Toronto Argonauts at Calgary Stampeders
McMahon Stadium
Saturday, Aug. 26
Kickoff: 7 p.m. MDT
Radio: News Talk 770, Sirius XM 167
TV: TSN, ESPN3
In Week 10 action at McMahon, the 6-1-1 Stamps will look for their first season-series sweep in 2017 as they duel with the 4-5 Argos for the second time in 23 days.
Calgary sank the Boatmen at BMO Field back on Aug. 3 by a count of 41-24. The Red and White scored at least one touchdown on offence, defence and special teams while linebackers Alex Singleton and Jameer Thurman registered seven tackles apiece.
“We played Toronto three weeks ago but they’ve changed a bunch,” head coach Dave Dickenson said. “So some things are going to be different, but hopefully the guys are ready to go. We’re looking forward to a big game.”
En route to their defeat against the Stampeders, the Argonauts averaged just 5.8 yards per pass and starting tailback Brandon Whitaker was given a mere five rushing attempts.
Since then, the Stamps had their first bye week of the season before coming out on top 21-17 in BC last Friday. Despite the win, the 21-point output was Calgary’s lowest of the year.
Toronto spilt a pair of meetings with Montreal during that same stretch, most recently picking up a decisive 38-6 victory with Ricky Ray back at the helm. Contrary to the Stamps’ final tally in Week 9, the 38 points by the Argos was Toronto’s highest total to date.
“Whenever you play teams back-to-back and you think you have everything figured out, usually there’s an eye-opener there,” explained Dickenson. “I thought Toronto played excellent and they’ll come in here with some momentum so we’ll have to certainly up our game to take care of our house.”
A 2013 loss at home to the Argonauts has preceded three straight wins for Calgary – by an average of 10 points – over the Double Blue in Southern Alberta.
Just two ground-game majors have been credited to Toronto thus far, neither of which have been from a running back. Jerome Messam, meanwhile, is the league’s leading rusher with 559 yards and has found the end zone on seven occasions.
In terms of the passing game, SJ Green of the Argos has been targeted more times (88) this season than any CFL receiver. Marquay McDaniel, the most frequently targeted Stamp, has seen 30 fewer passes come his way.
Both defensive units have also posted impressive stats. Calgary and Toronto have allowed the fewest passing yards per game among all nine teams. The 167 points surrendered by the Stampeders and the 30 sacks recorded by the Argonauts are also league bests.
“We’ve played well, but we always feel like we need to improve each and every game,” Dickenson stressed. “We look at ourselves in the mirror and I think our team should be excited to get back out on the field and correct some of that lack of focus and details that we weren’t very good at last week.”
Additions to the 46-man roster for this East-West showdown are Joshua Bell, Julan Lynch, Deron Mayo, Quinn Smith and Adam Thibault. The five subtractions are Reggie Begelton, Dan Federkeil, Charleston Hughes, Patrick Levels and Ante Milanovic-Litre.
Click here to download the Stamps position chart and roster
Click here to download game notes