CALGARY \u2014 The BC Lions and Calgary Stampeders meet for the first time this season when they close out a Friday Night Football doubleheader at McMahon Stadium.<\/p>\n
BC is trying to get back to .500 after a win over Ottawa in Week 15 moved its record to 6-7.<\/p>\n
Calgary enjoyed a bye last week.<\/p>\n
Here\u2019s three keys to victory for both teams ahead of Friday\u2019s 9:30 p.m. ET kickoff, which can be watched on TSN in Canada and on CFL+ in the U.S. and internationally.<\/p>\n
RELATED BC LIONS<\/p>\n 1. SLOW THE PASS GAME<\/p>\n BC has given up at least 300 passing yards in three straight games, well up from their 267.2 average. Robert Carter Jr. leads the team with eight pass knockdowns and will be a key component to covering the Stamps\u2019 pass-catching weapons.<\/p>\n 2. SLOW THE RUN GAME<\/p>\n Slow the pass game, slow the run game, win the game, right? Easier said than done, as Stamps running back Dedrick Mills<\/a> is 118 yards shy of his first 1,000-yard season. Defensive lineman Mathieu Betts<\/a> dominated at the line of scrimmage last week with four sacks and will have his eyes on Mills from the get-go.<\/p>\n 3. NO LET UP<\/p>\n The Lions have scored 10 points in the fourth quarter over their previous three games. In a contest that could be tight against a division rival, quarterback Nathan Rourke<\/a> and his playmaking receivers will need a 60-minute effort.<\/p>\n<\/p>\n \u00a0<\/p>\n CALGARY STAMPEDERS<\/p>\n 1. VERNON ADAMS JR. AGAINST HIS OLD TEAM<\/p>\n Quarterback Vernon Adams Jr. might have had this game circled on his calendar, as it will be his first against the team he spent the past two seasons with. If he can throw for 104 yards, he\u2019ll surpass his 2024 total of 2,929.<\/p>\n 2. CHALLENGE FOR THE PASS DEFENCE<\/p>\n It\u2019s always fun to watch top performers do their thing, and that\u2019s exactly what fans will get as the Stampeders\u2019 pass defence tries to contain Rourke and receiver Keon Hatcher Sr. Calgary was the best at limiting yards through the air entering play this week, allowing 265 per game, while Hatcher Sr. has caught 71-of-105 passes thrown his way for 1,170 yards.<\/p>\n 3. WELCOME BACK ADRIAN GREENE, JAYLON HUTCHINGS<\/p>\n Head coach Dave Dickenson gets two big pieces of his defence back at an important time. Defensive back Adrian Greene hasn\u2019t played since Week 8 with a leg injury, and defensive lineman Jaylon Hutchings missed the Stamps\u2019 last game with a groin issue. Both should play a part in slowing the tempo of the Lions\u2019 offence.<\/p>\n NEED TO KNOW:<\/p>\n With Saskatchewan on a bye week, Calgary can move within two points of first place in the West Division with a win.
\u00bb Depth Charts: BC<\/a> | CGY<\/a>
\u00bb Game Notes: Lions at Stampeders<\/a>
\u00bb\u00a0Tickets: BC at Calgary<\/a>
\u00bb\u00a0Injury Reports: Stay up to date<\/a>
\u00bb\u00a0Who\u2019s gonna win? Play CFL Pick \u2018Em presented by Old Dutch now!<\/a>
\u00bb\u00a0Sign up and watch CFL games on CFL+ in the U.S. and Internationally<\/a><\/p>\n
\nFor the Lions, running back James Butler<\/a>, the league\u2019s rushing leader, and Canadian receiver Jevon Cottoy<\/a> have both been listed as out.
\nZander Horvath will start at running back for the Lions in place of Butler.
\nFor the Stamps, defensive back Adrian Greene and defensive lineman Jaylen Hutchings are both returning from injury.
\nThese two teams meet again in Week 18.
\nKickoff is scheduled for 9:30 p.m. ET, and can be watched on TSN in Canada and on CFL+ in the U.S. and internationally.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"CALGARY \u2014 The BC Lions and Calgary Stampeders meet for the first time this season when they close…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":153105,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[437],"tags":[49,48,521,522,520,82],"class_list":{"0":"post-153104","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-cfl","8":"tag-ca","9":"tag-canada","10":"tag-canadian-football-league","11":"tag-canadianfootballleague","12":"tag-cfl","13":"tag-sports"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/153104","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=153104"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/153104\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/153105"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=153104"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=153104"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=153104"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}