THIS WEEK IN THE CFL - WEEK 5

Week 5 features an extra bonus: we have five games on tap including a rare Monday night contest.

To kick it off, the Ottawa REDBLACKS look to get their first victory of the season when they host the Montreal Alouettes at 7:30pm ET on Wednesday.

Thursday Night Football kicks off at 7:30pm ET in Hamilton. The undefeated Edmonton Eskimos take on the Ticats, who are looking to get their first win of the 2017 campaign.

The red-hot BC Lions come home Friday riding a three-game win streak to take on the 2-1 Winnipeg Blue Bombers. Kickoff is scheduled for 10:00pm ET.

Saturday night at 9pm ET the Saskatchewan Roughriders take on the Calgary Stampeders in Calgary.

Week 5 concludes at BMO Field on Monday night at 7:30pm ET when the Ottawa REDBLACKS look to avenge their week 3 loss to the Toronto Argonauts. The Argonauts will welcome some special guests as they celebrate the 20th anniversary of their ’96-’97 back-to-back Grey Cup championship teams.

OFF THE BENCH, OFF THE CHARTS

  • 2011 CFL Most Outstanding Player Travis Lulay set a new standard for pivots coming off the bench in last Saturday’s game in Hamilton.
  • Following Jonathon Jennings’ early exit from the game on Saturday, Lulay went on to pass for a career-best 436 passing yards, a CFL record for a quarterback coming off the bench.
  • Lulay completed 80.6% of his passes, threw three touchdown passes and ran for another.
  • Hamilton’s Mike Kerrigan owned the record prior to Lulay’s performance. Kerrigan passed for 408 yards coming off the bench in 1987.
  • The BC team record had previously been held by Tim Cowan, who passed for 386 yards in 1985.

Most Passing yards off the bench:

  1. Travis Lulay, BC 2017 – 436
  2. Mike Kerrigan, HAM 1987 – 408
  3. Joe Barnes, TOR 1983 – 400
  4. Rich Worman, CGY 1987 – 388
  5. Tim Cowan, BC 1985 – 386

BIG PLAYS IN THE RETURN GAME

  • Argonauts return man Martese Jackson accumulated 339 return-yards (148 on punts and 191 yards on kickoffs)
  • That’s the most by an Argonaut since 2005 when Bashir Levingston had 345 return yards.
  • Jackson’s 339 return yards in a single game ranks him fourth all-time, behind only Larry Taylor (428), Bashir Levingston (345) and Marcus Thigpen (340).
  • Ryan Lankford opened the Winnipeg-Toronto game by returning the opening kickoff of the game 105 yards.
  • The last time the opening kickoff was returned for a major was on July 2 2010 when Hamilton’s Marcus Thigpen returned one for 93 yards.
  • This marks the second game through four weeks that a game saw a kick-return touchdown from each team. It also occurred in Week 2 between Ottawa and Calgary.
  • Through four weeks we have had four return touchdowns: Ottawa’s Diontae Spencer (96-yard punt return vs. Calgary), Calgary’s Tunde Adeleke (71-yard punt return vs. Ottawa), Winnipeg’s Ryan Lankford (105-yard kickoff return vs. Toronto) and Toronto’s Martese Jackson (78-yard punt return vs. Winnipeg).
  • This season there have been 17 ‘Big Play’ kick returns (30-yard punt/FGM return and 40+ yard kick returns).
  • Ottawa, Saskatchewan, Toronto and Winnipeg share the lead with three each. BC and Hamilton have not registered a ‘Big Play’ in the kick return game.

CHALLENGES

  • Week 4 saw only seven challenges – the  fewest in any week this season.
  • Th average number of challenges per game is 2.00. Last year’s average was 2.22.
  • BC has challenged the most this season with six; Hamilton has not challenged a single play so far this season.
  • Ottawa owns the highest  success rate at .750 while Montreal has the lowest at .333.
  • Of the 32 challenges this season, 18 have been overturned (56%).
  • Of the 24 penalty-related challenges this year, 10 have been for defensive pass interference and nine for illegal contact.

QUICK SLANTS

  • Justin Medlock extended his streak to 28 consecutive made field goals after going a perfect four-for-four versus the Argonauts. His 55-yarder matched this season’s longest. It tied David Ridgway and Chris Milo for fourth all-time.
  • Sean Whyte’s streak ended at 25 straight, the  seventh-longest streak in CFL history and an Edmonton club record.
  • Montreal’s Nik Lewis continues to inch closer to notching his 1,000th reception. Following his three receptions versus Calgary, he now only needs five more catches to become the fourth player in CFL history with 1,000.
  • Ricky Ray is the lone quarterback this season to pass for 300+ yards in each game. His passing yards totals are 506, 323, 366 and 330.
  • If Ray can keep to his pace, he will set a CFL record of 6,881 passing yards in a season. The current record is held by Doug Flutie (6,619 in 1991).
  • Eleven games this year have been decided by eight points or fewer.
  • The average game time has dropped by two minutes (2:49). We are averaging 155 plays per game.
  • Week 4 saw the fewest penalties per game (15.5) so far this season..
  • A team allowing a sack has yet to score a touchdown in the same drive. That has been true 63 times, so far.
  • Teams are scoring a touchdown on 19% of their drives that do not feature a sack.
  • Montreal Alouettes finally allowed a sack: in Week 4 Calgary’s James Vaughters and Micah Johnson were able to bring down Darian Durant.

Lucas Barrett

Coordinator, Communications, Canadian Football League

Clare Hutchinson

Communications Assistant, Canadian Football League

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