THIS WEEK IN THE CFL – WEEK 13
Week 13 opens with BC visiting Montreal on Friday evening at 7:30 p.m. ET. Both teams are coming in well-rested after sitting out Labour Day Weekend. The Alouettes enter the clash on a two-game winning streak following Week 11’s impressive victory over Toronto in the 2019 edition of Touchdown Atlantic. The Lions are 1-2 against East Division opponents this season with their lone victory on the year coming in Week 4 against the Argos.
For the first time this season, the CFL schedule will feature a triple-header. The busy Saturday begins in the nation’s capital with Toronto in town at 1 p.m. ET for the East Division rivals’ first meeting of 2019. The Argonauts are in pursuit of their first road win of the year on their sixth try, while the REDBLACKS are hoping to return to the win column following three consecutive setbacks.
The scene then shifts to Winnipeg for this year’s Banjo Bowl. The Blue Bombers lead the West Division, but Saskatchewan sits two-points back with a game in-hand. The squads will be playing the back end of a home-and-home series after Saskatchewan’s tightly contested 19-17 win in the Labour Day Classic. After a slow 1-3 start to the campaign, the Roughriders are winners of six straight. The Blue Bombers will attempt to continue their winning ways in the friendly confines of IG Field where they boast a perfect 6-0 record. Kick-off is slated for 4 p.m. ET. The winner will sit atop the division.
The finale of the back-to-back-to-back set will see Edmonton host the Stampeders at 7 p.m. ET. Last week, Calgary successfully defended home field with a convincing 25-9 victory on Mark’s Labour Day Weekend and the Eskimos will look to do the same at Commonwealth Stadium. With a win, the visitors will sweep the season series, but Edmonton has played well at home, compiling a 4-1 record.
TSN’s Live Mic game will be Calgary at Edmonton.
ESPN+ will broadcast all four games this week.
WINNING VS. LOSING TRENDS THIS SEASON
- The team that has had better starting field position is 39-7.
- Teams which have committed fewer or even turnovers are 36-10.
- The team that has more or even sacks is 34-12.
- Teams which have registered more ‘explosive plays’ are 24-9.
- The team with a better completion percentage is 28-18.
- Surprisingly, teams that have drawn more flags are 21-21.
LABOUR DAY REMATCH: BANJO BOWL
- This will be the 16th edition of the Banjo Bowl; Winnipeg leads the series with eight wins.
- Saskatchewan won the 2018 Banjo Bowl to snap the Blue Bombers’ 3-year winning streak.
- Last week, the Roughriders won the Labour Day Classic 19-17. Saskatchewan has swept the Labour Day-Banjo Bowl matchups on seven occasions:
- 2005: 45-26 LDC; 19-17 BB
- 2008: 19-6 LDC; 34-31 BB
- 2009: 29-14 LDC; 55-10 BB
- 2011: 27-7 LDC; 45-23 BB
- 2012: 52-0 LDC; 25-24 BB
- 2014: 35-30 LDC; 30-24 BB
- 2018: 31-23 LDC; 32-27 BB
- The teams have split the back-to-back series six times: 2006, 2007, 2010, 2013, 2015, 2017. In each case, Saskatchewan won the Labour Day Classic and then Winnipeg emerged victorious in the Banjo Bowl at home.
- The team which has scored first in the Banjo Bowl is 10-5 (66%).
- There have been three comebacks from double-digit deficits to win the Banjo Bowl, all were by Saskatchewan:
- 2005: Deficit of 11
- 2011: Deficit of 10
- 2018: Deficit of 10
- This year’s game will end Matt Nichols’ four-year streak as Winnipeg’s starter.
LABOUR DAY REMATCH: CALGARY AT EDMONTON
- With the exception of 1992 when the Labour Day Classic was played in Edmonton and the subsequent rematch took place in Calgary, the Eskimos have hosted the second contest every year since the back-to-back sets began in 1989.
- The series is knotted at 15 games-a-piece, but the Stampeders have won 10 of the last 12 matchups.
- This will be the 31st time that Calgary and Edmonton have played the home-and-home series after the Labour Day Classic (1989-2019).
- Calgary sweeps: 10
- Edmonton sweeps: 5
- Splits: 15
- Calgary has swept the back-to-back set in five of the past seven years with splits in 2015 and 2018.
- Last week, Calgary…
- limited Edmonton to its lowest point total of the season (9).
- held the Eskimos to their fewest net offence this year (265).
- tied Edmonton’s season-low for first downs (15) – a record they established in Week 8 in Calgary.
- In two games this year against Calgary, Ricky Collins has recorded 11 receptions for 200 yards and two TDs. In those same matchups, Reggie Begelton has tallied 16 receptions for 200 yards and a TD against Edmonton.
QUICK SLANTS
- Bo Levi Mitchell is a career 11-4 against Edmonton and is 71-16-2 overall.
- Trevor Harris has started 10 games against Calgary, but has yet to record a victory (0-8-2).
- Last week, the home team won all three games. The home side is 28-18 this season.
- Jonathon Jennings will be starting against Toronto. He is a career 4-2 against the Argonauts.
- Derel Walker recorded 203 receiving yards last week. It was the second week-in-a-row that a player has hit the 200+ yard mark after DaVaris Daniels’ performance in Week 11 (207 yards).
- BC goes into Friday’s game with a seven-game winning streak versus Montreal. The Alouettes have not beaten the Lions since 2015 and have not done so at home since 2014.
- Entering the Labour Day Classic, Toronto had only recorded 13 sacks. Last week however, they notched seven in the 38-27 loss.
- Edmonton has only allowed eight sacks this season; the next best team is Saskatchewan with 17.
- After an unprecedented number of kick return TDs to begin the year, there have now been none over the past three weeks. The last one was in Week 9.
- For the first time since 2012, the Alouettes’ record at or beyond the midway point of the season (5-4) is above the .500 mark.
- BC has not started a season with a 1-9 record since 1969. The Lions are currently on a three-game losing streak on the road.
- Last week’s setback to Calgary was Edmonton’s fourth wire-to-wire loss of the season and the third time they had failed to score a touchdown on offence.
- Montreal, BC and Ottawa are a combined 0-4 when coming off a bye this season.
- Toronto is 8-4 against the REDBLACKS since Ottawa rejoined the league in 2014.
- Tyler Crapigna has made 13 straight field goals; Sean Whyte owns a streak of 12 consecutive makes.