Philadelphia, PA (My Sportsbook) -
BRITISH COLUMBIA LIONS (6-7) AT EDMONTON ESKIMOS (6-7)
DATE & TIME: Friday, October 9, 9:00 p.m. (et).
GAME NOTES: The Edmonton Eskimos try to pick up the pieces after a tough loss on the road last week as they challenge the British Columbia Lions in CFL action on Well Friday night at Commonwealth Stadium.
Last week, Edmonton's defense appeared to be up to the challenge against Winnipeg on the road, registering a pair of safeties in the fourth quarter to make things interesting, but what the Eskimos could not handle was a stunning 118-yard missed field goal return for a touchdown by Jovon Johnson for the Blue Bombers that was a crucial piece of the 27-17 decision.
Edmonton limited the home team to just 298 yards of total offense and benefited from Winnipeg's 13 penalties for a loss of 123 yards, yet that still wasn't good enough for the visitors. Eskimos quarterback Ricky Ray ended up completing 24-of-39 passes for 188 yards, one touchdown and one interception, while Jason Mass stepped in and converted 6-of-11 passes for 43 yards and a pick himself in the losing effort.
Maurice Mann reeled in a game-high eight balls for 69 yards and Arkee Whitlock handled much of the action on the ground with 12 carries for a game-high 90 yards.
While Edmonton was wondering what had happened to them against Winnipeg, the Lions were celebrating the efforts of kicker Sean Whyte whose 33-yard field goal in the fourth quarter proved to be the game-winner in the 19-16 victory over Saskatchewan at home. Whyte finished with four field goals overall, while receivers Paris Jackson and Geroy Simon had big games as well with 114 and 134 yards receiving, respectively. The former was responsible for a game-high eight receptions and reeled in a 38-yard scoring toss from Travis Lulay.
Aside from the Lulay scoring strike, the quarterback duties were handled by Buck Pierce who converted 29-of-43 passes for 343 yards, while Martell Mallett stepped in with a game-high 81 yards rushing on 20 attempts. Despite having just four rushing touchdowns on 180 carries this season, Mallett is still the top overall back in the CFL with his 1,086 yards. Mallett is also second in yards from scrimmage (1,402 yards) and fourth in combined yards (1,591) after 13 games.
Pierce stands as one of the most accurate passers in the league, having converted 64.8 percent of his tosses, but he has just seven touchdowns and 10 interceptions to show for his efforts. British Columbia as a whole is actually tied with both Montreal and Calgary for the league lead with 20 passing TDs.
Ray has been the one keeping the Edmonton offense running as smoothly as possible, placing second in the league with his 67.7 percent accuracy and 3,604 yards. Ray is averaging better than eight yards per completion and has 17 TDs to show for his efforts. Whitlock is the one responsible for giving the rushing attack some bite for the Eskimos, registering 760 yards and seven touchdowns on 139 attempts thus far.
A stat in which both of these teams would rather not focus on is that of turnovers. After 13 games Edmonton and BC are two of the three teams in the league with a negative ratio and only Toronto, a club that has a mere three wins in 13 tries, is worse off. The Lions have given the ball away more than any other team with 44, resulting in a minus-10 margin. The problem with the Eskimos is that they've only been able to force 21 takeaways, the fewest in the CFL, and that is what has played so heavily into the team registering a minus-14 in this department.
Because Edmonton is having trouble forcing turnovers and keeping control of the ball itself, it is no wonder that the club ranks last in the league in scoring defense with 30.5 ppg allowed.
In addition to these two teams closing out the regular season against each other on November 6, this game marks the second of three meetings on the season following a 40-22 win for the Lions back on July 16. In that 18-point win for BC, the team's third victory in the last four tries in the series, Jarious Jackson set the tone with four passing touchdowns even though he was one of three players to handle passing duties for the Lions that day.
Even with BC's minor run of late against the Eskimos, Edmonton still leads the regular-season series between the squads by a count of 98-66-4. The victory for the Lions was one of their two on the road in 2009, a stat that shouldn't be ignored as British Columbia again hits the road for this week's matchup.
My Sportsbook Predicted Outcome: Edmonton 28, British Columbia 21
TORONTO ARGONAUTS (3-10) AT SASKATCHEWAN ROUGHRIDERS (7-6)
DATE & TIME: Saturday, October 10, 9:00 p.m. (et).
GAME NOTES: Desperate just to get the 2009 season over with by now, the Toronto Argonauts continue to play out the string as they pay a visit to the Saskatchewan Roughriders on Saturday night at Mosaic Stadium.
The Argos can't seem to get out of their own way this season, losing three straight and eight of the last nine overall. The only win for the program since July was a narrow 25-22 decision in overtime versus Hamilton back on September 11 at home.
More recently, the Argonauts were downed by Montreal in a 27-8 final on Saturday. Were it not for an eight-yard touchdown run by Jamal Robertson in the third quarter the outcome would have been even more one-sided, just as it was in the first meeting of the season between the two clubs.
Quarterbacks Kerry Joseph and Cody Pickett combined to his just 15-of-32 passes for a meager 110 yards, the team coming up with a feeble 227 yards of total offense. Robertson carried the ball 15 times for Toronto, resulting in 77 yards and standing as the lone bright spot in an otherwise gloomy effort for the home team yet again.
As for the Roughriders, they didn't get their offense into gear until the second quarter and that proved to be costly in what turned into a 19-16 loss to British Columbia on the road last Friday night. Honestly, were it not for a 24-yard touchdown pass from Darian Durant to Andy Fantuz, the numbers for the Saskatchewan offense would have looked even more bleak.
Durant finished the contest 18-of-29 for 240 yards and the one score, but he was also intercepted two times. Fantuz was on the receiving end of six passes, leading to 90 yards. The so-called rushing attack had very little bite for the Roughriders as Wes Cates and Durant combined for 11 carries for a mere 44 yards.
Aside from allowing more than 500 yards of total offense, the Saskatchewan defense could actually take some measure of pride in knowing that they allowed just a single offensive touchdown to British Columbia. Even with the showing by the Roughrider defense, the unit is still ranked third in the league this week with just 340 ypg allowed overall through 13 games.
Strangely enough, the defense for the Argonauts, at least in terms of yardage allowed, hasn't been that bad at all in 2009. In fact, Toronto ranks second in the league behind only Montreal, a team with 11 wins in 13 opportunities, with just 321.3 ypg permitted. Toronto's run defense has limited opponents to just 92.8 ypg, again second in the league behind Montreal, but the pass defense seems to be a different story.
Giving up 247.8 ypg through the air is one thing, but more importantly, the Argos have permitted opponents to convert a hefty 66.1 percent of their pass attempts and that's what has gotten the league's worst team into trouble this season.
Saskatchewan, which actually has a winning record at 7-6, is giving up more points per game (26.9) than Toronto (26.5), but clearly there are other factors which have influenced the outcome of games this season for both teams. Perhaps most telling is Toronto's turnover margin which is the worst in the league at minus-16 right now. The Roughriders are second in the league in takeaways with 46, having recovered an amazing 23 fumbles already.
But even with all those recoveries by the defense, Durant is quick to give the ball right back to the opposition, having tossed a league-worst 18 interceptions for the Roughriders. Toronto's passing offense ranks second-to- last in the league with less than 3,000 yards, but even the Argos have only a combined 15 INTs to show for their efforts.
In terms of the overall series between these two programs during the regular season, Saskatchewan currently owns a 41-33-1 advantage, thanks in part to a win streak of three in a row, and victories in five of the last six meetings, including a 46-36 final back on July 11 of this year.
Coming down the stretch there is little indication that Toronto is getting any better, easily enough of a reason to lean in favor of the Roughriders in this contest.
My Sportsbook Predicted Outcome: Saskatchewan 31, Toronto 13
CALGARY STAMPEDERS (8-5) AT MONTREAL ALOUETTES (11-2)
DATE & TIME: Monday, October 12, 1:00 p.m. (et).
GAME NOTES: With the East Division already clinched, the Montreal Alouettes will now begin to cruise towards the postseason, but will first tangle with the Calgary Stampeders on Monday at Percival Molson Stadium.
Last weekend, the Als streaked to their fourth straight win and the seventh in the last eight tries as they again crushed Toronto, this time with a 27-8 decision on the road. The victory gave Montreal an 11-2 record, which translates to 22 points. Hamilton, the only team in the division that could conceivably tie the Als if all the pieces fell into place, would still lose the tiebreaker between the clubs as Montreal has won both meetings this season with the Tiger-Cats.
In the meeting with the Argonauts last weekend, Montreal scored 10 points right out of the box and was never really challenged by the host team in the 19-point decision. Anthony Calvillo converted 22-of-31 passes for 216 yards, leading to one touchdown and one interception, while also matching running back Avon Cobourne for the rushing lead with 38 yards.
Kicker Damon Duval accounted for four field goals and a single, while Chip Cox stepped up for the defense and returned a fumble 64 yards for a score.
For the Stampeders, who are now a game up in the West Division with a record of 8-5, they logged their second consecutive win and their fifth in the last six games with a narrow 15-14 win over Hamilton last Saturday.
Calgary's offense never really got into gear as it hosted the Tiger-Cats, needing kicker Sandro DeAngelis to shoulder the load by knocking through five field goals. DeAngelis had conversions of 37 and 30 yards in the first quarter, followed by a 27-yard kick in the second and makes of 35 and 29 yards in the third to slip by the opposition.
Having seen better days, quarterback Henry Burris converted just 14-of-30 passes for 132 yards and was picked off twice, while Joffrey Reynolds was good enough to get DeAngelis into range by rushing for a game-high 86 yards on 17 attempts.
Even with the lackluster effort last week, Burris is still one of the league's top passers with his 58.9 percent accuracy and 3,445 yards, the latter total placing him third in the CFL to this point in the season. Burris is also tied with Calvillo for the most TD passes with 18 heading into Week 15 action, and he has just 12 interceptions on 418 attempts.
Jeremaine Copeland, who collected four passes for 60 yards in the win last weekend, leads the league with his 60 catches for 946 yards and has more touchdowns through the air than anyone with an even dozen.
Balancing out the attack on the Well ground for the Stamps is Reynolds who is fourth in the league right now with his 1,043 yards, sporting an average of almost six and a half yards per carry while making it into the end zone six times.
The Montreal offense continues to revolve around the exploits of Calvillo, even though his last game was perhaps his worst of the season from a statistical standpoint. He leads the league in accuracy with 72 percent of his passes finding a friendly receiver, resulting in a league-best 3,813 yards. More importantly, Calvillo has just six interceptions, which means he tends to make the right decisions in the pocket and doesn't force the issue.
With the most catches of anyone with 67, Ben Cahoon has gained 804 yards thus far, yet he has made it into the end zone just once. Kerry Watkins (65 receptions, 935 yards) handles more of the glory with his six TD grabs.
Not one to be left out of the limelight, even though he made very little impact in last week's game, Cobourne is second in the league with 1,081 yards and is by far the most productive running back in terms of scoring with his 11 TDs on 192 carries.
In terms of the series between these two teams, they kicked off the season against each other on Calgary's field, way back on July 1, with Montreal grabbing a 40-27 win. In that game everything was going right for the Als as Cox returned a fumble 81 yards for a touchdown and Duval knocked through five field goals to preserve the victory. With the win Montreal tied the all-time series at 29-29-1 and snapped a two-game slide versus the Stamps in the process.
This time around the Alouettes may not have their pedal to the metal, but you can be sure Calvillo is not going to simply lie down for no reason at all.
My Sportsbook Predicted Outcome: Montreal 38, Calgary 21
WINNIPEG BLUE BOMBERS (5-8) AT HAMILTON TIGER-CATS (6-7)
DATE & TIME: Monday, October 12, 4:30 p.m. (et).
GAME NOTES: With the slim possibility of catching up to Montreal in the East Division finally gone, the Hamilton Tiger-Cats now turn their attention to the Winnipeg Blue Bombers on Monday afternoon at Ivor Wynne Stadium.
Like every other team in the league, the Tiger-Cats were chasing the streaking Alouettes, but with Montreal's current win streak and Hamilton's loss to Calgary last weekend, the Als locked up first place in the division.
Hamilton could have stayed alive in the chase had its offense been able to manage some additional scoring opportunities last Saturday, but instead the team was downed in a 15-14 decision at Calgary, marking the squad's second straight loss and the third in the last four games.
In fact, the only real offense for either team was brought on by quarterback Quinton Porter who found the end zone on a seven-yard run in the second quarter, otherwise the contest was dominated by kickers. Nick Setta knocked through a 34-yard field goal in the first half and tallied three singles in the fourth to try and close the gap, but it still wasn't enough.
Porter finished the contest with seven carries for 65 yards and was also responsible for 22-of-33 passing for 262 yards and an interception. From a defensive standpoint, Hamilton played well enough to limit the home team to just 254 yards and forced a pair of turnovers, yet that still wasn't enough to get the Cats into the win column.
As for the Blue Bombers last week, they got three field goals from Alexis Serna and were also bolstered by an electrifying 118-yard missed field goal returned for a touchdown by Jovon Johnson in the third quarter to help give them the 27-17 win at home over the Edmonton Eskimos. The victory was the second in a row for a team that had dropped three straight and five of the previous six outings.
For Johnson, whose return was the second-longest in club history, he was named the CFL Special Team's Player of the Week. Quarterback Michael Bishop completed 20-of-34 passes for 184 yards, one touchdown and one interception, while Adarius Bowman tied for the team high with five catches, leading to 45 yards and that score. Running back Fred Reid supplied some punch on the ground with his 83 yards on 16 attempts.
Entering action this week, Reid stands as the third-most productive running back in the league with his 1,069 yards and seven touchdowns, stemming from 180 carries. But more than just a guy coming out of the backfield, Reid is also second in the league in combined yards with a whopping 1,730 to this point in the campaign, and he is fifth in yards from scrimmage with 1,223 yards as well.
The efforts by Reid have taken some of the pressure off Bishop, yet the signal-caller is still trying to make a name for himself this season. However, Bishop has converted just 53.9 percent of his pass attempts for 1,776 yards and seven touchdowns, while suffering through 11 interceptions. Winnipeg's overall passing attack for the season is the worst in the league, resulting in just 49.5 percent accuracy and a league-low nine touchdowns, against 19 picks.
Hamilton has bounced back and forth with its quarterback play, but it appears as though the job is again Porter's to lose down the stretch. Porter has one of the better completion percentages (.643) in the league right now but has just six TDs on 255 attempts and has issued eight INTs. The team as a whole has better overall numbers with 17 TDs and only 12 picks after 13 games.
As good as the Hamilton passing attack may be, the squad has to be keenly aware of a pass defense by the Blue Bombers that is second to none in the CFL so far this season. Winnipeg leads the league with 25 interceptions, nine more than Montreal.
These two teams, which will close out the regular season against each other on November 8, first clashed back on July 18 with Hamilton picking up a 25-13 home win. With that decision the Tiger-Cats snapped what had been a five-game win streak for Winnipeg in the series and drew slightly closer in said series which now favors the Blue Bombers by a count of 52-41 in regular-season meetings.
With the prospect of perhaps catching up to Montreal in the conference standings now out of the question, perhaps the Tiger-Cats can take some of the pressure off themselves and get back to playing football, something which should also get them back into the win column this week.
My Sportsbook Predicted Outcome: Hamilton 21, Winnipeg 17
Overall Season Record: 25-27; Last Week's Record: 2-2.
