CFL East Division Final: Eskimos at Redblacks live stream
By Adam Stocker
The CFL East Division Final is a Grey Cup rematch between the Edmonton Eskimos and the Ottawa Redblacks.
Last season, the Ottawa Redblacks and Edmonton Eskimos meet in the playoffs for the 103rd Grey Cup in Winnipeg. Edmonton won 26-20 to claim their 14th Grey Cup.
Thanks to the CFL’s cross-over playoff rule the two teams will meet again in the playoffs. Edmonton as the fourth place team in the West division crossed over into the East playoff bracket thanks to their 10-8 record being better than the third place team in the East.
Ottawa’s 8-9-1 record was good enough to win the East division for the second straight season. The third year expansion franchise earned a bye into the East final. But Ottawa is not without its weaknesses.
The Redblacks have had to deal with injuries and quarterback controversy. Last season’s Most Outstanding Player Henry Burris was injured early in the season. Enter backup Trevor Harris who played fantastic to start the season before tailing off. Inconsistent play from Harris led to a quarterback change back to Burris. Despite being benched, Harris was named an East division all-star.
Offensively Ottawa can put up a lot of points. Four receivers went over 1000 yards on the season. But dynamic speedster Chris Williams tore his ACL late in the regular season. Defensively, Ottawa is flawed. Ottawa allowed 498 points in the regular season, just two points behind Edmonton’s 496.
Edmonton traveled to Hamilton last Sunday and defeated the Tiger-Cats on a last second field goal from Sean Whyte. Edmonton was able to dominate the ground game against Hamilton. Running back John White record 20 carries for 160 yards.
Mike Reilly appears ready to start the game Sunday, but he did not finish the East semi-final last week, after injuring his non-throwing arm attempting to pick up a first down.
Offensively, the East Final could be a shoot-out. Reilly led the league in passing yards. Adarius Bowman and Derel Walker finished first and second in receiving yards. Brandon Zylstra emerged late in the season as a dangerous number three receiver.
In the team’s two previous meetings this season, Ottawa won both match-ups. In the June 25th season opener, Ottawa defeated Edmonton 45-37 in overtime. Trevor Harris came off the bench to throw three touchdowns, including two to Chris Williams. Williams will not play Sunday. While Harris will only play if Burris is injured.
In the second match-up August 6th, Ottawa won 23-20 at home. Ottawa was able to shut down John White and hold him to just 33 yards. More importantly, Ottawa kept Reilly from the end zone. Burris meanwhile was able to throw for 341 yards against the Edmonton defense.
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Keys to victory:
For either team to win, they will need to protect their quarterback. That task is more difficult for Ottawa given the strength of the Edmonton defense is the defensive line. If Ottawa does pick up the pass rush, Burris can pick apart the Edmonton pass defense. If Edmonton can run the ball with the same success they had last week against the Ti-Cats, it will be difficult for Ottawa to score enough points to match Edmonton.
Game information:
Date: November 20, 2016
Kickoff: 1:00 pm EST
Location: TD Place Stadium, Ottawa, Ontario Canada
USA, Australia and South America: ESPN3
Canadian TV: TSN
UK and Ireland TV: BTSports
Live Stream: Yare Media
Gambling information:
Betting Line: Edmonton Eskimos (-2) @ Ottawa Redblacks
Over/Under: 56.0