Playoff Preview: Can the Riders run to a home Grey Cup, or will the Stamps end their dream?

Rolling on with our Playoff Preview series, here's a look at the matchups in Sunday's West Final (4:30 p.m. Eastern, TSN/RDS/NBCSN) between the Saskatchewan Roughriders and the Calgary Stampeders.

Saskatchewan offence: Four trash-talking running backs: The Riders' offence has been superb at times this year, particularly early on when Kory Sheets was destroying defences on the ground and Darian Durant was taking them apart through the air. There were flashes of that kind of potential late in Sunday's semifinal win over B.C., too, particularly when Durant opted to take off and use his legs. However, this offence still had some major slumps this season; it struggled while Sheets was injured, and didn't look great early on against the Lions when he was being contained. Saskatchewan finished the season second in points per game (28.8) and third in yards per game (371.7), so there's certainly tons of offensive talent here. It just hasn't always shown up consistently.

Saskatchewan defence: Five midseason trades: The green-and-white defence has been very good all season, and it did well again last Sunday, holding the high-powered Lions to 25 points (and none in the fourth quarter). They did give up a substantial amount of yardage, particularly on the ground (Andrew Harris and Stefan Logan combined for 146 rushing yards on 19 carries), but stood their ground well in the red zone and didn't concede many points. On the season, Saskatchewan allowed the lowest points per game (22.1) and the lowest completion percentage (58.2 per cent).

Saskatchewan special teams: Four field goal streaks: The Riders' special teams units largely did well last week, with Chris Milo making five of six field goals and Jock Sanders picking up 93 yards on three kick returns. However, Ricky Schmitt collected just an average of 36 yards on two punts. On the year, the Riders' special teams were solid (especially in the kicking game), but not outstanding.

Calgary offence: Five star running backs: The Calgary offence boasts not only the league leader in rushing yards in Jon Cornish, but also one of its most efficient backs; Cornish's 7.0 yards per carry beat every non-quarterback with 50 carries or more. Cornish is also a receiving threat out of the backfield, and the Stampeders have depth in their receiving corps even if Nik Lewis and Marquay McDaniel can't play. However, there are questions about just how long a leash quarterback Kevin Glenn will be on given the presence of impressive backups Drew Tate and Bo Levi Mitchell. Having too many talented quarterbacks is a nice problem to have, though.

Calgary defence: Four snow games: The Stampeders' defence has been a very solid unit all year, allowing just 22.9 points per game (second-best in the league). They also boast plenty of key playmakers, including league sack leader Charleston Hughes. However, this team does give up yardage at a moderate pace; the 332.2 yards of offence they allowed per game were fourth-best in the league, and they were tied for last in the league in yards allowed per rush (6.0).

Calgary special teams: Five field goal records: Calgary has the league's top kicker by both points (213) and field goal percentage (94.7 per cent) in Rene Paredes, the punter with the second-highest average (45.7 yards) in Rob Maver and the league leader in combined return yards (Larry Taylor). This unit should be very solid Sunday.

Add them up: Calgary 14, Saskatchewan 13.

X-factor: The temperatures. This is expected to be another cold one, and that could make it even more of a ground-based slugfest than normal for a game featuring Sheets and Cornish. Whichever team runs better may triumph.

Prediction: Calgary 24, Saskatchewan 21.