By Mike Hardiman
Stampeders.com

The Pregame

The Calgary Stampeders and Edmonton Eskimos bring the Battle of Alberta to the Western Final for the first time in 14 seasons as the top two teams in the CFL clash for the chance to represent the West in the 2014 Grey Cup.

Calgary (15-3) finished first in the West by matching a club record for wins and is hosting the final for the fourth time since 2008. Edmonton (12-6) hosted Saskatchewan last week in the Western Semi-Final and beat the Roughriders 18-10 to advance to this week’s game.

This is the first West final meeting between the Alberta teams since 2001, a 34-16 win by Calgary at Commonwealth Stadium.

Calgary has hosted the Western Final 11 times since the CFL adopted a single-game format back in 1972 and the Stamps are 4-7 in those games.

Calgary and Edmonton last met in the post-season back in 2011 in the Western Semi-Final, a 33-10 Eskimos win at home, but the Stamps have a 4-3 advantage in seven most recent playoff meetings dating back to 1996.

Calgary swept the Eskimos during the regular season this year, winning three games. 

The Kickoff

When/Where: Sunday, Nov. 23 at 2:30 p.m. MST at McMahon Stadium in Calgary
Television: TSN, ESPN3
Radio: News Talk 770, SiriusXM 167
Internet: www.newstalk770.com

The Stampeders

Calgary took advantage of the break last week to rest up and should get two key parts of its league-leading offence back for the Western Final.

RB Jon Cornish and REC Maurice Price both missed the last regular-season game and both are expected back this week. Cornish hit the 1,000-yard mark in rushing for the third straight year but accomplished the feat in just nine games. Price finished second on the team in receiving with 544 yards and had a terrific 16.0 yards-per-catch average.

QB Bo Levi Mitchell led the CFL in QB efficiency with a 98.3 rating and had the best touchdown-to-interception ratio as well at 22 TDs to just eight picks. Mitchell was 12-2 as a starter this season including a 3-0 record against the Eskimos.

Calgary led the CFL in offence this season but the Stamps’ seventh-ranked passing offence will match up against Edmonton’s top-ranked pass defence, so Calgary’s powerful running game will need to be in top form. The Stamps average 143.9 yards per game this season while the Eskimos are ranked second against the run at 95.9 yards per game. The Stamps averaged 160.6 rushing yards in the three wins against the Eskimos this year.

Calgary has two big advantages on offence — the Stamps allowed 20 fewer sacks than Edmonton and gave the ball away 13 fewer times.

This week’s game is also a matchup of the top two defences in the CFL in terms of points allowed. Calgary placed three members of its secondary on the West all-star team — defensive backs Fred Bennett, Brandon Smith and Jamar Wall. Smith and Wall will be charged with shutting down Adarius Bowman and Fred Stamps, the Eskimos’ main threats at receiver.

Calgary’s other division all-Stars were C Brett Jones, who also grabbed the West nomination for Most Outstanding Offensive Lineman, OT Stanley Bryant and P Rob Maver, who led the West with a 45.4-yard punting average. 

Who to watch:

Bo Levi Mitchell, QB, #19
2014 stats – 417 attempts, 264 completions, 63.3% completion rate, 3,389 passing yards, 22 TDs, 8 INTs, 98.3 QB rating – led CFL in QB rating
Last game – 18 attempts, 13 completions, 72.2% completion rate, 208 passing yards, 1 TD, 0 INTs, 128.9 QB rating –  Week 20 vs BC
2014 vs Edm. –  82 attempts, 46 completions, 56.1% completion rate, 592 yards passing, 4 TDs, 0 INTs – three games

Jon Cornish, RB, #9
2014 stats – 139 carries, 1,082 yards rushing, 7.8-yard average, 5 rushing TDs – led CFL in rushing; West all-star; West nominee for Most Outstanding Canadian
Last game – 12 carries, 105 yards, 8.8-yard average, 0 rushing TDs – Week 19 vs Wpg., left game due to injury
2014 vs Edm. –  34 carries, 272 yards, 8.0-yard average, 2 rushing TDs –  two games

Marquay McDaniel, SB, #16
2014 stats – 54 receptions, 792 yards, 14.7-yard average, 4 receiving TDs in 12 games; led team in receiving
Last game – 12 receptions, 165 yards, 13.8-yard average – Week 20 vs BC; set career bests in catches, receiving yards
2014 vs Edm. – 10 receptions, 184 yards, 18.4-yard average, 1 TD – three games

Shawn Lemon, DE, #40
2014 stats – 31 tackles, 1 special-teams tackle, 5 tackles for loss, 13 sacks, 1 INT, 8 forced fumbles – led team in sacks, tackles for losses and forced fumbles; tied for second in CFL in sacks
Last game – 1 tackle, 2 sacks, 1 forced fumble – Week 20 vs BC
2014 vs Edm. – 8 tackles, 3 sacks, 2 forced fumbles – three games

Brandon Smith, DB, #28
2014 stats – 85 tackles, 2 special-teams tackles, 3 tackles for loss, 1 sack, 2 INTs, 1 pass knockdown, 3 forced fumbles – West all-star – led team in tackles, third in CFL
Last game – 4 tackles – Week 20 vs BC
2014 vs Edm. – 17 tackles, 1 sack, 1 pass knockdown, 1 forced fumble – 3 games

The Eskimos                         

The Eskimos had the second-best record in the CFL this season and had the same 12-3 record as the Stamps against the rest of the league.

The Eskimos defence was the biggest reason for the turnaround from Edmonton’s four wins in 2013. Edmonton shaved 10 points from its per-game average in points allowed in 2013, surrendered 22 fewer touchdowns, allowed 89.1 fewer yards of offence per game and took the ball away 13 more times.

Edmonton had four defensive players named to the 2014 West all-star team — DE Odell Willis (#41, 13 sacks), DT Almondo Sewell (#90, nine sacks), Dexter McCoil (#45, 67 tackles, six picks) and CB Pat Watkins (#9, 36 tackles).

Edmonton’s offence also improved and ranked second to Calgary in points scored. QB Mike Reilly (#13) was 12-3 as a starter but injured his foot late in the regular season. Reilly led all quarterbacks with 616 yards rushing in 2014 and had 709 rushing yards in 2013.

Reilly’s big target in the passing game is SB Adarius Bowman (#4) who led all CFL receivers with 112 catches for 1,456 yards and six touchdowns and was named to the West all-star team. RB John White (#30) has been hot of late, rushing for 443 yards in his past four games. RB Kendial Lawrence (#32) had two kickoff-return touchdowns during the season and a punt-return major in last week’s semifinal win. 

Who to watch:

Mike Reilly, QB, #13
2014 stats – 446 attempts, 288 completions, 64.6% completion rate, 3,327 passing yards, 16 TDs, 11 INTs, 88.7 QB rating – West all-star; led CFL QBs in rushing with 616 yards
Last game – 8 attempts, 6 completions, 75.0% completion rate, 53 passing yards, 0 INTs,  92.2 QB rating –  Western Semi-Final vs Ssk.; came off bench in relief
2014 vs Cgy. –  34 attempts, 19 completions, 55.9% completion rate, 212 passing yards, 1 TD, 1 INT, 72.2 QB rating – Week 5 in Edm.

John White, RB, #30
2014 stats – 123 carries, 852 yards, 6.9-yard average, 2 rushing TDs – West all-star
Last game – 19 carries, 134 yards, 7.1-yard average – Western Semi-Final vs Ssk.; CFL offensive player of the week
2014 vs Cgy. – 11 carries, 41 yards, 3.7-yard average  – Week 5 in Edm.

Dexter McCoil, LB, #45
2014 stats – 67 tackles, 10 special-teams tackles, 4 tackles for losses, 4 sacks, 6 INTs, 7 pass knockdowns, 1 fumble recovery, 3 TDs – West nominee for Most Outstanding Rookie, West all-star, led team in tackles, tied for CFL lead in interceptions
Last game – 6 tackles , 1 sack, 1 INT – Western Semi-Final vs Ssk.
2014 vs Cgy. – 13 tackles, 2 special-teams tackles, 1 pass knockdown – three games

Stats

The CFL this Week

Sunday, Nov. 23, 11 a.m. – Eastern Final: Montreal (9-9) at Hamilton (9-9)