Calgary continues dream season with visit to Montreal

Sep 17, 2014 - 3:24 PM Montreal, QC (SportsNetwork.com) - The best team in the CFL finds itself in uncharted waters this week as it prepares to go into battle without its leader when the Calgary Stampeders clash with the Montreal Alouettes at Percival Molson Stadium on Sunday afternoon.

With 10 victories in 11 chances, a perfect 5-0 on the road, the Stampeders have become the team to beat in the league this season as they sit alone atop the West Division standings. But last weekend, the squad showed some cracks in the armor as it needed a historic comeback to defeat visiting Toronto, 40-33.

But more than just the frantic finish to a meeting that should have gone in favor of Calgary rather easily, the team was hit with a rash of injuries, beginning at the top with quarterback Bo Levi Mitchell. Having already set the CFL record for the best start to a career as a starting quarterback, Mitchell hit on 19-of-29 passes for 128 yards and two touchdowns, as well as an interception, before suffering a sprained ankle and stretched ligaments in his knee.

Early indications have Mitchell being listed as week-to-week as the team tries to maintain a four-point lead in a division where every team is playing at or above .500.

Also being infected by the injury bug versus the Argonauts were leading receiver Marquay McDaniel, sack leader Charleston Hughes, defensive tackle Demonte' Bolden and special teams performer Ben D'Aguilar. The news is not good for McDaniel and Bolden who have broken bones in their hand and leg, respectively, which means they are heading to the six-game injury list in all likelihood.

In the case of Hughes, responsible for eight sacks in 2014, a sprained foot has him listed as game-to-game just like Mitchell.

For now, the good news for the Stamps is that Drew Tate was able to come on in place of Mitchell and convert all six of his pass attempts versus the Argos for 74 yards and two more touchdowns, helping to guide the team to the remarkable victory.

Holding it all together in this time of crisis for the Stampeders is none other than running back Jon Cornish, who himself only recently came off the injured list. Cornish, who is third on the CFL rushing list with 587 yards despite limited action, not only ran for 174 yards and a score on just 11 carries last week, he also caught what proved to be the winning TD, a 25-yard effort, late in the fourth to bring Calgary all the way back.

Not surprisingly, Cornish was named both the CFL Offensive Player of the Week and the top Canadian, the latter award being dominated by the running back as he has won it three straight weeks.

While Calgary is setting the bar rather high this season, the Alouettes haven't been nearly as successful. In fact, with the 33-16 loss at Edmonton last Friday night, Montreal finds itself tied with Toronto at 3-8 and in second place in the East Division standings. Actually, the Als and Argonauts are tied for first in terms of points, matching the output of Hamilton with six, although the Tiger-Cats have only played 10 games to this point.

Down to Jonathan Crompton on the depth chart at quarterback, the Als generated a paltry 228 yards of offense against the Eskimos last week and controlled the ball for barely 22 minutes. Crompton, who a week earlier led Montreal to a thrilling 38-31 victory over the 'Cats at home, converted 15-of-27 passes for 169 yards and a score, a good portion of his passing yards coming on a 64-yard major to Duron Carter in the fourth quarter.

Defensively, the Als surrendered 458 yards to Edmonton and failed to capitalize on the fact that the hosts were hit with 11 penalties for 99 yards. Of course it didn't help that Montreal was saddled with 12 infractions for a loss of 94 yards.

Montreal is one of the most heavily penalized teams in the league with 127 flags for 1,073 yards, while Calgary has been the most disciplined squad with just 101 penalties for 903 yards through the 12th week of action.

As far as the all-time series is concerned, one that takes into account only regular-season meetings dating back to 1961, Calgary clings to a 36-32-1 edge after having won three straight and six of the last seven encounters with the Als.

These two teams kicked off the 2014 campaign against each other in late June, with the Stamps cruising to a 29-8 victory as Montreal began life without Anthony Calvillo. Troy Smith was saddled with the job of becoming the next great quarterback for the Als and had a rather auspicious start to the new season as he completed just 18-of-41 passes for 154 yards, was intercepted once and sacked four times.

Held out of the end zone for almost the entire contest, it wasn't until Steven Lumbala crossed the goal line at the end of regulation that the Als showed any real signs of life as they completed a 10-play, 95-yard drive. The visitors to McMahon Stadium generated a paltry 214 yards of offense on 81 plays and had to deal with a loss of 120 yards on 12 penalties.

Calgary had similar issues in terms of miscues, getting flagged 12 times for 129 yards, but at the same time Mitchell had the offense humming right along as he converted 16-of-25 passes for 313 yards and two scores, one of those TDs being a spectacular 102-yard jaunt by Maurice Price, the first major of the season for what has become the best team in the league.