THIS WEEK IN THE CFL - WEEK 16

THIS WEEK’S SCENARIOS

• An Edmonton win or tie OR a B.C. loss will secure a home playoff date for the Eskimos
• The race for first in the West Division will continue between the two Alberta teams and they meet this week to settle the 2015 season tie-breaker
• If the Stampeders win, they’ll earn a two game cushion on the Esks and need just one more win to secure first place in the West for the third consecutive year
• However, if Edmonton wins, they will pull even with a record of 11-4 and more importantly own the season series and have the advantage with the tiebreaker
• If Saskatchewan loses OR B.C. wins, the Roughriders will be eliminated from the playoffs

PLAYOFF POSITIONING

• Week 15 saw a pair of teams punch their tickets into the playoffs for the 103^rd Grey Cup presented by Shaw
• Calgary was able to secure a playoff berth on Thursday night without even playing after the Ottawa REDBLACKS defeated the Montreal Alouettes
• When the Stampeders did play on Friday, their win against the Hamilton Tiger-Cats at Tim Hortons Field clinched a home playoff date
• Calgary has now extended their playoff streak to 11 years in a row –  one of only 13 streaks of 11+ years in CFL history.
• North of Calgary, their provincial rivals the Edmonton Eskimos were also able to clinch a spot in the playoffs with their win over Winnipeg on the road on Saturday
• Edmonton’s post-season berth is their fourth in the last five years
• Montreal will be looking to make it into the playoffs for the 20th consecutive year. One step to help ensure they extend this impressive streak will be beating the Argos on Monday, who currently own a two-game lead on the Alouettes
• B.C. currently owns an 18 year streak of making the playoffs
• Last week’s win over Saskatchewan got B.C. out of the crossover position through 15 weeks

WEEK 15 = SCORING & OFFENCE UP, PENALTIES DOWN

• Week 15 averaged 53 points per game
• This marks the fourth straight week that scoring has increased over the previous 4-game set
• Week 15 recorded the second highest net offence this season with an average of 733 yards per contest
• Last week averaged 22.8 penalties per game, helping to reduce the season average to 24.3 per game. That is the lowest average penalties have been all year
• Over the last 15 games, penalty totals have averaged 22 per game which continues the year-long downward trend
• Teams that have taken more penalties this season have a record of just 18-34 (.346 winning percentage)

CROSSOVER STANDINGS

• With the high potential for crossover in either direction, here is a current standings update:

GUNSLINGERS CATCHING TDS

• B.C. pivot Jonathon Jennings CAUGHT a touchdown pass from Austin Collie on Saturday night
• As rare as it is for a quarterback to do so in the modern game, this occurrence was fairly common in the 1950s
• The list of QBs who caught TDs includes: Condredge Holloway (1975); Sonny Wade (1970); Joe Zuger and Tom Wilkinson (1969); and Russ Jackson, Lynn Amedee and Vernon Cole (1964)
• Ken Ploen and Jackie Parker were QBs who also caught a number of touchdown passes but were versatile players who often played halfback
• The last time a QB caught a TD was in 2013 when former Ticat and current Montreal Alouette Dan LeFevour caught a 29-yards major against the Winnipeg Blue Bombers
• The last time Saskatchewan let a QB catch a TD pass was in 2003 when Ottawa’s Romaro Miller did so on August 7
• Recent quarterbacks that have caught touchdown passes include: Saskatchewan’s Kerry Joseph (vs. Toronto on July 22, 2006), Calgary’s Kevin Feterik (vs. Ottawa on July 1, 2003) and Calgary Stampeders offensive coordinator and future head coach Dave Dickenson, who snagged one against Edmonton on July 5, 2000

CLUTCH KICKING IN ALBERTA

• Both Alberta teams can thank their kickers for punching their tickets into the playoffs last week
• Calgary kicker Rene Paredes hit five field goals on a windy night in Hamilton, including a 37-yard, game-winning field goal as time expired
• Paredes flourishes when the kicks matter most: this year he is 17-of-19 (89%) while attempting field goals in the fourth quarter
• In the final 4:00 of games, he’s even better: his record is a perfect 9-for-9
• Not to be outdone, Edmonton kicker Sean Whyte successfully booted three kicks for field goals on Saturday, including a 53-yard one to win the game
• The winning field goal for Whyte was the longest successful one of his career, and the second longest he’s ever attempted
• He tried for a field goal from 54 yards in 2012 against the Argos, but came up a yard short
• Whyte is 10-of-11 for field goals this season

PIVOTS IN THEIR SECOND CAREER START

• Jonathon Jennings tossed four touchdowns in his second career start at B.C. Place on Saturday
• He joins a group of EIGHT players who have thrown four or more TDs in their second-career start
• The current record is held by Jeff Garcia who threw SIX on Septemper 4, 1995
• Quinton Porter and Tobin Rote each threw FIVE in their sophomore startsand Dave Anderson, Nealon Green, John Hufnagel, Tom Wilkinson, Casey Printers and now Jennings each threw four majors

FAST TEMPO NOTES

• Teams are 71% successful on third down gambles this year. That’s down from 80% in 2014 and 84% in 2013
• Teams have scored 31 defensive touchdowns, only one short from last season and 10 more from 2013. They have also made 23 interceptions and 8 fumbles
• This season we have seen 13 kick return touchdowns thus far. Last season saw 17 kick return majors, up from 12 in 2013
• In the last seven games, kickers have missed six 1-point converts
• Overall, kickers are 204-of-237 (86.1%) on the 32-yard 1-point converts
• Troy Stoudermire joins Brandon Banks as the only CFLer to have multiple return touchdowns this season
• The Toronto vs. Ottawa game tonight will be the 5,364^th regular season game since 1907