This Week In The CFL

Thursday Night Football features a West clash with the Edmonton Eskimos visiting the BC Lions with kickoff slated for 10 p.m. ET. The Esks are well-rested following a bye week, while the Lions are coming off a dramatic road win in Toronto which gave Coach Claybrooks his first victory. This will be Mike Reilly`s second game against his former team, following a 39-23 win in Week 2 in Edmonton. As part of the Thursday Night Football Concert series, Tim Hicks will be performing at halftime. Friday Night Football brings us to Winnipeg where the Blue Bombers will look to stay perfect against a Toronto Argonauts squad in search of its first victory. Last week in a battle of undefeated teams, Andrew Harris led Winnipeg to a 29-14 win in Ottawa following a 130 yards from scrimmage performance. Toronto is looking to win its first game in Winnipeg since 2015. Kickoff is set for 8:30 p.m. ET at Investors Group Field. Week 5 in the CFL will draw to a close with a double-header on Saturday. The first game brings us to Ottawa with the REDBLACKS hosting the Montreal Alouettes beginning at 4 p.m. ET. William Stanback registered 249 yards from scrimmage and a hat trick of touchdowns in Montreal’s Week 4 win over Hamilton en route to being named a Shaw Top Performer. Ottawa is looking to bounce back after falling to Winnipeg. At 7 p.m. ET, the Calgary Stampeders will take on the Hamilton Tiger-Cats at Tim Hortons Field. Nick Arbuckle, who will be making his second career start, is hoping to carry forward momentum from last week’s 37-10 win in Saskatchewan. Hamilton will look to avenge a Week 4 setback to the Als while improving to 4-1 on the year. UNDEFEATED BOMBERS ·     After knocking off the Ottawa REDBLACKS in Week 4, Winnipeg improved to 3-0 for the first time since 2014 and is the last undefeated team in the league. ·     The last time Winnipeg began 4-0 was in 2003. ·     How Winnipeg has gotten here…DEFENCE: o  Tied for first in points allowed (19.3) o  Has only allowed three touchdowns all year; the next best team is Calgary with eight o  One offensive TD has been scored against Winnipeg this season o  Has forced a league-leading 10 turnovers o  Has held teams to 42.7 rushing yard per game ·     Most balanced team this season – 53% of plays are passing and 44% are rushing ·     Best red zone percentage – 90% ·     Have not allowed a touchdown in the last 10 quarters played for a streak of 34 opponents’ drives without a major ·     Have allowed 24 rushing yards in two of their three games with none longer than eight yards in those two games. FOUR COACHES HAVE COLLECTED THEIR FIRST WINS IN 2019 ·     Four teams have rookie head coaches: Orlondo Steinauer (HAM), Craig Dickenson (SSK), Khari Jones (MTL) and DeVone Claybrooks (BC). ·     This marks the fourth time in CFL history that four head coaches have registered their first wins in the same season. ·     The most recent was in 2012 with Cory Chamblin (SSK), Mike Benevides (BC), George Cortez (HAM) and Scott Milanovich (TOR). ·     The other two seasons were 2008 and 1970. ROUGE FTW ·     BC won its Week 4 matchup against Toronto via a rouge on the final play in regulation to break a 17-17 deadlock. ·     The last time a game was won on a rouge on the final play was on October 14, 2002 between Toronto and Hamilton. ·     Knotted at 28 in OT, the Argos’ Noel Prefontaine launched a 40-yard punt through the end zone to win the game. ·     Prior to 1982, CFL end zones were 25-yards deep and the kickout was more common. QUICK SLANTS ·     Tre Roberson leads the league with five interceptions in three games. Al Brenner set the CFL record with 15 interceptions in 1972. Brenner began his record-setting campaign with four interceptions in three games. ·     The most recent player to have five interceptions through three games was Orlondo Steinauer who will coach against Roberson this week. ·     When Edmonton and BC last played in Week 2, the Esks stormed back to win the game after falling behind by 14 points. It was the fifth time since 2015 that the Esks had overcome double-digit deficits against BC to claim victory. ·     Nick Arbuckle has completed 90% of his passes so far this season (28/31). ·     Since 2017, three teams have collected 10 or more wins in June and July. Calgary leads the way with 12, while Edmonton sits at 11 and Winnipeg has 10. ·     Four teams have already had multiple QB starters: Calgary, Montreal, Toronto and Saskatchewan. ·     Chris Rainey returned his seventh career touchdown last week. The only active player with more is Brandon Banks (12). Rainey reached the 9,000 total kick return yards mark last week and sits 11th all-time. ·     Last week, William Stanback became the first CFL running back to rush for 200+ yards since Jon Cornish accomplished the feat in 2013. It was the 39th time in CFL history that a player has rushed for 200+ yards. Stanback became the 6th Alouettes player to reach the mark, and the first since Mike Pringle in 1998. ·     Edmonton is coming off a bye week on Thursday and has not played in 14 days. Since 2012, they are 7-4 when coming off a bye. ·     Teams coming off a bye this season are 2-3. ·     Ottawa will play its first game against an East Division rival this week when they welcome Montreal to TD Place.