CFL.ca Staff
With files from Steve Daniel, Head Statistician
TORONTO – After a Week 1 that saw a Canadian quarterback, road teams walking away with wins and last-second field goals, the action continues with the Ticats visiting the Bombers on Thursday night.
Calgary, fresh off a win in a Grey Cup rematch, travel to Montreal to take on a suddenly depleted Als in a game that could feature the first career start for Brandon Bridge. He was unexpectedly thrust into action last week following injuries to Jonathan Crompton and Dan LeFevour.
Well-rested after a bye week, the BC Lions begin their 2015 season against the REDBLACKS. Ottawa is carrying momentum into the game after beating the Alouettes last week.
Finally, the Argonauts square off against the Riders. Trevor Harris looks to prove that last week’s stellar game was no fluke against a Saskatchewan team that is recovering from the loss of quarterback Darian Durant.
Equipped with the most up-to-date storylines, roster moves, stats, milestones and trends, enjoy this week’s CFL.ca Game Notes.
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Thursday, 8:30 pm ET: Hamilton at Winnipeg
Friday, 7:30 pm ET: Calgary at Montreal
Saturday, 6:00 pm ET: BC at Ottawa
Saturday, 3:30 pm ET: Toronto at Saskatchewan
Trends and Highlights
Turnarounds: Of the four winning teams last week, three were clubs that were sub .500 in 2014. All three non-playoff teams from last season won their games. All three 2014 Division semi-finalists who played lost.
Two-and-Outs Way Down: Last season, CFL games averaged 12.2 two-and-outs per game in a generally defensive season. To start 2015, CFL games averaged only 9.5 – a drop of 22%.
Week #1 Net Offence: Clubs averaged 697 of net offence last week; that is 7% more than the 2014 average of just 652 yards per game. The key to that was the high rate of 2nd down conversions at 51% compared to just 42% in 2014.
Penalties: In 2013, there were an average of 18.4 penalties per game. Last year that jumped 17% to 21.6 per game and in Week #1 of 2015 rose again to 30.0 penalties per game. The new rule for being “Illegally Downfield on a Kick” was not responsible as not a single call was made in the four games. Offside/Procedure calls were widespread with 35 while the new rules for Illegal Contact on a Receiver accounted for 13 compared to just two in Week #1 of 2014.
Comebacks & Close Ones: All four winning clubs overcame deficits to win and three were by more than a touchdown. Of the four games, three were decided by four points or less.
FG% Down: In Week #1, CFL kickers made only 8-of-12 attempts for a 67% average. That is down from the all-time record-setting mark of 82.4%.
One-Point Converts: In Week #1, CFL kickers made 11-of-13 attempts from 32 yards with Boris Bede (in the first-ever from that distance) and Grant Shaw recording misses.
Two-Point Converts: CFL clubs went for two on six occasions last week and were successful five times (three passes, two runs). That mark was actually better than one-point attempts. That pace of 1.5 per game equates to 122 in 2015 compared to just 23 last season.
Sacks down: There were only 17 QB sacks last week, or 4.25 per game, compared to 5.42 in 2014 – a drop of 22%.
In the clutch: Winning teams scored 30 total points in Week 1 while losers only managed five points.
Looking Ahead
Season Opening Wins: The Blue Bombers captured the season opener for the second straight year and the fourth time in the last six years. Winnipeg has followed up the last two wins off the top with another victory the following week (3-0 last year to start).
Winning without a sack: The Bombers won 30-26 over Saskatchewan despite not recording a single QB sack. In all of 2014, only two clubs out of 81 winners were able to win without one. The last time Winnipeg won without a sack was October 14, 2013.
No Two-and-Outs: Winnipeg’s offence last week piled up 452 net yards in 10 possessions (plus one concede to end the 1st half). Of those 10 drives, there were zero two-and-Outs. In the 460 games since 2008 (when the CFL first began recording possession results), only five CFL clubs have gone through a game with none. Most recent? Hamilton on July 21, 2012. Winnipeg? Never before last week.
In balance: Last week, the Blue Bombers had identical pass and rush attempt totals of 25 each. It continued a rare trend that started in the 2014 season finale when the Bomber ran 32 times and passed only 22 times. Before that they had not run more times than passed in the previous 25 games. The common factor: Paris Cotton.
Blue and Gold Defence: The defence yielded plenty of yards last week but only 26 points. The Riders recorded a CFL-high 497 yards including 212 rushing (average rush: 12.5 yards per carry). In the 20 years for which detailed average rush data is available since 1995, that is second-highest average gain allowed by any club in the CFL (June, 29, 2012: Hamilton average 14.8 yards on 10 carries).
Great on 1st Down: Winnipeg was tremendously effective on first down plays versus the Riders gaining 343 yards on 34 plays (10.1 yard average). That compares to just 5.7 yards in 2014 (#8 in the CFL).
New Record: Drew Willy completed 88% of his passes last week (22-of-25) to set a new Winnipeg single-game record. He eclipsed the 87.1% mark set by Dieter Brock on Oct 3, 1981 (41-of-47). Willy had 14 completions of 10+ yards.
Paris Cotton: Piled up 167 yards from scrimmage including 108 on the ground (one of three 100-yard rushers last week). His 167 yards were #2 in the CFL and he accounted for 7 first downs on his own.
Only One Sack: The rebuilt Bombers o-line allowed only a single early sack. That compares to 71 all last season.
Bouncing back: Winnipeg held three leads along the way with the Riders coming back from all three… until the fourth and final game-winning drive.
Season openers: The Alouettes dropped to 0-1 out of the gate for the second straight season and third in the last four years. The loss to Ottawa was their first in the last six meetings and second in the last 12.TD Sources: The Ticats scored two touchdowns last week and neither came from their offence. Brandon Banks had a punt return TD and that was preceded by Johnny Sears’ interception return score from 76 yards.
188 net yards: The Als recorded a league-low 188 net yards of offence last week including 66 yards in the second half.
10-of-28 passes: Montreal QBs completed only 10-of-28 passes last week for a 35.7% mark. That is the lowest by any CFL club since Montreal on July 19, 2014 at BC (8-of-26, 30.8%). Making it tough for them was that of their 19 2nd down conversion opportunities, 14 of them were in 2nd-and-7 or longer.
Boris Bede Debut: The rookie kicker replaced Sean Whyte snapping his consecutive Alouettes games played streak at 72 games (all of 2011 to 2014). Bede had an historic first in this game: the first missed 32-yard convert in CFL history. He countered with an incredible 51.6 yard punting average and 77.5 yards per kickoff.
Overall experience: Montreal started what may well have been the oldest group of receivers and backs in many
years. Led by Fred Stamps 35, Stefan Logan 34, Nik Lewis 33, S.J. Green 30, the Alouettes played 15 players who are 30 or older and several more about to turn 30 later this year.
Week #1 least penalized team: Montreal drew only 11 penalties in a “frequent flag” week for the CFL – it was the fewest among all eight teams in Week #1.
First down comparison: Montreal averaged just 3.1 yards on first down plays last week (81 yards on 26 plays) compared to Ottawa’s 4.7 and the average compiled by the other six CFL clubs at 7.8 yards per 1st down play.
Tackles: Bear Woods kept up his tackles pace from 2014 with a team-leading 8 last week while Chip Cox moved closer to #6 overall (Greg Battle 747) with 5 stops to reach 680 for his career.
S.J. Green: Despite making only two catches last week, Green was the most frequent “target” (this season’s new CFL offensive statistic) being the intended receiver 10 times last week.
Current Regular Season Run: The Stampeders finished with a club record 15 wins last season and started 2015 with a 24-23 win over Hamilton. That makes their record 39-9 in their last 48 games dating back to a 3-4 start in 2012.
First place: Calgary has not been out of at least a share of first place in the West Division since Week #11 of 2013 (*-2 tied with Saskatchewan) – a span of 30 CFL weeks in a row.
Bo Levi Mitchell: The win last week gave Mitchell a career W-L record of 16-2 in his first 18 career starts, the same record set by Jackie Parker in his first 18 starts across 1954-1955. This week’s opponent Montreal is a team against whom he started only once in his career and he will put his overall 8-0 unbeaten road record on the line.
First two drives last week: Calgary had half of their 18 total first downs and their net offence on their first two drives last week (148 yards). The rest of the game they made only 9 more first downs and 153 net yards on 11 possessions.
Close games since 2012: Calgary won by one point last week and are now 11-4 since 2012 in games decided by 4 points or less. They trailed after every quarter and led only after the final whistle.
3rd and short: Last week Calgary failed on BOTH of their 3rd-&-1 gambles to try and make first downs. One subsequent Hamilton possession produced a field goal, the other a punt. Last year Calgary converted 18-of-22 for an 82% success rate.
Rushing by half last week: The REDBLACKS rushed for only 16 yards in the first 30:00 last week and 98 in the second half. Their 29 rushes was #1 in the CFL in Week #1 and the most in club history across 2014-15 (previous high: 24).
On 2nd down: Ottawa had their third-best ever 2nd down conversion rate going 14-of-26 54% last week (39% in 2014 overall).
Solid 7+ gains: Last week, the Ottawa offence was among the CFL’s most efficient with 23 plays of 7+ yards out of 42 total.
Field position: The REDBLACKS won last week despite not starting a single drive beyond their own 46-yard line. They started on average from the 31-yard line but generated six drives with multiple first downs.
7-5: Last year, the Lions and Ottawa staged the lowest scoring CFL game since August 22, 1979 when Calgary beat Saskatchewan 6-5. It was the lowest scoring game involving the Lions in the 41 years since August 28, 1973 when BC defeated Calgary 9-2 at Empire Stadium.
7-4 start, 2-5 & 0-1 ending: The Lions ended the 2014 season winning 2 of their final 7 regular season games before the playoff defeat at Montreal. In 2014, BC extended their consecutive season playoff run to 18 years, third only to the CFL record of 34 in a row set by Edmonton from 1972 to 2005 and Montreal’s current streak of 19. BC has made the playoffs every year since 1997.
Season openers: The Lions have lost their last two Week #1 games and three of the last four overall. In five of the last seven years, BC has dropped below .500 at some point in the first three weeks of the season.
Lulay and Harris: The Lions two main offensive threats combined for only 13 out of a possible 36 starts last season. Since 2012 when Lulay has started BC has gone 20-8 .714, without him in the lineup they are 13-13 .500.
Solomon Elimimian 143/151 in 2014: Last year, Elimimian increased the CFL single-season record to 143 defensive tackles. Solomon finished up 54 tackles ahead of #2 Brandon Smith (Calgary), the largest gap over #2 in CFL history. With 8 ST tackles as well, Elimimian’s total of 151 tackles overall broke the old CFL record of 136 total tackles set by George White for Calgary in 2005. He was named the CFL’s Most Outstanding Player for 2014 – the first pure defender to ever win the Award.
9 wins: The club’s 9-9 record broke a three-year run of at least double-digit wins, a level BC has reached in 10 of the last 13 seasons.
Against Ottawa clubs: All-time the Lions are 41-18-2 against team from Ottawa, by far the best record against any CFL opponent. Next best behind .680 winning % vs Ottawa is the .614 mark against Toronto.
BC Fewest TDs Allowed in 2014: The Lions led the CFL in 2014 allowing only 27 TDs in 2014; just 24 of which came against the BC defence. They shut down opponents six times without a TD in 2014.
Fantasy Notes
QB: Drew Willy (28.8%), Trevor Harris (26.7%), Kevin Glenn (12%), Bo Levi Mitchell (10.8%), Travis Lulay (6.3%)
RB: Paris Cotton (37.3%), Jerome Messam (23.7%), Brandon Whitaker (7.1%), Tyrell Sutton (4.8%), Cameron Marshall (4.6%)
REC: Jeff Fuller (32.4%), Andy Fantuz (25.7%), Ryan Smith (15.8%), Nick Moore (11.5%), Ernest Jackson (10.6%)
Flex: Paris Cotton (9.7%), Cameron Marshall (7.8%), Brandon Banks (6.9%), Andy Fantuz (6.8%), Jerome Messam (6.4%)
Kicker: Chris Milo (21.4%), Boris Bede (17.9%), Delbert Alvarado (14.5%), Lirim Hajrullahu (12%), Rene Parades (11.4%)
Defence/ST: Calgary (25.9%), Toronto (21.2%), BC (18.1%), Ottawa (11.6%), Hamilton (8.5%)
