Calgary’s D won’t stand for disappointment

Expect the Stampeders to find a way to get to Redblacks QB Harris

EDMONTON—The 2018 Grey Cup presents quite the quandary.

At one end is the Ottawa Redblacks, who got a playoff-record six TD passes from Trevor Harris to dismantle Hamilton 46-27 in last weekend’s East Division final. It was Ottawa’s fourth win in a row against the Tiger-Cats this season.

At the other is the Calgary Stampeders, who again posted the CFL best regularseason record but at times looked mortal. The Stamps’ defence, which was the league’s best during the regular campaign, looked very good in the 22-14 victory against the Winnipeg Blue Bombers in the West Division final.

But Calgary will have to deal with a hot quarterback in Harris. He finished 29-of-32 passing Sunday for 367 yards, and in the four games versus Hamilton completed 99-of-129 passes (76.7 per cent) for 1,203 yards with 10 touchdowns and no interceptions.

“It (Sunday’s performance) was impressive because Hamilton’s good,” Calgary head coach Dave Dickenson said. “It’s a huge challenge because they have multiple weapons.

“We know we’re playing a great opponent that’s on fire right now and playing their best football, so we’ve got to elevate our game.”

On Sunday, Harris completed passes to 10 different receivers. Over his seven starts he has amassed 2,262 passing yards with 17 TDs and just two interceptions. He was the CFL’s most accurate passer (70.1 per cent) this season and set career highs in completions (431), attempts (615) and passing yards (5,116) to go with 22 touchdown strikes against 11 interceptions.

Harris will get the start Sunday after coming so close in 2016, the last time these teams met in the Grey Cup, when veteran Henry Burris suffered a knee injury in the pre-game warm-up. Burris went on to play and led Ottawa to a stirring 39-33 overtime upset victory.

Record-setting Brad Sinopoli anchors a stellar Ottawa receiving corps. The native of Peterborough, Ont., had a league-high 116 catches — the most ever by a Canadian — for 1,376 yards and four TDs, while Greg Ellingson (91 catches, 1,086 yards, five TDs) and Diontae Spencer (81 catches, 1,007 yards, seven TDs) also cracked the 1,000-yard mark.

And on Sunday, Ellingson had eight catches for 144 yards and a TD.

But Ottawa isn’t a pass-only offence. Running back William Powell was the CFL’s second-leading rusher with 1,362 yards and six touchdowns. The five-footnine, 207-pound Powell averaged a solid 5.43 yards per carry and added 39 catches for 219 yards and two touchdowns.

On Sunday, he ran for 86 yards on 21 carries (4.1-yard average).

During the regular season, Ottawa allowed 43 sacks — second-most in the CFL — but kept the Ticats defence off Harris on Sunday.

Calgary will counter with a defence that was tops in the CFL in fewest offensive points allowed (17.8 per game), offensive touchdowns (27) and passing touchdowns (11), and was tied for most sacks (45) and second in fewest offensive yards allowed (321.4).

On Sunday, the Stampeders held Winnipeg to 294 offensive yards while Bombers starter Matt Nichols was 15-of-32 passing for 156 yards and sacked three times.

“Calgary’s defence sure was impressive in the West final,” said Ottawa head coach Rick Campbell, a former Calgary assistant before becoming Redblacks coach in 2014. “Very physical coming downhill, tackling really well.

“They always play good football and force you to beat them so we’re definitely going to have to elevate our game on offence and match their physicality. They have a lot of continuity with their coaches and players and know what they’re doing so it’s going to be a tough challenge.”

Calgary would also seem to have an edge in Grey Cup experience with 27 players on the roster who were with the club when it lost to Ottawa two years ago. That includes quarterback Bo Levi Mitchell — the West nominee for the CFL’s outstanding player award — as well as linebacker Alex Singleton and defensive linemen Micah Johnson and Ja’Gared Davis.

The popular opinion here seems to be Ottawa’s high-flying offence will present too many challenges for Calgary’s defence and continue the Stampeders’ Grey Cup struggles. But there’s also that time-tested adage in football it’s defence that wins championships, and it’s hard not to think Stamps defensive co-ordinator DeVone Claybrooks won’t dial up something special to get to Harris and disrupt his rhythm.

Prediction: Calgary. Last week: 2-0. Overall: 56-29.