Quote Originally Posted by AngeloV View Post
Pulling for Ford, but I think the Stamps take this one. Elks are weak against the run, and I think the Stamps will keep the Elks O off the field with the running game, setting up the deep balls we saw last week against the Argos.
I'm hoping the new level of enthusiasm on the Elks will help their D. It also looks as though Carey will be back, and he hasn't been as effective as Mills has been this year, so that could work in the Elks favour.

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EDMONTON ELKS VS. CALGARY STAMPEDERS

The streak is over! Four years since their last home win, the Edmonton Elks finally got another thanks largely to the incredible play of their new starting QB, Canadian Tre Ford. While he hasn’t played enough snaps to truly qualify, his 91.7 overall grade is first in the entire CFL. That just shows how good of a stretch he’s been on. Trying to slow down the league’s hottest team will be the Stamps, who are coming off a tough loss to the Argos last week. Calgary played well, especially quarterback Jake Maier, who finally had a good game that didn’t result in a win (81.8 overall grade in Week 12). They’ll want to build on that this week and see Maier put together a stretch of good games to get Calgary back in the win column.

MATCHUP TO WATCH:
LT MARTEZ IVEY, EDMONTON VS. EDGE JULIAN HOWSARE, CALGARY

Before Ford took over at QB, Ivey was one of the lowest-graded pass-blocking left tackles in the league (49.6 pass-blocking grade). In the three weeks since, he’s been one of the best (71.0). He’s allowed zero sacks, zero hits and just four hurries in that span. Ivey has really settled down and anchored that left side of the line. Nevertheless, that won’t be easy to do this week. Howsare has an 83.7 pass-rush grade on the year, which ranks fifth in the league. His 44 total pressures rank sixth, and his 15.3% pass-rush win rate also ranks sixth. There’s no doubt that Howsare is one of the best pass-rushers in the CFL this year. If he can find success against Ivey, he could really throw a wrench in the Tre Ford hype train and help Calgary get that win.

PLAYER TO WATCH:
CB KAI GRAY, EDMONTON

It’s easy to talk about Ford and everyone knows to watch him. However, the Elks' rookie corner deserves some praise. It’s been an up-and-down season for Gray, but he’s really started to settle down and anchor one of the hardest positions in the CFL. Over the last three weeks, Gray has allowed just two catches on four targets for 33 yards. He’s surrendering just 0.78 yards per coverage snap this season, which is the seventh-best mark in the league. He hasn’t broken up many passes, but he has done a really good job of just playing tight coverage on every snap. He’s looking like he could be a future star corner for the Elks if he keeps developing on his current path.