The Calgary Stampeders are right back at it this week, taking on their rivals to the north, the Edmonton Eskimos. It’s a short week for the Stamps, who are coming off their first loss in five games.
The Stamps (7-5, second in the West) were upended 30-25 by the Saskatchewan Roughriders on Sunday in Regina. The loss snapped Calgary’s four-game winning streak as well as its seven-game run of victories against the Riders. The defeat left the Stamps four points back of BC in the race for first place.
The Eskimos (5-7, fourth place) are reeling as they have lost four straight games (and five of six) including a 19-18 decision to the first-place Lions on Saturday.
Calgary boasts a record of 20-6-1 in games after losses since John Hufnagel took over as head coach in 2008 including 3-1 this season.
The Stampeders are 2-0 against the Eskimos so far in 2012 after two narrow wins in the Labour Day series — 31-30 at home and 20-18 in Edmonton. Since 2008, Calgary has a 10-5 record against Edmonton and is 5-3 at home.
The Stamps are 4-2 at home this season and 4-2 against West teams while the Eskies are 2-4 on the road and also 2-4 within the West.
THE KICKOFF
The Alberta teams begin the hostilities at 8 p.m. MDT on Friday, Sept. 28 at McMahon Stadium in Calgary.
The game will be televised on TSN (subject to blackout) as part of a Friday Night Football doubleheader with the Montreal-Hamilton game preceding it.
The game 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 see the game live on NBCSN and 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’s offence struggled to find its footing for three quarters last week but rallied in the fourth, only to come up a little short. Calgary scored 25 points, with 12 of them coming in the fourth quarter.
Calgary has scored 117 fourth-quarter points this season, tops in the CFL.
Sunday’s game marked the fifth time this season the team has scored fewer than 30 points in a game. Calgary is 2-3 in that situation compared to 5-2 when scoring at least 30 points. Calgary sits second with an average of 28.1 points per game.
The Stamps average 375.1 yards of offence overall but the average in the two games against Edmonton is 415 yards including a high of 429 yards in the Labour Day rematch.
Calgary scored six touchdowns in the two wins over Edmonton but made five giveaways as well, losing the turnover battle in each game.
RB Jon Cornish ran for 67 yards rushing last week and has himself set up nicely for a major milestone as he is now just 53 yards away from the first 1,000-yard rushing season of his CFL career. Cornish rushed for totals of 71 and 185 yards (a career best) against Edmonton earlier this month. He is on pace for 1,420 yards for the year and in range to challenge the CFL record for rushing yards by a Canadian, currently held by former Stampeder Normie Kwong at 1,437 yards.
QB Kevin Glenn passed for 270 yards and two touchdowns in last week’s loss. It’s the fourth straight game of over 250 yards passing and the fifth time in six games his QB rating has exceeded 90.
SB Marquay McDaniel had five catches for 45 yards and his first two touchdowns as a Stampeder while SB Nik Lewis had five grabs for 61 yards, moving into 10th spot on the CFL’s all-time receptions list with 709. McDaniel is 14th in the CFL in receiving yards with 584, ninth in yards after catch with 230 and fourth in catches for first downs with 15. The two Calgary slotbacks have a combined 19 receptions for 230 yards in the two games against Edmonton this season.
THE DEFENCE
Calgary’s defence lost most of the statistical battles in Sunday’s game and gave up 30 or more points for the sixth time this season (but only the second time in the last seven contests).
Calgary allowed more first downs, more than 100 yards rushing and 371 yards of offence while losing the time of possession and turnover battles. The Stamps did not register a sack.
The Stamps allowed a modest 264 yards passing, right on their season average of 264.9 yard per game, but were stung by SB Weston Dressler, who had 98 yards and a touchdown.
Calgary is usually stingy with opponent’s receivers, allowing just four 100-yard receivers all season and just one since Week 3 — Edmonton’s Hugh Charles in Week 10. Charles got most of his yardage on one 73-yard play, the longest against the Stamps defence this season. Calgary has given up just six passing plays of more than 50 yards all year.
The Stamps sit fourth in average points allowed at 23.9, fifth in touchdowns allowed at 28 and third in offence allowed at 345.6 yards.
DB Tad Kornegay led the team in tackles last week with six while the red-hot Charleston Hughes had four stops to go along with his forced fumble and constant pressure on the Riders quarterback.
S Eric Fraser had three tackles and a fumble recovery while CB Keon Raymond chipped in with two stops and two pass knockdowns. Raymond has six knockdowns on the year to lead the team. Hughes is third in the CFL with six sacks, fourth on the team with 35 tackles and has a team-leading six tackles for losses.
MLB Juwan Simpson leads the team with 56 tackles and two fumble recoveries.
THE SPECIAL TEAMS
K Rene Paredes scored 11 of the teams 25 points and now has 101 points on the year. He sits fifth in the CFL points race. Paredes was successful on three of four field-goal attempts Sunday and saw his percentage drop to 88.5, still good enough for second place.
Paredes averaged 69.8 yards on his kickoffs last week and is second in the CFL with a 65.8-yard average. Calgary’s kickoff coverage has been good all season, leading the CFL in limiting the opposition to an average starting drive position of its own 31.6 yard line and pinning opponents inside their own 30 a league-leading 25 times.
P Rob Maver is third in the CFL with a 44.4-yard punting average and leads the league in net punting with a 37.3-yard average. The Stamps also stopped the Riders on a fake punt, a turnover that resulted in seven points for the Stamps on the ensuing drive.
THE OPPOSITION
Edmonton has dropped four straight contests and, at 5-7, is two points out of a playoff spot in the West. The Eskimos do hold the crossover position in the East, one win ahead of third place Hamilton.
The Eskies offence has struggled lately, averaging 22 points per game on the season (seventh best) and only 14.6 points over the last three. Edmonton is fifth in touchdowns scored at 21, eighth in first downs at 213, seventh in total offence at 322.4 yards per game and last in both average gain per rush (4.6 yards per carry) and passes completed with 226.
QB Steven Jyles (#3) returned last week after missing three games due to injury, including both Calgary losses. Jyles is seventh in passing with 1,756 yards, six TD passes and a rating of 81.9.
The Eskimos are seventh in passing yards at 259.7 yards per game, so the numbers posted by their receivers are also down from last season. SB Fred Stamps leads the way with 43 receptions for 664 yards and three touchdowns (ninth in the CFL) but the next Eskimo on the charts is RB Hugh Charles (#7) at 20th spot. Charles has 28 catches for 476 yards and is third among running backs in receiving.
Charles leads the team in rushing with 616 yards and has four rushing majors to his credit. WR Cary Koch (#84) has 12 receptions for 201 yards in the past three games.
On defence, Edmonton is much stronger unit though injuries on the defensive line have caused some concern. Three of the four starters on the are out, leaving DT Almond Sewell (#90) as the sack leader with four.
MLB J.C. Sherritt (#47) continues to impress in the middle of the defence, piling up a league-leading 101 tackles including 23 in the past three games. Sherritt also has three sacks, three forced fumbles and three picks to go along with his impressive tackle totals.
CB Joe Burnett (#22) leads the CFL in interceptions with five (including two returned for touchdowns) on a defence that leads the league in takeaways with 33 and is third in sacks with 26. Edmonton is third in points allowed at 22.9 per game but seventh in yards given up at 406 per game.
THE OTHER GAMES
Montreal (8-4, first place in the East) is in Hamilton to take on the disappointing Ticats (4-8, third place) in the first half of the Friday Night Football doubleheader.
Saturday, Toronto (6-6, second place) looks to deal the Bombers (3-7, fourth place) yet another loss as the Argos visit Winnipeg while the Lions (9-3, first in the West) go for their fourth straight win as they tangle with the Riders (6-6, third place) in Regina.
NEXT UP
The Stamps are in Vancouver for a date with the Leos on Saturday, Oct. 6. Calgary lost the first game of the season between the two teams 34-8 in Week 5 but split the games played in B.C. last season by scores of 34-32 (win) and 33-31 (loss).
— Mike Hardiman