This Week in the CFL – Week 9

Edmonton at Ottawa will be on TSN, RDS2, ESPN+, BT Sport 2 and Yare
Winnipeg at BC will be on TSN, ESPNEWS, BT Sport 3 and Yare
Montreal at Hamilton will be on TSN, RDS, ESPN+ and Yare
Saskatchewan at Calgary will be on TSN, ESPN+ and Yare

ACTIVE TACKLE LEADERS

• Two active players are in the Top-21 in all-time tackles: Adam Bighill (714) is 10^th and Simoni Lawrence (586) sits 21^st – one tackle behind Dante Marsh for 20^th.
• Bighill needs nine tackles to surpass Kevin Eiben (722) for 9^th.
• At Lawrence’s current pace, he could reach as high as 17^th on the list, passing his head coach, Orlondo Steinauer (18^th – 604).
• With 14 tackles, Lawrence would become the 20^th player to reach the 600-mark.
• Other players outside the Top-21 who are active include Toronto’s Charleston Hughes (512) and Henoc Muamba (508).

MIDWAY PROJECTIONS
*14-game season

• BC’s Michael Reilly is on pace to throw for 3,720 yards.
• Montreal’s William Stanback is on pace to rush for 1,442 yards. At his current pace, he would accumulate the most rushing yards in a season since 2013 when Jon Cornish ran for 1,813.
• Despite the shortened season, Vernon Adams Jr. is on pace for 26 touchdown passes, which would surpass his personal best of 24 set in 2019.
• On pace to eclipse 1K:
  • James Wilder Jr.’s first 1000-rushing yard season (1,164)
  • Lucky Whitehead’s first 1000-receiving yard season (1,330)
  • Jake Wieneke’s first 1000-receiving yard season (1,106)
• Ottawa’s Avery Williams is on pace for 112 tackles; his previous high was 69. His average of eight tackles per game is the same as Solomon Elimimian’s CFL record-setting performance in 2017 (144 in 18 games)
• In his rookie season, Canadian Jordan Williams of the Lions is on pace for 98 tackles.
• Saskatchewan’s Jonathan Woodard is on pace for 14 sacks.
• Winnipeg’s Mike Miller is on pace to record a personal best with 30 special teams tackles. Dave Sapunjis set the record with 33 in 1991.

FIELD POSITION VS. TOUCHDOWN PERCENTAGE

QUICK SLANTS:

• Ottawa’s Devonte Dedmon has 3 kick return TDs in 10 career CFL games after returning a punt 63 yards against Hamilton last week. The fastest to three career kick return touchdowns was Keith Stokes, who managed the feat in his first six games in 2002.
• Taylor Cornelius began slowly in his first career CFL start with 3 straight incompletions. From there, he went 8-of-9 to finish the 1st half, before going 19-of-33 for 243 yards overall. He was especially impressive in mid-range (10-19-yard) passes, going 7-for-11 for 122 yards.
• Since 2014, Edmonton is 8-5 following a bye week. Teams coming off a bye this year are 3-4.
• Edmonton’s Greg Ellingson will be looking to extend his streak of games with a reception to 67 on Tuesday night, while matched up against his former team, the Ottawa REDBLACKS.
• Last week, Saskatchewan scored on its long touchdown drive and on the ensuing kickoff by recovering a fumble and returning it. It was the two fastest touchdowns scored by the same team in league history.
• Three teams remain undefeated at home this year:
  • Winnipeg (4-0)
  • Toronto (3-0)
  • Hamilton (2-0).
• The last time Toronto started 4-0 at home was in 1997 – they went on to win the 85^th Grey Cup that season.
• Calgary and Saskatchewan have split their last six meetings. Calgary swept the series in 2019. Before these past six games, Calgary won 10-in-a-row and 17-of-19 since 2010.
• Bo Levi Mitchell has a record of 9-3 against Saskatchewan, however, he only has two 300+ yard passing games against the Roughriders – his fewest against any opponent.
• Ottawa’s Antoine Pruneau will be playing in his 100^th game on Tuesday. He has played his entire career with the REDBLACKS.
• Edmonton is the only undefeated road team this year at 2-0.
• Following Toronto’s 30-27 victory over Montreal last week, each of Toronto’s victories has been decided in the final three minutes. They are 4-0 in those games.
• When Saskatchewan is leading after three quarters of play this season, they are 5-0.
• Including this year, the Ticats are 9-3 in their last 12 games against Montreal.
• Winnipeg is the only team in the league that has a winning record when trailing after the first half, going 2-1 in those games.
• Winnipeg has only allowed six points in the fourth quarter this year.
• There have been 29 challenges this season with 14 (48 per cent) being successful.
  • Offensive teams: 16 times resulting in five successful challenges (31 per cent)
  • Defensive teams: 13 times resulting in nine successful challenges (69 per cent)
• Winnipeg has 10 touchdowns in 15 red zone opportunities for a 66.7 per cent success rate – tops in the league.  Calgary is second at 10-for-19 (52.6 per cent)
• Scoring by quarter this season:
  • 1^st Quarter | 266 points | 20 per cent of scoring
  • 2^nd quarter | 415 points | 32 per cent
  • 3^rd quarter | 229 points | 18 per cent
  • 4^th quarter | 388 points | 30 per cent
• Alouettes running back, William Stanback, rushed for 133 yards against Toronto for his third consecutive game surpassing the 100-yard mark and his fourth this season.
• Record When:
  • Teams with better field position are 24-6
  • Teams making fewer turnovers are 26-4
  • Teams taking fewer penalties are 22-7
  • Teams that make a big play long gainer on a drive have scored 55 per cent of the time; when they don’t, teams only score on 7 per cent of drives.
  • When teams draw a defensive penalty, they get scored upon 32 per cent of the time. When they don’t, it drops to just 9 per cent.
  • Only three teams have scored a touchdown when they have allowed a sack (3-of-121 drives).