Stamps, REDBLACKS set for season finale showdown

TORONTO — Bo Levi Mitchell can picture Henry Burris holding the Grey Cup above his head.

On Sunday night, when Mitchell and the Calgary Stampeders take on Burris and the Ottawa REDBLACKS in the 2016 season finale, the Stamps’ starting quarterback will do everything in his power to prevent that reality from unfolding.

“I don’t picture the good things happening,” Mitchell told reporters this week in Toronto. “I don’t picture the touchdown or holding the cup or things like that. I picture the opposite: the interception; the strip sack for a fumble for a touchdown.

“I try and picture the other quarterback holding that cup over his head and that’s what motivates me.”

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The two quarterbacks, one a living legend, the other perhaps one in the making, square off for the first time this season on Sunday.

There should be no need for any extra motivation but what’s clear is the Stampeders aren’t taking anything for granted – even if, at 15-2-1, Calgary’s seven-win gap between Ottawa (8-9-1) is the second-largest in Grey Cup history.

It’s true, Sunday’s matchup does appear quite lopsided but for Mitchell and co., that type of thinking can be dangerous and the Stamps aren’t indulging.

“I don’t get why people are saying we’re looking past them,” said Stampeders head coach Dave Dickenson. “Where are we looking? It’s the next game, it’s the only game that matters.”

It is the only game that matters and a win on Sunday would cap off a dream season for the rookie head coach, his hard-throwing quarterback and everyone else within the Stampeders’ organization.

Despite a significant off-season transition, the Stampeders dominated in almost every aspect this year. They scored the most points and allowed the fewest; they sacked the most quarterbacks and were sacked the fewest; they gave the football away less than anyone else and were also penalized the least.

Then there’s the quarterback. Mitchell, 26, had the best season of his young career, throwing for 5,385 yards and 32 touchdowns to only eight interceptions.

The Katy, Texas native was just named the league’s Most Outstanding Player on Thursday night for the first time in his career and if you add that to his 2014 Grey Cup ring and Most Valuable Player honour, there’s the realization that Bo might be onto something special.

Still, there’s a fine line between confidence and cockiness. Expectation and assumption.

The media assume Calgary will win. The Stampeders expect they’ll win. It was that way last weekend before taking care of the Lions in the Western Final, 42-15 in a game that was out of reach by halftime.

“We’ve put a lot of expectation on ourselves,” said veteran receiver Marquay McDaniel. “We don’t really listen to the media.”

“We were heavy favourites last weekend; we approached that game as a work week with a business-like mentality. We don’t put too much on it, we just know we have to go to work, focus and approach it like we did last week.”

While the Stamps’ depth chart remains mostly intact from a week ago, rookie 24-year-old Ucambre Williams draws into the lineup to start at right guard in place of Brad Erdos. Randy Richards and Quinn Smith could also figure into the rotation on Calgary’s injured O-line.

Elsewhere, the Stampeders remain relatively healthy. DaVaris Daniels, 23, will be one to watch at receiver after racking up 885 receiving yards and nine touchdown passes in just 11 games. He was named the CFL’s Most Outstanding Rookie on Thursday.

For league-leading rusher and Most Outstanding Canadian Jerome Messam, Sunday will be the first Grey Cup of his seven-year CFL career.

The entire Stampeders roster, meanwhile, will continue to play with heavy hearts and extra emotion, still feeling the presence of fallen teammate Mylan Hicks, who lost his life on Sept. 25 in an act of violence.

Sunday will mark the Stampeders’ third appearance in the championship game over the last five years (2012, 2014 and 2016) while a win would be Calgary’s league-leading fifth since 1996, the year the Montreal Alouettes returned to the CFL.

While Mitchell’s budding legacy is at the forefront of the discussion this week, his counterpart 41-year-old Henry Burris has something to play for as well.

Burris is the CFL’s third all-time passer but has only won one Grey Cup as a starter in his 17 years in the league. Never one to downplay the underdog role, it’s almost like Sunday’s matchup is tailor made for Smilin’ Hank.

“We have always been looked at as the underdog on this team,” Burris said. “Pretty much after the first few games, people had put Hamilton on the pedestal as the Grey Cup contenders right along with Calgary.

“No matter what we have done it seems like nobody gives us respect.”

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With his team back in the Grey Cup for the second straight season, Burris has no doubt thrown the league for a curveball in 2016. Just when it looked like the REDBLACKS were Trevor Harris’ team, Burris took back the reins in October and hasn’t since looked back.

Healthy, well-rested and perhaps in the best shape he’s ever been this late in a season, Burris has averaged 349 passing yards per game over his last four outings, a span over which his team has averaged 31 points per game.

That includes a 35-23 Eastern Final win against Edmonton, the defending Grey Cup Champion, in the snow at TD Place.

“Just like last week, nobody gave us a chance at home against Edmonton and now we are playing against Calgary,” said Burris. “The team that executes and takes care of the football will win the game and why not us?”

Simple, maybe, but also probably true. No team gave the football away less than the Stampeders, who are unbeaten in their last 31 games in which they’ve committed fewer turnovers. And elsewhere, Ottawa’s league-leading passing attack (343.9 yards per game) and second-ranked offence (414.8 yards per game) can hang with anyone, including Calgary.

While the Stamps have been in peak form all year, there’s a case to be made that Ottawa is hitting its stride at exactly the right time.

“I thought we won some important games late,” said Ottawa head coach Rick Campbell. “Those wins on the road at Hamilton and at Winnipeg were big tests for us and to be able to get it done when we needed to was big.

“Our guys have risen to the occasion when they need to and we’re gonna try to do it one more time.”

Henry Burris is the only current REDBLACK that had been born the last time Ottawa won a Grey Cup in 1981. If Mitchell can envision Hank raising the trophy again, it’s probably not merely a motivational tool.

Amid all of the other talk, Sunday boils down to a battle between two generational quarterbacks originating from different eras. And for the first time in history, two previous Grey Cup MVPs will square off in the big game itself.

Everyone knows what each is capable of.

“[Burris] just sometimes makes some of those throws that everyone in the stadium stops and says ‘how the hell did he just make that throw’,” said Mitchell. “It’s fun to watch – he makes mistakes, he brushes them off and he goes out there and continues to throw the ball as hard as he can.

“As a young quarterback it’s fun to watch, it’s inspiring to watch, it’s motivating to know you can possibly be competing for a Grey Cup at 41 . . . It’s always a little extra fun to go out there and try to beat some of the old fellows.”

The REDBLACKS will be without Chris Milo for the second straight week, who is unable to play due to injury and will be replaced by Ray Early both in the punting and place kicking game.

Kick and punt returner Tristan Jackson, who returned a punt 76 yards for a touchdown in the third quarter of the Eastern Final, is also unfit to play for Ottawa. Jamill Smith will fill in.

While Calgary is the toast of the league thus far, Ottawa’s passing game is in a league of its own after becoming the first team in CFL history to boast the same four 1,000-yard receivers in back-to-back seasons. One of them, however, Chris Williams, will not play in the Grey Cup.

Sunday’s matchup also presents a shot at redemption for Ottawa head coach Rick Campbell, who was the runner-up to AGF Coach of the Year winner Dave Dickenson.

Kickoff is at 6:00 p.m. ET and can be seen on TSN and RDS or followed live via CFL.ca Game Tracker.

Jerome Messam is set to appear in his first career Grey Cup (CFL.ca)

Game Notes: 

– The first quarter will be the key so Sunday’s game as no opponent scored more than nine points against Calgary in the first quarter this season while the Stamps’ edge in the opening 15 minutes was 138-58. Calgary is 46-8 since 2012 when leading after the first.

– Time of possession will be another stat to watch, an edge the Stamps have had in five straight games and Ottawa has held over eight consecutive contests.

– Charleson Hughes had a sack in each of his last four regular season game to lead the league with 16 (he has 88 in his career).

– The REDBLACKS are one of only two teams (along with Winnipeg) to score at least one offensive touchdown in every game this season.

– Ottawa ranked eighth in red zone touchdown percentage at 48.3 per cent (29 of 60 chances), however Henry Burris has converted 53.3 per cent of his chances against Trevor Harris’ 46.4 per cent. Since Week 16, the REDBLACKS have converted 13 of 22 red zone opportunities (59.1 per cent) into touchdowns — better than Calgary’s 57.8 per cent season-long rate.

– The seven-win gap between these Grey Cup participants is the second-largest in Grey Cup history (In 1981, 14-1-1 Edmonton defeated 5-11 Ottawa). The last lower-ranked team to win in a Grey Cup was the Toronto Argonauts in 2012 against Calgary.

– Henry Burris did not play either game in 2016 vs. Calgary and will make his first start against the Stamps since Aug. 15, 2015. Burris is 3-9-1 in 13 career starts vs. Calgary while Bo Levi Mitchell is 4-1-1 in six career starts vs. Ottawa (none in post-season) and 1-0-1 this season.