Dale MacMillan
CFL.ca Staff
#GCPlayoffs
EDMONTON – This could be the defining game on if the power has truly shifted in the West Division.
For the second straight year, the Edmonton Eskimos and Calgary Stampeders will meet in the Western Final to decide who gets to compete for the Grey Cup presented by Shaw.
The fact that these two clubs have reached this point of the year should come as a surprise to few. The Esks and Stamps sat at nearly the top of every offensive and defensive team statistic while blazing their way to 14-4 records.
However, the turning point of the season remains the same for both teams. The Stamps won the first meeting on Labour Day, continuing their 12-game winning streak over their provincial rivals. But it was the rematch and Week 16 wins by the Eskimos that changed the course of the season. Those two victories started what is now eight wins in a row for Edmonton and gave them the control of their own destiny for the rest of the regular season.
“I think our defence played great in all three games. I don’t think they played any different in the first game than they did the second or third. They were pretty dominant all three games,” said Mike Reilly. “The difference was offensively we were able to put some points on the board and the reason we were able to do that was because we connected on some deep plays down the field when they were available and we were able to move the chains a little bit. The third time that we played them, we left a lot out on the field too.”
After being injured in the opening week, Mike Reilly returned under centre during the first game between the two teams, replacing James Franklin. While the Eskimos lost that game, it brought back a sense of stability to a quarterback position that had been split by Franklin and Matt Nichols.
Still, like the statistics on the scorecard, everybody knows how important each detail is when these two face off. With the margin for error so slim, one mistake could have a big factor in the final result.
“I think we are similar teams. I think that we’re both coached extremely well,” said Reilly. “I think that we both have very good defences and we have offences that have some very serious weapons that can hurt you if you’re not careful. I think that’s why when we play and match up, the games are pretty tight.”
“All three games we’ve played so far against Edmonton have been tight, low-scoring games. If a team can go out there and put up 20, 25, 30 points, there’s a good chance they can win the game,” said Bo Levi Mitchell. “But we’ve also played games against them in the past that have been very high-scoring and still very tight. We know it can go either way.”
This will be the first time since 2003 that the Esks will be hosting the Western Final, a span of over a decade that can make one appreciate just how difficult it is to get to this point.
All season long, the Eskimos suffocated offences with their swarming defence and the team isn’t anticipating much change to what has brought them success. The team started practicing before they knew if they would face the Stamps or BC Lions, who lost in the Western Semi-Final.
With the opponent determined, the Esks were able to focus on how to game plan.
“It was good to have direction, to be able to go out there and walk through the plays that we have for our game plan that are specifically set for Calgary. But it didn’t really change much in the sense that we’ve always worried about executing our plays and not worrying too much about who we’re playing against,” said Reilly. “We got our game plan that will be a little different from the last times that we played them but it’s still going to be our offence that we run and it’s just a matter of us going out and doing what we need to do and not worry about them.”
Edmonton enters this game with nearly three weeks off between whistles. The Eskimos had a bye during the final week of the season and did not need to play in the semi-finals, giving the team an unusual amount of time to rest, heal, and prepare.
Head coach Chris Jones had given the team the first week away from football and his team came back focused and itching to compete. The intensity felt in the air was noted by some at Esks practices.
While it is fair to wonder if the long layoff will help the Eskimos or hurt their momentum, the players and coaching staff don’t seem concerned about it.
“The mental aspect was just as important as the physical because you’ve been going 17 weeks of just nonstop putting your body and your mind through whatever you got to do to get the W for that week so both parts was just as helpful, physically and mentally,” said Odell Willis.
The Stampeders can only wish they were afforded such time to heal their offensive line, which has resembled more of a doctor’s office of late. Despite a rash of injuries that has swept across the unit, the team has found a number of fill-ins and converted defensive linemen that have got the job done.
If there is one team that can relate to the Stamps’ current situation, it’s the Esks. When Reilly got hurt, many expected Edmonton to stumble along until he returned but that was not the case. Willis and his teammates are well aware not to underestimate a team just because they have a few injured players.
“I look at Calgary just as Calgary. When you got a coach like Hufnagel over there leading those guys you can’t look down at just because they got a couple injuries on the front line,” he said. “Look at us when we lost our quarterback. People didn’t think we was still going to be able to perform the way we did and we did.”
Calgary has taken to the definition of the ‘next man up’ mentality and they have only found success in that formula so far. The team has quietly rattled off wins in seven on their last eight games, the only loss coming to the Eskimos.
The results of the season series are not lost on either pivot.
“It doesn’t concern me but I’m also not going to throw it out the window,” said Bo Levi Mitchell, who threw three touchdowns to five interceptions against the Esks. “They still did what they had to do to win two of the three games and catch first place.”
“There’s things to be learned from all three games. What to do, what not to do, what we need to get better at,” said Reilly. “But it’s going to be an entirely new game. Every time we play them it seems that things are always a little bit different, this will be no exception to that.”
The trade deadline acquisition of Jerome Messam by the Stampeders is looking more and more like a stroke of genius as each day passes. Star running back Jon Cornish will not play in this game and missed the semi-final game with injury, meaning that Messam will see the majority of touches in the Calgary backfield once again.
Messam has amassed 180 rushing yards on 28 attempts through three games with his new team and it appears the offence hasn’t dropped off or missed a beat. The Esks know stopping the run will be a major key to victory.
“When they’re able to run the football, the offence just opens up to all kinds of things so it starts with being physical and stopping the run,” said JC Sherritt.
This game consists of many matchups that would balance the scales, even if you measure offence against offence. For Eric Rogers, there is Adarius Bowman. For Marquay McDaniel, there is Derel Walker.
Yet no pair of players took up more of the offence in Edmonton than Bowman and Walker, and for good reason. The pair of receivers each notched over 1,000 yards and contributed to around 50 per cent of the team’s targets.
That’s information the Stamps will be using to their advantage.
“We do stats on each player,” said Jamar Wall, who will be tasked with trying to stop the duo. “They have about 50 per cent of the catches that Reilly has thrown, so out of 200 passes they’re getting 100 of them between the two… You know the ball, more times than not, is coming to one of them.”
The weather forecast for Sunday afternoon calls for temperatures just above zero with little chance of precipitation, but the Eskimos are still preparing for a forecast that can change on a dime. Jones says the team has practiced for wet conditions, dipping the footballs in water before practice.
This game is being anticipated as a ‘slugfest’ and could be an indication on if there really is a new team to beat in the West.
Game Notes:
- This week tied a league-record 41st time that the Eskimos will play for a Division title (Toronto). This will be the Eskimos’ 30th trip in the “single-game” era (1973-2015) after going to 11 prior “Best of” series from 1950 to 1960.
- This meeting marks the first time since 1996 that Edmonton and Calgary will have met two years in a row for the Division playoff title. They met four years in a row from 1990 to 1993, and back-to-back in 1978-79.
- Of Calgary’s 33 previous Division Final appearances, 11 have been against the Eskimos and they hold 6-5 edge including the 2014 championship game. This will be the 5th time that Calgary will travel to Edmonton for the West Final – they won in 2001 and 1991, and lost in 1979 and 1978 at Commonwealth Stadium.
- Edmonton has not had less than 29:31 of TOP in any of the last 14 games and has averaged 32:31 over that period. They have won the Time of Possession battle in each of their last 6 games.
- The Eskimos have not been outscored in the 4th Quarter in their last 9 games (107-22 scoring edge) or in any of their 14 wins this year. In their 14 wins they are 145-28 (+117) in Q4 scoring, in their 4 losses they have been outscored 29-3. They had two games in 2105 where they outscored their opponent 21-0 in the final 15:00.
- This year’s contest marks the first-ever meeting of 14-4 teams in the CFL playoffs and ties the record for most combined wins (28) by division finalists. In 1995, the North Division final featured Calgary (15-3) against Edmonton (13-5) while the 1997 East final had Toronto (15-3) going up against Montreal (13-5).
Kickoff is at 4:30 P.M. MT.