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The 2016 edition of the venerable Grey Cup, Canadian football’s championship-decider, is a true David versus Goliath story featuring the all-conquering Calgary Stampeders from the western conference against the underdogs from the east, the Ottawa Redblacks. Join The Roar on Monday morning from 10:30am for live blog coverage of the 104th Grey Cup.
Where do you start with the men from the foothills of the Rockies?
In the storied history of Canadian football, there have been few more dominant teams than the 2016 Stampeders squad, storming to a 15-2-1 regular season record. Undefeated at home in the regular season, the Stampeders backed that up with a crushing home victory against the BC Lions in last week’s Western final to thoroughly debunk the theory that they would be rusty after back-to-back byes in the last week of the regular season and the first week of the playoffs.
Led by the CFL’s Most Outstanding Player quarterback Bo Levi Mitchell and rookie head coach Dave Dickenson, there is little that the Stampeders can’t do, and no real weaknesses on what is undoubtedly one of the most well-rounded teams the Canadian Football League has ever seen.
It might be that the only team who can beat Calgary this year is Calgary themselves, with mental errors and the like, but we’ve scarcely seen any of that from a well-drilled team. It’s been a season of brilliant execution on both sides of the football – not to mention the special teams department. This is a special team, without any glaring weaknesses, and greatness awaits on Sunday in Toronto.
Offensively, it’s the Bo Levi Mitchell show. The young quarterback is fast becoming a Canadian Football League legend and goes for his second Grey Cup championship on Sunday afternoon. He threw thirty-two touchdowns against just eight interceptions in the regular season, and has plenty of weaponry to target: Marquay McDaniel, DaVaris Daniels, Anthony Parker and the list goes on.
Then there’s the ground game, spearheaded by the league’s leading rusher the hulking Jerome Messam, an Ontario native who won Most Outstanding Canadian at Thursday’s CFL Awards, and is looking for his first Grey Cup championship to properly cap a brilliant career-best season that featured a rushing yardage total of nearly 1200 yards and eleven touchdowns. He is a difficult man to stop when he gets going.
Defensively, there’s little that Calgary can’t do. Their defensive line is led by CFL sack leader Charleston Hughes; Canadian Alex Singleton anchors the impressive linebacker corps; and then there’s the secondary, perhaps the real strength of the defensive. Ball-hawks Tommie Campbell and Ciante Evans lead a group that includes Jamar Wall, who picked off BC Lions quarterback Jonathan Jennings for a defensive touchdown in last week’s West final. They are as dangerous a group as there are.
Even Calgary’s special teams unit is dangerous. The diminutive and shifty Roy Finch is a great returner who specialises in giving the Stampeders excellent starting field position. And kicker Rene Paredes has been Mr Automatic this year. Even punter Rob Maver, who doesn’t get a lot of work, can easily flip the field when called upon.
So, the challenge for Ottawa is finding traction on offence and getting stops on defence.
Led by veteran quarterback Henry Burris, they have a quartet of very dangerous receivers in Brad Sinopoli, Greg Ellingson, Ernest Jackson and Juron Criner. These guys represent the biggest test Calgary’s secondary has seen all season. In fact, they’re so good that Burris only needs to put the ball in their general vicinity and they’ll latch onto it.
During a snowy East final last week in Ottawa, the Redblacks might’ve unearthed a new star in Kienan Lafrance who ran for 157 yards and a game-sealing touchdown in relief of the injured Mossis Madu, who left the game in the first quarter. It goes without saying that the Redblacks would love to have Madu in their line-up, but Lafrance showed enough to suggest that he’ll be a pretty good replacement if needed.
At the end of the day, Ottawa will only win if their defence can force the Calgary offense into multiple two-and-outs – and a turnover or two would be handy, as well. Linebackers Taylor Reed and Jerrell Gavins lead the way in the middle. With Calgary’s Deron Mayo out, you can argue that Ottawa has the stronger linebacker group taking the field in Toronto on Sunday.
Up front, CFL East All-Star defensive tackle Zach Evans will lead the surge and look to pressure Bo Levi Mitchell. It’s simple: if the Redblacks can’t generate some sort of pass rush, Mitchell’s going to pick them apart – and he’s going to have all day to make throws.
No pass rush means major problems for the secondary, which has enough on it’s plate as it is. Watch for Abdul Kanneh from his defensive back position. He had a strong game against a tough Edmonton offence, and he’s definitely got some X-factor for the Redblacks. The entire secondary needs to be buttoned down or there’ll be trouble.
On special teams, the Redblacks have Tristan Jackson, whose 77-yard punt return touchdown in the East final set Ottawa alight. The Stamps will almost certainly try to keep the football well away from him. Starting place kicker Chris Milo was out of the East Final line-up with injury, and Ray Early kicked in his place. We’ll see how that goes this week of Milo isn’t healthy,
Prediction: Calgary are incredibly loaded at every position. If they play with the same fire they showed last Sunday against the BC Lions, they’ll win handily.
Stampeders by three touchdowns.
Join The Roar on Monday morning from 10:30am for live blog coverage of the 104th Grey Cup from Toronto.
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