The Winnipeg Blue Bombers visit McMahon for a date with the Calgary Stampeders as the second half of the 2012 CFL season heats up after passing the halfway point.
Calgary won its third straight game and fourth in the last five with another squeaker over provincial rivals Edmonton, this time by a score of 20-18. Calgary swept the Eskimos in the annual Labour Day back-to-back series for the third time in four seasons (dating back to 2009) to move past the Eskimos into sole possession of second place in the West Division.
Winnipeg limps into McMahon on a three-game losing streak and, at 2-8, the Bombers are last place in both the East Division and the CFL. Winnipeg fired head coach Paul LaPolice after starting 2-6 start but new head man and former Stamps assistant Tim Burke has had little success to the start of his CFL coaching career, losing 52-0 and 25-24 to the Riders in the annual Labour Day series between those clubs.
Burke was a defensive coach with Calgary from 2005-07 and is one of five current CFL head coaches who are former Calgary assistants (Mike Benevides in BC, Corey Chamblin in Saskatchewan, George Cortez in Hamilton and Scott Milanovich in Toronto are the others).
Winnipeg may not find Calgary an easy place to get a third win as the Bombers have had very little success at McMahon over the past decade. Calgary has a 9-1 record at home against the Bombers in the last 10 games and the Stamps are currently on a nine-game winning streak dating back to 2003. Calgary won last year’s home game by a 30-24 score to close out the regular season.
Calgary has a 3-2 home record and a 2-3 record against the East. Winnipeg comes to town with an 0-5 road record and a 1-5 record against West teams, a 23-22 decision over Edmonton in Week 5 being the only victory over a West opponent.
THE KICKOFF
The game gets under way at 7 p.m. MDT on Friday, Sept. 14 at McMahon Stadium in Calgary. The game will be televised on TSN and RDS2 and can be heard on the radio at QR77 (AM 770 on the radio dial and www.qr77.com on the Internet) and on SIRIUS Satellite Radio, channel 157 and channel 160 for XM subscribers.
Fans in the U.S. can catch the game via webcast on ESPN3 (www.espn.go.com). The game will also be seen the next day at www.tsn.ca on TSN’s video-on-demand page.
THE OFFENCE
Calgary once again rode RB Jon Cornish to victory last week. Cornish rushed 16 times for career-best 185 yards in the win and now has 827 rushing yards, just 36 yards away from a career high for a season. Cornish leads the CFL in rushing and is looking to be the first Canadian in club history to rush for over 1,000 yards and the first Canadian to lead the league in rushing since Orville Lee in 1988.
Only two Stampeders running backs have led the CFL in rushing since 1986 — Joffrey Reynolds twice (2008, 2009) and Gary Allen (1986).
Cornish has rushed for 628 yards in his past five games (an average of 125.6 yards per game) after rushing for only 199 in his first five games (an average of 39.8 yards per game).
In Calgary’s six wins, Cornish averages 118.3 rushing yards and in the four losses, his average drops to 29.3 yards. The Stamps are third in the CFL in rushing with an average of 115.9 yards per game, first in carries at 215 and fourth in average per carry at 5.4 yards.
QB Kevin Glenn passed for 254 yards and two touchdowns in Week 10, his third game in four with more than 250 yards. WR Romby Bryant led the team with five catches for a season-high 96 yards and now has 13 receptions for 174 yards in his last three games to lead the team over that span.
SB Nik Lewis failed to pick up the 92 receiving yards he needed for 10,000 in his Stampeder career but did chip away at it and now needs just 77 yards to become only the second player in club history to gain 10,000 yards as a Stamp (the great Allen Pitts is the other). WR Johnny Forzani now sits fourth on the team after catching five passes for 103 yards in his past two games including his first TD of the season last week.
Calgary is fourth in the CFL in scoring with an average of 26.8 points per game and fifth in total offence at 368.6 yards. The Stamps have scored more than 30 points in seven of their past eight home games against Winnipeg and have averaged 34 points during the nine-game home winning streak.
THE DEFENCE
Calgary is the hottest team in the CFL right now, having won three straight and posting a 4-1 record in the past five games. The other key component to the Stamps’ recent success has been the play of the defence.
Calgary sits fifth in the CFL at 25.4 points allowed per game, fifth in touchdowns allowed at 25 and fourth in total offence allowed at 361 yards. In the first five games, the Stamps allowed 154 points (34.8 per game) and had a 2-3 record but in the past five games, the Stamps have allowed only 100 points (20.0 per game).
Calgary also averages 20.0 points allowed against Winnipeg in the last nine home games and have not allowed more than 27 points in any of those contests.
MLB Juwan Simpson led the team in tackles last week with nine (his season high) and has 19 in the past three games. He leads the team with 52 for the year (sixth best in the league).
Rookie CB Fred Bennett had six tackles and is fourth on the team with 30. CB Derrius Brooks made his CFL debut and was next with five tackles. The Stamps have been shuffling the secondary of late with regulars Brandon Smith and Quincy Butler on the shelf as well as replacement Jamar Wall. DB Tad Kornegay has 11 tackles in his past three starts in the secondary. Butler continues to lead the team with two interceptions despite missing the past three games. Calgary is fourth in the CFL with eight.
Calgary sits seventh in the league in takeaways with 14 and is seventh in turnover ratio at minus-9 but three of Calgary’s wins have come when the Stamps have lost the turnover battle.
The Stamps are third in the CFL with 19 sacks in a tight race among CFL teams (three clubs are tied for the league lead at 24) with DE Charleston Hughes leading the way with five. DE Chris McCoy has been added to the nine-game injury list and the Stamps have added former West all-star Stevie Baggs to the practice roster as a possible replacement.
THE SPECIAL TEAMS
Calgary benefited greatly from Edmonton kicker Grant Shaw going one-for-four in his attempts while Calgary kicker Rene Paredes went three-for-three in his attempts (Calgary won the games by a combined three points). Paredes is seventh in league scoring with 79 points and second in field-goal percentage at 90.0 per cent.
Calgary did a great job covering kicks against the Eskimos over the two-game series, limiting Edmonton to just 62 yards on nine punts and to just 148 yards on eight kickoff returns.
Winnipeg is fifth in punt-return yardage at 488 yards and averages 10.6 yards per punt return. P Rob Maver averaged 44.8 yards per punt against the Eskimos in the two games and now averages 44.5 yards per punt on the season, third best in the CFL.
THE OPPOSITION
Winnipeg has the league’s worst record at 2-8 and the numbers don’t do anything to brighten the picture. Offensively, the Bombers are last in the CFL in points per game (20.0), touchdowns (15), total offence (320.3 yards per game), sacks allowed (27) and giveaways (27).
QB Joey Elliot (#14) has started the last four games but the Bombers have started three different quarterbacks this season. Elliott has passed for 1,157 yards, two touchdowns and has a rating of 78.9. RB Chad Simpson (#5) was a late addition to the roster due to injury but has 462 yards and a 5.6-yard average.
The Bombers have the makings of a good receiving corps with rookie WR Chris Matthews (#13) leading the team with 48 receptions for 729 yards and five touchdowns. Veteran SB Terrence Edwards (#82) is also in the top 10 in receiving, sitting seventh with 44 catches for 624 yards and one major score. SB Cory Watson (#81), WR Clarence Denmark (#89) and WR Kito Poblah (#1) make up the rest of the Bombers receivers.
Winnipeg’s defence was a strength last season but has dropped to seventh in 2012 in points allowed (32.1 per game), touchdowns (29) and total offence (398.9 yards per game). The Bombers have good personnel however with reigning Defensive Player of the Year Jovon Johnson (#2) leading the way. Johnson has moved down to linebacker from his corner position as former Stampeders CB Brandon Stewart (#8) has returned from injury.
DB Jonathan Hefney (#23) leads the team in tackles with 43 while DE Jason Vega (#98) leads the team with five sacks (three last week against the Riders). DB Alex Suber (#21, 31 tackles) and DE Bryant Turner (#92, five sacks) are also players to watch on a Bombers defence that is third in the CFL in takeaways with 23. Rookie DB Demond Washington (#15) has two punt returns for touchdowns in 2012.
THE OTHER GAMES
After Calgary and Winnipeg kick off the week on Friday, Saturday features a doubleheader starting with Edmonton (5-5, fourth place in the West) travelling to Hamilton (3-7, third place in the East) to take on the Tabbies, who have lost five straight games.
The Lions (7-3) host the Argos (6-4) in a battle of division leaders in the other game. The Riders (5-5) make the trip East to Montreal to play the Alouettes (6-4) to close out the week on Sunday.
NEXT UP
Calgary is back on the road and back to Regina to play the Riders at Mosaic Stadium on Sunday, Sept. 23. Calgary has won both games against Saskatchewan this season by scores of 41-38 (in OT) at home and 17-10 in Regina.
— Mike Hardiman