Mike Reilly and the Edmonton Eskimos head into the Grey Cup on quite a roll.
Edmonton chalked up its ninth straight win Sunday with a 45-31 victory over the Calgary Stampeders in the West Division final. That earned the Eskimos a berth in the CFL championship game against the Ottawa Redblacks, who beat the Hamilton Tiger-Cats 35-28 in the East Division title game.
Ottawa comes into the Grey Cup having won five straight but had its trouble this season against Edmonton. The Eskimos swept the season series 2-0, outscoring the Redblacks 69-29 although one victory was by a 46-17 margin and both contests were played in July.
Ottawa will see Reilly on Sunday for the first time this season. Backup Matt Nichols got both previous starts versus the Redblacks as Reilly was sidelined with a knee injury suffered in Edmonton’s season-opening loss to Toronto in Fort McMurray, Alta.
Edmonton weathered the storm during Reilly’s absence, posting a 6-3 record following their starter’s injury. In fact, the Eskimos’ first two wins of the season came in sweeping the home-and-home series with Ottawa.
But Edmonton has been unbeatable since Reilly’s return as the starter in September. That includes two pivotal victories against Calgary that gave the Eskimos the season series and ultimately tops in the West Division after both teams finished with identical league-best 14-4 records.
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Reilly has enjoyed another solid CFL season, completing 214-of-329 passes (65 per cent) for 2,449 yards with 15 TDs and 10 interceptions. Reilly also ran for 324 yards on 66 carries (4.9-yard average) and scored two TDs.
Reilly was impressive Sunday versus the defending-champion Stampeders at Commonwealth Stadium. He completed 31-of-39 passes for 370 yards and three TDs while also running for 30 yards and two touchdowns on seven carries.
Watch below: Hear from the Eskimos players and coaches about heading to the Grey Cup
Edmonton was pretty good away from Alberta, finishing tied with Calgary for the CFL’s best road record (6-3). The Eskimos and Stampeders also had identical 6-2 records in head-to-head matchups versus East Division competition.
A resurgent Burris, a finalist for the outstanding player award with Calgary quarterback Bo Levi Mitchell, is a big reason why the Redblacks are in the Grey Cup in just their second season of operation. The 40-year-old quarterback had a CFL-record 481 completions and had a league-best 5,703 yards passing in leading the Redblacks to a 12-6 record after the franchise registered just two victories in their inaugural 2014 campaign.
It was Burris’s 93-yard TD pass to Greg Ellingson late in the fourth quarter that secured Ottawa it’s victory over Hamilton on Sunday. With Burris under centre, the Redblacks averaged a league-best 386.3 yards per game with Edmonton second at 359.6.
Ottawa also finished the season with four 1,000-yard receivers while Edmonton had two. The Redblacks and Eskimos were also 1-2 in time of possession but each offence will face a stiff test Sunday in Winnipeg.
Ottawa’s defence led the CFL in fewest rushing yards (70.8), total yards (297.6), sacks (62) and tied with Hamilton for most interceptions (26). Edmonton was the league’s stingiest unit (18.9 points per game) and toughest to pass against (245.2 yards) while registering 23 interceptions.
The Grey Cup game also features two of the league’s top coaches in Edmonton’s Chris Jones and Ottawa’s Rick Campbell. Appropriately, both are finalists for the CFL’s coach of the year award.
Edmonton will make its 25th Grey Cup appearance and chase its first win since 2005. Ottawa has a team in the big game for the first time since 1981 when the Rough Riders lost 26-23 to an Eskimos squad coached by Rick Campbell’s father, Hugh.
Ottawa won nine Grey Cup titles as the Rough Riders before ceasing operations following the ’96 season. The Ottawa Renegades began play in 2002 but lasted only for four seasons. The Redblacks came into existence in 2014.
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