Calgary's Henry Burris tossed four interceptions in an embarrassing loss to Toronto last week, and now the Stampeders face a near must-win at home against Saskatchewan.
Two annual contenders for the Grey Cup from the West Division will square off Saturday night at McMahon Stadium as the Saskatchewan Roughriders take on the Calgary Stampeders in CFL betting action.
The Roughriders are the last undefeated team in the league at 3-0, and they are clearly the class of the West. Even though the Montreal Alouettes have scored the most points in the league at 137, they have played four games. No team has a higher scoring average than the Roughriders, as they are putting up points at a clip of 38.3 PPG.
Defensively, Saskatchewan has conceded 89 total points, but since allowing 51 against Montreal to open the season, it has only conceded 19.0 PPG.
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A victory for the 'Riders will leave them a full four points, or two games, in front of the Stampeders after just four games. They will clearly have the inside track towards hosting the West Division Finals once again.
Quarterback Darian Durant has done a little bit of everything for the men in green this year. He has completed 61.4 percent of his passes for 971 yards and seven TDs against just one pick. With two touchdowns and 242 yards passing, Durant will lead the league in both categories through four weeks of play. The former North Carolina Tar Heel also has 134 rushing yards, ranking him tenth in the league and second amongst quarterbacks in the CFL.
The leading rusher for this team is Wes Cates. He is averaging a CFL-best 7.7 YPC, and his 317 yards on the ground is still second in the league in spite of the fact that half the teams have already played an extra game this week.
The defense has only picked off one pass all season long, which is something that badly needs to improve. The secondary is also allowing 9.8 yards per pass attempt, which is by far the worst in the league. However, the Riders rank No. 1 in the league in rush defense, allowing just 91.3 YPG.
Calgary badly needs this game to draw even in the Western Division after last week's embarrassing loss in Toronto.
The surprise of this season has been how well the Stamps have played defensively. They are allowing a CFL-best 21.7 PPG this year, a far cry from the 28.6 PPG they allowed on the '09 season. The unit has only allowed three TDs all season long, also the best mark in the CFL. Opponents only have 52 total first downs for the season to boot.
Offensively though, there are still a lot of problems. Quarterback Henry Burris should have some of the best numbers in the league, but after tossing four interceptions against the Argonauts in Week 3, his stats are lacking. "Smilin' Hank" has two more picks (6) than anyone else in the CFL, and his 73.6 QB rating is the second lowest in the league heading into play on Saturday night.
His biggest problem has been at the wide receiver position. Both Ken-Yon Rambo and Ryan Thelwell have been out due to injury all season long, and with the departure of Jermaine Copeland to Toronto in the offseason, Burris has really been lacking solid targets. Wide receiver Nik Lewis, a veteran in Calgary, leads the team in receptions (16) and receiving yards (211). Both he and Romby Bryant have a pair of TD catches on the year.
Last season, the 'Riders dominated this series, going 3-0-1 SU and 4-0 ATS. Calgary only had one game in which it scored more than 23 points. The Riders, in contrast, scored an average of 31.3 PPG in four games.
These two teams met in the West Finals last year, with Saskatchewan coming away with a 27-17 victory. They also played in an epic 44-44 tie last October.
Historically speaking, these two teams despise each other. This is an annual fixture that everyone in Canada looks forward to every season, and will be the first of at least three meetings they have this year.
The 'under' has cashed in 12 of the last 17 meetings between these teams at McMahon Stadium. The Stamps have also gone 6-1-1 for 'under' bettors in their last eight games overall. On Saturday night, Calgary has been lined as a 1½-point favorite, while the 'total' comes in at 56.