Philadelphia, PA (My Sportsbook) -
BRITISH COLUMBIA LIONS (8-10) AT MONTREAL ALOUETTES (15-3)
DATE & TIME: Sunday, November 22, 1:00 p.m. (et).
GAME NOTES: The top team in the CFL in 2009 finally gets back to the gridiron this weekend, as the Montreal Alouettes vie for the Eastern Division Championship at Percival Molson Stadium in Quebec City versus the British Columbia Lions.
The Als earned themselves some time off following the conclusion of the regular season because they were just so dominant. It was only a few weeks into the season that it was clear the rest of the league would be chasing after Montreal and, in all likelihood, unable to catch up.
Montreal lost a total of three games, one of those being a 19-12 final versus this same British Columbia team back during the first week of September.
As for the Lions, they limped into the postseason with three straight losses versus Saskatchewan, Calgary and Edmonton. Against Hamilton in the first round of these playoffs, BC went to overtime for the second time in the last four games and pulled out a 34-27 victory to move to 8-10 on the campaign overall.
In terms of the all-time series between these two clubs, the Lions own a 31-28-1 advantage over Montreal in regular-season tests. The Als have taken two of the last three meetings, including a 28-24 final back during the second week of September.
The winner of this bout will be rewarded with a trip to Calgary on Sunday, November 29 where they will play for the 97th Grey Cup against the winner of the Calgary/Saskatchewan contest.
BC has captured five Grey Cup trophies between 1964-2006, compared to Montreal which also has five titles that stretch from 1949 to 2002.
In the case of the Alouettes, the team that lost to Calgary in the championship game a season ago by a score of 22-14, it is easy to see why this squad has been so dominant over the course of four months. It all begins and ends with quarterback Anthony Calvillo whom many believe is almost a lock for CFL Player of the Year honors.
Calvillo's stats this season are the stuff of legend, hitting on a stunning 72 percent of his pass attempts for 4,639 yards and 26 touchdowns. His TDs are the most among all QBs this season, while his mere six interceptions show him sporting the best interception percentage (1.1) in the league as well.
Wide receiver Kerry Watkins, who was second in the league this year with 81 catches for 1,243 yards and eight touchdowns, had four games in which he finished with at least 100 yards through the air, one of those contests coming against the Lions in the second week of September. A six-year man for Montreal, Watkins has posted five straight 1,000-yard seasons following a quiet rookie campaign.
Providing Calvillo an alternative from throwing the ball all of the time, Montreal also enjoyed the exploits of running back Avon Cobourne who carried the ball 224 times for 1,214 yards and 13 touchdowns, all of which were career highs for the New Jersey native.
What made the Als so dominant this season is the fact that it wasn't all based on the offense because the defense was up to the challenge almost every week as well. The squad allowed the fewest yards (296.1 ypg) and the fewest points (18.0 ppg) which meant opponents had to plan for that double-edge sword whenever they suited up against Montreal.
In the early going of the game with Hamilton during the East Division Semifinals at Ivor Wynne Stadium last week, kicker Paul McCallum played a crucial role in keeping the Lions competitive. He booted three field goals in the first half and four overall, but when it came to overtime McCallum was left on the sidelines as Casey Printers connected with Ian Smart for the game- winning TD pass from eight yards out.
Printers, named the Offensive Player of the Week in the CFL, finished with 360 yards and the lone score to put his team over the top. Running back Martell Mallett chipped in with 68 yards on the ground, while Emmanuel Arceneaux and Geroy Simon combined to catch 11 balls for 231 yards.
The passing attack has been all over the map for the Lions this season and Printers is just the latest player to start taking snaps for the group in hopes that he can catch lightning in a bottle. Printers, who began his career with BC in 2003 and actually was one of the top passers in the league the following year with his 5,088 yards and 35 touchdowns, against just 10 interceptions, is now being asked to save this squad from being booted from the playoffs. Considering the regular season saw the quarterback merry-go- round in BC place third in the league with 4,569 yards and 27 touchdowns, but also 26 picks, at least means he can't do any worse.
A few weeks back Calvillo was slowed by an injury, but by this point he should be geared up to play and ready to guide the Montreal offense to another outstanding win and a trip to the title game in two weeks.
My Sportsbook Predicted Outcome: Montreal 35, British Columbia 20
CALGARY STAMPEDERS (10-7-1) AT SASKATCHEWAN ROUGHRIDERS (10-7-1)
DATE & TIME: Sunday, November 22, 4:30 p.m. (et).
GAME NOTES: Bidding to repeat as Grey Cup Champions, the Calgary Stampeders now find themselves in the West Division Championship game at Taylor Field this weekend versus the Saskatchewan Roughriders.
Last year, the Stamps took care of business in the postseason with a 22-18 victory versus British Columbia and then a week later scored the same number of points, while limiting Montreal to just a pair of touchdowns as Calgary captured its sixth crown since 1948.
As for the Roughriders, winners of the 2007 trophy and a total of just three Grey Cups overall, they experienced a little bit of everything in the weeks heading up to the postseason. On September 6 and 13, the team defeated Winnipeg in back-to-back matchups, but after that Saskatchewan failed to record back-to-back anything and even had a 44-44 tie against this same Calgary group about a month ago.
The Roughriders finished 10-7-1 during the regular season, matching the mark posted by Calgary, but because Saskatchewan won the regular-season series it was the club that avoided first-round playoff action and waited to find out that Calgary would again be the competition this Sunday.
In terms of the all-time series between these two squads, Calgary is out in front with a 96-83-9 mark in regular-season meetings. The most recent encounter took place just two weeks ago in the regular-season finale as the Roughriders put up a 30-14 win in Regina. Saskatchewan is now unbeaten in the last three meetings, going 2-0-1.
The winner of this bout will be rewarded with a trip to Calgary on Sunday, November 29 where they will play for the 97th Grey Cup against the winner of the British Columbia/Montreal meeting.
Against Edmonton last week, Calgary kicker Sandro DeAngelis kept his team in the game with three straight field goal conversions in the second quarter, all of which were crucial as the hosts won by a mere three points. Henry Burris, the hero of the 96th Grey Cup, converted 19-of-32 passes for 264 yards and a pair of touchdowns, while Joffrey Reynolds continued to chew up yards on the ground with his 127 yards on 18 carries.
During the regular season, Burris hit on almost 60 percent of his pass attempts and placed second in the league with 4,831 yards, leading to 22 touchdowns, but also 16 interceptions. Calgary proved to be one of the better teams in the league when it came to holding onto the ball, sporting a turnover margin of plus-13.
Against the Stampeders this season, Saskatchewan quarterback Darian Durant threw for a combined seven touchdowns and only one interception, which is why he is the right fit for this team at this time. When it comes to overall numbers for Durant during the regular season, the signal-caller has connected on slightly better than 60 percent of his attempts, resulting in 24 touchdowns, but also 21 picks, the most of any QB in the league in 2009.
Weston Dressler had been the primary target down the field for Durant earlier in the campaign, but an injury put Dressler and his 62 catches for 941 yards and four touchdowns on the sideline. As it stands now, Andy Fantuz and Rob Bagg represent the top options down the field for Durant as the duo has a combined 126 receptions for a total of nine scores.
Although he had just two games this season in which he went over 100 yards rushing, Wes Cates gives this group its best option for making something happen coming out of the backfield after he put up 932 yards and five touchdowns in 2009. Clearly Cates is someone who can explode at any time, a fact that is supported by his 1,229 yards and 12 touchdowns on the ground last year. Cates is also an important piece to the passing game as well because he has collected 33 receptions, 138 for his career, and has averaged better than 10 yards per catch this season.
The advantage for Calgary in this matchup is that it knows from last year's experience what it needs to do to get over on the Roughriders. It also helps that the Stamps have the added incentive of getting back at Saskatchewan for making them play in the first round of the playoffs to begin with.
My Sportsbook Predicted Outcome: Calgary 27, Saskatchewan 20
Overall Season Record: 38-35-1; Last Week's Record: 1-1.
