Consecutive ties: In all of CFL history and going back 111 years to 1907, two teams have played to a tie at the same site in consecutive seasons only three times. The current 2016-17 Ottawa vs Calgary situation is even more unique in two other ways:
1) That this has occurred in the OT era which makes ties even rarer (14 times in exactly 2,500 games or .6% of the time) 2) And that for the first time it involves CONSECUTIVE GAMES at the same site
Trevor Harris 300+: Last week, Harris threw for 342 yards and 3 TDs, his second 300+ game of the year and #21 of his career. That means he has gone over 300 yards in 47% of his career starts (21 of 45)
Ottawa Rushing Record/ CFL Pace: William Powell leads the CFL in rushing with 355 yards averaging 118.3 yards per game.
Greg Ellingson #1: Greg Ellingson has been the CFL's reception & receiving yardage leader since the start of the 2015 season
Fastest to 60 QB wins: Bo Levi Mitchell's career winning % is now 59-10-2 .845 with a 3-0 .900 mark in 2018 (first time at 3-0 off the top since 2014). This week Mitchell faces Ottawa who are 1-6-2 against Calgary when he starts.
Calgary 16-0 Off a Bye (10-0 Road): Calgary's record coming off a bye is remarkable and they are 16-0 since 2005. Their last loss after a bye came on Jul 1/05 vs TOR and that was in Wk #2 when they had yet to play that season. Calgary is 10-0 in those post-bye games on the road.
Recent OTT v CGY matchups: Calgary has won the last 2 meetings including a 24-14 win in Wk #3. Since 2014 the REDBLACKS have defeated Calgary once though they have earned two OT ties at TD Place. These ties occurred in the most recent meetings in Ottawa. Ottawa's last win over Calgary was on Jul 24/15 - Calgary in four visits to TD Place are just 1-1-2.
- Brad Sinopoli: Posted career-highs of 11 receptions and 15 targets in gaining 148 yards last week in the win over Montreal. His 148 yard total was the 2nd-highest of his career (156 on Jul 22/16 v SSK).
20K / 89.7 Rating BLM: Bo Levi Mitchell (20,221) has surpassed the 20000-yard mark becoming the CFL's 34th QB to do so. He trails #33 David Archer (20,671) who is next up the list 450 yards ahead. He leads the CFL with a 103.9 pass efficiency mark and is #2 with an overall 89.7 CFL Quarterback Rating (right behind Mike Reilly at 89.8). His 13.9 yard average throw depth is #1 in the CFL.
- 35/11.7 Pts Allowed: The last time that Calgary allowed fewer than 35 pts in their first 3 games was 47 years ago (9 PA in 1971). Their pace of 11.7 per game is the lowest by any CFL team since the 1964 BC Lions at 10.5. Calgary's club record is 18.5 in 1970.
- Field Position Last Meeting: In their game two weeks ago, Calgary started 3 drives deep in Ottawa territory and cashed them all into TDs. The Stamps began drives at the Ottawa 17, 37 and 23 yard lines for 21 of their 24 points.
- Sacks Allowed: The Stampeders rank #1 in the CFL allowing just 3 Sacks in 3 games and have a current streak of 17 straight possessions without allowing any at all. They have ranked #1 in the CFL in 4 of the last 5 seasons in Fewest Sacks Allowed.
- Leading After Q1: If Calgary gets up after 15:00 they usually win. They are 1-0 in 2018, and 65-12 since 2011 when up after Q1.
- 2nd Dn Conversion: Something will have to give in this game as Ottawa is #2 in allowing Opponents to convert at just 40% on 2nd down plays vs Calgary at #2 on Offence (54%). Ottawa also ranks high on Offence at #4 (53%) vs CGY whose defence is #3 (41%).
- Combined FG kicking - 16 in a row: Rene Paredes and Lewis Ward are a combined 14-of-15 this year - Paredes has now made 16 straight and 34 of his last 35 tries dating back to Sep 4/17.
- Don Jackson 80+: Jackson has at least 80 rushing yds in each game - the last Calgary RB to do that? Jon Cornish Sep 1-13/14. - Michael Wakefield: Recorded two Sacks last week and is one of only three players with at least three Sacks thus far.
- Leading After Q1: If Calgary gets up after 15:00 they usually win. They are 1-0 in 2018, and 65-12 since 2011 when up after Q1. - Eric Rogers: Leads the CFL with 3 TD receptions - all of them in the last 2 games in which he has 10 of his 11 catches.
- Greg Ellingson 30 straight: Last week extended his consecutive game streak with a reception to 30 games in a row.
- Leone & Maver: Have combined for 5 punts where the opposition was forced to start inside their own 10-yard line.
CFL Record Performances & Trends in Brief:
Jeremiah Masoli 300+: Has tied the CFL record with 9 consecutive 300-yard passing games matching Sam Etcheverry (1956) and
Kent Austin (1991) who each made it to 9 games in a row 62 and 27 years ago.
Long FGs?: In 2018, there have been just 4 field goals attempted from beyond the 50-yard line. Sean Whyte, Lirim Hajrullahu have made from 50+ while Justin Medlock missed from a season-high 59 yards. The tendency to go for 50+ kicks has been falling steadily since 2016 when there were 44 tries from 50+ yards, and only 33 in 2017. The 2018 pace? Just 20 tries from 50+.
Long kick returns?: In 2018, there has been just 14, a pace for only 71 big plays all year. In 2016 there were 107 long returns.
2-&-Outs Up?: In 2018, there have been 9.9 per game compared to just 8.7 last season. Net Offence overall is down by 2%.
Converts at 93%: In 2018, there have been just 4 misses for a 93% mark. The highest % since the distance moved out to 32 yds._____________________________________________________________________________________________
CFL.ca GAME NOTES -
Consecutive ties: In all of CFL history and going back 111 years to 1907, two teams have played to a tie at the same site in consecutive seasons only three times. The current 2016-17 Ottawa vs Calgary situation is even more unique in two other ways:
1) That this has occurred in the OT era which makes ties even rarer (14 times in exactly 2,500 games or .6% of the time) 2) And that for the first time it involves CONSECUTIVE GAMES at the same site
Trevor Harris 300+: Last week, Harris threw for 342 yards and 3 TDs, his second 300+ game of the year and #21 of his career. That means he has gone over 300 yards in 47% of his career starts (21 of 45)
Ottawa Rushing Record/ CFL Pace: William Powell leads the CFL in rushing with 355 yards averaging 118.3 yards per game.
Greg Ellingson #1: Greg Ellingson has been the CFL's reception & receiving yardage leader since the start of the 2015 season
Fastest to 60 QB wins: Bo Levi Mitchell's career winning % is now 59-10-2 .845 with a 3-0 .900 mark in 2018 (first time at 3-0 off the top since 2014). This week Mitchell faces Ottawa who are 1-6-2 against Calgary when he starts.
Calgary 16-0 Off a Bye (10-0 Road): Calgary's record coming off a bye is remarkable and they are 16-0 since 2005. Their last loss after a bye came on Jul 1/05 vs TOR and that was in Wk #2 when they had yet to play that season. Calgary is 10-0 in those post-bye games on the road.
Recent OTT v CGY matchups: Calgary has won the last 2 meetings including a 24-14 win in Wk #3. Since 2014 the REDBLACKS have defeated Calgary once though they have earned two OT ties at TD Place. These ties occurred in the most recent meetings in Ottawa. Ottawa's last win over Calgary was on Jul 24/15 - Calgary in four visits to TD Place are just 1-1-2.
- Brad Sinopoli: Posted career-highs of 11 receptions and 15 targets in gaining 148 yards last week in the win over Montreal. His 148 yard total was the 2nd-highest of his career (156 on Jul 22/16 v SSK).
20K / 89.7 Rating BLM: Bo Levi Mitchell (20,221) has surpassed the 20000-yard mark becoming the CFL's 34th QB to do so. He trails #33 David Archer (20,671) who is next up the list 450 yards ahead. He leads the CFL with a 103.9 pass efficiency mark and is #2 with an overall 89.7 CFL Quarterback Rating (right behind Mike Reilly at 89.8). His 13.9 yard average throw depth is #1 in the CFL.
- 35/11.7 Pts Allowed: The last time that Calgary allowed fewer than 35 pts in their first 3 games was 47 years ago (9 PA in 1971). Their pace of 11.7 per game is the lowest by any CFL team since the 1964 BC Lions at 10.5. Calgary's club record is 18.5 in 1970.
- Field Position Last Meeting: In their game two weeks ago, Calgary started 3 drives deep in Ottawa territory and cashed them all into TDs. The Stamps began drives at the Ottawa 17, 37 and 23 yard lines for 21 of their 24 points.
- Sacks Allowed: The Stampeders rank #1 in the CFL allowing just 3 Sacks in 3 games and have a current streak of 17 straight possessions without allowing any at all. They have ranked #1 in the CFL in 4 of the last 5 seasons in Fewest Sacks Allowed.
- Leading After Q1: If Calgary gets up after 15:00 they usually win. They are 1-0 in 2018, and 65-12 since 2011 when up after Q1.
- 2nd Dn Conversion: Something will have to give in this game as Ottawa is #2 in allowing Opponents to convert at just 40% on 2nd down plays vs Calgary at #2 on Offence (54%). Ottawa also ranks high on Offence at #4 (53%) vs CGY whose defence is #3 (41%).
- Combined FG kicking - 16 in a row: Rene Paredes and Lewis Ward are a combined 14-of-15 this year - Paredes has now made 16 straight and 34 of his last 35 tries dating back to Sep 4/17.
- Don Jackson 80+: Jackson has at least 80 rushing yds in each game - the last Calgary RB to do that? Jon Cornish Sep 1-13/14. - Michael Wakefield: Recorded two Sacks last week and is one of only three players with at least three Sacks thus far.
- Leading After Q1: If Calgary gets up after 15:00 they usually win. They are 1-0 in 2018, and 65-12 since 2011 when up after Q1. - Eric Rogers: Leads the CFL with 3 TD receptions - all of them in the last 2 games in which he has 10 of his 11 catches.
- Greg Ellingson 30 straight: Last week extended his consecutive game streak with a reception to 30 games in a row.
- Leone & Maver: Have combined for 5 punts where the opposition was forced to start inside their own 10-yard line.
CFL Record Performances & Trends in Brief:
Jeremiah Masoli 300+: Has tied the CFL record with 9 consecutive 300-yard passing games matching Sam Etcheverry (1956) and
Kent Austin (1991) who each made it to 9 games in a row 62 and 27 years ago.
Long FGs?: In 2018, there have been just 4 field goals attempted from beyond the 50-yard line. Sean Whyte, Lirim Hajrullahu have made from 50+ while Justin Medlock missed from a season-high 59 yards. The tendency to go for 50+ kicks has been falling steadily since 2016 when there were 44 tries from 50+ yards, and only 33 in 2017. The 2018 pace? Just 20 tries from 50+.
Long kick returns?: In 2018, there has been just 14, a pace for only 71 big plays all year. In 2016 there were 107 long returns.
2-&-Outs Up?: In 2018, there have been 9.9 per game compared to just 8.7 last season. Net Offence overall is down by 2%.
Converts at 93%: In 2018, there have been just 4 misses for a 93% mark. The highest % since the distance moved out to 32 yds._____________________________________________________________________________________________