[ad_1]
Just a few weeks ago it looked as though the mighty Calgary Stampeders would cruise to another first-place finish in the Canadian Football League’s competitive West Division.
Now the Stamps are the only team playing for something heading into the final week of the regular season.
After bolting out to a mbadive lead in the West standings with a 12-2 record, the Stamps have stumbled with consecutive losses against B.C., Saskatchewan and Winnipeg. Stamps quarterback Bo Levi Mitchell had previously never lost three consecutive games in his CFL career.
The injury-riddled Stampeders now go into BC Place Saturday night needing a victory against a Lions team that will be playing coach Wally Buono’s final career game at home.
It’s simple for the Stamps.Win and they host the West final and get some much-needed rest. Lose and 12-6 Saskatchewan clinches first and Calgary will host the upstart Bombers (10-7) in the West semifinal on Nov. 11.
Should Saskatchewan take first place, the West final will be played at Mosaic Stadium in Regina on Nov. 18. It would mark only the third time since 1976 the Roughriders would capture the West Division regular-season title. The last time did they was in 2009 when they tied Calgary in the standings with a 10-7-1 record, but were granted first due to winning the season series. That same scenario could play out this year.
East playoffs are set
The Ottawa Redblacks have been the best team in the East for the majority of the season and have wrapped up another division title — their third in four years.
It seems as though Trevor Harris is gaining more confidence heading down the stretch and is getting hot at exactly the right time. He was named a CFL top performer for the month of October with two 300-plus pbading games and eight pbading touchdowns.
The Redblacks will host the East final on Nov. 18 against either the Hamilton Tiger-Cats or the B.C. Lions.
There have been glimpses of brilliance from Hamilton throughout the season. Quarterback Jeremiah Masoli has single-handedly led his team to victory in a number of games. Then there have been some major blunders, including a monumental meltdown in Vancouver in late September in the final minute when they gave up a game-tying TD and then lost in overtime.
A week later they beat up the Lions to the tune of 40-10.
B.C. Lions’ Wally Buono will coach his final home game of his career on Saturday. (Darryl Dyck/Canadian Press)
Which Hamilton team shows up in the Eastern semifinal will go a long way in determining if they can come out on the winning end of the battle of the Cats.
B.C. gains the third East spot in the cross-over,the fifth time for the Lions and a record third consecutive season a West team is heading East for the playoffs.
This is Buono’s final season coaching before he retires from an illustrious career. Time and again the most winningest coach in CFL history has found a way to get the best from his teams. Buono is hoping to go on one last Grey Cup journey to end it all.
Grey Cup woes
The powerful stallions from the Stampede City have been the best regular-season team in the CFL for years. In fact, the past two seasons Calgary has captured 28 out of a possible 36 wins. They’ve been dominant.
The Grey Cup game is a different story, though.
Two years ago the Stamps were 15-2-1 and went up against the 8-9-1 Redblacks in the Grey Cup game in Toronto. All predictions had the Stamps winning in a romp, but Ottawa emerged the champion after a thrilling overtime win.
The Stamps were heavily favoured against last season, only to lose the Grey Cup to 9-9 Toronto.
Perhaps some adversity before the Grey Cup is what Calgary needs as they look to get back to the championship game for the fourth time in the last five years.
Source link
