THIS WEEK IN THE CFL - WEEK 12

Week 12 in the CFL begins on Friday when the Montreal Alouettes take on the BC Lions in Vancouver. Montreal will be looking to get back into the win column and close the gap in the East Division, while BC will be looking to secure their third straight victory as they continue to fight for top spot in the West Division.

This week features three rematches from last week’s Mark’s Labour Day Weekend action. On Saturday afternoon, Saskatchewan looks to avenge their Labour Day Weekend loss to the surging Winnipeg Blue Bombers. The post-Labour Day Weekend game record between the two teams sits at 6 and 6, meaning that this year’s victor will hold the winning record.

Saturday evening features another round in the Battle of Alberta, this time in Edmonton. Calgary will be looking for the sweep following last weekend’s 45-24 win at home, and Edmonton will want to shake off the Labour Day Weekend defeat and give their rivals only their second loss on the season.

To conclude the week, Hamilton travels up the QEW to take on the Argonauts at BMO Field. With a win, the Argonauts would be tied with the Tiger-Cats with ten points to make the playoff race that much more interesting down the stretch.

LABOUR DAY WEEKEND REMATCHES

• Edmonton and Calgary will meet for the 28^th consecutive time following Labour Day week (1989-2016).
• In the previous 27 occasions, Calgary has swept the back-to-back eight times, Edmonton has swept it five times and they have split the two game set 14 times, including last year’s series.
• Saskatchewan and Winnipeg have played in back-to-back games following Labour Day Weekend for the past 12 seasons – known to fans as the Banjo Bowl.
• With Winnipeg’s 28-25 victory last week, they will be looking for their first and only sweep since 2004.
• During the Labour Day Weekend and the game known to fans as the “Banjo Bowl”, Saskatchewan has swept the two-game set six times with five splits in the 12 years.
• Since the formation of the Hamilton Tiger-Cats in 1950, Hamilton leads the all-time series versus the Argonauts 131-93-2. Sunday’s contest will be the 227^th meeting between the two clubs.
• Hamilton has a rare advantage when they play Toronto on the road. They hold a record of 62-58-2 since 1950.
• Hamilton has won the last four meetings with Toronto and has won 15 of the last 21 matchups since October 2009.

TACKLING HISTORY

• Heading into Week 12, Montreal’s Bear Woods leads the CFL in tackles with 74 and is on pace for 133.
• That would be the second-most tackles in a single season, behind only Solomon Elimimian’s 143 in his 2014 record-breaking season.
• Montreal’s Chip Cox has 44 tackles this season and 801 in his career. He is now only one behind Eddie Davis (802) for fifth all-time.
• Following his 14 tackles (a CFL season-high and a BC Lions record) at Toronto last Wednesday, Solomon Elimimian now has 70 tackles this season and is on pace for well over 100 tackles.
• Teammate Adam Bighill has 67 tackles and is also on pace for 100+ tackles this season. 
• No team has ever had two players reach the 100+ tackle mark in the same season.

THOUSAND YARD CLUB

• Edmonton’s Adarius Bowman became the first receiver to eclipse the 1,000-yard barrier following his seven-reception game for 52 yards versus the Calgary Stampeders.
• This season, he has averaged 100.8 receiving yards per game and has scored a total of five touchdowns.
• Three more receivers are knocking on the door of the 1,000-yard mark: Ottawa’s Chris Williams (991), Saskatchewan’s Naaman Roosevelt (874) and Bowman’s teammate Derel Walker (960).
• In 2015, 12 receivers finished with 1,000+ yards: Eric Rogers (1,448), Adarius Bowman (1,304), Chris Williams (1,214), Emmanuel Arceneaux (1,151), Derel Walker (1,110), Luke Tasker (1,066), Greg Ellingson (1,061), Marquay McDaniel (1,038), Ernest Jackson (1,036), S.J. Green (1,036) Brad Sinopoli (1,035) and Terrell Sinkfield (1,030).
• Running backs Andrew Harris (655) and Jerome Messam (652) are neck and neck for the CFL rushing crown and are both on pace for 1,000-yard rushing seasons.
• Last season three running backs finished the season with 1,000+ yards: Tyrell Sutton (1,059), Andrew Harris (1,039) and Jerome Messam (1,006).

THIS AND THAT

• Hamilton’s 20-point comeback against Toronto last week gave the Tiger-Cats two games in the same season where they overcame a 20-point deficit to win the game.
• Only one other team has come back twice from a 20-point deficit in the same season: the 1962 Hamilton Tiger-Cats.
• On August 18, 1962 they trailed the Argonauts 20-0 and rallied to win the game 29-23. On November 4, 1962 they were down 24-3 to Ottawa and came back to win 40-34.
• Road teams have won 27 times in 45 games this season – a .611 winning percentage, on track for the highest in CFL history. The next best year was 1961 where road teams finished 38-27-3 (.581).
• Last Monday’s Hamilton-Toronto game totaled 85 points. That tied for the most points scored in a single game this season with the Week 6 game where Calgary defeated BC 44-41.
• Turnovers were key in Week 11. The five winning teams had only six total turnovers while the five losing teams had 14.
• “Big” plays were just as important. Winning teams from Week 11 produced 16 of them while losing teams had just ten total. Those “big” plays included two 85-yard punt returns, one by Roy Finch and one by Kendial Lawrence.
• Over the last two weeks, there have been 39 offensive possessions in which a team has allowed a sack. Only one of those 39 possessions resulted in a TD.
• Only Ottawa survived a sack and scored a touchdown on the same possession. By contrast, CFL clubs scored a touchdown in 19% of the 201 drives that allowed no sacks.
• Following his three field goals on Monday, Rene Paredes has extended his streak of 31 consecutive tries covering eight games. He now owns the first- and the second-longest streaks in CFL history.
• Paredes is also on pace for most made field goals in a season with 63.
• This week, Chad Owens will be making his 100^th career start and John Chick will make his 99^th career start.