This Week In The CFL

THIS WEEK IN THE CFL – WEEK 20

The result of Friday Night Football at IG Field will help clear up the muddy waters of the post-season in the West Division. With at least one point, the visiting Stampeders can secure a home playoff date. Calgary claimed a 37-33 decision in the first half of the home-and-home set last week and has won seven of its past eight matchups. In their regular season finale, the Blue Bombers will attempt to improve upon its 7-1 home record, but the team has stumbled in recent weeks with just one win in its last five outings. The season series is knotted at one-a-piece, including Winnipeg’s 26-24 triumph in Week 9. Kickoff is set for 8:30 p.m. ET. Saturday’s tripleheader opens with the top squads in the East facing off at Molson Stadium for a 1 p.m. ET match. The Road to the Grey Cup has been paved in the East with Montreal hosting Edmonton for the Semi-final on November 10 and the victor advancing to the Eastern Final in Hamilton on November 17. At stake are bragging rights and the chance to build momentum as the post-season approaches. The Alouettes are 6-2 at home and are coming off a narrow 27-24 victory over Toronto. Hamilton are winners of four-straight, including a decisive 33-12 showing against the REDBLACKS in Week 19 which set a franchise record of 13 victories. The 4 p.m. ET contest will feature CFL football in Toronto for the final time in 2019 with Ottawa in town. The Argonauts are 2-6 in front of the home side this season and will be looking to rebound following a tough Week 19 27-24 setback in Montreal. With a victory, Toronto can sweep the season series following a dominant 46-17 performance in Week 13 and a 28-21 win in Week 18. The REDBLACKS will attempt to find their way back into the win column to halt a nine-game slide. Having already locked down a playoff date as the crossover team, Edmonton will close the season with a back-to-back series against the Roughriders beginning at home this week at 7 p.m. ET. The Eskimos have compiled a 5-3 record at The Brick Field at Commonwealth Stadium this season, including a 19-6 win over BC when the team last played in Week 18. Saskatchewan enters Week 20 knotted alongside Calgary at the top the division, having won four of its five past games. The Roughriders will need a victory to keep pace in the tightly-contested race to secure a home playoff date in the West. 107TH GREY CUP PLAYOFF SCENARIOS ·     Calgary Win OR Tie = Calgary clinches a home playoff date ·     Calgary Win AND Saskatchewan Loss = Calgary clinches first place in the division and the right to host the Western Final on November 17 ·     Saskatchewan Win OR Tie OR Winnipeg Loss OR Tie = Saskatchewan clinches a home playoff date Playoff picture ·     Calgary clinched its 15th consecutive playoff appearance in Week 15. ·     Winnipeg secured its fourth straight spot in the post-season in Week 15. ·     Saskatchewan claimed a post-season berth for the third consecutive year in Week 16. ·     Montreal earned its first playoff spot since 2014 in Week 17 and claimed Eastern Semi-final hosting duties in Week 18. ·     After reserving the right to host a home playoff date for a second year-in-a-row in Week 15, Hamilton secured home field for the Eastern Final in Week 18. ·     Edmonton clinched a playoff berth as the crossover team in Week 18 and will head to the post-season for the fifth time in six seasons. Looking ahead ·     Winnipeg can still host a playoff game if the team defeats Calgary this week and the Stampeders lose to BC in Week 21. ·     A Winnipeg victory this week, a Calgary loss next week and two Saskatchewan losses would result in a three-way tie atop the West Division at 11-7. The common record between the three teams and the higher winning percentage will then serve as the tie-breaker. In this scenario: o  Calgary: 3-2 (.600) o  Winnipeg: 3-3 (.500) o  Saskatchewan: 2-3 (.400) CROSSOVER SPOTLIGHT ·     2019 marks the fourth consecutive year in which a team has crossed over – a new CFL record. ·     The 2015 edition of the Argonauts finished 10-8 and was the last 3rd-place East Division team to advance to the post-season. Winnipeg finished fourth in the West that season with a 5-13 record. ·     At 2-1, Edmonton is the only crossover team with a winning record since the rule came into effect in 1996. ·     Montreal is a perfect 3-0 when hosting the crossover team o  2014: 50-17 vs. BC o  2005: 30-14 vs. SSK o  1997: 45-35 vs. BC TICATS ROAR ·     Hamilton’s 13th win of the season in Week 19 set a new franchise record. ·     The previous franchise mark of 12 was set in 1989 and matched in 1998 – both of those teams finished first in the East Division and went on to win the Grey Cup. ·     This season marks the 20th time that Hamilton will finish atop the division. The team will host the Eastern Final for the first time since 2014 and the third time since 1998. ·     With two games remaining, Head Coach Orlondo Steinauer has an opportunity to tie the record for most wins by a first-year head coach (15). Dave Dickenson set the mark in 2016 with a record of 15-2-1. ·     Brandon Banks (101) needs four more receptions to set a new single-season franchise mark in receptions. Luke Tasker set the record in 2017 with 104. This season, Banks has already become the third Ticat to reach the 100-catch mark behind Tasker and Andy Fantuz (101 in 2016). ·     Simoni Lawrence is nine tackles shy of his first 100-tackle season in the CFL. He sits No. 28 on the all-time list with 537. ·     In Week 21, Hamilton will have the opportunity to finish with a 9-0 home record. The last team to finish undefeated at home was Calgary in 2016. QUICK SLANTS ·     Quarterbacks rushing: Chris Streveler is 6th in the league with 726 rushing yards and Cody Fajardo sits 7th (610). The top rushing QBs in the past five seasons: o  2018: Mike Reilly (595) o  2017: Jeremiah Masoli (446) o  2016: Mike Reilly (406) o  2015: Brett Smith (444) o  2014: Mike Reilly (616) ·     Streveler’s rank (6th) is the highest by a quarterback since 2013 when Mike Reilly finished 5th. Streveler’s standing is also the highest in Winnipeg history. ·     S.J. Green needs 20 yards to record his 7th-career 1,000+ yard season. Should Green reach the mark, he would rank No. 10 all-time in 1,000-yard seasons. ·     Through 19 weeks, 10 players have recorded 1,000+ receiving yard seasons. In CFL history, the milestone has been reached on 476 occasions by 188 different receivers. ·     Sean Whyte (86.95%) has overtaken Rene Paredes (86.92%) and Justin Medlock (86.4%) as the all-time leader in field goal percentage. ·     Both Edmonton starters own .500 records this season. Trevor Harris is 6-6 and Logan Kilgore is 2-2. ·     The last-time Montreal was two games above .500 this late in the season was in 2012 (10-6).  They have not reached double-digit wins since that year. ·     With a win this week, Montreal can claim the season series against Hamilton for the first time since 2015. ·     Lewis Ward made a career-long 56-yard field goal against Hamilton last week. He was also 4-for-4 after going 5-for-8 in the three games previous. ·     Cody Farjardo has 11 wins this season as a first-year starting QB. Kenny Ploen set the record with a 12-4 mark in 1957. ·     Eugene Lewis is 17-yards shy of his first-career 1,000-receiving yard season. ·     Bryan Burnham, Brandon Banks and Reggie Begelton are tied for the league-lead in receiving touchdowns (10). Seven of Begelton’s 10 majors have come in two games (Four in Week 10 and three in Week 19). ·     Banks leads the league in 100+ receiving yard-games (7). He has 17 in the past two seasons. ·     Winston Rose entered the season with five career interceptions in 22 games. Through 17 contests in 2019, he leads the league with nine. ·     Zach Collaros will make his first start for the Winnipeg Blue Bombers on Friday night. His last start came as a member of the Roughriders in this year’s season-opener. He is 34-32 as a starter, including a 3-4 mark against Calgary. ·     Adam Bighill has 668 career tackles and sits No. 10 all-time. ·     Winnipeg ranks first in the league with more than 150 rushing yards per game – the most by a Blue Bombers squad since 1976. ·     Winnipeg tops the league in defending the run, allowing 65.4 rushing yards per game. In CFL history, only the 1995 Calgary Stampeders allowed fewer rushing yards per game (54.5). ·     Calgary leads the league with a +11 turnover ratio, followed by Hamilton (+9) and Winnipeg (+8). ·     Edmonton has recorded the most penalties in the league with 182. Saskatchewan follows with 168. ·     56% of games this season have been decided in the final three minutes. ·     Montreal has the most wins (3) when trailing at the beginning of the fourth quarter. ·     Ottawa and Montreal have each suffered three losses when recording fewer turnovers than the opposition. ·     Since Week 9, Hamilton and Calgary have identical 6-1 records.