The Battle for First Place -Leos vs. Stamps

[Blitz]

Its a marque matchup for 1st place in the West as our 5-2 Leos host the 5-1-1 Calgary Stampeders on Friday night. Our Leos won the season opener against Calgary at home and Calgary came back from 15 points down with just over 3 minutes to play in regulation time, to tie the second contest of the season, and then go on to win in overtime. This game is the rubber match between these talented teams.

Both teams have offences that can light it up, both can play excellent defense, and both have well prepared special teams. The excitement will bulld as the week progresses.Its a star studded lineup featuring the likes of Buono, Dickenson, Jennings, Bo Levi Mitchell, Arsenault, McDaniel, Bazzie, Johnson, Messam, Hughes, Leone, Maver, Paravedes, Bighill, Purofoy, Burnett, Mayo, Rainey, and Finch.

Our Leos have scored the most points in the CFL. The Stamps have given up the least points in the CFL.

Lets have a closer look at both teams as they prepare for battle for supremacy to determine which is the CFL's best team as we move towards the half way point of this 2016 season.

OFFENCE

Our B.C. Lions come into this contest having scored 226 points so far this season, the most in the CFL. Our Leos offence can strike quickly. Both teams have quarterbacks who can make all the throws.

Jonathan Jennings drove our Leos 72 yards for a winning touchdown drive at clutch time to defeat Hamilton last Saturday night. It was Jennings 4th game in a row in which he threw for over 300 yards, tying the record held by Doug Flutie, Dave Dickenson, and Casey Printers. Calgary's offence is led by Bo Levi Mitchell, a poised quarterback who has won a Grey Cup and proven he knows how to win big games.

Jennings has completed 64.2% of his passes and has a 99.2 quarterback efficiency average. Jennings has thrown 11 touchdown passes this season, 2nd in the CFL. Bo Levi Mithcell has completed 65.4% of his passes this season and has a 100.7 quarterback efficiency average. Mitchell has tossed 12 touchdown passes this season, best in the CFL.

Both quarterbacks line up behind offensive lines who have done a very good job of protecting their quarterbacks this season. Calgary has given up the least sacks (10) in the CFL while our Leos are second in that category, only giving up 12 sacks so far this season. Both Jennings and Mitchell's mobility are factors in this statistic.

Jennings has three Top 20 receivers to throw to. Manny Arseneaux (7th), Bryan Burnham (8th) and Shawn Gore (12th) are all having successful seasons making big plays and catching the football. Bo Levi Mitchell's favorite target is Marquay McDaniel, who is an outstanding route runner but he also looks for Bakari Grant and Anthony Parker on deeper routes and Messam out of the backfield.

Both our Leos and Calgary lead the CFL in rushing the football. Our Leos are the CFLs' best rushing team with 573 yards. Calgary is second in the CFL with 561 yards. Jeremiah Johnson brings a 5.0 rushing average into this game, playing his fifth game of the season. Jerome Messam, playing behind a huge offensive line is second in CFL rushing and has the best yards per carry average. Messam is a very big and mobile load to bring down as his league leading 5.8 yds. per carry average proves.

These are two offence that are very close in all categories, from passing, rushing, and scoring.

DEFENSE

The Calgary Stampeders defense has taken over from our B.C. Lions as the best defence in the CFL. Calgary has only given up 252 points this season. Our Leos defense has dropped to 4th in this category, having now given up 173 points.

A huge part of our Leos successs on defence this season has been due to increased pressure on theuarterback. We lead the CFL in quarterback sacks with 27 sacks on the season. We had 5 quarterback sacks in the first half against Hamilton before going more passive on defense in the second half of that game.

Calgary is third in the CFL in quarterback sacks with 19 sacks on the season. Both teams have the CFL's league leading defensive ends who can get to the quarterback. Alex Bazzie and Charleton Hughes lead the CFL with 6 sacks apiece. Both Calgary and our Leos have excellent linebacking units and both play solid pass defence.

SPECIAL TEAMS

Special teams often play a big role in big games.

Our Leos Chris Rainey has the best punt return average in the CFL and can take it to the house if he gets space. Marco Iannuzzi proved last week that he is a deceptive return man. Calgary's Roy Finch is a dangerous return man who can rack up return yards.

Richie Leone is the CFL's best punter so far this season with a 49.7 average per punt. Calgary's Maver is no slouch in this department either, with a 47.3 yd. average.

Rene Paravedes has been money for Calgary in field goal kicking. Paravedes has kicked 28 field goals this season and has an impressive 90% success rate. Richie Leone has kicked 20 field goals so far and has been successful 70% of the time.

WRAP

Wally Buono is enjoying his successful return to the coaching ranks. Dave Dickenson is proving that he was ready to take over the reins in Calgary.

Bo Levi Mitchell keeps winning. Jonathan Jennings is proving that the excitement about his taking over the quarterback duties in B.C. was well warranted.

Our Leos wanted to run the football better this season behind a revamped offensive line and they have. Jerome Messam has found a comfortable fit in Calgary and is a key to their offensive success.

These are two very closely matched teams based upon the 2016 season to date. Both will be highly motivated to prove who is the best.

Its a show down on Friday night.

Go Leos!!

[WestCoastJoe]

Excellent writeup, Blitz. Lots of good research and points of view.

[Blitz]

Excellent writeup, Blitz. Lots of good research and points of view.

Thanks WCJ. Any thoughts on this big game?

[almo89]

Great preview as always. Of course your post game reviews are just as good. Can always count on you and WCJ for good analytical stuff. I have learned so much about the team and the game of football here.

I see this game being a close hard fought battle. I have a feeling it will come down to special teams which makes me a bit nervous. What I mean is Leone's game. While he has a monster leg, too many of his punts sail through the end zone to pad his average. I haven't seen much coffin corner kicking during his tenure here. His FG kicking has been spotty as well. If the game comes down to kicking and field position, we could see some trouble.

[BC 1988]

Great preview as always. Of course your post game reviews are just as good. Can always count on you and WCJ for good analytical stuff. I have learned so much about the team and the game of football here.

I see this game being a close hard fought battle. I have a feeling it will come down to special teams which makes me a bit nervous. What I mean is Leone's game. While he has a monster leg, too many of his punts sail through the end zone to pad his average. I haven't seen much coffin corner kicking during his tenure here. His FG kicking has been spotty as well. If the game comes down to kicking and field position, we could see some trouble.

Ditto on how much I enjoy reading pre and post game analysis here.

This article, written just before the 2nd game with CGY, points out Dickenson's reaction to Paredes' early season struggles. His FG misses were the difference in BC winning the 1st game of the season, but he has turned his game around since then. CGY is one of only 3 teams who have separate PK and Punters (EDM and SSK are the others, which is interesting that all the holdouts for what was once common are all in the West).
http://calgaryherald.com/sports/footbal ... rt-to-2016

Mechanical or mental?

Those are the choices you have when trying to figure out the reason why Rene Paredes, one of the CFL’s most consistent kickers over the course of his career, is struggling so mightily to begin the 2016 season.
After missing just four convert attempts last season (26-of-30), the 31-year-old has bent five outside the uprights already this year, including two more in last Thursday’s 33-18 road win over the Winnipeg Blue Bombers.
Through four games, Paredes has endured a PAT blemish each and every week.
Things haven’t been as bad when it comes to field goals, as Paredes is 10-of-14 and riding a streak of six consecutive makes, but his four misses are already just two less than he had all of last season (41-of-47).
Stampeders head coach Dave Dickenson shot down any talk of bringing in another kicker to compete with his struggling incumbent.
For now.
“No, not right away,” Dickenson said Monday after the first practice of the new work week. “We want to make people accountable and we need Rene to be better, but he still made, what, 34 in a row one year, so we still feel like we have a great kicker.”
The reason a kicking competition isn’t in the cards is a simple one.
Dickenson doesn’t believe there’s anyone sitting on the open market that has enough of a resume to push the three-time CFL all-star, a player who holds the league record for consecutive field goals with 39 in a row.
“I don’t know all the kickers that are out there, but the ones that are, there’s a reason they’re on the street — they’re not as good as Rene,” Dickenson said. “Stay with the best player.”
Paredes isn’t downplaying his struggles, but he maintains it’s all mechanical, rather than mental, which might be infinitely harder to fix.
“All the misses have been mechanical,” Paredes said. “You just have to treat it like any other kick and make sure to hit it well.
“It’s frustrating because you work so hard and you know what you’re doing wrong, and then you fix the problems and you go into the game and do it again. I just have to make sure to stay positive and don’t put my head down. I know I can hit the ball well. I’ve been hitting the ball well on my field goals, so I’ve just got to move on.”
Even though opposing kickers Richie Leone and Chris Milo matched his misses in Weeks 1 and 3, respectively, the points left on the field in the loss to the B.C. Lions and draw with the Ottawa RedBlacks are hard to ignore.
A missed convert late in the win over the Bombers could’ve loomed large, too, but the offence was able to put together a timely, clock-killing drive with an eight-point lead to make sure that wasn’t the case.
“I can’t keep points off the board,” Paredes said. “That second PAT we didn’t score (in Winnipeg) could’ve been bad. They were making a comeback, so it could’ve been bad for me.”
Despite the tough start, Dickenson’s confidence in his kicker hasn’t wavered, even if the fans are starting to hold their breath on each and every post-touchdown attempt.
“I know, somewhat, about kicking myself, and it’s a lot about just ironing out your details and then tuning everybody else out and getting back to what made you the most accurate kicker in the league,” Dickenson said. “He is working through some things, but I’m very confident, and I like Rene’s work ethic. He comes in ready to go. He has to be better, he knows that, but I have 100 per cent faith it’ll happen.”
The most confusing aspect of it all is the fact he didn’t go through any prolonged struggles whatsoever on PATs in 2015, the first season of the extended 32-yard converts.
Last season, the league average was 85.5%, and Leone (11), Montreal Alouettes’ Boris Bede (6), and Bombers-turned-Toronto-Argos kicker Lirim Hajrullahu (6), were the only players in the league to miss more than four extra points.
This season, Paredes is the only kicker to miss more than one, singlehandedly pulling the league average down to an even 87%.
During Monday’s practice, Paredes, who had been previously lining up his PATs from the middle of the field, experimented from the left hash.
He said he’ll decide later this week if he makes that change a permanent one for Friday’s game at McMahon Stadium against the Lions (8 p.m., TSN, News Talk 770).
“That’s what’s frustrating,” Paredes said. “I only missed four the whole season, I think. I’m already at five. It’s really frustrating, but at the same time, you have to move on and make sure you’re working on the little things.
“I’m just working on it and trying to get my rhythm back.”

[Blitz]

Great preview as always. Of course your post game reviews are just as good. Can always count on you and WCJ for good analytical stuff. I have learned so much about the team and the game of football here.

I see this game being a close hard fought battle. I have a feeling it will come down to special teams which makes me a bit nervous. What I mean is Leone's game. While he has a monster leg, too many of his punts sail through the end zone to pad his average. I haven't seen much coffin corner kicking during his tenure here. His FG kicking has been spotty as well. If the game comes down to kicking and field position, we could see some trouble.

Leone is not a good placement punter yet almo89, that is for sure, but he sure does have a very strong leg.

The player I am most worried about for this game is Jerome Messam. I sure hope Brooks will be back.

Messam, now slimmed down to 254-pounds had 113 yards from scrimmage on just 10 touches last game. He also had 86 receiving
yards.

Messam had a 63 yard catch and run in which he cut and rumbled and cut again but fumbled at the end of the play.

Messam's comments after playing such a great game were only focused on his fumble: “I’ve just got to be better.I was just trying to do too much. I was looking at the Jumbotron and I saw the guy trailing me. I tried to cut inside and got held up … I’ve just got to hold onto the ball, man. It sucks, man. I hold myself to a high standard, and I was really shooting for no fumbles all year. That was my first one, and I’ve just got to correct and try not to have anymore.”

The other Calgary player we need to key on is McDaniel. Bo Levi looks to him in clutch situations. McDaniel finished his last game with eight catches for 110 yards.

Calgary is psyched for this game.They know the season-series rubber-match is important.

“Huge,” Mitchell said. “It’s an in-conference game on somebody else’s turf and implications for first place when it comes to the end of the year. It’s a big deal to us.

“We know it’s going to be a tough one. They’ve been putting up points and they’ve doing good on defence. Learn what we can from those first two games against them and take it to them.”

Dickenson shared a similar line of thinking.

“It’s big,” said Dickenson, whose team is riding a six-game unbeaten streak since losing to the Leos in the season opener. “I mean, we always say it’s big. When we played them here, we were saying how big it was. They’re playing well. They’ve got a lot of confidence and a lot of weapons, too.

“I guess you, maybe, understand why Wally had so many wins. Those guys believe in him and they play for him and, obviously, he’s a good coach, as well.”

Just two months into the season, the Stamps and Lions have already squared off three times, with one of them being an exhibition tilt.

The two regular-season meetings have been late-game barnburners, with each side feeling they gave one away. Calgary Sun

[chwk_lionsfan]

The penalties need to stop, so many times it was a momentum killer. When that penalty was called on the last drive, i really wondered if they could respond. Thankfully Arcenaux had a great catch and a fantastic run after the catch.

[DanoT]

Great preview as always. Of course your post game reviews are just as good. Can always count on you and WCJ for good analytical stuff. I have learned so much about the team and the game of football here.

I see this game being a close hard fought battle. I have a feeling it will come down to special teams which makes me a bit nervous. What I mean is Leone's game. While he has a monster leg, too many of his punts sail through the end zone to pad his average. I haven't seen much coffin corner kicking during his tenure here. His FG kicking has been spotty as well. If the game comes down to kicking and field position, we could see some trouble.

Leone is not a good placement punter yet almo89, that is for sure, but he sure does have a very strong leg.

The player I am most worried about for this game is Jerome Messam. I sure hope Brooks will be back.

Messam, now slimmed down to 254-pounds had 113 yards from scrimmage on just 10 touches last game. He also had 86 receiving
yards.

Messam had a 63 yard catch and run in which he cut and rumbled and cut again but fumbled at the end of the play.

Messam's comments after playing such a great game were only focused on his fumble: “I’ve just got to be better.I was just trying to do too much. I was looking at the Jumbotron and I saw the guy trailing me. I tried to cut inside and got held up … I’ve just got to hold onto the ball, man. It sucks, man. I hold myself to a high standard, and I was really shooting for no fumbles all year. That was my first one, and I’ve just got to correct and try not to have anymore.”

The other Calgary player we need to key on is McDaniel. Bo Levi looks to him in clutch situations. McDaniel finished his last game with eight catches for 110 yards.

Calgary is psyched for this game.They know the season-series rubber-match is important.

“Huge,” Mitchell said. “It’s an in-conference game on somebody else’s turf and implications for first place when it comes to the end of the year. It’s a big deal to us.

“We know it’s going to be a tough one. They’ve been putting up points and they’ve doing good on defence. Learn what we can from those first two games against them and take it to them.”

Dickenson shared a similar line of thinking.

“It’s big,” said Dickenson, whose team is riding a six-game unbeaten streak since losing to the Leos in the season opener. “I mean, we always say it’s big. When we played them here, we were saying how big it was. They’re playing well. They’ve got a lot of confidence and a lot of weapons, too.

“I guess you, maybe, understand why Wally had so many wins. Those guys believe in him and they play for him and, obviously, he’s a good coach, as well.”

Just two months into the season, the Stamps and Lions have already squared off three times, with one of them being an exhibition tilt.

The two regular-season meetings have been late-game barnburners, with each side feeling they gave one away. Calgary Sun

I knew players looked at the Jumbotron after a play but Messam said he looked at the Jumbotron during the play to see if someone was chasing him...Wow!

[WestCoastJoe]

Excellent writeup, Blitz. Lots of good research and points of view.

Thanks WCJ. Any thoughts on this big game?

Keep up the good work. We have seen some of your best this year.

Haven't thought about it much, Blitz. Been busy wirh yard work at my house. And with my stock market studies. The games have been simply great, if one can deal with cliff hangers.

I have commented on the transformation this year. Aggressive, attacking defence. Passing game that rivals any we have had under Wally. Some good games running the ball. Rainey on returns. The morale of the troops is at a high. Wally has allowed MW to plan and play call aggressively. Outstanding personnel, wirh the one possible exception of depth and size at DT (that might be the plan, or just a circumstance of developments). This fan is very impressed with how Wally has adapted and adjusted. I thought we saw some reversion to the comfort zone last game, protecting the lead. Hopefully we learn from that.

This game ...

Can we stop a dedicated ground game with Messam carrying the rock? Size at DT?

Can we give Jennings the time every QB deserves? Blocking and schemes?

Will we stay in attack mode on defence?

Will we stay in attack mode on offence?

Jennings is a rare talent, as much with his mind as with his arm and legs. Our receivers have blossomed with him as QB. JJ24 can run well if we open holes. Not so sure our OL is still on the upswing. Not so sure our DTs are big enough as a group.

Calgary is top notch under Hufnagel, Dickenson and Mitchell.

Should be a great game.

At this time I am stepping back a bit with my blogging, as noticed by some perhaps. Fewer threads, et cetera. Will continue, of course, but at a less frequent rate. BCFAN stepped in to create the post game thread, and that was appreciated. All is fine. Looking forward to a great game.

[pennw]

Hey Blitz , on the points given up by our defence dropping to fourth place , is that total points given up by BC or just points given up by our defence only ? I ask this because I know that BC has given up some points not by our D so far , such as returns for TDs and some pick sixes that were not on the D.

[WestCoastJoe]

Great preview as always. Of course your post game reviews are just as good. Can always count on you and WCJ for good analytical stuff. I have learned so much about the team and the game of football here.

Ditto on how much I enjoy reading pre and post game analysis here.

Thanks, Guys. As noted, I will be stepping back just a bit with my blogging. It does take time, although the passion and interest are there. This site is in very good shape, IMO. Lots of great comments, points of view, and research. So great to read and participate. Almost no bickering. LOL Veteran members posting. New and younger members posting. Very noticeable. It is all good.

[Blitz]

One area of our offence that I have been pleased about is that Jennings has been more willing to take off recently. He is a deceptively good runner. He leads all CFL quarterbacks in rushing and is presently 10th in rushing in the CFL.

While I wish we would move the pocket more for Jennings at times and also give him some misdirection, play action bootlegs or the occasional zone read option, the fact that Jennings has ran the football for some key first downs is positive. A mobile quarterback puts more pressure on a defense.

Jennings has always impressed me with his ability to run the football while still looking downfield to throw. He did that as a rookie last season.

Of the quarterbacks that have played in B.C. during the Buono era, prior to Jennings, Casey Printers and Travis Lulay are the two quarterbacks who have been the greatest threats to run the football.

Printers rushed for 469 yards in his 2004 MOP season. Printers only started a little more than a handful of games for our Leos in 2005 but rushed for an impressive 336 yards while only starting 8 games.

Travis Lulay rushed for 396 yards in 2010, 391 yards in 2011, 477 yds. in 2012, and 287 yds. in 2013.

We tend to think of Jennings as a gunslinger, pocket style quarterback but he has rushed for 168 yards so far this season and is on pace for 368 yds. rushing for the season.

Of the three quarterbacks, I view Printers as having had the best escapability when in the pocket and Lulay as being the best runner. I see Jennings having both qualities. Jennings has very good escapablity in the pocket and he also is a much better runner than he has received recognition for.

Jennings knows how to get down quickly when he runs the football or gets out of bounds before he can be hit.

Of the three mobile quarterbacks, while both Printers and Lulay had MOP seasons, I view Jennings as having the most talent of the three. He has the best arm of the three and he can make all the throws, both from the pocket and outside of it... and he is very mobile as well.

Its obvious that our Leo receivers have confidence in Jennings. Arseaneaux, especially, was rejuvenated once Jennings took over the controls.

This game features two very talented quarterbacks. Bo Levi Mitchell became the starting quarterback for the Stampeders in the 2014 season and set a number of club and league records, including the best record for a starting quarterback in league history (12 wins, 1 loss) before going on to win the Grey Cup that season.

Jonathan Jennings just tied a record with Leos Doug Flutie, Dave Dickenson, and Casey Printers in throwing for more than 300 yards for four games consecutively. Bo Levi is the established star and Jennings is the rising star.

These two exciting quarterbacks only add to the recipe of an enticing matchup on Friday night, with first place in the West on the line.

[Blitz]

The Stamps are unbeaten in their past six games (5-0-1) including a 19-10 victory in Regina on Saturday. Our Lions are coming off a 45-38 win at home against the Hamilton Tiger-Cats. We previously beat Montreal on the road and lost in Calgary in overtime, in a game we should have won.

At 32.3 points per game, our Lions lead the CFL in scoring while the Stamps have allowed a league-low 21.7 points per contest. Our Leos have scored a total of 83 points in our two most recent outings while Calgary has allowed just 25 points in their past two games.

Want to know why the Stamps running game is hard to defend, even though Calgary starting right tackle Dan Fiederkeil is on the six game injury list.

When 258 pound tailback Jerome Messam runs to his left, he is running behind 347 pound left guard Shane Bergman and 341 pound left tackle Derek Dennis. With Fiederkeil injured, Calgary's starting right guard Spencer Wilson has been shifted to right tackle. He weighs 331 pounds. That is a lot of meat on the hoof to defend against and they are all good run and pass blockers.

Even if we had Steward, Vaillencourt, and Levy Adcock starting, Calgary's offensive line would be bigger than ours. Right now, with O'Neil, Johnson, Fabian, and Husband we are only average size in terms of our offensive lineman. Only Olifoye, at 325 pounds would be considered a big offensive lineman. With offensive guards rarely pulling anymore, the trend to bigger offensive guards has begun in Calgary and it is the way of the future, as defensive tackles get bigger and bigger.

John Hufnagel, the coach who first implemented the spread offence in Calgary in the 1990's was ahead of his time in the CFL. But when Hufnagel returned to the CFL, first as a consultant in B.C. in 2007 and then as HC/GM in Calgary in 2008, he believed the running game needed to be featured more in the CFL. Joffrey Reynolds was followed by Jon Cornish and now its Messam time in Calgary. Calgary's ability to run the football so successfully has been a key to its success since 2008.

While most CFL teams are running the football less this season, its interesting that the three teams enjoying the most success so far this season have ran the football the most successfully. B.C., Calgary, and Ottawa lead the CFL in rushing and they also lead the CFL in team victories.

[DanoT]

Here is something that I was thinking about the other day: If a QB stays in the pocket he is a target and the only way to avoid a hit is to throw the ball. OTOH if a QB takes off and runs he can avoid a hit by running out of bounds, hook sliding or throwing the ball. So move the pocket and roll out damn it!

You often hear from OCs that rolling out cuts the field in half for the QB, but the CFL field is wide enough that there is still plenty of room for receivers to run their pass patterns.
BTW if Jennings had stayed in the pocket he probably wouldn't have been able to complete the pass to Manny for the winning TD.

Ok here is another pet peeve: 5 or 6 receiver formations. When does the QB ever have enough time to find a 5th or 6th receiver? Almost never unless he is flushed out of the pocket. I don't want the 5th or 6th guy downfield blocking after the catch, instead I want a TE or FB blocking for for the QB before the pass is made or run blocking at the line of scrimmage.

[Blitz]

Hey Blitz , on the points given up by our defence dropping to fourth place , is that total points given up by BC or just points given up by our defence only ? I ask this because I know that BC has given up some points not by our D so far , such as returns for TDs and some pick sixes that were not on the D.

Its team points given up penw. Unfortunately, special team return touchdowns and interception return touchdowns end up being attributed to the defense, even when they shouldn't be. However, other stats, such as rushing yards and passing yards against the defences help balance out this stat.