Yes, it seems early to talk about first place in the CFL West division. But Friday night’s game between the Calgary Stampeders and the B.C. Lions is important because the winner takes first place in the West. And that’s always the goal. Here are the expectations in the important Stampeders vs. Lions clash.
Both the Calgary Stampeders and the B.C. Lions have lost one game. In fact, Calgary’s only loss was at the hands of the Lions in week two. You can expect that both teams will be watching tape and tweaking some of their issues this week in preparation for the game. What can you expect from each team if you expect a win?
What to Expect From Calgary
It seems that the Stamps have gotten over their offensive woes that plagued them early on. Bo Levi Mitchell has targeted all of his receivers with great results. Anthony Parker and Marquay McDaniel are gelling well with Mitchell. And Jerome Messam has proved he’s a force that defences in the league need to fear.
Until last week, Calgary and B.C. topped the defensive charts and had the fewest penalties. But in Winnipeg last Thursday, Calgary had 13 penalties that cost them over 120 yards. A couple of those were penalties as a result of poor judgement, such as using foul language towards officials and penalties after the whistle. Fans can expect that the coaching staff and players will address and correct these costly infractions.
Calgary also needs to play the second half like the first half. In the past few weeks, the Stamps have lost their momentum and taken unnecessary penalties in the last two minutes of the game. Penalties were the issue in Ottawa, which resulted in only a tie. In Winnipeg, Calgary was scoreless in the second half until Joe Burnett picked off Drew Willy’s pass with around nine minutes left in the game. Lulls like these won’t cut it against B.C. and the Lions will take advantage of this to get the win.
If Calgary can clean up the penalties and remain consistent for the whole hour, fans can expect a win.
What to Expect From B.C.
B.C.’s only loss this season was against the Toronto Argonauts in week three. Now the Lions have the luxury of coming off a bye week. What is working for B.C.?
Wally Buono is back on the sidelines. The Lions just seem to perform well with Buono as coach, and he has rejuvenated the team this year. Quarterback Jonathon Jennings made a rebound statement in Saskatchewan after getting benched the previous game and progressively improved his play as the game went on. Jennings threw three touchdowns and an amazing 429 yards. The Lion’s defence is top of the league and forced five straight two-and-outs against the Roughriders two weeks ago. Expect that the Lions offence will come out strong in Calgary.
What has hurt the Lions? Injuries to wide receiver Nick Moore and defensive back T.J. Lee, especially considering Moore injured himself during a touchdown celebration. Lee is also out for the season with a ruptured achilles tendon. Jennings will have to rely on his other receivers and playmaker Emmanuel Arceneaux to gain offensive momentum. B.C. also had an issues with penalties and fumbles in their loss to the Argos. Expect Calgary’s defense to try taking advantage of that.
It will be a great game; both have strong offences and stingy defences. Both teams can win, but expect Calgary to cut down on the penalties and expect B.C. to tame down their touchdown celebrations.
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