The CFL regular season came to an end last weekend, setting the table for both the East and 2015 West semi-final this Sunday. Another exciting season that once again saw injuries and breakthroughs by individuals previously further down on the depth chart. We’ll see a lot of those players as they and their clubs attempt to stay alive and move on to the divisional final games next week. In the West, the 7-11 B.C. Lions travel over the Rockies to face the 14-4 Calgary Stampeders. This clash is much more difficult to predict than the standings would indicate.
LWOS Staff Predictions
Kelly Bale: B.C. 38-22 Calgary
Matthew Bin: B.C. 18-30 Calgary
Gina Schiltz: B.C. 21-38 Calgary
Nicholas Di Giovanni: B.C. 8-47 Calgary
Lance Keiser: B.C. 13-27 Calgary
2015 West Semi-Final
B.C. Lions
Greg’s Thoughts: The 2015 regular season has been a tale of highs and lows for the B.C. Lions. The high is that, individually, several Lions had career years. The low, the team only managed seven wins with a majority of them coming against the Riders and Alouettes, who both missed the playoffs. The other 3 wins were against teams not using their starting quarterback.
Offensively, “The Manny Show” was must-see-TV. Veteran Receiver Emmanuel Arceneaux, was all over the field and score sheet this year finishing fourth in receiving yards and second for TD catches. Meanwhile, Canadian running back Andrew Harris, finished second in both rushing yards and rushing TDs and averaged 9.1 yards per catch. Probably the brightest spot of the Lions offence was the play of rookie quarterback, Jon Jennings. Forced into service after injuries to both Travis Lulay and John Beck, Jennings amassed a quarterback rating of 99.8 completing 66% of his attempts for 2004 yards. Despite the small sample size, the Leos look to have their QB of the future.
Defensively the Lions were led by linebacker Adam Bighill, who led the CFL in tackles and defensive back Ryan Philips, who tied for second in interceptions. However, the teams soft run defense and lack of pressure on the opposing quarterback hurt them against the CFL elite.
Special teams was a mixed bag for the Lions as Chris Rainey lit up opposing coverages for over 1300 combined return yards and 2 touchdowns. However, the kicking game is still undecided as head coach Jeff Tedford swapped his two inconsistent rookie kickers going into final game of the regular season.
Calgary Stampeders
Gina’s Thoughts: The Calgary Stampeders ended their regular 2015 season with a solid 14-4 record. The last half of their season has shown a stronger team, despite having a lot of their starters out of the lineup with injuries. The key to a Calgary win this weekend in the 2015 West semi-final is the same it has been for much of their season – start strong and get into the end zone first.
Calgary’s offence is probably one of the strongest of the league. 2014 Grey Cup MVP quarterback Bo Levi Mitchell and receiver Eric Rogers, who leads the league in receiving yards (1, 448 yards), are two out of the eight Calgary Stampeders named 2015 West Division all-stars. Although reports are saying that RB Jon Cornish will likely be out this week, Jerome Messam, acquired from Saskatchewan and also a West Division all-star, broke into the scene for the Stamps two weeks ago with over 120 rushing yards and will be the starting running back. Not a bad trade-off.
Another key for a Stamps win is a penalty-free, strong defence. Calgary’s defence has struggled parts of the year, mostly due to having Charleston Hughes and Juwan Simpson out with injuries. That being said, they still have the league’s third top defence, behind Edmonton and Ottawa. The defence has to play tight football.
Finally, the final facet of the game and probably the most under-rated, special teams, has the ability to win games. In fact, Rene Parades, has kicked 41 field goals this year. Three of those were game-winning kicks. Having Parades gives Calgary an edge in winning close football games. We can’t forget to mention punter, Rob Maver, who has an incredible knack for punting the ball accurately right into the back corner, keeping opposing offences deep in the field.
If all three facets of the Calgary Stampeders play good football, they should hope to move onto the Western Finals against the Edmonton Eskimos.
Summary
After the dust settles there will only be one team left standing. Who will it be? We’ll have to watch the game because as strong as the Stampeders have been, going back to their 2014 championship year, the Lions are a different team than they were during the two clubs one meaningful game this season, that Calgary only won by nine points. The Stamps may be favoured in Vegas but the Lions will not sleep Sunday night.
Main Photo.
