Ottawa @ Calgary preview
McMahon Stadium
Last Meeting ( Nov 25, 2018 ) Ottawa 16, Calgary 27
The Calgary Stampeders open the new season at home against the Ottawa Redblacks on Saturday in a rematch of the 2018 Grey Cup. The Stampeders avenged a loss to the Redblacks in the 2017 championship game with a 27-16 victory last year and Dave Dickenson's new-look squad, which must replace numerous players on both sides of the ball, including seven starters on defence, hopes to begin its quest for a fourth straight West Division title with another home win.
Calgary has been dominant at home over the last five years, amassing a 38-7 regular-season record at McMahon Stadium over that span and have extra incentive for another Grey Cup run with the city of Calgary hosting the 107th edition of the game. The Redblacks have won the East Division three out of the last four seasons but will roll out a revamped squad after losing their top quarterback (Trevor Harris), running back (William Powell) and wide receiver (Greg Ellingson) to free agency. Dominique Davis will get the starting nod at quarterback after beating out Jonathon Jennings for the job but has big shoes to fill with Harris opting to join the Edmonton Eskimos in the offseason and Ottawa, which many pundits have predicted will miss the playoffs, will likely lean heavily on a defence that returns 11 starters. "As many changes as there's been for us we're still a winning organization," defensive back Antoine Pruneau told reporters. "There are a lot of things that would have to go wrong for us not to have a winning season.
TV: 7 p.m. ET, TSN, ESPNews
ABOUT THE REDBLACKS (2018: 12-8): Davis appeared in all 18 games last season mostly in short yardage situations and racked up six rushing touchdowns to go along with 373 passing yards and three scores while Jennings passed for 1,628 yards and eight touchdowns in 10 appearances for the BC Lions. Brad Sinopoli is expected to be Davis' security blanket after the Canadian wideout hauled in a CFL-high 116 passes for 1,376 yards and four touchdowns last season while the team hopes Dominique Rhymes can step up after the departures of Ellingson to Edmonton and Diontae Spencer to the NFL. Jonathan Rose's one-game suspension for shoving an official in the playoffs was expected to roll over into the season opener after he won his appeal to play in the Grey Cup but will likely suit up as Ottawa coach Rick Campbell hasn't heard anything official from the league.
ABOUT THE STAMPEDERS (2018: 15-5): The club made it a priority to re-sign quarterback Bo Levi Mitchell, who threw for 5,124 yards and a career-high 35 touchdown passes en route to winning the Most Outstanding Player award last season as Calgary signed their veteran signal caller to a four-year deal. The Stampeders lost defensive coordinator DeVone Claybrooks, who left to take the head coaching job with the BC Lions while star linebacker Alex Singleton moved on to the NFL with the Philadelphia Eagles, and defensive back Ciante Evans signed a free-agent deal with the Montreal Alouettes. "We haven't had this much turnover in many years," Dickenson told reporters. "But we feel like the expectations are the same as we need to go out there and compete."
EXTRA POINTS
1. Calgary has won 13 straight regular-season games against East Division opponents.
2. Sinopoli has surpassed 1,000 receiving yards in four straight seasons.
3. Mitchell has thrown at least one touchdown pass in 22 of his last 23 games overall.
PREDICTION: Stampeders 33, Redblacks 21