CFL.ca Game Notes: A look at Week 19

TORONTO — Halloween is less than a week away and fans are about to get a treat, not a trick, as we head into Week 19 of the 2017 season.

The week starts in Ottawa, where the REDBLACKS welcome the Tiger-Cats for the first half of Friday night’s double header. While Hamilton has already been eliminated from the playoffs, the Ticats have a chance to play spoiler with a win over Ottawa. If they beat the REDBLACKS, the Argonauts will clinch first in the East Division and host the Eastern Final. If Ottawa wins, it will move into first place in the division and force Toronto into a must-win situation when returning from a bye in Week 20. Trevor Harris will have to roll without his go-to guy, Brad Sinopoli, who will miss the rest of the season with a shoulder injury. Jeremiah Masoli, on the other hand, has his favourite receiver, Brandon Banks, rolling with a four-game streak of 100-plus receiving yards.

Things then move to Saskatchewan, where the Roughriders play host to the Montreal Alouettes. Montreal’s struggles continued last week and the Als hope to turn things around on the road. Darian Durant will get the start for the Riders as he makes his way back to Saskatchewan for the first time this season. The Riders, on the other hand, will be without running back Cameron Marshall and receiver Naaman Roosevelt this week. Duron Carter will play at cornerback once again, while also pitching in on offence at receiver. Carter scored a pick-six last week in his first game starting on defence and will hope to make an impact again at home.

The second double header of the weekend starts in Winnipeg, where the stakes are high for the Blue Bombers. The Bombers need a win (or an Edmonton loss) to clinch second place in the West to host the Western Semi-Final. The Lions, on the other hand, are playing for pride after being eliminated from the post-season last week. Winnipeg’s depth will be tested this week after injuries have plagued their lineup – Darvin Adams, Timothy Flanders, Maurice Leggett and Jamaal Westerman have all been missing in action. Jonathon Jennings and co. could use those injuries to their favour to finish out their 2017 campaign on a high note.

And finally, the Edmonton Eskimos host the Calgary Stampeders in the Battle of Albert in Week 19’s finale. The Eskimos have come alive since their six-game losing skid earlier in the season. C.J. Gable, who could return this week after missing Week 18 with an injury, has made a huge impact in the two games he’s played since being traded to the Esks. The Stamps will have to shut down Gable and the dangerous receiving corps of Derel Walker, Brandon Zylstra and Adarius Bowman if they want to get the win. Calgary’s defence has held the Stampeders in games over the last two weeks – the offence has struggled to find the end zone – and will likely be leaned heavily on once again this week. Who will come out on top in the Battle of Alberta?

Buy Week 19 Tickets

» Friday, 7:00 p.m. ET: Hamilton at Ottawa
» Friday, 9:30 p.m. ET: Montreal at Saskatchewan
» Saturday, 4:00 p.m. ET: BC at Winnipeg
» Saturday, 7:00 p.m. ET: Calgary at Edmonton

THIS WEEK IN THE CFL

Playoff Scenarios for Week 19

PLAYING BOTH WAYS AND SCORING

• Last week Duron Carter, who has 72 catches and 1,037 yards this season, played as a defensive back. In the game, Carter recorded his first interception and returned it 37 yards for a touchdown.
• Since 1997, three players have recorded a receiving touchdown and an interception return touchdown in the same season:

• Joe Hagins in 1999 recorded a rushing touchdown and an interception return touchdown.
• This season there have been 16 interception return touchdowns – led by Saskatchewan and Winnipeg with four and 16 fumble recovery touchdowns.

TIC TAC TOE FOUR IN A ROW

• Hamilton’s Brandon Banks has recorded 100-plus receiving yards in four straight games. His past four game totals are; 129, 115, 104 and 100.
• In the last 22 seasons, the accomplishment has only occurred eight times by seven players

• The longest streak of 100-plus receiving yard games is eight, which is held by two players; Hal Patterson during the 1956 season and Terry Greer in the 1983 season.
• Only seven players have recorded 5-plus consecutive games of 100-plus receiving yard games: Patterson, Greer, Joey Walters (2 times), Jamel Richardson, Brian Kelly, Allen Pitts and Mac Cody.
• Since June Jones has been head coach for the Tiger-Cats, Banks has recorded 690 yards on 39 receptions in eight games. Prior to Jones, in eight games Banks had 52 yards on eight receptions.
• Banks also recorded his 11^th kick return touchdown (7 punt returns, 3 field goal miss return and a kickoff return).

WEEK 19 GAME NOTES

Bye Weeks: Teams coming off a bye this year are 9-7 (.563). The Ottawa REDBLACKS are coming off a Week 18 bye when they play the Hamilton Tiger-Cats on Friday night.

Masoli Magic: Jeremiah Masoli has recorded three straight 300-plus yard passing games, the longest streak in his career. Masoli has also thrown only one interception in the last six starts (169 pass attempts).

Sack Attack: Calgary Stampeders defensive lineman Charleston Hughes is three sacks away from 100 for his career and passing Will Johnson’s current franchise mark.

Home vs. Away: Kevin Glenn has a rating of 86.5 and has 18 TDs to 7 INT. On the road he has a rating of 55.9 with five TD and seven INT.

Consecutive Field Goals: Saskatchewan’s kicker Tyler Crapigna has booted 18 consecutive field goals.

5,000 Yards: Mike Reilly (5,252) and Ricky Ray (5,205) have eclipsed 5,000-yard barrier. With two games left, Matt Nichols (4,442) is 558 yards away and Bo Levi Mitchell (4,393) is 607 yards away from joining Reilly and Ray.

1,000 Yard Receivers: Entering Week 19, there are seven receivers that need 100 yards or less to get to 1,000. Bryan Burnham (997), Emmanuel Arceneaux (984), Jalen Saunders (977), Bakari Grant (969), BJ Cunningham (960), Luke Tasker (926) and Armani Edwards (911).

1,000 Yard RBs: A pair of Canadian running backs are looking to crack the 1,000 yards plateau. Jerome Messam (951) needs 49 yards and Andrew Harris (903) needs 97.

Tackle Race: Solomon Elimimian continues to lead the league in defensive tackles with 128. Following him it’s Calgary’s Alex Singleton with 115 and Montreal’s Kyries Hebert (103).

Sack Race: This might be the most heated race of them all. Currently there is a four-way tie for first with Ja’Gared Davis, Charleston Hughes, Victor Butler and Micah Johnson each with nine. There are also eight players who are two sacks or less behind the leaders with nine.

Close Games: 60 per cent of games have been decided in the final 3:00 minutes, with 25 games decided by four points or fewer and three overtime games.