Week 14 Preview

The 2006 season enters Week #14 as the 6-6 Winnipeg Blue Bombers travel to Alberta to take on the 7-5 Calgary Stampeders. CFL action continues on Saturday when Jason Maas faces his old team, the Edmonton Eskimos, for the first time. Week #14 concludes as the East-leading Montreal Alouettes battle the West-leading BC Lions in Vancouver.

Here’s a look at this week’s match-ups:

BOMBERS (6-6) vs.  STAMPS (7-5)

Game Day: Friday, Sept. 15      Location: McMahon Stadium    

Game Time: 9:00 ET    TV Broadcast: TSN      

The Winnipeg Blue Bombers and the Calgary Stampeders meet for the first time this season on Friday. In their last meeting on October 30, 2005, Calgary defeated Winnipeg 46-24. Click here to view the box scores and stats.

Stats & Facts

-          Calgary has the best home record in the CFL at 5-1. Winnipeg is 3-2 on the road.

-          The League’s top two running backs will square-off on Friday. Winnipeg’s  Charles Roberts leads the League with 1,054 yards rushing while Calgary’s Joffrey Reynolds is right behind him with 1,013 yards. Reynolds has never run for more than 100 yards in a game against the Bombers (four games). Roberts has four 100-yard games against the Stampeders.

-          ‘Mission 137’ Winnipeg’s Milt Stegall has 135 career touchdowns, three short of breaking George Reed and Mike Pringle’s record.

-          Calgary ranks last in the League in defending the pass, while Winnipeg ranks first in defending the rush.

-          Winnipeg QB Kevin Glenn has never thrown for more than 215 yards against Calgary.

-          The Stampeders have won their last three contests against the Bombers.

ESKS (4-7) vs. TICATS (2-11)

Game Day: Saturday, Sept. 16  Location: Ivor Wynne Stadium  

Game Time: 7:00 ET    TV Broadcast: TSN

Last year, the Edmonton Eskimos traveled to Hamilton on September 30th and lost 40-14. This year they travel to Hamilton looking for their first road victory of the season. Click here to view the box score and stats from last season’s game.

Stats & Facts

-          Hamilton QB Jason Maas will line-up against his former team for the first time.

-          Tiger-Cats running back Corey Holmes has rushed for 100+ yards in his last two games.

-          Edmonton ranks sixth in the League in defending the run, ahead of Hamilton who ranks last.

-          The last time Edmonton defeated Hamilton at Ivor Wynne was July 5, 2003 when they won 37-20.

-          Edmonton quarterback Ricky Ray has 99 career passing touchdowns.

-          Hamilton is 1-5 at home.

-          The Eskimos are 0-3 against East Division opponents.

ALS (7-4) vs. LIONS (8-3)

Game Day: Saturday, Sept. 16  Location: BC Place Stadium     

Game Time: 10:00 ET    TV Broadcast: CBC/RDS          

Both clubs enjoyed a week off after they played each other on Labour Day Classic weekend when the Lions defeated the Alouettes 48-13 in Montreal. Click here to view the box scores and stats.

Stats & Facts

-          In their last meeting, Lions backup QB Buck Pierce entered the game in the 2nd quarter and led the Lions to a victory. Pierce completed 13-of-16 passes for 221 yards and three touchdowns resulting in a perfect QB rating of 158.3.

-          Montreal quarterback Anthony Calvillo is 2,041 yards short of reaching 5,000 yards in a season for the fifth consecutive season, which would be a CFL record. With seven games remaining, Calvillo will need to average 292 per contest to reach the target.

-          The last time these two clubs played in BC, the Lions won 27-26, winning their 11th consecutive game to start the 2005 campaign.

-          This year the Lions play host to the Alouettes with a six game winning streak. Montreal has lost four games in a row.

-          Montreal’s Robert Edwards leads the League in touchdowns with 11.

-          BC head coach Wally Buono has a record of 20-14 against Montreal head coach Don Matthews.

-          Buono needs three wins to reach 200 career regular season victories.  

-          The last time Montreal won in BC was in 2000, 35-25 on August 31.