This Week in the CFL - Week 8

DOWN TO THE WIRE

• Three of the four games played last weekend came down to the last minute or final series.
• The majority of CFL games (19 out of 28, 68 per cent) have been decided in the final three minutes.
• While Hamilton won by 30 points, BC won by three, Ottawa won by three, and Toronto won by four.
• 53.5 per cent of CFL games have been decided by four or fewer points (15 out of 28).
• Parity is the word: the top three teams in the East are tied in the standings, and the top four in the West are within one win of each other.

FLAGS FLY, UNTIL THEY DON’T

• Last Saturday’s Argo win over the Roughriders included 43 infractions, the second most in league history (46 is the record).
• Hamilton’s victory over Winnipeg the following day featured only 11 penalties – the lowest total since October 2013.
• In fact, the three CFL games last weekend not played in Toronto averaged 17.3 penalties per game.
• The CFL has averaged more than 17.3 flags per game in 35 of the last 38 years.
• Even with the flag fest in Toronto, CFL averaged 23.8 infractions per game this past weekend – the second lowest this season.
• This continues a mostly downward trend since the start of the season, when the CFL averaged 30 penalties in Week 1, 28 in Week 2, and 27.5 in Week 3.
• For the season to date, CFL has been averaging 25.96 flags, up from 23.68 a year ago.
• People often say penalties make a game unwatchable: with 874,000 viewers, the Argo-Rider game had the biggest audience so far this season.

HOME SWEET HOME

• Home teams swept all four games last weekend and the weekend before.
• In the last 20 games, the home team has won 16 times (80 per cent). The Hamilton Tiger-Cats are the ultimate homers, winning all eight of their regular season games and a playoff game at Tim Hortons Field since it opened last Labour Day.
• They have outscored opponents in their new digs by a score of 202-102 overall, and by 64-23 in fourth quarters.
• Now enjoying a stretch of home games, Eastern division teams are 10 -6 in inter-divisional games.

BEWARE THE PICK SIX

• Tiger-Cat defensive back and Shaw CFL Top Performer, Emanuel Davis returned two interceptions for TDs on Sunday: he is the first CFL player to do that in a game since Byron Parker in 2006.
• Argonaut Akwasi Owusu-Ansah had Week Seven’s other “pick six”, and all three were returned more than 50 yards.
• That makes it 12 interceptions returned for touchdowns this season.
• We’re on pace for 35 this year, which would smash the old record of 27 set in 2005.
• The frequency of interception return TDs has almost doubled in recent years.
• There were only 34 interception return TDs from 2011 to 2013. But there have been 31 in 2014 and the beginning of 2015.
• In other words, the rate has gone from one interception return TD every 6.5 games a few years ago to one every 3.5 games over the past two seasons.

POINTS UP

• Points per game is up over eight per cent compared to last season.
• The average this season (49.2) is up nearly four points from last year (45.5).
• Points per game generated by the offence (40) is up over last year (37.7).
• There were 21 touchdowns last weekend.
• Eighteen were scored by the offences, for a rate of 4.5 a game (up 18 per cent from last year, when it was only 3.8 a game).

IT’S GOOD

• Kickers have zeroed in on the new single point convert: they made all 19 on the weekend, and haven’t missed one in ten games, dating back to Week 5.
• The success rate for one point converts is now 87 per cent. Success rate for two point converts is 71.9.
• Over the weekend Riders kicker, Paul McCallum converted his 800^th point after touchdown.
• Not only was it his 800^th, it was his 800^th consecutive successful PAT and has NEVER missed a PAT in the 331 games he has played in.

POUND FOR POUND, BIGGEST PLAYS OF THE WEEK

• Offensive linemen Wayne Smith (Argos) caught a two-point convert and Ryan Bomben (Ticats) caught a touchdown pass this week, after lining up as ends.
• Bomben, listed at 305 pounds, arguably made the more graceful play, with a nifty over the shoulder grab, despite being slightly larger than Smith, who is listed at 302 pounds.