O-line face ultimate test vs. Leos
The B.C. Lions may not have had the most dominant defensive line in the CFL this season, but they were definitely in the conversation.
If they weren’t No. 1, they were No. 1B.
The Calgary Stampeders’ offensive line, on the other hand, was far and away the most impactful O-line unit in the country in 2016.
So, Sunday’s game will pit the best offensive line against the second-best, at worst, defensive line in the country.
It’s a heavyweight fight, and the winner may very well determine which of the two West Division sluggers are headed to Toronto for the Grey Cup.
Except, well, the guys who line up behind the Stampeders’ line are predicting it’s going to be a lopsided battle.
“They’re good, but we have the best offensive line in the game, so I don’t think their defensive line will be much of a factor,” Stampeders running back Jerome Messam said. “They’re going to open holes and we’re going to be able to run the ball.”
All season, the Stampeders’ O-line kept quarterback Bo Levi Mitchell safe while finding Messam room to run.
They finished the regular season with only 20 sacks allowed, with no other team in the league ending up with less than 31.
But more than a third of the sacks the Stamps did allow came against the Lions, who sacked Mitchell three times in Week 1 and four times in Week 6 — although the Stampeders didn’t allow a single sack in their final meeting with the Lions in Week 9.
There’s no question the Lions have the ability to get to quarterbacks, as they finished the regular season with 52 sacks, tied with the Stamps for the league lead. A lot of that came down to linebackers Solomon Elimimian and Adam Bighill.
The way the Stamps see things, though, there won’t be anything on Sunday that’s going to throw them for a loop.
“The challenge is just knowing our playbook,” Stamps lineman Shane Bergman said. “When they’re in certain defensive fronts, we have to know what we’re doing on every play and we just need to execute, which we have been doing all year.
“They do give a lot of different looks, but they’ve gone through a whole season and they’ve been through 19 games and we have 19 games of film to study. We’ve just got to make sure that every look they give us, we know what we’re doing.”
As the numbers prove, the Stampeders’
We have the best offensive line in the game. ... They’re going to open up holes and we’re going to be able to run the ball.
offensive line has every reason to feel confident.
Even if the Lions did get to their quarterback a few more times than they’d like, there were no sacks on the stat sheet for the Leos in the teams’ final meeting and no quarterback was given more time to find receivers than Mitchell this season.
“We feel like the only way we lose is if we beat ourselves,” Stamps lineman Derek Dennis said.
“If we take care of what we have to take care of and do our jobs and communicate and play physical, our five guys — or six or seven including whoever is in there blocking — if we stay on the same page, everything should be fine.”