104th Grey Cup: CALGARY STAMPEDERS vs Ottawa REDBLACKS

[OzSome]

104th GREY CUP game between the Calgary Stampeders(15-2-1) vs the Ottawa RedBlacks(8-9-1). Kickoff at 4pm Sunday, November 27th BMO Field(Toronto).

Televised on TSN, ESPN3

Calgary thrashed the BC Lions in the Western Final 42-15 while Ottawa won in a cold snowy game against Edmonton 25-23 in the Eastern Final.

Ottawa and Calgary met twice this season and Stampeders won Week 13 game at McMahon Stadium 48-23 and the game was tied on Week 3 in Ottawa 26-26. Henry Burris did not play in both games. This is the first time former Stampeders such as QB Henry Burris, C Jon Gott, OL J.Michael Deane, R Brad Sinopoli, LB Taylor Reed and HC Rick Campbell will face the Stampeders in the playoff ever since they left Calgary.

OFFENSE:

QB Bo Levi Mitchell absolutely showed he is the best QB in the CFL this season by starting fast scoring TD in their first possession with 2 minutes in the West Final game. Mitchell only played 3 quarters but still threw 365 yards with 3 TDs and 1 INT. This season against Ottawa he threw 368 yards 2 TDs and 1 INT on Week 3 and 361 yards 2 TDs in Week 13. RB Jerome Messam also had a monster game yesterday. Him and Roy Finch torched the Lions DLine with Messam doing a power run while Finch in a more swifty running plays. Messam rushed for over 30 yards in each game against Ottawa this season. R Joe West was the leading receiver in Week 3 with 99 yards and he probably won't even dress for the Grey Cup game. R Marquay McDaniel scored a TD each in 2 games. Both starting receiver Davaris Daniels and Kamar Jorden did not even play in Week 3. Daniels only game against Ottawa scored a TD on Week 13. Offensive line only gave up 1 QB sack in 2 games.

DEFENSE:

DE Charleston Hughes recorded 2 sacks in each game vs Ottawa this season. Now that Cordarro Law is back as his side kick I am sure he'll get more openings going after Burris in Grey Cup game. DT Micah Johnson also played well in 2 games against Ottawa. He recorded 7 tackles and 1 fumble recovery in Week 3 and 5 tackles 1 sack and 1 forced fumble in Week 13. MLB Alex Singleton recorded 6 tackles and 1 forced fumble in the first game and he was playing backup to MLB Taylor Reed in that game. In the 2nd game as a starter he recorded 10 tackles. DB Tommi Campbell did a great job against Chris Williams in Week 13 and completely shutting him down to 1 catch and 4 yards.

SPECIAL TEAM:

Coverage team is one of the biggest surprise this season. They shut down good returners such as Brandon Banks and need to shut down Tristan Jackson. Chris Williams who usually do some return job but he is injured so they won't have to worry about him. In Week 13, Tristan Jackson wasn't even doing anything until the last half of the game when the score was out of reach.
The group also had a great game in the Western Final shutting down the quick and speedy Chris Rainey.
Returner Roy Finch is getting better and better every game and he's been very consistent all season when he's healthy. Kicker Rene Paredes and Punter Rob Maver had their usual consistent season.

************************************************** ********
The only team who can beat the Calgary Stampeders in this game is themselves. The Stamps are much better offensively, defensively and on special team. This team have way too many talented players in all 3 facets of game. Of course they still have to play the game but I am very confident that they will win the Grey Cup.

I cannot wait to watch the game. GO STAMPS GO!!!!!

[getbak]

This is the third time in history that the Stampeders will play an Ottawa-based team for the Grey Cup.

In 1948, the Stamps capped off their undefeated season, winning their first Grey Cup in their first appearance in the Championship game (and only their fourth season in existence), with a 12-7 victory over the Rough Riders.

Twenty years later, the Roughies got their revenge, winning the 1968 Grey Cup game 24-21.


Both previous Calgary-Ottawa Grey Cup games were played outdoors in Toronto, just as this one will be. All three will have been played in a different stadium (although BMO Field stands in the same location as Exhibition Stadium).


Go Stamps Go!

[FireGilbert]

Go Stamps Go! RedBlacks is one of dumbest names in pro sports and I hope they never win anything.

By the way game will be shown live in Australia on ESPN2.

Also, I noticed there are still tickets available, what is the deal with that? Just Toronto fans not caring about the CFL especially after a horrible Argos season?

[tvp2003]

A huge opportunity for the franchise. Guys like Flutie, Garcia and Burris were able to win one Grey Cup, but were never in a position to get the second. For Bo Levi to potentially win two in three years would unprecedented for the Stamps, and it's not far-fetched to think there could be at least a couple more before he's through.

Given how well he's played in high pressure games (2014 Grey Cup, last week's Western Final), I'm confident he'll be locked and loaded on Sunday. If so, could be witnessing the birth of a dynasty folks.

[Roof-Daddy]

Anything less than a win will be an utter failure, so hopefully this team can cap off what will go down as a historic season with a Championship and not a total choke job like we've seen in years past.

And yeah, who knows how many more this team can win with Huff, DD and BLM as the core leaders for the foreseeable future. They'll certainly be capable of it, no doubt about that really.

But, one step at a time. Just win on Sunday.

[Party Elephant]

Originally Posted by tvp2003

A huge opportunity for the franchise. Guys like Flutie, Garcia and Burris were able to win one Grey Cup, but were never in a position to get the second. For Bo Levi to potentially win two in three years would unprecedented for the Stamps, and it's not far-fetched to think there could be at least a couple more before he's through.

Given how well he's played in high pressure games (2014 Grey Cup, last week's Western Final), I'm confident he'll be locked and loaded on Sunday. If so, could be witnessing the birth of a dynasty folks.

It's also pretty amazing that Dickenson never won a cup in Calgary (unless you count as a backup in '98) as he was another great QB from that era. But you didn't mention the great Marcus Crandell! I was 13 in 2001 when the stamps won the cup, and I got my picture taken with Crandell and the cup.

[Roof-Daddy]

Originally Posted by tvp2003

A huge opportunity for the franchise. Guys like Flutie, Garcia and Burris were able to win one Grey Cup, but were never in a position to get the second. For Bo Levi to potentially win two in three years would unprecedented for the Stamps, and it's not far-fetched to think there could be at least a couple more before he's through.

Given how well he's played in high pressure games (2014 Grey Cup, last week's Western Final), I'm confident he'll be locked and loaded on Sunday. If so, could be witnessing the birth of a dynasty folks.

Flutie actually had a chance to win his second as a Stamp in 1995, but lost to Baltimore. He won his first 1992.

Dude really should have won 4 straight though, at least.

[dash_pinched]

Forecast for Sunday in Toronto looks pretty good, I hope it holds (cloudy with sunny breaks and a high of 5 Celsius, winds about 15 km/hour)

[dash_pinched]

Mossis Madu will miss the Grey Cup game for the REDBLACKS on Sunday with a fractured scapula.

http://www.tsn.ca/redblacks-rb-madu-...y-cup-1.614586

[Lubicon]

Once again I won't be able to watch the game. I love watching my kids play hockey but I don't remember the last time I watched the Grey Cup - there has always been a conflict it seems.

[IceMan]

Originally Posted by dash_pinched

Forecast for Sunday in Toronto looks pretty good, I hope it holds (cloudy with sunny breaks and a high of 5 Celsius, winds about 15 km/hour)

Well that's good.

Is there any particular reason why this game is not being played at Rogers Centre? Climate controlled and more seats = higher revenue for the league no?

[dash_pinched]

Originally Posted by IceMan

Well that's good.

Is there any particular reason why this game is not being played at Rogers Centre? Climate controlled and more seats = higher revenue for the league no?

I think the league has basically closed the book on holding any more CFL games (even the Grey Cup) at Rogers Centre, they are committed to BMO Field. I think the atmosphere at BMO Field will be great, the place will be packed and with the weather co-operating, it should be a great night (hopefully capped with a Stamps championship).

[Bill Bumface]

As long as they leave the field in good shape for TFC we are all winners. Amirite?!?!

[Cowboy89]

Originally Posted by dash_pinched

I think the league has basically closed the book on holding any more CFL games (even the Grey Cup) at Rogers Centre, they are committed to BMO Field. I think the atmosphere at BMO Field will be great, the place will be packed and with the weather co-operating, it should be a great night (hopefully capped with a Stamps championship).

When the Blue Jays added a shale infield last offseason they removed the ability for Rogers Centre to play host to CFL games.

[CaptainCrunch]

I thought I'd add the start of my preview. You can also follow along this week at www.cflhorsemen.ca

ts almost time for Grey Cup 104, at least I think it’s 104, all I know is that’s a lot of Grey Cups.

As expected the Calgary Stampeders are heading to Toronto to take on the Ottawa REDBLACKS. If you look at conventional wisdom the Stampeders should steam roll over Ottawa on their way to their 8th Grey Cup and second of this decade. But Grey Cup Games are unconventional as a rule and nothing can be taken for granted. As a Stampeder fan I can remember looking back on the super teams in the 90’s and even this century and saying, we should have won way more. Also at stake for the Stampeders a chance to label this team as one of the greatest teams of all time, though I think that the 1948 undefeated team is the greatest CFL team of all time.

Even the odds makers have the Stamps as heavy 9 point or more favorites so if you’re a betting man you might want to take Ottawa in case this game is close.

Just like last week, I want to break this game down a bit, and to keep you people interested I’ll break it down over three days. So first off we’ll look at the offenses, but I want to do things a little different.

Stampeders Offense versus Ottawa’s defense.

Overall – Calgary offense

Calgary’s offense lead the league in points scored with 586 yards, in terms of a scoring breakdown Calgary scored 21 tds via rushing and 32 touchdowns via passing, which means that this is a team that can hurt you in a lot of ways. In terms of play distribution Calgary rushed the ball 331 times for 1744 yards while passing the ball 652 times while completing 441 passes for a 67% percentage and 5655 yards. At the same time Calgary turned the ball over very few times with 10 interceptions and a total of 26 turnovers versus 53 TDS. On top of that Calgary’s aggregate QB rating efficiency is 104.5%. In other words, the Stampeders have a slightly higher tendency to pass the ball, which I might add is common in the CFL. But they do a excellent job of protecting the football. They make very few mistakes and a team with a 104.5% efficiency rating while maintaining a 5.3 ypc average on the ground and a 9.18.7 ypp average is a team that can not only eat the clock at a prodigious rate, has the ability to maintain drives, but as we’ve seen also has a big play tendency.

Scheme wise, we really don’t know what to expect from the Stampeders as their big strength is their offensive game planning. However there are some commonalities. The Stampeders play a very patient progression style offense.

On the run the Stampeders have a tendency to put their bigger offensive linemen at the Guard position, while they put their more athletic slightly smaller linemen at the tackle spot. This creates two situations. On the inside runs they tend to do a lot of deuce blocking while the guard and tackle will both attack the end, then the inside guard will disengage and push through to the second level. On the outside run the Stampeders will tend to move a tight end into the formation from the back field and they will do a deuce block on the end with the tight end disengaging to get to the outside linebacker while the tackle continues to wash the end. When a tight end isn’t used the tackle will utilize a long reach block to turn the defensive end inside creating a lane and forcing the outside linebacker to try to stretch the play until help arrives. For the Stampeders though it helps to have a monster back who can tear through the middle and take on a linebacker in a single matchup. What the Stampeders changed last week was the insertion of Roy Finch into the formation which means that he can exploit smaller or faster closing holes and then stretch the linebackers.

The Stampeders also tend to use a lot of misdirection in their run game, this is a team that runs exceptional counters where they sell the line and run in one direction and then the running back goes opposite to the line block. This tends to freeze the first steps of the linebackers and can put a running back into a one on one battle with a defensive back which tends to be a mismatch.

If the Stamps can establish a running game it creates a unique challenge to Ottawa defensive coordinator Mark Nelson. The Redblacks have a very good front 7 which is anchored by a strong set of ends and very good mobile linebackers. This allows him to use their front 7 to run stop and pressure while allowing their secondary to play a physical full zone without heavily stacking the box. If the Stampeders can establish the run this will force Nelson to bring more players into the box where he’s sending 7 instead of 6 or 5 players, if he’s forced to stack the box to close the inside of the field this opens up the Stampeders passing game to the outside of the field and the area just behind the linebackers.

The other thing that the Stampeders do very well is run the Jet Sweep, we saw it on the first TD against BC, where the Stamps bought Lamar Durant across the formation into a overloaded blocking situation. The advantage of the jet sweep is it allows you to run a fast sweep, as long as the timing is good.

If the Stamps can move the ball on the ground and force Ottawa to load the bock, this can lead to the effective use of their play action and zone read play action packages. With the play action the Stamps have shown that they can freeze linebackers and halfbacks which can allow the mesh pass into the middle of the field that’s abandoned. It also can force the cornerbacks to think run first which is a first zone responsibility and the Stamps tend to have receivers that are very good at recognizing gaps in coverage caused by play action. With the zone option passing play, Mitchell can now decide on the field whether a play is a run play or a passing play by riding the ball with his running back to see how Ottawa is going to play and then deciding whether to take the ball back to pass or to leave the ball with the running back. The biggest difficulty in running the zone read is leaving a defensive end unblocked. But if the defensive end decides or is fooled into thinking that it’s a run play it tends to quickly blunt a team’s pass rush.

Overall Ottawa’s defense

Ottawa’s defense is a study in contrasts, this is a team that’s very good against the run but in the bottom half of the CFL against the pass. They only allowed 11 TD’s on the ground, while allowing 31 in the air. Yardage wise they allowed 78.4 ypg rushing which was good for 3rd in the CFL with a stingy 4.8 ypc. Passing defense was a different story, Ottawa allowed a 2nd worse 311 ypg passing average while giving up a average of 8.33 ypc, what this means is that teams threw against the RedBlacks a lot. The dangerous part of the Ottawa pass defense is that they did generate 16 interceptions. However when you look at the completions verses interceptions this isn’t a product of ball hawking as much as teams just passed against the Red Blacks a lot.

From a philosophy standpoint the Mark Nelson doesn’t exactly play cautious like Mark Washington of the Lions. This is a very physical defense that uses its front 7 to effectively take away the run, while their secondary plays a much tighter zone and cover 2 man game plan.
For Ottawa to win this matchup Mark Nelson has to show a lot of patience and resist over stacking the box, or blitzing too aggressively which would give the Stampeders an edge in terms of exploiting abandoned holes in the defense.

[CaptainCrunch]

and more

Key Personal – Calgary

Bo Levi Mtichell – This team lives and dies by BLM to me he’s the runaway MVP this year. His biggest advantage in this game is that he’s excellent at reading defenses and then picking them apart. When Bo first came into this league he was a risk taking deep ball gunslinger. Now he more closely mirrors his coach in that he can read and pick apart a defense.

Jarome Messam – He’s a rarity and a freakshow in that he’s a 6’3 250 pound running back with good power and finesse who can catch the ball out of the backfield. For the Stamps to be successful he’s going to have to be effective between the tackles to force the RedBlacks to stack the box. If he can get established early this just opens up the Stamps playbook.

Marquay McDaniels – Not because he’s a great possession receiver which he is, but because he outstanding at reading the defense and taking what’s given to him. Nobody is better at settling into and exploiting seam defenses.

Dave Dickenson – He’s had a stunning year as a rookie headcoaching and his ability to alter game plans both in terms of preparation before a game and when he’s adjusting during a game should give him a advantage of being unpredictable.

Key Personal - Ottawa

I’m going to keep this simple.

Front 7 – They need to shut down the Stamps ground game, if they do they leave the game in the hands of a strong zone secondary . However if they can’t overcome the Stamps offensive line and stop the run its going to be a long afternoon for them both in terms of endurance and in terms of Dickenson being able to open his playbook fully.

Mark Nelson – There’s no question that statistically and on paper the Stampeders should tear the RedBlacks a new one. As mentioned before the key for Nelson is to stay patient and stick with the basics in that he can’t stack the box and expect to survive Calgary’s passing game. If he can stick to his normal game plan he can frustrate the Stamps who are heavy favorites and disrupt their rhythm, and cause some mistakes.

Overall Advantage – Calgary

Simply put the RedBlacks can’t seem to stop the pass, and the Stamps are too multi-dimensional and unpredictable.

Tomorrow - Part 2 Ottawa Offense versus Calgary Defense

[CaptainCrunch]

the actual thread for this preview is http://forums.cflhorsemen.ca/topic10465.html

[dash_pinched]

Thanks for the above CC, nicely done.

[killer_carlson]

Calgary secondary has to be ready to play. Burris will come out slinging bombs. If we put a stop to it early in the game, I think it ends up a blowout.

[Mr.Coffee]

wikipedia is saying this is the 105th Grey Cup?

Anyways Calgary getting its' 8th would be nice. A lot nicer number than 7!