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 1,000^th 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.