By Mike Hardiman
Stampeders.com

The Pregame

The Calgary Stampeders and Winnipeg Blue Bombers meet for the second time in three weeks, with the Stampeders being the home team for this matchup.

Calgary (14-2) beat the Riders at home last week by a 40-27 score and in doing so, won a 14th game of a regular season for the fifth time in club history and second straight year. The club record for victories is 15, set three times from 1993-1995 and the CFL record for wins in a season is 16, set by the Eskimos in 1989.

Winnipeg (6-11) will miss the post-season due to an eight-game losing streak, the latest loss being a 28-23 home defeat at the hands of the Lions.

Calgary contributed to the Bombers’ skid with a 33-23 victory in Winnipeg in Week 17.

The latest Winnipeg win at McMahon was a 35-20 victory back in 2002. The Stamps are 7-1 at home this year, the fifth time under head coach John Hufnagel they have won at least seven home games in a season. Calgary has the best record within the division at 7-1 while the Bombers are 3-5 on the road and 1-8 against Western teams.  

The Kickoff

When/Where: Saturday, Nov. 1 at 2 p.m. MDT at McMahon Stadium in Calgary
Television: TSN, ESPN3
Radio: News Talk 770, SiriusXM 167
Internet: www.newstalk770.com

The Stampeders

Calgary rallied from a 12-point second-half deficit last week to beat the Riders, with the defence coming up with three interceptions in the half to help secure the win.

DB Jamar Wall had two of the picks, returning one for his first CFL touchdown.

Calgary held the Riders’ third-ranked run offence to just 76 yards and now face a Bombers team that averages only 80.2 rushing yards per game. The Bombers did rush for 150 yards against Calgary in Week 17.

The Stamps gave up 322 passing yards, the sixth time this season they have allowed more than 300 yards passing, and are matched up against the Bombers third-ranked passing offence.

CB Buddy Jackson led the team in tackles with six against the Riders while DE Shawn Lemon had his team-leading 10th sack. Newcomer DL Brandon Jordan (#92) had his first sack as a Stampeder.

Calgary will be looking to take advantage of a Bombers o-line that has allowed a league-high 70 sacks this season including two to the Stamps in Week 17. 

On offence, RB Jon Cornish missed the game due to injury so RB Matt Walter got the start and added 69 more rushing yards to his career-best 344 yards this season.

WR Eric Rogers (#80) got his first CFL start and caught five passes for 72 yards in his debut. SB Nik Lewis turned back the clock and caught nine passes for 98 yards, his best single-game reception total since Week 1 of the 2012 season.

QB Bo Levi Mitchell passed for 231 yards and a touchdown and has posted good numbers in his two previous starts against Winnipeg. Mitchell has 634 yards passing and five touchdowns against the Blue Bombers. 

Who to watch:

Bo Levi Mitchell, QB, #19
2014 stats – 377 attempts, 238 completions, 63.1% completion rate, 3,043 passing yards, 20 TDs, 8 INTs, 97.2 QB rating – leads CFL in QB rating
Last game – 31 attempts, 21 completions, 67.7% completion rate, 231 passing yards, 1 TD, 1 INT, 88.1 QB rating –  Week 18 vs Ssk.
2014 vs Wpg. –  28 attempts, 18 completions, 64.3% completion rate, 258 yards passing, 2 TDs, 2 INTs, 88.1 QB rating

Jon Cornish, RB, #9
2014 stats –  127 carries, 977 yards rushing, 7.7 yard average, 5 rushing TDs – leads CFL in rushing
Last game/2014 vs Wpg. – 21 carries, 160 rushing yards, 7.6 yard average, 1 rushing TD

Nik Lewis, SB, #82
2014 stats –  35 receptions, 351 receiving yards, 10.0-yard average, 0 receiving TDs
Last game – 9 receptions, 98 receiving yards, 10.8 yard average, 0 TDs – Week 18 vs Ssk.; led team in receiving
2014 vs Wpg. –  2 receptions, 37 receiving yards, 18.5 yard average, 0 TDs

Jamar Wall, DB, #29
2014 stats – 55 tackles, 2 special teams tackles, 1 tackle for loss, 6 INTs, 5 pass knockdowns – tied for  lead in CFL in interceptions; fourth on team in tackles
Last game –  1 tackle, 2 INTs. 1 pass knockdown, 1 TD  – Week 18 vs Ssk.
2014 vs Wpg. – 1 tackle

The Blue Bombers                             

The Bombers have lost eight straight games after a promising start to the season and will now miss the playoffs for a third straight season.

The difference in points scored by Winnipeg in wins against losses is huge as the Bombers average 31.5 points per game in their six wins and only 15.1 points in the 11 losses. Winnipeg scored more than 34 points in its first three games (all wins) but has only hit 30 points once since then.

QB Drew Willy (#5) will get the start, something that did not happen in Week 17 when he missed the game due to injury. Willy is second in league passing and a bright spot for the Winnipeg offence.

Paris Cotton (#34) takes over at running back for the now-released Nic Grigsby and had more 100 yards rushing against the Stamps two weeks ago.

SB Clarence Denmark (#89) is the league’s second 1,000-yard receiver and is complemented by a solid group of receivers including Nick Moore (#17) and Cory Watson (#81). A look at the stats table shows a Bombers defence that has had its issues and ranks at or near the bottom in most of the main defensive statistical categories except pass defence.

S Maurice Leggett (#31) is a CFL rookie of the year candidate while LB Ian Wild (#38) leads the team in tackles with 70. DE Greg Peach (#90) leads the team in sacks with seven.

Former Stampeder Chris Randle (#8) has 40 tackles, two picks and a touchdown this season while youngsters LB Teague Sherman (#27) and Canadian CB Matt Bucknor (#2) are worth keeping an eye on. 

Who to watch:

Drew Willy, QB, #5
2014 stats  – 468 attempts, 301 completions, 64.3% completion rate, 3,747 passing yards, 14 TDs, 16 INTs, 84.8 QB rating – second in CFL in passing yards
Last game – 25 attempts, 13 completions, 52.0% completion rate, 221 passing yards, 1 TDs, 2 INTs,  62.3 QB rating –  Week 18 vs BC
2014 vs Cgy. –  did not play due to injury

Paris Cotton, RB, #34
2014 stats –  49 carries, 290 rushing yards, 5.9-yard average, 3 rushing TDs
Last game – 16 carries, 131 rushing yards, 8.2-yard average, 1 rushing TD – Week 18 vs BC; second straight game with more than 100 yards rushing
2014 vs Cgy. – 14 carries, 108 rushing yards, 7.7 yard average, 2 rushing TDs

Maurice Leggett, S, #31
2014 stats – 62 tackles, 1 special teams tackle, 2 sacks, 5 INTs, 7 pass knockdowns, 3 fumble recoveries, 1 forced fumble –  leads team in interceptions, third on team in tackles
Last game – 3 tackles –  Week 18 vs BC
2014 vs Cgy. – 6 tackles

Stats

The CFL this Week

Friday, Oct. 31, 5:30 p.m. – Hamilton (7-9) at Ottawa (2-14)
Saturday, Nov. 1, 5 p.m. – BC (9-7) at Edmonton (11-5)
Sunday, Nov. 2,  10 a.m. – Toronto (7-9) at Montreal (8-8)
Bye: Saskatchewan