Playoff Preview: Can the Stampeders' line stand up to the Eskimos' defence?

Continuing our Playoff Preview series, here's a look at Sunday's West Final between the Calgary Stampeders and the Edmonton Eskimos.

Calgary offence: Four injured linemen: The Stampeders' offence was great all year, leading the league with 25.1 points per game from the offence, but they've taken a potential step back this week thanks to two crucial injuries sustained during their 35-9 win over B.C. in last Sunday's West semifinal. Those would be to centre Pierre Lavertu and guard Shane Bergman, both of whom won't be able to play this week. Losing two Canadian offensive linemen is bad enough in general, but it's worse when you consider that the Stampeders had already lost significant numbers of linemen this season, including tackles Dan Federkeil and Edwin Harrison. They'll put American John Estes (a CFL rookie with NFL experience, who appeared in five games this year and made three starts at left guard) in at centre and have rookie Canadian Karl Lavoie (their ninth overall pick this season) fill in at left guard. Calgary has plenty of strong offensive pieces, including Most Outstanding Player nominee Bo Levi Mitchell at QB, top receivers Eric Rogers and Marquay McDaniel, and Canadian RB Jerome Messam (fellow Canadian RB Jon Cornish is still hurt), but how well their offence clicks may depend on what the guys up front can do against a strong Edmonton defence. Calgary allowed just 33 sacks this year, tied for the league lead, but we'll see if they can maintain that level of OL play with so many injuries.

Calgary defence: Five interception returns: The Stampeders have done a terrific job of shutting down opposing offences this season, allowing a league-low 16.1 points per game from offences. They were good last week against B.C., too, holding the Lions to just nine points. Defensive end Charleston Hughes (who broke his hand in a late-October practice) is still out of the lineup, but this defence has lots of impressive playmakers even without him, including DB Keon Raymond, DE Freddie Bishop III and LB Juwan Simpson. They have had to shake up their lineup as a result of the OL injuries and the ratio shift, though, starting Canadian DB Adam Berger at corner instead of American Ciante Evans. We'll see how Berger does in that role.

Calgary special teams: Three field goal records: Calgary has an excellent kicker in Rene Paredes (even if his success rate dropped a bit this year, to 87.2 per cent) and one of the league's better punters in Rob Maver, and they were good on kickoff returns this year (second in the league with an average of 22.6 yards per return) with Tim Brown leading the way there, but not as strong in the punt return game (seventh with a 8.9 yard per return average).

Edmonton offence: Five returning quarterbacks: The Eskimos won eight straight games to end the regular season, and getting quarterback Mike Reilly back was a key part of that. He helped them break a 12-game losing streak against Calgary in his return Sept.12, and they haven't lost since. Reilly threw for 2,449 yards this season despite missing substantial time, putting him seventh in the league, and he had a 65.0 per cent completion rate and 15 touchdowns and 10 interceptions. Edmonton finished the year second in net offensive yards per game (359.6) and third in passing yards per game (273.6) despite focusing on shorter passes; they averaged just 7.3 yards per pass, tied for last. Reilly has a good group of receivers, led by vet Adarius Bowman and rookie Derel Walker, and a strong ground game (the Eskimos were third in the league with 105.4 rushing yards per game and 5.3 yards per rush), but his play will still be key to any Edmonton success.

Edmonton defence: Five dominant showings: Edmonton's defence was great again this year, allowing just 16.9 offensive points per game (second in the league) and 16.7 first downs per game, 69 rushing first downs and 119 passing first downs (all best in the league). Led by defensive end Odell Willis (nine sacks) and defensive back John Ojo (five interceptions), they'll be tough to stop, and head coach Chris Jones' love of unconventional blitzes may play particular havoc with Calgary's untested line.

Edmonton special teams: Four new kickers: The Eskimos traded for Montreal kicker Sean Whyte midseason, and that move's worked brilliantly; Whyte leads the league with a 92.3 per cent field goal rate (amongst kickers with five or more attempts) and was crucial to Edmonton's success down the stretch. His punting hasn't been as great, though, as his 40.7 yards per punt is more solid than spectacular. Kendial Lawrence has been great in the return game, though, finishing second in the league with 1,797 return yards.

Add them up: Calgary 12, Edmonton 14.

X-Factor: The trench battle: This may well be decided by how Calgary's revamped line holds up against Edmonton's pass rush. If they can protect Mitchell, they'll have a shot. Otherwise, it may be a long day for the Stampeders.

Prediction: Edmonton 28, Calgary 21.