FIVE KEY STORYLINES

1 Penalties

The Redblacks have committed 27 penalties in two games, the Stampeders just 12. That translates into points taken off the scoreboard, yards and field position lost. Some of the Redblacks’ transgressions resulted from that sideline confrontation involving Montreal Alouettes receiver Duron Carter last week, but certainly not all of them, and the defensive unit (12 penalties) has been particularly vulnerable to major-foul infractions.

2 Rush-rush

The Stampeders rolled up 207 yards rushing in last week’s victory against the Blue Bombers, but only 57 in their season-opening defeat against the Lions. The Redblacks allowed 61 yards per game in defeating the Eskimos and Alouettes. Ottawa has done relatively well with its own ground game, producing 200 yards against Edmonton and Montreal, but an injury to Travon Van will hand this week’s starting assignment to Nic Grigsby, who only arrived in town earlier this week.

3 Special teams

While Stampeders kicker Rene Paredes has struggled a bit in the early season, going 4-for-7 and missing two single-point convert attempts, the Redblacks’ Chris Milo has been 6-for-7 and perfect on converts. Another area of improvement for Ottawa early this season has been on punt coverage, where it ranks third in the nine-team CFL with a net average of 36.3 yards. On the other hand, the Redblacks still haven’t recorded what the CFL calls a “big-play” kick return (30-plus yards on a punt, 40-plus yards on a kickoff), and the latest assignment in that regard goes to newcomer Tristan Jackson.

4 Staying close

The Redblacks may be averaging 35.5 points per game, but they’ve produced only four in the opening quarters of their two games. On the plus side, they’ve allowed just two. Believe it or not, the Stampeders have been even stingier, blanking the Lions and Blue Bombers in the first quarter, but they have also scored only four points themselves before switching ends.

5 The Big Mo

After winning their first two games away from home, it really would be a disappointment if the Redblacks came up short against the Stampeders in their 2016 season opener.

Keep in mind that the next two games are also on the road at Toronto and Saskatchewan.

The Redblacks split their two games with the Stampeders in 2015, getting blown out 48-3 in Calgary and pulling out a 29-26 decision in overtime in Ottawa.