2014 CFL.ca Game Notes: A look at the Semi-Finals

CFL.ca Staff
With files from Steve Daniel, Head Statistician

TORONTO — The 2014 CFL Playoffs have arrived with two great matchups, as the BC Lions, Montreal Alouettes, Saskatchewan Roughriders, and Edmonton Eskimos all vy for a spot in next weekend’s Division Finals. There are no clear-cut favourites heading into the Nov. 16 matchups, which should make for an entertaining weekend of football as four teams that earned playoff spots after 18 hard-fought games put their entire season on the line.

The first matchup presents a West vs. East duel, as the BC Lions have crossed over to the East to take on the Montreal Alouettes. It’s rare for a Western team to cross over and advance past the first round, but the Lions will look to make history as they bring to the Province of Quebec one of the league’s most powerful defences along witih the league leader in receiving touchdowns. The Alouettes have the advantage of playing at home, however, as Duron Carter and S.J. Green look to protect their turf and earn a trip to Hamilton for the Division Final.

Capping off Semi-Final Sunday will be a heated Western duel between the Riders and Eskimos, who will meet for the fourth time in seven games. Matt Nichols and Kerry Joseph lead an abundance of intriguing storylines heading into this matchup, while some of the league’s fiercest defences will also be on display as the likes of Ricky Foley, John Chick, Odell Willis, and Dexter McCoil will be turned loose. The Esks took a 2-1 edge in the regular season series, but the Riders have a chance to get the last laugh if they can advance on the Eskimos’ home field.

» Buy Semi-Final Tickets
Sunday, 1:00 pm ET: BC at Montreal
Sunday, 4:30 pm ET: Saskatchewan at Edmonton

By the Numbers:

 Edmonton Record Turnaround +8: Despite the season-ending loss last week, the Eskimos won eight more games than last season, going 12-6 vs. 4-14 in 2013. That broke the previous club single-season improvement record by far, as their prior best had been five more wins than the season before. The CFL record is +11 wins (Toronto 1996 over 1995).

Best home record: The Eskimos come into this playoff game having compiled a 7-2 home record in 2014. That tied Calgary and Hamilton for the CFL’s best home mark and is six more home wins than their 1-8 record in 2013.

300-yard passing games: Only one Edmonton QB got to the 300-yard passing mark in 2014 (Matt Nichols with 333 on Sep 6/14 vs. Calgary) – that barely avoided being the first time in 36 years since 1978 without at least one 300+ effort.

#1 Offence and #1 Defence: Edmonton led the CFL in 2014 in BOTH net yards gained and fewest allowed. Oddly, that feat is not rare and has been done nine times since 1978.

46 Sacks Allowed / Sack-Free game: The Eskimos allowed 46 sacks in 2014, a reduction of 14 from the 60 they allowed in 2013. Last week they did not allow a single sack against Saskatchewan – that was their first sack-free game in their last 38 games.

Adarius Bowman seven 100’s: The CFL’s leading receiver recorded 7 100-yard games this season and fell one short of Brian Kelly at #2 for most in a single season by an Eskimo. Kelly had eight in 1983 and 9 100’s in 1981. Bowman’s 1,456 yards ranked #10 all-time among Edmonton receivers.

Few first downs / more net yards: Only one Edmonton opponent in the last 9 games has managed to get more than 20 first downs in a game and Edmonton has outgained seven of its last nine opponents.

Fast starts: In the entire second half of the 2014 season, only one team scored more than three points in any first Quarter against Edmonton. The Esks went 7-1 in 2014 when leading after one Quarter and 9-2 when at least tied.

First nine vs. last nine historically: Saskatchewan has a rather unusual streak going in that in each of the last 8 years (2007-2014), their W-L record in the second half of the season has declined from the first half. Since 2007, they are 46-26 .639 before the midway mark, and 32-39-1 .451 in the second half of the year.

Big passing change: Over the last three games, Riders’ opponents have achieved a high completion percentage game. Opponents’ completion percentage over those three games was 67.6%. In the four games before that it was just 55.9% (lowest among all CFL clubs in that span). For Saskatchewan, over the last four games its own completion percentage has been exactly 50%.

Kerry Joseph: The last time that Joseph started a playoff game was November 11, 2012 for Edmonton in its crossover loss at Toronto. Before that, his next most recent playoff start was for Saskatchewan on November 18, 2007 at BC in the Western Final.

Anthony Allen: In his last four starts, Allen has rushed for an average of 84 yards per game and had no less than 73 in any one game. In those four games he has had 61 carries for 337 yards and 14 runs of 10-plus yards.

Tight Coverage: Since a seven-catch, 125-yard game on Sept. 21 vs. Ottawa, Weston Dressler has caught 11 passes for 110 yards in the 5 games he has played. For Chris Getzlaf, he had one six-catch, 106-yard game on Oct. 24 vs. Calgary – and in the other five games he played since then was held to seven catches for just 163 yards.

Playoff yet spot again: The Alouettes have extended their consecutive season playoff run to 19 years, second only to the CFL record of 34 in a row set by Edmonton from 1972 to 2005. Montreal has made the playoffs every year since re-entering the CFL in 1996 and under seven different head coaches (at year-end).

Semi-Final Host #11: The Alouettes have hosted the Eastern Semi-Final on 10 previous occasions and have had amazing success, going 8-2 since 1958. Between their most recent home Semi-Final loss to Hamilton in 2011, and their first one in 1958 to Ottawa (a 26-12 loss), the Als won eight straight home Semi-Final games, including the 1997 version by 45-35 over BC.

Post-season vs BC: The Alouettes and Lions have played four times in post-season history. Montreal defeated BC in their two Divisional playoff games (1997 and 2009), while BC captured the 2000 and 2006 Grey Cup matchups.

Stable Offensive Starting Lineup: In each of the last four games, the Alouettes have started exactly the same 12-man unit. In the last 10 games they have made only two changes: Dave Stala and James Rodgers, for Chad Johnson and Brandon Whitaker.

Green and Carter: Last week, S.J. Green and Duron Carter combined for eight catches and 146 yards and Montreal’s only offensive TD. In the last seven Montreal games, they have been the Als’ leading receivers: Green 28 for 517 yards, two TDs, 15 second down conversion catches, four catches for 30+ yards (including one each of the last four games); Carter 35 for 520 yards, five TDs, 15 second-down conversion catches, two catches for 30+ yards.

Tyrell Sutton: Has started the last 10 games, including the most recent five contests as Montreal’s lead rusher. After four games of at least 77 yards, last week Sutton was limited to just five yards on five carries by Hamilton’s #1 CFL run defence.

O-Line Consistency: Montreal started the fewest different offensive linemen of any club in 2014 with only six, and just one missed start by Josh Bourke. Jeff Perrett, Luc Brodeur-Jourdain, Ryan Bomben and Kristian Matte each started all 18 games. By contrast, BC started 10 different players on the offensive line in 2014 and only two players started all 18 games.

Sacks allowed: Montreal ranked #2 in the CFL with just 31 sacks allowed, including only eight in the their final nine games.

Playoff yet spot again: The Lions have extended their consecutive season playoff run to 18 years, third second only to the CFL record of 34 in a row set by Edmonton from 1972 to 2005 and Montreal’s current streak of 19. BC has made the playoffs every year since 1997. In their history, this will be Semi-Final visit #24 and they are 8-15 in the first 23 years.

Cross-Over #4: The Lions have finished fourth in the West and “crossed over” three times before. Their first was in 1997 against Montreal, the next in 2003 at Toronto, and the most recent 2009 at Hamilton where they won 34-27 in OT.

BC Fewest TDs Allowed in 2014: The Lions led the CFL in 2014 allowing just 27 TDs in 2014, just 24 of which came against the BC defence. It shut down opponents six times without a TD in 2014.

BC Defence vs Montreal in 2014: The Lions’ defence allowed Montreal only one touchdown in 31 possessions over the two-game season series. It forced Montreal into 20 two-and-outs and seven turnovers. On July 19, BC limited Montreal to only 115 net yards and seven first downs.

7-4 start, 2-5 end: The Lions ended the season winning just two of their final seven games, including a 33-16 loss at home to Calgary last week. The Stampeders gained 469 yards and did not make a turnover in reaching 15-3 by beating BC at B.C. Place Stadium.

Paul McCallum: Ended the 2014 season as a Western All-Star and his 90.5% FG success rate led the CFL. That 90.5% mark stands as the sixth best single-season record (38-of-42) and he also became the second player in pro football history to reach the 3,000 point career scoring level.

Stefan Logan: Returned last week after a four-game absence and promptly gained 187 yards from scrimmage on 23 touches to top the CFL in Week #20. Logan rushed 17 times for 117 yards (four runs of 10+ yards) and caught six passes for another 70.