Costabile: 4 storylines to watch in Week 12

Kristina Costabile

CFL.ca

@kcostabile1

If you can believe it, it’s Week 12 in the CFL.

As we leave halfway mark of the season in the rearview mirror, there’s plenty of exciting storylines to follow across the country as teams start thinking about their push for the playoffs.

But before we look too far ahead, let’s take a look at this week.

The Saskatchewan Roughriders continue to take the ball away from their opponents while the Winnipeg Blue Bombers defence is shutting things down, and I mean completely shutting things down.

BC has lost four-straight while the REDBLACKS are red-hot with a 4-0-1 record over their last five games. Speaking of red-hot, how about those Elks? Winners of their last three contests, Edmonton’s secret to victory may not be all that secret after all.

Here’s a storyline to follow for every game in Week 12.

TURNOVERS, ANYONE?

Saskatchewan at Toronto | Thursday, August 22 | 7:30 p.m. ET

The Saskatchewan Roughriders may be on a bit of a losing skid right now (0-3-1 in their last four) but that doesn’t take away from what they’ve been able to do in the turnover department.

Their defence is the best in the CFL at forcing opponents to cough up the football through the first 11 weeks of the season. They’re first in turnover ratio with +14, quite a bit ahead of Montreal who’s at +7. They’ve forced 29 total turnovers, which is tops in the CFL as well, eight more than the second best teams, Montreal and Toronto, who are tied at 21.

Saskatchewan is also the best team in the CFL at picking off quarterbacks with 14 interceptions on the season. Rolan Milligan Jr. (who contributes in a plethora of other ways on defence and special teams as well) is leading the league with six.

As they head into Toronto this weekend, look for the Riders defence to keep this trend going as head coach Corey Mace looks to win in his first game back at BMO Field.

SPEAKING OF DEFENCE….

Hamilton at Winnipeg | Friday, August 23 | 8:30 p.m. ET

While the Riders defence has been excellent all season, the Winnipeg Blue Bombers defence has been sensational over their last two games (and that’s probably an understatement).

Through seven quarters against the Lions over two games, the Bombers defence allowed 0 points. No, that’s not a typo. They kept the Lions completely off the scoresheet until the fourth quarter of Week 11’s contest, the second half of a home-and-home between the two clubs.

These last two games have just been a sample of the work that the Bombers D has done this season. Through to Week 11, the unit has allowed a league-low in both points per game (19.7) and net offence (319.0). They’re the best against the pass as well, giving up just 222.7 yards per game, the least amount in the league, and allowing a 60.6 completion percentage, the lowest in the CFL.

Where they do struggle is against the run; they give up the most yards on the ground of any team (110.9).

What do the Bombers, who have won three of their last five games, have in store for the Tiger-Cats and their offence? Find out Friday night.

ONE GOING UP AND ONE GOING DOWN

BC at Ottawa | Saturday, August 24 | 7:00 p.m. ET

The last few weeks have been polar opposite for the BC Lions and Ottawa REDBLACKS. For the Lions, they’ve dropped their last four contests. For the REDBLACKS, they’ve gone 4-0-1 in their last five.

Along the journey of one team trending down and the other trending up, quarterbacks have been front and centre for both squads.

Vernon Adams Jr. was injured in the Lions’ Week 9 contest against Winnipeg and hasn’t seen the field since. Nathan Rourke was signed last week and made his first start but wasn’t exactly the same Rourke we saw in 2022, understandably so, with just a few days of practice under his belt. Rourke completed eight of 25 passes for 126 yards and two interceptions last week.

Dru Brown was also hit with the injury bug in Week 10 against Saskatchewan. Dustin Crum came in relief and led them to a 22-22 tie. Last week it was Jeremiah Masoli under centre, as the fan (and this writer!) favourite won his first game after dealing with devastating injuries over last two seasons.

As of this writing, Brown was taking first team reps for the REDBLACKS as he and his team look to continue winning at home (they’re 4-0-1 at TD Place). Does he return to the lineup?

BC will want to snap their losing skid with a win on the road and a better performance from Kid Canada.

JUST RUN THE BALL

Edmonton at Montreal | Sunday, August 25 | 7:00 p.m. ET

The secret sauce in Edmonton’s three-game winning streak isn’t actually all that secret; it’s running the football.

Through Week 8, the Elks were dead last in the CFL in both, rushing yards per game (67.0) and rushing attempts (107). Their six rushing touchdowns came via their backup QB, Dakota Prukop, who would go in on short yardage plays. No running back found the end zone. They didn’t win a single game.

Now, as we head into Week 12, Edmonton’s rushing attack has looked completely different.

They’ve jumped up to third in the CFL in yards per game on the ground (106.7) and are fourth in the league in rushing attempts (193). Javon Leake has five touchdowns on the ground in his three games where he’s lined up in the backfield. Justin Rankin, who’s shared snaps with Leake, had three rushing touchdowns last week against Hamilton. That’s eight total TDs on the ground from the pair of running backs, along with one more from Prukop, in just three weeks.

Montreal’s defence has been strong but they’ve given up some yardage against the run. The unit has allowed 101.8 yards per game on the ground and 5.2 yards per gain (second most in the CFL).

If Edmonton wants to continue their winning streak and take down the 9-1 Alouettes this week, running the ball needs to remain their game plan.

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