winning streak and lead the East Division.
• The Argonauts own a .714 winning percentage at home (5-2) and are riding a three-game win streak at BMO Field.
• Through his first 13 games in his CFL career, Wilder Jr. has recorded 503 rushing (8.4 yards per carry) and 236 receiving yards.

GAPS BETWEEN WINNING AND LOSING (PER GAME AVERAGES)

1,000 YARDS

• Ottawa’s Greg Ellingson and Toronto’s SJ Green continue to be the only players to record 1,000 receiving or rushing yards.
• Four receivers are nearing the benchmark; Edmonton’s Brandon Zylstra (982), Winnipeg’s Darvin Adams, Saskatchewan’s Naaman Roosevelt (929) and Ottawa’s Brad Sinopoli (921).
• Last season saw 15 receivers reach 1,000 yards; the record for the most in a season is 19 set in 2005.
• A 1,000 yard receiving yards season has now occurred 445 times by 175 players.
• On the rushing side, Calgary’s Jerome Messam is 103 yards away from reaching a 1,000. It would be his fourth time reaching 1,000 yards and third second straight season doing so.
• Last year only Messam (1,198) and Brandon Whitaker (1,009) rushed for over 1,000 yards.
• Rushing for 1,000 yards has happened 222 times by 106 players.
• Winnipeg Blue Bombers running back Andrew Harris is on pace for 1,109 rushing yards and 956 receiving yards. In order for Harris to become the only player to record 1,000 rushing and receiving yards he would need to average 61 receiving yards per game and 44 rushing yards in his final six games.

WEEK 15 GAME NOTES

Lots of Points: Winnipeg has scored 409 points in 12 games this season. They are on pace for 614 points, the most since 1994 when they scored 651 points, a franchise record.

Mr. 100: Brad Sinopoli is 17 receptions from 100 this season. He would become the first Ottawa player to record 100 receptions.

Ticats claw Lions: Hamilton’s victory over BC last week marked the first time since 2011 that the Tiger-Cats won in Vancouver. Since Jeremiah Masoli was named the Tiger-Cats starting quarterback the team has gone 3-1.

Close Games: 56% of games this season have been decided in the final three minutes.

Consistently Consistent: In the last three calendar years dating back to September 2014, the Calgary Stampeders have lost just nine times. Of those nine defeats, the Montreal Alouettes have accounted for four of them. Montreal beat Calgary in Week 4 this year.

Defensive TDs: With six weeks to play there have been 24 defensive return touchdowns, the same amount as all of last season.

Strong Offensive Lines: In 13 games, Calgary has only allowed 15 sacks this season (1.2 per game). The next best team is Edmonton and they have allowed 20 sacks (1.7 sacks per game).

Sack Attack: Toronto and Calgary lead the league in sacks with 38 each. The next best team is Edmonton who are 10 sacks behind the leaders with 28.

Bye Weeks: Teams coming off a bye this year are 8-4. The Edmonton Eskimos are coming off a Week 14 bye to host the Winnipeg Blue Bombers who are four points in front of them in the West Division standings.

Home Sweet Home: With a Calgary victory and an Edmonton loss, Calgary will clinch a home playoff date. In the last 12 seasons, Calgary has hosted a playoff game on ten occasions. Calgary has hosted a home playoff game the last five seasons.

Lucky No. 13: This marks the 13th consecutive season the Calgary Stampeders have clinched a playoff berth.

Second Quarter Success: The second quarter is where the most points are scored: 16.4 points (31%). The lowest is the first quarter with 9.6 points (18%).

Yards on First Down: Saskatchewan has the highest average yards on first down with 7.4.

Mr. 100 x2: Kevin Glenn will attempt to get his 100^th career win as a starter. Ricky Ray is the active leader with 109 wins as a starter.

Iron Legs: This season kickers are 16/25 (64%) from 50+ yards out. Hamilton’s Sergio Castillo and Winnipeg’s Justin Medlock each have hit four each – however, Castillo is a perfect 4/4. Castillo has the highest field-goal average length at 36.5.

Sack Race: It’s a four-way tie for the sack lead. Victor Butler, Charleston Hughes, Micah Johnson and Craig Roh each have eight sacks this season.

Sack Attack, again: When a sack occurs on a drive a team has gone on to score a touchdown 2% of the time or one in every 46.6 drives. When a sack doesn’t occur teams score a touchdown 20% of the time or 1 in 5 drives.