WEEK 16: STAMPEDERS vs Argo-NOTS!
WEEK 16: STAMPEDERS vs Argonauts
It's crunch-time for the Stampeders. Every game is like a playoff game for them being tied in the West for 1st place. Unfortunately due to the tiebreaker rules, Stamps will end up in 3rd place if they ended up tied in Win-Loss department with BC Lions and Edmonton Eskimos at the end of the regular season. So basically Stamps need to win all 4 of their last remaining games while the Esks and the BC Lions lose at least one game. BC and Edmonton will actually play against each other sometime before the regular season ends.
So, Calgary's remaining 4 games are Toronto(road), Saskatchewan(home), Montreal(road) and Winnipeg(home).
OFFENSE:
Calgary leads the league in rushing yards 117.3 yards per game, 2nd in rushing touchdown with 17. Ever since Jon Cornish took over the starting job, he's been productive. Last game he didn't have the same yardages a week ago and he still made people missed and he ended up with 49 rushing yards in 9 attempts. The team ended up rushing for 114 yards.
Passing on the other hands went cold and they ended up with 193 yards passing, the 3rd lowest this season. Nik Lewis had 6 catches for 45 yards and surpassed the 1,000 receiving yards this season. Landan Talley scored an 81-yard touchdown and ended up with 2 catches for 94 yards. Johnny Forzani hasn't caught the ball in the past few games.
Calgary offense started cold against BC and actually fumbled the ball on their first possession that gave BC Lions their first TD on the game. Offense didn't get rattled though and came back with 2 TDs of their own right away.
DEFENSE:
It must hard to have consistencies with the defense. Every game someone goes out and another one comes in. I don't remember a game this season where every starter in defense played together. That doesn't mean they are excused for giving up 33 points against BC last week. Stamps are 3-4 when they surrendered 30 points or more this season. They also allowed 334 yards in net offense against the BC Lions.
DL Devone Claybrook came back in the lineup with the vengeance last game after sitting out two games in a row. LB Malik Jackson was a healthy scratch last game due to inconsistencies in the last few games. Tonight DE Charleston Hughes will be sitting out due to injury while DL Robert McCune will be back in the lineup after sitting out a few games due to injuries. Brandon Isaac will also not play and will be replace by Johnny Dixon in the lineup. So, the defense carousel keeps on round and round.
SPECIAL TEAMS:
We finally saw what Larry Taylor are capable of doing on special team last game vs BC Lions. Taylor had 270 yards in return including the 60 yard kickoff return.
Calgary will face one of the best returner in the CFL in Chad Owens. It would be an interesting game. I can just see Burke Dales punting the ball away from Owens all night. Not so sure about Paredes though.
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After the turnover-free and less penalties against the Riders a few weeks ago, Stamps went back to their old trick. They lost the turnover battle against BC Lions 2 to 1. I believed Taylor scored a TD return only to be called back by an illegal block as well.
Stamps are playing the worst team in the CFL and they should take advantage of it instead of taking it easy. The Argonauts are 3-11 and they lost the last 2 games. Against the Stamps though, they won their only matchup in Week 1 in Calgary 23-21. The Stamps are 5-2 on road games and 3-2 against the Eastern team. This game should be a cakewalk, at least in paper. The only problem is the Stamps seems to take teams lightly instead of taking advantage of them this season.
GO STAMPS GO!!!!
Game time: 7:30pm EST in Toronto.
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