Champs will have to work harder
Stampeders aim to go to fourth straight Grey Cup from unfamiliar position
TORONTO — The road to a fourth straight Grey Cup appearance will be a little longer than usual for Bo Levi Mitchell and the Calgary Stampeders.
Calgary (12-6) hosts the Winnipeg Blue Bombers (11-7) in the Canadian Football League’s West Division semifinal Sunday at McMahon Stadium.
The Stampeders reached the previous three Grey Cup finals — winning last year — with a victory in the conference final after finishing first in the standings.
But Calgary was second this year behind the Saskatchewan Roughriders (13-5), who clinched top spot for the first time since 2009 with a 23-13 home win over the Edmonton Eskimos on Saturday. Now, the Stampeders will have to win an extra playoff game to make a fourth consecutive Grey Cup appearance.
“We’re a team that fights,” said Calgary head coach Dave Dickenson. “We can’t blow anybody out, we’re not good enough, but I just feel like our team wins.
“Let’s be honest here ... at the beginning of the year I don’t think anyone would suggest the Calgary Stampeders, with all the changes we had, would have 12 wins. I’m proud of that.”
However, Winnipeg won the season series 2-1. The Bombers captured the last meeting 29-28 on Oct. 25 in dramatic fashion, outscoring the Stampeders 10-0 in the fourth quarter to erase a 28-19 deficit.
And Winnipeg did it with welltravelled veteran Zach Collaros under centre. Collaros began the season with Saskatchewan but gave way to backup Cody Fajardo after suffering a concussion early in the Riders’ season-opening loss in Hamilton.
Saskatchewan lost that game 23-17 but caught fire under Fajardo, who recently signed a contract extension with the Riders. Last week, he was named their outstanding player award nominee.
In July, Saskatchewan dealt Collaros to Toronto, which sent the veteran to Winnipeg on Oct. 9. Collaros started the Bombers’ regular-season finale with Chris Streveler (ankle) ailing.
Collaros’s numbers weren’t spectacular — 22-of-28 for 221 yards with two TDs and an interception — but the eight-year veteran showed glimpses of his 2015 form with Hamilton when he was regarded as the favourite for the CFL’s outstanding player award before suffering a season-ending knee surgery.
Winnipeg head coach Mike O’Shea hasn’t formally announced his playoff starter but the expectation is Collaros will get the nod.
Home field is definitely a big deal in this game, considering the Stampeders were 7-2 at McMahon, including a 37-33 home win over the Bombers on Oct. 19. Winnipeg was a stellar 8-1 at IG Field — and 2-0 there versus the Stamps — but 3-6 on the road.
Meanwhile in the East Division, both the Montreal Alouettes (10-8) and Edmonton (8-10) have known for some time they’d meet in the conference semifinal. They split their season series 1-1, each winning at home.
It was a resounding regular season for Montreal under interim first-year head coach Khari Jones.
He assumed the head job just before the start of the ’19 campaign after Mike Sherman was fired and handled head-coaching and offensive co-ordinator duties.
Montreal will host its first home playoff game since 2014 and has an all-time 26-9 postseason mark in La Belle Province. This will be the fourth time Edmonton has crossed over into the East Division playoffs but first since 2016.
The Eskimos have a 20-30 record as a road playoff team but have never met the Alouettes in the post-season. West Division teams are 4-7 as the East crossover squad.
“Our guys are excited about the journey we’re about to be on,” Eskimos head coach Jason Maas said. “We’re going embark on something and try to do something that has never been accomplished before in the CFL.”
Edmonton opened the season with a 32-25 victory against Montreal on June 14. Starter Trevor Harris had a stellar Eskimos’ debut, completing 32of-41 passes for 447 yards with three TDs with Ricky Collins registering nine catches for 175 yards.