CFL

The Saskatchewan Roughriders upset the defending West Division Champion Calgary Stampeders last weekend in the West Final and now will be facing the Hamilton Tiger-Cats in the 101st Grey Cup, being played Nov. 24 in Regina on Saskatchewan's home turf in Mosaic Stadium.

The last time these two teams faced each other in the Grey Cup was 1989 when the Riders beat the Ti-Cats 43-40 on a last-second field goal to win their second CFL championship. Quarterback Kent Austin won the game MVP for Saskatchewan in what is widely considered to be one of the greatest games in Grey Cup history.

The last time Saskatchewan won the Grey Cup was in 2007 when Austin, having then become the team's head coach, guided them to a 23-19 victory over the Winnipeg Blue Bombers.

This time around, Austin is the head coach of the Tiger-Cats, so the man who was directly involved in two of Saskatchewan's three Grey Cup wins will be on the other side of the field. One might think that puts them at a disadvantage, but the fact is that the Roughriders will win this contest. 

The Riders simply have too many weapons this year and, as a result, they will not be denied.

Quarterback Darian Durant finished the regular season third in total passing yards, with 4,154, while also tossing a league-leading 31 touchdowns. 

Durant has a bunch of dangerous targets in Chris Getzlaf, Weston Dressler and Taj Smith. All three were over 1,000 yards in receiving, making them the most dangerous receiving unit in the CFL this year.

The running attack is just as dangerous with Kory Sheets leading the way. Sheets picked up 1,598 yards on the ground during the regular season; last weekend against the Stampeders he exploded for 177 yards on the ground plus a late-game touchdown.

The defense is equally strong. The Roughriders gave up a league-low 398 points against. Dwight Anderson tied for third in the league in interceptions with five and Alex Hall was second in the league in sacks with 16.

On the Hamilton side, Henry Burris led the CFL in yards passing with 4,925, but his top target, Bakari Grant, caught just 947 yards' worth of that total. Running back C.J. Gable had a better yards-per-carry average than Sheets (6.0 to 5.6), but far fewer carries and only 782 yards of rushing on the year.

Hamilton's defense gave up 70 more points than Saskatchewan's over the course of the season.

In category after category, the Riders are a better team on paper than the Ti-Cats. During the regular season, Saskatchewan handily beat Hamilton in consecutive weeks, shutting them out 37-0 in Week 4, then putting them away by a score of 32-20 in Week 5. 

Add in the fact that the Riders will be playing in front of a loud and proud home audience, and it seems inevitable that they'll be hoisting the Grey Cup on Sunday evening.

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The Saskatchewan Roughriders took advantage of turnovers as well as injuries to easily beat the Calgary Stampeders in the CFL West Division Final, winning 35-13.

The win puts the Riders in the Grey Cup, which will be played next Sunday on their home field, Mosaic Stadium in Regina.

After place-kicker Rene Paredes put the Stampeders up 3-0 early in the first quarter, the Roughriders answered with a 10-play, 75-yard drive that resulted in a touchdown. 

The Riders would not relinquish that early lead, extending their advantage to 22-6 at half-time and never looking back from there.

The Stamps had a number of opportunities to make a game of it, but had an uncharacteristic rash of turnovers that sabotaged many of their chances. 

Calgary turned the ball over a total of seven times, twice on interceptions thrown by starting quarterback Kevin Glenn, one fumble by kick returner Larry Taylor, one turnover on downs and three lost fumbles by the receiving corps.

The Rider defense was also able to contain the CFL's top rusher for the first half, holding Jon Cornish to just four yards on the ground. Although Cornish finished with 67 yards rushing, he was never a factor.

Meanwhile, the Roughriders ground attack exploited two critical injuries in Calgary's defensive line. With Demonté Bolden and Micah Johnson on the shelf with knee injuries, running back Kory Sheets was able to gain yardage almost at will, finishing with 177 yards rushing and a touchdown. 

Riders QB Darian Durant also found himself with plenty of time to pass with the weakened Calgary D-line unable to put pressure on him. He was sacked just once, completing 80 percent of his passes for 280 yards and three TDs. 

Saskatchewan now heads home to prepare for next weekend's Grey Cup game against the East representative, the Hamilton Tiger-Cats, who beat the Toronto Argonauts in the East Final earlier in the day by a score of 36-24.

The last time these two teams faced each other in a Grey Cup was in 1989 when the Roughriders beat the Ti-Cats 43-40. In that game, Saskatchewan quarterback Kent Austin won the game MVP; ironically, Austin is now Hamilton's head coach.

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One thing was very clear walking into the Rogers Centre for the East Final between the Toronto Argonauts and the Hamilton Tiger-Cats: It was going to be loud.

Tiger-Cats fans packed the stadium and made their presence felt right away. It got even louder when Andre Durie caught the opening kickoff, faked an end around to Chad Owens, stopped, turned around and fumbled the ball. The Tiger-Cats recovered it and the crowd erupted.

Perhaps the Hamilton fans were feeling a little displaced while waiting for their permanent stadium to be built and made the trip to cheer on their team. Or, perhaps more likely, they just really like the Tiger-Cats. But either way, they showed up and made an impact.

The only problem for the Tiger-Cats and their fans was that the Toronto Argonauts came to play. After falling behind 3-0, the Argonauts capped a 64-yard opening drive with an 8-yard touchdown pass to Spencer Watt, his first of two major catches on the day.

The shootout continued as the teams took full advantage of the Rogers Centre dome being closed and took to the air. At halftime, Argonauts quarterback Ricky Ray had completed 17 passes for 279 yards and two touchdowns. His counterpart, Henry Burris, had 144 yards and two scores as well.

But the game was a tale of two halves on Sunday. In the first half, the Argonauts consistently made big plays, their defense supported their offense and they found themselves up 24-17 at the break.

But then came the second half. And those screaming Tiger-Cats fans that were temporarily silenced had reason to cheer.

The Cats started the third quarter with a 68-yard touchdown drive to tie the game at 24 and never looked back. Their defense was able to apply consistent pressure to Ray and hold the Argonauts to just two first downs in the entire second half.

The Tiger-Cats offense also improved and was able to consistently get open on short passing routes and effectively run the clock down late in the fourth quarter.

It felt like a home game for the visiting Tiger-Cats, who were aided by a very loud fanbase late in the fourth quarter. The noise certainly played a factor, as the Argonauts offense was unable to get in rhythm.

Among Hamilton's leaders was quarterback Henry Burris, who finished the game with 371 yards through the air and three touchdowns. Andy Fantuz had a great second half and finished with 11 catches for 114 yards and two touchdowns.

With the win, the Tiger-Cats secured their place in the 101st Grey Cup in Regina.

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The West Division representative in the 101st Grey Cup will be determined on Sunday when the Calgary Stampeders host the Saskatchewan Roughriders at McMahon Stadium. 

Saskatchewan is coming off a big win against the BC Lions last weekend, beating the Lions 29-25, and the Roughriders badly want to advance to the Grey Cup, which is being played on their home turf in Mosaic Stadium. 

Calgary finished the regular season with the best record in the CFL at 14-4. That first-place finish earned the Stamps the bye through the first round of the playoffs.

They're now hopeful they can return to the Grey Cup after losing to the Toronto Argonauts in last year's final by a decisive 35-22 score.

The Stamps are going to have their hands full on Sunday, however. They lost three key players to injury in their final regular-season game: Defensive linemen Demonté Bolden and Micah Johnson both suffered knee injuries, and top receiver Marquay McDaniel sustained a high ankle sprain.

The good news is that the bye week has given them a chance to try some new players on the D-line and allowed some other players who were injured earlier in the season to finally be ready to go again.

Junior Turner, Etienne Legare, Freddie Bishop and Earl Okine have all taken reps on the defensive line in the last week. Receivers Brad Sinopoli and Joe West are now recovered from injuries and should both be good to go in place of McDaniel.

Running back Jon Cornish was yet another casualty of the final week of the schedule, suffering a shoulder injury, but the extra week off should see him feeling much better and ready to lead the ground attack.

Said starting quarterback Kevin Glenn, via CFL.ca, "Getting guys acclimated with the positions they may play in this game was big. Having those practices and letting those guys work in those positions, it helped having that bye."

On the Saskatchewan side of things, the Riders should be ready to go and eager to beat the Stamps in their own house. 

Slotback Chris Getzlaf will be back after an injury that kept him out of last week's contest, giving quarterback Darian Durant a full complement of targets in the passing game. 

With the Calgary D-line dealing with a potential weakness in the middle, Durant might also be able to exploit them for extra yards on the ground. Durant ran for 97 yards on just six carries last weekend against BC, so if he sees a hole between the always dangerous pass rush of Charleston Hughes and Cordarro Law, he's liable to call his own number and take off.

There is typically a massive crowd of watermelon-clad Roughriders fans at games in Calgary, so home-field advantage is probably not going to be much of a factor. That means the game is anyone's to win. The action gets underway at 6:30 p.m. MST.

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The Toronto Argonauts took to the Rogers Centre field on Tuesday in preparation for the 2013 East Division final against the Hamilton Tiger Cats. In order to beat the Tiger Cats and book their trip to the Grey Cup in Regina, the Argonauts have been preparing a little differently this week.

To begin with, practices are being held inside the Rogers Centre. The move is likely to get the players accustomed to playing on their home turf, but the Argonauts were also able to use the stadium sound system to their advantage. While running the first team offense and defense units against each other, the stadium blared simulated crowd noise.

With Hamilton and Toronto so close geographically, a strong Hamilton fanbase is expected to pack the seats on Sunday. “It’s just good for communication,” said head coach Scott Milanovich after practice. “There’s more communication that goes on defensively than you’d think, too.”

The Argonauts also have a unique challenge waiting for them this week. In their win over the Montreal Alouettes in the East Division semifinal, the Hamilton Tiger Cats deployed a two-quarterback system where Henry Burris and Dan LeFevour continually rotated throughout the game to give the offense a different look.

Milanovich acknowledged that the Argonauts will have to prepare their defense for both quarterbacks. “You have to essentially prepare for two different styles of offense,” Milanovich commented via conference call. “That makes it difficult, takes time out of practice, and when you’re preparing for a bunch of different things, there are things you can’t cover.”

It remains to be seen how often, if at all, the Tiger Cats will switch quarterbacks, but at the very least, they have the Argonauts thinking about it.

The last major piece of the Argonauts' preparation is in the backfield, where an injury to starting running back Chad Kackert has forced Jerious Norwood and Curtis Steele into the first-team offense.

Norwood, a former third-round NFL draft choice for the Atlanta Falcons, joined the Argonauts in August and has rushed for 342 yards and one touchdown in 58 attempts. Steele is in his first season with the Argonauts and has accumulated 187 yards and three touchdowns on the ground. Look for both players to fill the void left by Kackert.

Note: all quotes were acquired first hand unless otherwise noted.

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The Edmonton Eskimos announced Monday that head coach Kavis Reed will not be returning next season after guiding the team to a disappointing 4-14 record and last place in the CFL West Division.

The former Eskimos defensive back just completed his third season as head coach of the franchise. He started off his coaching career with a bang, going 11-7 and being nominated for the CFL Coach of the Year award in 2011.

Things were less rosy in 2012 when the team went 7-11 and took an early exit from the postseason before finally bottoming out this year and missing the playoffs entirely.

Edmonton has a long and storied history, having won 13 Grey Cups in 24 appearances in the championship game. But its last Grey Cup win was in the 93rd Grey Cup in 2005. Almost a decade without a trip to the big dance is frustrating to the team, and missing the playoffs is not considered acceptable to this franchise.

Reed becomes the first coaching casualty since the end of the regular season in the CFL. Tim Burke of the Winnipeg Blue Bombers could be the next on the chopping block after guiding his team to the worst record in the league at 3-15.

No names have been mentioned yet as possible replacements for Reed, and it is possible that Edmonton might wait until at least the end of the postseason before making any kind of announcement.

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With just one week remaining in the CFL regular season, it is beginning to look like the 101st Grey Cup might be a repeat of the 2012 game.

Both the defending champion Toronto Argonauts and last year's West Division champion Calgary Stampeders have won their respective divisions and are riding winning streaks as they wrap up the regular season.

The Argonauts (11-6) have clinched first place in the East Division and have won two in a row.

Moreover, after being sidelined by injury for more than a month from late-August to mid-October, No. 1 quarterback Ricky Ray is back and playing like he hasn't missed a snap. In three games since his return he has passed for 1,054 yards and six touchdowns against just two interceptions.

If he gets banged up again, young Zach Collaros did a solid job filling in for Ray. In 13 appearances this year, Collaros has passed for 2,252 yards and a 99.1 passer's rating.

Toronto's defense is currently the best in the East, having surrendered the fewest points against in the division (435). Leading the way is linebacker Robert McCune, who is second in the CFL with 99 tackles, and Patrick Watkins, who is tied for third in the league in interceptions with five.

Consequently, the Argos look to be peaking at just the right time.

Meanwhile, in the West Division, the Stampeders (14-3) have the best record in the CFL, are on a five-game winning streak and their 542 points for are 49 more than any other team in the league.

Not only do the Stamps have the leading rusher in the league—Jon Cornish, with 1,799 yards on the ground and a 7.1 yards per carry average—but they also have the top pass rusher on defense: DL Charleston Hughes has 18 sacks on the year.

Place kicker Rene Paredes is having a spectacular season for Calgary. His 207 points are leading the CFL, and his success rate on field goals is a ridiculous 94.5 percent.

On the other side of the special teams game, Larry Taylor is leading the league in combined return yards (1,970), helping to provide the Stamps with excellent field position on every possession.

On top of it all, it appears that all three of Calgary's quarterbacks are getting the job done, no matter who gets the call. With Drew Tate injured for much of the season, Kevin Glenn has stepped into the No. 1 role under center and has done an admirable job; he has passed for 2,665 yards since taking over the job.

Last weekend against the Saskatchewan Roughriders, Glenn had an off game, throwing an interception and losing two fumbles. Tate was called into action for the second half and guided the team to victory on the strength of 11-for-16 passing for 181 yards.

And on those nights when Glenn and Tate have both been out of commission, third-string pivot Bo Levi Mitchell has been able to fill in and look like a seasoned veteran. He has passed for 1,144 yards and 10 touchdowns in limited action.

In fact, all three Calgary quarterbacks—as well as punter Rob Maver—have passer's ratings over 100 this season.

Put all together, the Stamps are looking more and more like the team to beat in the postseason.

As the division winners, both Toronto and Calgary get byes through the first round of the playoffs, so they'll get a chance to rest up and come into the postseason fresh and healthy.

Both the Argos and Stamps wind up their regular seasons on Friday night; Toronto hosts the Montreal Alouettes in the early game while Calgary visits the B.C. Lions in the late game. Both could be previews of the second round of the playoffs and could set the tone for things a couple weeks down the road.

Calgary is a combined 4-2 against the Lions and Roughriders this season, so they seem to have the advantage against either of their potential playoff opponents.

Toronto has been a little less dominant, beating Montreal both times they've faced each other while losing two of three against the Hamilton Tiger-Cats, but one of those losses to Hamilton came while Ray was on the shelf, so you can't count them out if they face each other again in two weeks.

Upsets are not unusual in the postseason, but both the Argos and Stamps seem to be holding all the cards right now. Don't bet against the two facing each other in Regina on November 24 in the 101st Grey Cup.

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Coming off dominant wins, both the Calgary Stampeders and the Saskatchewan Roughriders are riding hot streaks and hoping to carry that momentum into the playoffs as the CFL regular season winds down.

The top two teams in the West Division will now face each other in Week 18 of the regular season schedule with postseason positioning on the line, not to mention the opportunity to send a message to their potential playoff rivals.

In their previous two meetings this year, the Stamps and Riders have a dead-even split, with both teams earning a 15-point victory.

This time around, Calgary (13-3) is trying to seal up the best record in the CFL while Saskatchewan (11-5) is trying to catch Calgary for that honour. A win by Calgary in either of their last two games will lock up that spot, while the Riders need to win both of their games and have the Stamps lose both of theirs.

Last weekend, the Stampeders beat the Edmonton Eskimos 27-13 extending their four-game winning streak. The Roughriders pounded the BC Lions last weekend, winning 35-14; they are enjoying a three-game winning streak.

One of these streaks ends on Saturday.

One of the more interesting matchups will be in the running game where Calgary's Jon Cornish leads the CFL in rushing yards with 1,690 while Saskatchewan's Kory Sheets is second with 1,556 yards.

Sheets has already declared himself the superior running back, saying Cornish is only leading because he has played two more games this year. On the other hand, Cornish is also leading Sheets in yards per carry (7.2 versus Sheets' 5.6), so he might be overstating his position.

Performance of the quarterbacks will also be a key to victory. 

Roughriders quarterback Darian Durant is currently second in the league in passing yards (3,952) with a solid QB rating at 97.2. When in doubt, he looks to his top two receivers, Chris Getzlaf and Weston Dressler. Getzlaf has 60 catches for 996 yards and Dressler has 64 catches for 960 yards.

Stampeders QB Kevin Glenn has been very effective this year in the starting role, throwing for 2,545 yards and earning an impressive 102.2 passer's rating while only playing in 12 games. His top target has been Marquay McDaniel, who has nabbed 70 catches for 959 yards.

So the defensive strategy for both teams will be similar: force mistakes from the quarterback and shut down the running game. Both teams have had defensive success this year, with the Riders surrendering the fewest points in the CFL (339) and the Stamps right behind them (362) with the second-fewest points against.

Calgary's pass rush should pose problems for Durant. Charleston Hughes is tied for the league lead in sacks with 15 and Cordarro Law is third with 12.

Saskatchewan's secondary has been very effective, with Dwight Anderson second in the league with five interceptions and three more Riders tied for ninth in the CFL with three interceptions apiece.

The home team has won both contests between these teams so far this year and it could very well be the case that the trend continues in this game; Calgary is 7-1 at home this year, with their only home loss coming on Sept. 21 when the Toronto Argonauts beat them 33-27.

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The Edmonton Eskimos desperately needed a win on Saturday to hang on to their slim hopes of earning a playoff spot. Instead, they were beaten in virtually every aspect of the game by the Montreal Alouettes, losing 47-24 in front of 28,455 fans—their smallest crowd of the season.

In point of fact, the final score makes the Eskimos look pretty good. Edmonton scored three touchdowns in the final 10 minutes of play to cut a 40-3 deficit in half and make the final score look less embarrassing after Montreal had called off the dogs.

After 14 games, Edmonton is last in the CFL West Division at 3-11, with the second-worst record in the league, ahead of only the Winnipeg Blue Bombers, who sit at an even more dismal 2-12.

Starting quarterback Mike Reilly, returning from a concussion suffered last week, was just 13 for 21 in a little over three quarters of play for only 180 yards while also tossing two interceptions in the losing cause. The Eskimos were also not helped by the rushing game, which picked up just 45 yards on the ground.

The defense surrendered 450 yards to Montreal, including four passing touchdowns thrown by starting QB Josh Neiswander, and rushing touchdowns by Tyrell Sutton and Troy Smith.

Even when things went right, they still went wrong.

SJ Green caught and fumbled a pass near the Eskimos end zone in the first quarter that took a favourable bounce right back into his hands, allowing him to score his second touchdown of the game. In the second quarter, with the Alouettes knocking on the door again, Chris Thompson intercepted a Neiswander pass, but receiver Brandon London knocked it free for the fumble which was recovered by Montreal's Eric Deslauriers to keep the march going, leading to another touchdown.

With the game essentially out of reach in the second half, the Eskimos sent backup QB Jonathan Crompton out to finish off the game and although he threw two interceptions in the third quarter, he picked up 21 points on three touchdown passes in the fourth to make things interesting—but it was far too little, far too late.

Anything the Eskimos do for the remainder of the season is also likely to be too little, too late. They have no chance now of catching anyone in their own division for a playoff spot; their only hope is to run the table in their final four games and hope that Montreal doesn't manage one more win in that time.

A tall order considering that the Alouettes are on a two-game winning streak and face the lowly Blue Bombers next week.

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For the second year in a row, Calgary Stampeders running back Jon Cornish is having an outstanding season.

In 2012, Cornish broke Normie Kwong's 56-year-old record for rushing by a Canadian when he racked up 1,457 yards on the ground. 

After a 114-yard performance Saturday night against the Hamilton Tiger Cats, Cornish is averaging 6.6 yards per carry and is actually ahead of his 2012 pace with five games yet to play.

Cornish has only been held under 50 yards in a game on two occasions this season. The first was in Week 2 when the Saskatchewan Roughriders were able to limit Cornish to just 42 yards on the ground and not even a single catch in a game the Riders won by a 36-21 score.

The only other game in which he was under 50 yards was the Week 9 game against the Toronto Argonauts that saw Cornish remain on the sidelines due to injury.

Saturday was the fifth time this season he has rushed for 100 or more yards, and he has been as high as 175 yards—plus four touchdowns—against the Roughriders in Week 7.

All things being equal, he should be able to improve on last year's number.

In the Stampeders' final five games, they have a mixed bag of competition. Next week, they face the Winnipeg Blue Bombers, who have been disastrously bad all season long, managing just two wins and giving up a league-high 421 points. When the Stamps faced the Bombers in Week 5, Calgary easily beat Winnipeg, 37-24. Cornish picked up 88 rushing yards and added 87 receiving yards for good measure.

They also take on the Edmonton Eskimos in Week 17. The Eskies are in last place in the West Division with only three wins, and Cornish is averaging 101.5 yards rushing per game against them this season.

The other three games could prove to be challenges. The Stampeders face the BC Lions twice. The Lions have been on a roll, winning their last three in a row. Calgary and BC have split their first two meetings of the season, but Cornish rushed for 172 yards in their first meeting and 73 in their second.

If he can post similar numbers against the Lions in the home stretch, he'll maintain his pace.

The other tough matchup will be in Week 18 when Calgary hosts Saskatchewan. Although the Riders have now dropped three games in a row—including one to the Blue Bombers—they remain a tough team with the stingiest defense in the CFL, having given up just 282 points in 12 games.

Cornish has had both his best rushing game and his worst rushing game of the season against the Roughriders. He needs to battle hard against Saskatchewan and earn another big game on the ground to outdo last year's performance, but he has proved that it is well within his abilities to do just that.

The only real question at this point is whether or not Cornish is the greatest Canadian player in the CFL's history. It may be a year or two too soon to tell, but it is looking good so far.

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