Players like Malik Jackson might not win any awards, but they are helping Calgary win games.

The Calgary Stampeders were left out of the Gibson’s Finest CFL players of the month awards in August. While many would feel the Stamps were snubbed by the decisions, if you asked the players themselves, I’m guessing they wouldn’t be too hurt by the choices.

The CFL has seen some very talented players making waves throughout the season and most of them have been on teams that haven’t necessarily been winning. You’d think that a team that is 7-1-0 and leading the league in many categories would be stacked with players leading the league.

The reality this year has been that big player performances haven’t really led their teams to victory. None show this fact more than Arland Bruce III, who tied a CFL record with 16 catches to go with 272 yards receiving back on July 31st. The Tiger-Cats weren’t ever really in the game, losing 37-24 to the Saskatchewan Roughriders. Kevin Glenn had 425 yards passing in the game to go with three touchdowns. Bruce was the offensive player of the week,and Glenn was the runner up in a game that they didn’t come close to winning.

It’s the same for the Calgary/Saskatchewan game in Week 4. The Stampeders doubled the Riders 40-20, yet Durant had 354 yards passing to the 279 yards passing Burris had.

When you look at the rushing stats for two time rushing leader Joffrey Reynolds, you might wonder if he’s having a tough year. Reynolds has only had one 100 yard rushing game, but still sits in third place in rushing yards, although he’s 170 yards back of Toronto’s Cory Boyd.

Even the receivers haven’t blown us away. Nik Lewis is on pace to be named an all-star, but the catches have really been spread out. Although Ken-Yon Rambo missed the first four weeks of the year, he could be on pace to shine.

What is most impressive about this season for the Stampeders is the fact the whole team is doing well. The passes have been spread around and the rushing is even being shared. Drew Tate has had only taken a few snaps at Quarterback, but has been very impressive going 7/8 for 66 yards and three touchdowns with a very impressive 158.3 passer rating. Jon Cornish has even taken some serious reps at running back and has not disappointed with an 8.8 yard average and 274 yards rushing.

Looking at the defence, the Stamps have had everyone pulling their own weight. Calgary leads the league in sacks with 22, but no Stampeders players are close to the sack leader. Montreal’s John Bowman and Winnipeg’s Phillip Hunt lead the league with seven sacks, while both Robert McCune and Malik Jackson have four sacks each.

No Stampeder player is even in the top 20 in defensive tackles. Juwan Simpson leads them with 29 tackles, 24 behind league leader Kevin Eiben.

With all that said, it doesn’t surprise me that the Stampeders haven’t been well represented in the players of the week, or the players of the month. The team has been playing so well together, everyone has been pulling their weight and making the most of their chances when they get the chance.

The Stampeders still have a long way to go before they can say they are the best team in the league, seeing as they still have two games against the Montreal Alouettes and two games left against the Saskatchewan Roughriders AT Mosaic Stadium. That being said, playing well as a team will make it that much harder for other teams to beat them. There aren’t any huge weaknesses and shutting down one player only leaves openings for others to step up, and so far they have.

At the end of the year, they may not take home any of the hardware, but they’ve got as good a shot as any of winning it all. 

Heading into the 2010 CFL season, fans wondered if this was the year the torch would be passed from Henry Burris to Darian Durant.

After all, last season Durant and the Saskatchewan Roughriders didn’t lose a game to the Calgary Stampeders and Durant matched up well against Burris in head-to-head meetings. It was a common opinion that Durant’s stock was rising, while Burris’ stock was on the decline.

This season, however, Burris has shown he is not quite ready to be surpassed by Durant just yet.

After Durant started off strong this season and Burris started off slow, Burris has rebounded nicely and is now outplaying Durant. Calgary’s recent success and Saskatchewan’s recent struggles certainly reflect this.

The change in each team’s fortunes started in Week 4, when the 3-0-0 Riders travelled to Calgary to take on the 2-1-0 Stampeders.

At this point, Durant had gone 62/ 101, for 941 yards, seven touchdowns and one interception on the season, while Burris had gone 71/111, for 788 yards, five touchdowns and six interceptions. Durant was not only outplaying Burris, but he was a leading candidate early in the season for the most outstanding player award.

Burris and the Stampeders are outplaying the Riders right now.

As a team, the Riders had already beaten the powerhouse Montreal Alouettes and had earned victories over two West Division foes: the Edmonton Eskimos and the British Columbia Lions. Calgary, on the other hand, had earned their two victories over East Division opponents. In fact, they had not played a West opponent until this point of the season. Because of this reason, many fans felt the Stampeders’ record was deceivingly-high and they would get a wakeup call the hands of the Green and White.

There was a wakeup call in the game, but it was delivered to Saskatchewan instead. Tied at seven going into the second half, Calgary exploded for 33 second half points and stunned the Riders 40-20. Durant threw one touchdown and three interceptions, while Burris tossed four touchdowns and two interceptions.

This was really a turning point in the season so far for both teams. Suddenly, Calgary is red-hot. The team is currently riding a five-game winning streak and sit first place in the West comfortably at 7-1-0. Saskatchewan is stone cold, dropping two of its last four games. Last week, both facing 1-6-0 teams, Calgary easily took care of B.C. while Saskatchewan lost in the dying minutes against the Eskimos.

The rise and fall of each team has had a lot to due with the play of the quarterbacks. Stats-wise, Durant was outperforming earlier in the season. Now, not so much. Burris’ numbers on the season are: 183/281, for 2,226 yards, 18 touchdowns and 12 interceptions. Durant’s numbers on the season are: 177/301, for 2,474 yards, 11 touchdowns and 12 interceptions. Besides yards and interceptions, Burris is leading Durant in almost all categories. He has more completions, a better completion percentage, more touchdown passes and a better quarterback rating.

Has Burris been perfect? Not exactly. Though his team is on a five-game winning streak, there have been some close calls. But, he is doing what Durant is having trouble doing currently, winning.

The fact that Burris is leading in the league in touchdown passes and has cut down somewhat on the interceptions just show how much he has improved since his early-season struggles. Since Week 4, he is averaging close to 300 passing yards a game. More importantly, he and the Stampeders are doing what they failed to do early in the season, attack opposing defences deep. Some of these deep throws have led to interceptions, but in the process Calgary has become far more explosive on offence. With Ken-Yon Rambo back and Nik Lewis and Romby Bryant playing well, Burris has tons of hot targets to throw the ball to.

Burris has also been using his feet more effectively to buy his receivers time, something Durant was doing well earlier in the season.

Durant has averaged a decent amount of passing yards a game in the last four weeks, but his interception total has skyrocketed. Not all of these interceptions have been his fault, but the fact is it is an area that continues to be a concern for Durant. For all of the beautiful touchdowns he will throw on the run, he is starting to throw just as many interceptions in general. His team has suffered as a result. In their stunning loss to Edmonton last week, Durant deserved most of the blame.

With Saskatchewan playing relatively week foes recently, they haven’t exactly looked impressive. Once again, this has something to do with Durant. Against teams with winning records, Montreal and Calgary, Durant has thrown for over 400 yards a game. Against teams with non-winning records, Edmonton, B.C., Hamilton, he is throwing for less than 250 passing yards a game.

Now, it is too early to right off Durant just yet, but the fact that Burris is outplaying him at all is surprising. Heading into the season, with all of Calgary’s losses and Saskatchewan’s gains, to see Calgary playing so well and Saskatchewan playing so poorly is something no one would have expected.

Saskatchewan is not out the race for first in the West yet. Calgary still has to travel to Saskatchewan twice this season and play the Montreal Alouettes twice. However, if the Riders hope to get match-up against the Stampeders, Durant will need to improve. With similar defences and special teams units, Durant and the offence will need to outshine Calgary’s offence to win in the future.

Durant may be an up-and-coming star, but for now Burris looks content to hold onto his elite quarterback status.

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Empire Field in British Columbia will be rockin’ Saturday night for a CFL battle between West Division rivals when the Lions host Henry Burris and the Calgary Stampeders

The Stampeders won all four meetings against the Lions last season.

Going into the sixth week of the season, the Stampeders are tied for first place in the West Division at 4-1-0, while the Lions are in the gutter with the Edmonton Eskimos at 1-4-0.

On paper, the Stampeders should be one of the best offensive teams in the CFL. However, with 140 points scored, they are just a middle of the road team in terms of point production. The team is averaging 24.4 first downs per game, the second highest mark in the league. As a result, they Calgary is one of the best time of possession teams in the league.

The Stampeders’ biggest drawback is that they are just flat out turning the ball over too much. Seven fumbles lost is tied for the league lead coming into Week 6, while quarterback Henry Burris has tossed a league worst eight interceptions.

The good news for Burris is that his numbers are starting to recover from a horrid start to the year. Without Ryan Thelwell (injured), Ken-Yon Rambo (injured) and Jeremaine Copeland (now in Toronto) to start the season, Calgary’s signal caller has looked uncomfortable in the pocket at times. However, the Stampeders are now at full strength with both Thelwell and Rambo returning in last week’s 23-20 win over the Winnipeg Blue Bombers. As a result, Burris was 28/38 for 340 yards, two touchdowns and more importantly, no picks.

The Calgary defence has given up the fewest touchdowns in the league (Seven) and is averaging allowing a league best 21.0 points per game.

As for the boys from British Columbia, they need a real shot in the arm and quickly. The Lions are coming off of a bad 28-25 loss at Commonwealth Stadium to the Edmonton Eskimos in a game that they really accomplished nothing through the air.

"As of Thursday morning, there is still a question as to who will be taking the first snap under center for head coach Wally Buono"

Backup QB Travis Lulay, playing in place of the injured Casey Printers, only went 16/26 for 134 yards and two interceptions. He did run for 62 yards and the team’s lone offensive score.

BC’s rushing attack has had some awful outings this year and though the Lions are averaging 105.8 YPG on the ground (Sixth in the CFL), a good chunk of those yards have come on huge runs. They average just 15.8 rushing attempts per game, the lowest in the CFL.

Running back Jamal Robertson was considered one of the top weapons on this team at the outset of the season, but he just hasn’t been deployed enough to make a huge difference. Though Robertson leads all backs in the CFL in rushing average (7.9 YPC), he has only handled the rock 46 times all year, easily the lowest in the league for starters.

As of Thursday morning, there is still a question as to who will be taking the first snap under center for head coach Wally Buono. Lulay is clearly the only healthy option he has at his disposal, as Printers is listed as doubtful for the game. Don’t count out the prospects of seeing Jarious Jackson, last year’s starting quarterback, for a good chunk of the season, either.

Calgary is simply on a roll in this series. The Stampeders won all four meetings with the Lions last year, taking 28-26 and 48-10 decisions at BC Place while winning 27-18 and 37-30 at home. In fact, you have to go back to the very first meeting of the 2008 season between these teams to find the last BC victory. Since then, the Stampeders have taken down eight straight SU and are 7-0-1 ATS.

The good news for the Lions is that they are typically a strong team in the second full month of the season. They are 20-7 ATS in their last 27 matchups played in August. However, Calgary is 8-3 ATS in its last 11 games played against teams with a losing record.

The CFL betting lines for this crucial duel feature the Stampeders as 2.5 point favorites. The ‘total’ can be found at 49.5.

Courtesy of SBRForum.com.

The Calgary Stampeders will be at home with the McMahon Stadium crowd behind the Stampeders, but the Winnipeg Blue Bombers have managed to cover four of the last five meetings.

The CFL continues its fifth week of CFL betting action on Saturday, as Winnipeg face off with the Stampedery on Saturday night.

"The oddsmakers are expecting the Stampeders to roll in this game, favoring them by 6.5 points on the CFL betting lines"

These two former West Division rivals now find themselves on opposite ends of the CFL world, as Winnipeg has since shifted East. The Bombers are a game and a half behind the Montreal Alouettes for first place in the East, while Calgary is tied for first in the West but hold the tiebreaker over the Saskatchewan Roughriders.

Winnipeg has a major problem at the quarterback position, as QB Buck Pierce is probably going to miss his second straight game due to a knee injury this week. Pierce actually has the highest quarterback rating amongst all starting signal callers in the league with a 108.3. He has thrown five touchdowns against two picks, completing 65.8 percent of his passes.

However, assuming that Pierce is on the shelf for the week, quarterback Steven Jyles will be taking over under center. Jyles hasn’t been a full time starter at any point during his CFL career. He did a decent job last week in a 47-21 win over the Edmonton Eskimos, completing 14-of-22 passes for 267 yards with a touchdown and two interceptions. He completed five passes for at least 20 yards on the game, stretching a very thin Edmonton defence. Jyles also used his fantastic legs, rushing for 63 yards and two touchdowns on just eight carries.

Jyles, Pierce and running back Fred Reid have already combined to rush for 547 yards and seven touchdowns. Jyles leads the CFL with four touchdown runs on the season.

Defensively is where the Bombers have really made their mark this year. They are allowing just 307.2 yards-per-game, the best mark in the CFL. They have the second most efficient pass defense in the league, allowing just 7.4 yards-per-pass-attempt. Winnipeg is also third in the CFL in rush defence at just 102.0 YPG on the ground allowed.

The Stampeders are coming off of their biggest half of football of the season. A 33-13 second half against its rivals from Saskatchewan led Calgary to a 40-20 win at McMahon Stadium.

Even though quarterback Henry Burris did toss a pair of interceptions, his four touchdown passes were a season high. He went 21/31 for 279 yards. Burris has double the interceptions of any other quarterback in the league, as his eight is four higher than the second most in the CFL this year. The good news is that Burris has nine touchdown passes, which led the CFL coming into this weekend but is now second to Montreal’s Anthony Calvillo, who has 10.

The issue Calgary is still having offensively is at the wide receiver position. Though Romby Bryant has had a good season with 21 catches, 327 yards and a CFL-high four touchdown receptions, no one else has really proven to be able to step up and lead the way yet. Missing both Ryan Thelwell and Ken-Yon Rambo is preventing Burris from getting into his groove this year.

"The Bombers could be the way to go in this game. They covered four of the last five spreads in this series, including both last season"

Should running back Joffrey Reynolds have a fantastic day on the ground, he could take overthe CFL lead in rushing once again. His 6.3 yards-per-carry might not be one of the best marks in the league, but at 351 yards and a pair of touchdowns, Reynolds is well on his way towards another 1,200+ yard season.

The oddsmakers are expecting the Stampeders to roll in this game, favoring them by 6.5 points on the CFL betting lines. The ‘total’ has been set at 56.5.

The Bombers could be the way to go in this game. They covered four of the last five spreads in this series, including both last season. Winnipeg pulled a 42-30 upset at home last year over Calgary, while it stuck in front of the hefty 14.5 point spread in the last meeting of these clubs with a 31-23 defeat.

The home team has won eight straight games in this series and had covered seven straight CFL lines before the Blue Bombers covered the spread in the last clash.

Especially after a solid outing last week, don’t be surprised if Jyles leads the Blue Bombers to another cover against the CFL betting lines in Calgary.

Courtesy of SBRForum.com.

There are four teams tied for first in the CFL at 3-1. Three of these teams were expected to contend this season, but two have surprised everyone because of their defensive play.

Having battled for the 2009 Grey Cup in one of the greatest CFL games in history, the Montreal Alouettes and the Saskatchewan Roughriders didn’t lose enough in the off-season to drop out of contention for first in their divisions.

After four weeks in the CFL, the Riders and Alouettes are tied for first as expected. Right along side, however, are the Calgary Stampeders and the Toronto Argonauts.

"After four weeks in the CFL, the Riders and Alouettes are tied for first as expected. Right along side, however, are the Calgary Stampeders and the Toronto Argonauts"

The Stampeders showed last year their offence could usually get the job done, but they had some defensive troubles keeping them from moving forward. Some positions were addressed, but changes on the offensive line had people questioning them coming in. The offensive line has answered most of those questions, allowing less than two sacks a game and averaging 158 rushing yards a game.

It is Calgary’s defence that has most impressed, as they have only given up 21 points a game, 99 rushing yards a game and only two rushing touchdowns. What was most impressive was their ability to shut down a Saskatchewan offence in Week 4 that coming into the game was leading the league in many offensive stats.

Even though there have been offensive struggles this season, the Stampeders defence has held its own, keeping them in games and giving the offense more chances to succeed.

Much of the same can be said for the Argonauts. The Argonauts were very hard to watch last year, from a fan’s perspective, lacking in many positions from the coach down. A new coach and philosophy gave a lot of people hope when the season began, but expectations weren’t high with so many new faces in the lineup.

Receiver Jermaine Copeland was brought in to bring a spark and to mentor young receivers. So far his output has been limited, but not due to his lack of effort. The Argonauts made a questionable choice in starting NFL veteran, but CFL rookie, Cleo Lemon in the quarterback position. In doing so, Toronto bumped back veteran backup Dalton Bell.

While the Argos are 3-1 this season, the offence can’t be credited for much of the teams success. Some questioned the choice to go with Lemon over Bell and I think the statistics are showing they might be right.

Lemon is averaging 190 passing yards a game, with three touchdowns, four interceptions and four fumbles in four games.

Rookie running back Cory Boyd has been the only shining light for the Boatmen on offence, leading the CFL in rushing through four weeks with 431 yards on 66 carries.

The defence, on the other hand, has been incredible at shutting down some solid offences and bringing their team back in games they probably should have lost.

Many thought the Stampeders would have wiped the floor with the Argonaurts in Week 1. Toronto didn’t play well on offense, but the defence held Calgary to 23 offensive points. The other seven points were off a fumble return for a touchdown near the end of the game.

After giving up some big yards in the win over Winnipeg, Toronto’s defence came up huge against Calgary, limiting Henry Burris to 207 yards passing and intercepting him four times. The Argonauts defense also held two-time CFL rushing leader Joffrey Reynolds to 44 yards on the ground.

Calgary had the lead for most of the game, but Toronto was able to stop Burris and the Calgary offence from putting the game away and opened it up for the Argonauts to come back and take it.

The Argonauts defence wasn’t finished there. The British Columbia Lions looked like a formidable opponent and again had a lead on the Argonauts late in the game.

Former Argonauts running back Jamal Robertson did have two touchdowns, but only rushed for 54 yards, and did fumble once.

Travis Lulay looked pretty sharp in his first CFL start, but threw two picks to the Argos defence, one of which was returned for a touchdown late in the game to give up the lead and eventually the game.

While both teams deserve credit for their victories, I have to wonder how long the winning streaks will last. Calgary overcame some offensive struggles to put up a huge win over Saskatchewan. The Argonauts haven’t been able to do much offensively, and while Boyd leads the league in rushing, he only has one touchdown.

Calgary looks to be moving in the right direction and could be number one at the season’s end, and while the Argos do look much better than anticipated, they will have to get much more out of their offence if they plan on challenging Montreal for first in the east.

Through the first three weeks of the 2010 CFL season, the Saskatchewan Roughriders were playing nearly flawless football. Saskatchewan’s 3-0 start could largely be attributed to their offence – led by quarterback Darian Durant, a stellar receiving core and a resurgent Wes Cates on the ground – and their blitz-happy defence.

Yet every team, no matter how good, has their weaknesses that can be exploited by opposing teams.

On Saturday the Calgary Stampeders, much like professional scientists, used a near-perfect formula to best the Green and White 40-20, ending the team’s three-game winning streak. In doing so, Calgary jumped into a tie with the Saskatchewan for first in the West Division at 3-1-0.

While some wouldn’t call it a “shocking” upset, the fashion in which Calgary emerged victorious was jaw-dropping. So, what did Calgary do right to pull off the upset?

Put pressure on Darian Durant: Durant is a mobile quarterback. He won’t necessarily take off and scramble a lot during a game – though he is the second-leading rushing quarterback in the league with 162 yards on 17 carries – but Durant does use his mobility in the passing game. If Durant is feeling the pressure he will often escape the pursuing defenders, buying more time for his receivers, before throwing a completion. In Week 1, when the Riders were taking on the Montreal Alouettes, Durant avoided the pressure and threw a beautiful 87-yard touchdown pass to Rob Bagg. So, what is the best way to counterbalance this? Lots of pressure. By bringing the heat on Durant, team’s can force him to stay in the pocket or force a rushed throw and a possible interception. The Stampeders brought a lot of pressure all game long, tallying two sacks. One of these sacks led to a safety and the constant pressure caused Durant to throw three picks. Durant had only thrown one interception in the first three weeks. By pressuring Durant relentlessly, Calgary did not allow him to have time to dictate the game. The defence certainly made Durant look ordinary.

Attacked the defence deep: Saskatchewan hasn’t been the easiest team to run the ball against this season, but they have allowed over 320 passing yards a game. Simply put, teams can have success against the Green and White if they throw the ball. Besides cornerback Omar Morgan and half back Lance Frazier, the Riders field a pretty inexperienced defensive secondary. James Patrick has only been playing safety for two years, cornerback Donovan Alexander has only started for one year and Chris Mackenzie is in his first year as a starter at the half back position. This inexperience has shown early in the season, as Calvillo torched the defence for four touchdowns in Week 1 and Edmonton’s receiver Fred Stamps had over 200 yards in Week 3. Ironically, Calgary had not had many deep passes heading into this game. They had proven to be cautious when it came to attacking defences deep. They weren’t cautious in this game, as Burris challenged Saskatchewan’s defence deep. This didn’t always work – Burris threw two deep interceptions to Patrick – but he also connected with Romby Bryant on a 67-yard touchdown bomb. By throwing these deep passes, Calgary opened up the short game.

Used a well-rounded attack: Saskatchewan has proved this season that one player doesn’t have to carry the team himself. Calgary adopted this mentality, getting numerous players involved in the game. On the ground, Calgary utilized more than just one running back. Joffrey Reynolds had 15 carries, 93 yards and one touchdown while Jon Cornish also chipped in with 77 yards on five carries. This duel-running attack helped Calgary pick up some key first downs without over working Reynolds and opened up the passing games. In the passing game, Burris spread the ball to numerous receivers. Bryant led the way with seven catches for 116 yards and two touchdowns. Nik Lewis, whose conditioning has been questioned this season, chipped in with five catches for 50 yards and a touchdown. P.K. Sam had a solid game with 46 yards and a touchdown. Even speedster Deon Murphy chipped in with two catches for 25 yards. Calgary was able to move the ball consistently against Saskatchewan because they used multiple targets. In the process, they mirrored what the Riders do so well.

Won the field position battle: With such a talented offence, it is important to make the Riders start their drives as deep as possible. As good as their offence is, it is hard for any team to score when they are starting their drives so deep. Punter Burke Dales helped the Stampeders win the field position battle on this day. He averaged 48.3 yards a punt in the game, pinning the Riders near the goal line a couple of times. The field position battle was very lopsided in the first half, a big reason why the Riders only scored seven points. Murphy also helped out in the return game, averaging 31.5 yards a return. Calgary had ideal conditions to execute their offence, while the Green and White were just fighting to get the ball out of their end.

Didn’t get comfortable: Calgary held a 19-10 lead heading in the fourth quarter. Time to relax? Hardly. Every team knows the Riders are the “comeback kids”, having already won two games from behind this season. You can never be comfortable with a lead against them. Just ask Montreal, who saw a 33-12 lead evaporate in a hurry in Week 1. Instead of being complacent, Calgary worked hard to put the game away. Early in the fourth, Cornish broke of a 50-yard run and Bryant finished the drive with a 10-yard touchdown catch. The defence then forced another Durant interception and Reynolds ran the ball into the end zone three plays later, giving the Stampeders a commanding 33-10 lead. The Stampeders even added another touchdown in the fourth quarter to secure the victory. With so many late surges by the Riders in the past, it was surprising to see the team fail to mount any sort of comeback. Credit has to go to Calgary.

While it may have just been one bad game for the Riders, the Stampeders followed a perfect formula to beat the Riders. Will the rest of the league take note? Will the Riders find the road harder going forward? Will Saskatchewan emerge from the loss even better? Only time will tell, but for now the Stampeders will celebrate a huge victory.

Calgary’s Henry Burris tossed four interceptions in an embarrassing loss to Toronto last week and now the Stampeders face a near must-win at home against Saskatchewan.

Two annual contenders for the Grey Cup from the West Division will square off Saturday night at McMahon Stadium.

"The 'under' has cashed in 12 of the last 17 meetings between these teams at McMahon Stadium"

The Riders are the last undefeated team in the league at 3-0-0 and they are clearly the class of the West. Even though the Montreal Alouettes have scored the most points in the league at 137, they have played four games. No team has a higher scoring average than the Riders, as they are putting up points at a clip of 38.3 points-per-game.

Defensively, Saskatchewan has conceded 89 total points, but since allowing 51 against Montreal to open the season has only conceded 19.0 PPG.

A victory for the Riders would leave them a full four points, or two games, in front of the Stampeders after just four games. They will clearly have the inside track towards hosting the West final once again.

Quarterback Darian Durant has done a little bit of everything for the men in green this year. He has completed 61.4 percent of his passes for 971 yards and seven touchdowns against just one pick. With two touchdowns and 242 yards passing, Durant will lead the league in both categories through four weeks of play. The former North Carolina Tar Heel also has 134 rushing yards, ranking him tenth in the league and second amongst quarterbacks in the CFL.

The leading rusher for this team is Wes Cates. He is averaging a CFL-best 7.7 yards-per-carry and his 317 yards on the ground is still second in the league despite the fact that half the teams have already played an extra game this week.

The defence has only picked off one pass all season long, which is something that needs to improve. The secondary is also allowing 9.8 yards- per-pass, which is by far the worst in the league. However, the Riders rank number one in the league in rush defense, allowing just 91.3 YPG.

Calgary badly needs this game to draw even in the West after last week’s embarrassing loss in Toronto.

The surprise of this season has been how well the Stampders have played defensively. They are allowing a CFL-best 21.7 PPG this year, a far cry from the 28.6 PPG they allowed during the 2009 season. The unit has only allowed three touchdowns all season long, also the best mark in the CFL. Opponents only have 52 total first downs for the season to boot.

Offensively though, there are still a lot of problems. Quarterback Henry Burris should have some of the best numbers in the league, but after tossing four interceptions against the Argonauts in Week 3, his stats are lacking. “Smilin’ Hank” has two more picks (6) than anyone else in the CFL and his 73.6 QB rating is the second lowest in the league heading into play on Saturday night.

His biggest problem has been at the wide receiver position. Both Ken-Yon Rambo and Ryan Thelwell have been out due to injury all season long and with the departure of Jermaine Copeland to Toronto in the offseason, Burris has really been lacking solid targets. Wide receiver Nik Lewis, a veteran in Calgary, leads the team in receptions (16) and receiving yards (211). Both he and Romby Bryant have a pair of touchdown catches on the year.

Last season, the ‘Riders dominated this series, going 3-0-1 SU and 4-0 ATS. Calgary only had one game in which it scored more than 23 points. The Riders, in contrast, scored an average of 31.3 PPG in four games.

These two teams met in the West Final last year, with Saskatchewan coming away with a 27-17 victory. They also played in an epic 44-44 tie last October.

Historically speaking, these two teams despise each other. This is an annual fixture that everyone in Canada looks forward to every season and will be the first of at least three meetings they have this year.

The ‘under’ has cashed in 12 of the last 17 meetings between these teams at McMahon Stadium. The Stamps have also gone 6-1-1 for ‘under’ bettors in their last eight games overall. On Saturday night, Calgary has been lined as a 1½-point favorite, while the ‘total’ comes in at 56.

Courtesy of SBRForum.com.

The year was 2005.

Quarterback Henry Burris had just finished his seventh season of professional football. He spent the first two years primarily as a backup quarterback for the Calgary Stampeders, served as the starter for the Saskatchewan Roughriders in 2000, had a brief stint in the NFL and NFL Europe, then returned to Saskatchewan in 2003.

In 2004, Burris led the Riders to the West Final against the British Columbia Lions. Unfortunately, then-Saskatchewan place kicker Paul McCallum missed an 18-year field goal in overtime and the Green and White went on to lose the game.

That off-season, Burris had a decision to make. He could re-sign with Saskatchewan or pursue another option. Burris shocked the Green and White faithful by signing with the Stampeders. Why Burris decided to leave Saskatchewan is obviously debatable.

Whether or not you are a fan of Burris, though if you live in Saskatchewan you almost certainly hate him, it is clear that his move to Calgary was the best thing that could happen for Calgary, Saskatchewan and the Canadian Football League.

The Stampeders certainly benefited from the move. In the era known as “Before Burris”, Calgary was in a rut. They had missed the playoffs for three consecutive seasons, winning only 15 games in total. Furthermore, the team needed a stellar quarterback. They had tried to find a quarterback, but players like Ben Sankey, David Corley and, who could forget, Kevin Feterik failed to deliver.

Burris brought a spark to Calgary. He immediately helped the team improve, as they posted a record of 11-7-0 in 2005 and made the playoffs. In fact, since Burris made his decision to come to Calgary, the Stampeders have not missed the playoffs. Burris has led the team to a combined record of 51-37-2.

But, a real star quarterback needs to win a Grey Cup for his team.

After struggling in the playoffs during his first three years with Calgary, Burris finally won the big game in 2008. The team posted 13 wins during the regular season and then beat the British Columbia Lions and Montreal Alouettes in the playoffs.

Statistically, Burris has enjoyed success in Calgary. In his six seasons with the Stampeders, Burris has gone 1,646/2,722 for 23,734 yards, 146 touchdowns and 80 interceptions. Would he have had this same success in Saskatchewan? We’ll never know.

On the same note, Saskatchewan has had its share of success since Burris left. The move did not affect the team’s playoff chances, as the Green and White have not missed the playoffs since Burris left and have posted a record of 52-37-1.

"Whether or not you are a fan of Burris .... it is clear that his move to Calgary was the best thing that could happen for Calgary, Saskatchewan and the Canadian Football League"

But, the big positive for the Riders was the emergence of quarterbacks Kerry Joseph and Darian Durant. Joseph came over from the Ottawa Renegades in 2006 in the dispersal draft. After an average 2006 campaign, Joseph had a breakout year in 2007. He was named the most outstanding player in the league and led the Riders to their first Grey Cup victory since 1989.

Durant began to emerge after Joseph was traded to the Toronto Argonauts in 2008. He had his ups-and-downs in 2008, but showed signs of greatness last season. He was named the West Division most outstanding player and almost led Saskatchewan to a Grey Cup victory. He continues to excel this season.

Would the Riders have won a Grey Cup, or found a star quarterback if Burris had not left? Once again, we will never know, but it is clear that both Calgary and Saskatchewan have done well since the big move.

The fans, both Calgary’s and Saskatchewan’s have also benefited from Burris moving to Calgary.

Since Burris left for Calgary, the Calgary-Saskatchewan rivalry has been kicked up another notch. While the two western opponents always had somewhat of a rivalry, this move really kicked things up a notch.

Burris was immediately despised by almost all Rider fans following his decision. When he returned to Saskatchewan to play against the Riders, fans packed the stadium to boo him. Chants of “Hennnnnnnnnry” continue to explode across Mosaic Stadium every time he returns. Before this move, there wasn’t as much enthusiasm among Rider fans when it came to watching a game against Calgary.

Naturally, with so much hate towards their starting quarterback, Calgary fans began to equally hate the Riders. The fact that more and more fans of the Green and White have packed into McMahon Stadium for every road game hasn’t helped either.

One thing both fans can agree on is that the rivalry has been exciting and a lot of fun. Calgary and Saskatchewan have had some exciting regular season battles and have met three times in the playoffs since 2005. The Riders won all three games.

Finally, the CFL has also benefited from the move. While I don’t have the exact numbers, Saskatchewan-Calgary games have always drawn a lot of hype and large TV audiences. Adding another classic rivalry has helped the CFL increase its fan base.

This week there will be another instalment of this new rivalry, as the Riders travel to Calgary to battle the Stampeders on Saturday. A lot is on the line even though it is only Week 4. At 3-0-0, Saskatchewan will look to prove they are indeed the top dogs in the West. Right behind them at 2-1-0, Calgary will look to prove they will be competing for the top spot in the West.

Who could have known that one small move would kick-start such a big rivalry. While Burris remains with the Stampeders, the rivalry between the two teams will continue to be heated. When he leaves the team, the rivalry will still remain but won’t be the same.

Burris has created one hell of a rivalry.

Three Downs With Jonathan Hamelin appears each week on CFL Daily Dose. Hamelin is an aspiring journalist, who has a freelance contract with the Regina Leader-Post and is a veteran online CFL columnist. His work can be followed on Twitter and Facebook.

After taking a look at the CFL East last week, it’s time to take a look at the CFL West and see how close this division will be this year.

No. 4—BC Lions

Even though the Lions will be starting a Quarterback they intend to stick with, for the first time in a while, the BC Lions will have some troubles that may not be overcome. I think it was a positive for Javier Glatt to leave BC, but I don’t know if they have anyone significant to replace him, and while the D-Line is capable of putting up sacks, that could leave them open for lots of rushing yards against.
Casey Printers made people think he was back to his old form last year, but the Lions O-Line does look suspect and could be a problem for Printers. Printers did well for BC Originally, and again last year. What about Hamilton? That’s right, he didn’t have an O-Line. That could leave some problems for Casey up against a good defence.
BC won’t be far behind the pack in the West, but the rest of the West is just a step ahead, leaving the Lions in the back. Unfortunately I don’t think the East will leave an opening for a crossover, so it will be an early exit for BC.

No. 3 —Edmonton Eskimos

The Eskimos look like they could be making a push back to contention in the West. The offence will be strong once agin with Ricky Ray still in his prime, and having some great receivers back to throw to. Fred Stamps will be back, and Kelly Campbell will also be back after a small hiatus. Stamps was last year’s leading receiver, and Campbell has a lot of speed, and showed he can be an elite level receiver. Kamau Peterson will be back, and even though he didn’t repeat his stats of 2008, he had a solid year, and should be in the mix.
If Arkee Whitlock stays healthy, he could be in the top 5 running backs this year after some confidence, and a full season to compete in. The O-Line isn’t bad, but could be a bit of a weak spot for the Esks.
The defence did get better this year, and although Lenny Walls was added to the secondary, I’m not sure they will be able to consistently shut down opposing Quarterbacks and Receivers leaving Ricky Ray to fight for Shootout victories.

No. 2 —Saskatchewan Roughriders

Saskatchewan is coming off the most disappointing loss to a Championship game ever. The motivation to avenge the loss and show they were worthy of winning the big game, will take them a long way in the 2010 season.
Darian Durant has come into his own and has become very calm, cool and collected sitting in the pocket, and doesn’t tend to get happy feet. Durant runs when he needs to, and is really playing smart possession football not giving up the ball as much as he did earlier last year.
Durant, along with a very solid O-Line and Receiving core, will make the Riders contenders in every game they play. The only question mark on the offence is the running game. If Cates is the man, and can stay healthy, it shouldn’t be too much of a problem, but health has been an issue with Cates. Hugh Charles has potential, but I don’t know if he can be the feature back. Only time will tell.
The way the Riders can put points up with the passing game will win them a lot of games. But if any team can control the pass and corral the limited run they will have troubles, especially since the defense will have troubles in many areas this season. Adding Barrin Simpson helps, but it can’t replace the loss of Chick, Baggs and Eddie Davis.

No. 1—Calgary Stampeders

The Calgary Stampeders didn’t get a whole lot better in 2010, if at all. They will however play back to what was expected of them last year. There were many players that left for many interesting reasons which had many people questioning how bad the team would hurt by the losses, and if there was an underlying issue with the Stampeders organization.
The addition of some veteran and youthful Offensive Linemen has brought a whole new face to the front five, but with Henry Burris and his ability to avoid pressure, a weaker O-Line will not have as big an impact as it would a Ricky Ray or Anthony Calvillo.
Burris and Joffrey Reynolds anchor a very strong offense that will see Ken Yon Rambo back after week one, Nik Lewis who will be looking for his seventh consecutive 1000 yard receiving season, and Romby Bryant who can thrive with a Quarterback who can get him the ball deep.
The offense combined with a defense that is seeing a lot of players return, and return to shape in the case of Mike Labinjo, will give them an edge on all the other teams in the CFL West.

Final Standings
West
Calgary 12-6
Sask 11-7
Edmonton 9-9
BC 8-10

East
Montreal 11-7
Hamilton 9-9
Winnipeg 8-10
Toronto 4-14

Everything fell together for the Stampeders in 2008, finishing up with the Grey Cup victory in Montreal. With the 2009 Grey Cup in Calgary and not many key changes to worry about, the idea of being repeat champions wasn’t a stretch.

As the 2009 season progressed, complacency, injuries and trouble beating the Green and White made a lot of people wonder if Calgary could do it.

It didn’t take long into the season to wonder who was going to lead the team. Defensive lineman Mike Labinjo came to camp seriously overweight and lost his spot to Justin Phillips.

In week four, a horse collar tackle ended the season for the 2008 top receiver, Ken-Yon Rambo. All year-long, the Stampeders struggled to start a consistent offensive line with injuries to Jeff Pilon, Rob Lazeo and Jesse Newman.

Nik Lewis had over 1000 yards receiving last year, but only one touchdown.

Plus, even though he surpassed the 1000 yard mark, it took Nik Lewis 17 games to get his first and only touchdown of the season.

With all the negatives, there were a lot of positives. Jermaine Copeland picked up where Rambo left off, leading the Stampeders in receiving.

Even though the offensive line was constantly changing, Joffrey Reynolds led the league in rushing for the second straight year.

All that being said, fans won’t have to worry about unfulfilled expectations. So many fans have already lowered their expectations for the 2010 season.

The offensive line saw the biggest changes with Dimitri Tsoumpas heading to the NFL, not to mention Jeff Pilon and Jesse Newman opting for retirement. Rob Lazeo, Tim O’Neill and Ben Archibald will be back, but there have been questions about the replacements. There are a few young draft picks and import free agents signings that could earn a spot, but that’s not a comfortable place to be for Hank and Joffrey.

Experience was needed, so the Stamps signed John Comiskey in January to beef up the line before realizing his knee wouldn’t hold up. Like Pilon and Newman, he decided to retire.

The questions arise with the experienced linemen that were signed, as both Dan Comiskey and Matt Sheridan were brought out of retirement after each having 18 months off of football.

While Sheridan is only 33 years old and has at least a few years left, Comiskey has probably only one or two years at the most left in his career. These signings are clearly short-term fixes and with the time they took off to heal and train, both Sheridan and Comiskey should be good for at least this season. Hopefully, they still have a step to go on their mean streaks.

Special teams will see some changes for the new season after Sandro DeAngelis bolted to Hamilton for more money and to be closer to home. Sandro has been the elite kicker in the league for five years and although his skill at the position will be missed, apparently his attitude and personality won’t be.

Rob Maver was drafted to replace Sandro DeAngelis, who departed for Hamilton during the off-season.

The question arises from the replacement for DeAngelis. Kicker/punter Rob Maver was drafted fifth overall by the Stampeders. Some have said Maver could be good, but his placekicking is somewhat suspect outside 40 yards. His punting is supposed to be his forte. This sounds an awful lot like Duncan O’Mahony to me. Although nothing could be as strange as that situation.

Warren Kean was brought in to compete and Burke Dales is still the punter for now, so we have a couple of options that can fill that role. Whatever the case, chances are the kicking game won’t be as good this year.

The return game will see a complete overhaul this year after the release of Demetrius Summers and the retirement of Marcus Howell.

While I was a fan of Howell and he will be missed, he had lost a step in the last few years and a change was needed.

Summers was NOT the answer, as his speed was counteracted by his lack of cutting ability. A perfect return setup was needed for him to see any more than 20 yards.

The return game leaves a big question mark, but that is a place where some young speedster could come out of nowhere.

For those that thought getting rid of Titus Ryan was a mistake, you need to remember that Ryan’s inability to catch or hold onto the ball was a huge problem, which led to the Stamps pulling the plug. Besides, I’ll take Romby Bryant any day over Ryan.

For the first time in the last decade, the Stamps will be starting more than one of the same defensive linemen from the year before.

In fact, they’re almost all the same. Charleston Hughes and Juwan Simpson are back at defensive end, DeVone Claybrooks, and Tearrius George are back at defensive tackle and Mike Labinjo has lost a good amount of weight that should help him get back to his winning ways of 2008.

The other area of the defence that remains solid and could be the best in the league is the defensive secondary. Brandon Browner and Dwight Anderson are back on the corners and John Eubanks and Keon Raymond are back at the halfback position. Wes Lysack will probably split time with either 2010 draft pick Taurean Allen or 2009 draft pick Eric Fraser.

Lysack is still one of the best hitting at the safety position and what he lacks in speed he makes up for in smarts and skill. I would lean towards Allen because of his speed, but Fraser could fill in nicely at halfback or linebacker as well if needed.

The linebacking core took a beating in the off-season with the releases of Shannon James, Dwaine Carpenter and Tim Johnson. An overhaul like this makes a lot of people worried, but the questions that come from the linebackers are answered from within the strengths of the other defensive positions.

Malik Jackson will be moving back to linebacker, from defensive end, this season.

Malik Jackson showed last year that he can play both defensive end and linebacker. He’ll take a few steps back and will be a very capable linebacker. Jackson was a linebacker in college and shouldn’t have any trouble stepping back into that role.

The other linebacker to change positions will be Milt Collins, taking a few steps forward. Calgary lacked speed from the linebacker position and it’s my guess the Stamps hope Collins can bring some better cover skills while still being able to deliver a blow to opposing running backs if needed.

NFL castoff Robert McCune has a lot of football experience and could fill the middle very nicely if his camp goes well.

The Stampeders lost two recievers in the off-season. Jermaine Copeland was traded to Toronto and Brett Ralph decided to call it a career. As much as I, and many others, loved these players, their departures will hardly be devastating.

Copeland had a great season last year in Calgary after a couple of average seasons. Stats aside, Copeland has been the consummate professional— working hard every game and practice and leading the team in many ways. Last year’s stats were padded by the fact that Ken-Yon Rambo was injured for the season early on and Calgary needed Copeland to be the go-to-guy. With Rambo back and healthy, Copeland wouldn’t be getting the balls thrown his way enough to see his stats even close to last year.

P.K. Sam came to the Stampeders in return for Copeland in the trade and while Toronto needed experience, Sam is six years younger and has a good solid career ahead of him after coming back from the NFL. At 6′ 3″, Sam gives Burris another big target to throw to. With Rambo, Lewis, and Bryant, the import class of receivers should do mighty fine.

Ralph will always be remembered as the little receiver that could. His nickname “7-11″ was very fitting because he was always open. He was the guaranteed first down receiver all of his five-year career and he will be missed.

The Canadian receivers in Calgary this year aren’t anything to scoff at, though.

Ryan Thelwell has always been a steady receiver that can break the big play if he needs to and he has fully healed from his Achilles tear, so he’ll be fine.

Arjei Franklin came to the Stamps from Winnipeg in the middle of the season last year and had been very consistent for the Bombers. Like Ralph, Franklin makes up for his lack of size with good hands and good football sense.

Aside from that, the Stampeders are solid! Two time rushing leader Reynolds comes back to try to make it three years in a row and “Smilin’ Hank” is back again to lead this offence. If either gets injured, it does open up questions, but they are the same question every team has if their quarterback or running back goes down.

Plus, don’t forget about the rookies and NFL castaways that come into camp looking for a shot to make it in professional football. After all, that’s what makes the CFL great.

When all is said and done, there were a lot of changes that have happened, but there are enough consistencies that will make this team very competitive, especially in the key areas of the offence and the defence. Even though there appears to be some questions, you can expect the Stampeders to be right in the hunt for the first place bye come November.

CFL Daily Dose can be followed on Facebook and Twitter. If you are a fan of the CFL and would be interested in writing about the Montreal Alouettes, Toronto Argonauts, Winnipeg Blue Bombers, B.C. Lions, or the CFL in general, contact Chris.