CFL.ca
TORONTO — The playoffs are well under way and a new season has officially kicked off.
Yes, it’s Week 22 of the 2016 CFL season and the Division Finals ready to unfold and determine who will match up in the 104th Grey Cup presented by Shaw. But While the first 21 weeks set the stage for what’s to come, there’s more we can take from the 2016 season than just who finished where in the standings.
We already know that Bo Levi Mitchell and Jonathon Jennings, the two starters in Sunday’s Western Final, will play a major role in the game’s outcome. We also know the Lions and Stamps are two of the better teams at getting to the quarterback, too. But what else?
Let’s take a look at two very closely-matched teams and some of the trends that could separate them on Sunday:
1. All about Bo
The Headline: As Bo goes, so go the Stamps
The Number: 43-7-1 (Bo Levi Mitchell’s career regular season win-loss record)
Making Bo Levi Mitchell uncomfortable will be key for the Lions’ defence (The Canadian Press)
It’s not really going out on a limb to say all Bo Levi Mitchell does is win. The 26-year-old Katy, Texas native is the key to the Stampeders’ success and while the Lions must to anything in their power to stop him, the Stampeders must protect him at all costs.
In a season-opening loss against BC, the only loss Mitchell would take in 2016, the Stamps’ quarterback threw for a season-low 233 yards and was sacked by the Lions three times. Weeks later, when the Lions took Calgary to overtime, they sacked Mitchell four times.
The Stamps were sacked a league-low 20 times over 18 games, a remarkable figure that’s played a major role in the team’s stellar 2016 campaign. Yet seven of those 20 sacks amounting to 35 per cent belong to the BC Lions.
For the CFL co-leaders with 52 sacks, the secret for the Lions is obvious: make Mitchell uncomfortable.
2. Something to take away
The Headline: Don’t give the game away
The Number: 26 (the number of giveaways by the Calgary Stampeders over 18 regular season games)
Dave Dickenson’s club finished 2016 with the fewest turnovers in the CFL (Johany Jutras/CFL.ca)
The Stampeders averaged 1.4 giveaways per game (a league-low 26 in total over 18 games) while the Lions took the football away 29 times — the second-fewest in the CFL.
True, the Stampeders have excelled in the turnover department and that’s been a main part of their identity — protect the quarterback and protect the football. The Lions haven’t dealt with turnovers well, going minus-six in that aspect over the course of the season.
That may have to change against Calgary. While BC escaped the Western Semi-Final against Winnipeg while losing the turnover battle, that’s unlikely to happen against the Stampeders.
High odds the winner of this game also wins the turnover battle.
3. Contain Rainey but in a pinch there’s Finch
The Headline: Many happy returns
The Number: 2,0251 (combined return yards by Roy Finch in 2016)
Roy Finch might be the ultimate playoff X-factor for the Stamps (The Canadian Press)
Lost in the discussion about Bo Levi Mitchell and Jonathon Jennings is the duel that’ll go down between Chris Rainey and Roy Finch, two of the most dynamic returners in the CFL.
We all know about Rainey, whose second-half punt return touchdown was the difference in the season-opener — a victory the Lions earned despite trailing throughout most of the first three quarters. But what about the Stampeders’ return man?
Finch actually ranked second in the CFL with 14.0 yards per return on punts and second in the CFL with 24.7 yards per kickoff return, one spot ahead of Rainey in both categories.
Chris Rainey leads the CFL with 2,945 yards from scrimmage and could have an impact much like he did in a Western Semi-Final win over Winnipeg. But there may be no bigger X-factor in these CFL playoffs than Roy Finch. Look for both of them on Sunday.
