VANCOUVER — There are a lot of different ways you could look at the Calgary Stampeders’ win over the B.C. Lions on Saturday night.
On the one hand, the Stampeders needed a win and they got it. That’s by far the most important takeaway. They won and held on to second place, meaning they’ll be hosting the West Division semifinal next weekend against the Winnipeg Blue Bombers. Sometimes, the old saying about sports being about more than winning or losing is just not true. Saturday night was about winning. Plain and simple.
At the same time, Stamps head coach Dave Dickenson had repeated over and over this week that his priority for the regular season’s final week was to see his team improve and play better.
Dickenson said his receivers had probably their worst game of the season, the offensive line “didn’t play a great game” and the badly beat-up defensive backfield was mostly just trying to hold on for dear life — not that there can be huge complaints about the DBs.
As a whole, it definitely wasn’t a performance from the Stampeders that is going to elicit confidence heading into the playoffs. Maybe the coaches will see something different when they breakdown the game tape, but on the surface, that sought-after improvement didn’t really seem to materialize.
We’ll get into it in a minute, but it would be journalistic malpractice if we didn’t take a moment to acknowledge the fact that injuries played a factor here. How much improvement could we really expect when the Stamps were without Eric Rogers, Derek Dennis, DaShaun Amos, Cordarro Law and Tre Roberson? That’s just a random selection of missing bodies. There’s a whole lot more on the six-game injured list.
Yes, the Stampeders preach that it’s ‘Next man up.’ And yes, they really do believe it.
There are limits to that, though. It’s meant to symbolize the idea that there are no excuses when your number is called. Everyone is expected to maintain the same standard of, presumably, excellence. No excuses. When you are missing three starters in the defensive backfield, maybe that’s less of an excuse than an explanation.
By the time the Bombers roll into town for Sunday’s West Division semifinal (2:30 p.m., McMahon Stadium), the Stampeders should look considerably different than they did against the Lions. Will every veteran who returns to the lineup be at 100%? Probably not, but you would expect the experience and the unspoken chemistry that comes with playing together all season to benefit the Stamps.
They’re going to need to be a lot better than they were against the Lions if they’re going to knock off the Bombers and earn the chance to play the Saskatchewan Roughriders in the West Final.
It looks increasingly likely that the Stampeders will get linebacker Cory Greenwood back in time for next weekend’s game. Let’s think for a second about what that might mean.
For starters, the Stamps will be going into battle against the league’s most dangerous run attack with a guy who was leading the CFL in tackles before stingers forced him to the six-game injured list. That’s big.
It also means they’re going to have options at both linebacker spots. Wynton McManis has filled-in well at middle linebacker, while Nate Holley has stepped-up in the weakside position.
Dexter McCoil — more on him later — looks like he could be a major factor going forward, and his interception late in the fourth quarter on Saturday sealed the deal for the Stamps.
The Stampeders may play with three linebackers — and Jamar Wall at the SAM — on the field at the same time, given the talent at their disposal.
They could be very hard to run against, even for a Bombers team with Andrew Harris.
ROLL WITH IT?
If Greenwood is back and starting, that means the Stampeders have a Canadian at linebacker, and it’s worth wondering how that will affect the run-game.
They rolled Ante Milanovic-Litre for a couple weeks recently so that they could play three American offensive linemen. If Greenwood’s back, the Stamps could conceivably go with that same setup on the o-line but with Don Jackson starting at running back.
Jackson’s numbers weren’t spectacular against the Lions. He ran the ball eight times for 34 yards and caught three passes for 28 yards.
But Jackson brought a level of dynamism the Stamps have been missing in recent weeks.
It’s been a difficult season for Jackson, but there would be something poetic about him re-emerging as the Stampeders’ go-to-guy in the playoffs and helping lead them to glory.
It’s probably best to let Dickenson break down his o-line’s performance Saturday night, because it’s not an area where I necessarily feel qualified to go into detail.
To be fair, Bo Levi Mitchell seemed to have lots of time to operate in the pocket in the first half. The o-line definitely got the better of their counterparts on the Lions d-line for the first 30 minutes.
Either way, you’d imagine that if Derek Dennis is back next weekend, the Stamps will be rolling with the group of Dennis, Shane Bergman, Ucambre Williams, Ryan Sceviour, and Nila Kasitati.
It’s been their best combination all year, and they’re going to need to be at their absolute best to limit the impact of an extremely dangerous Bombers defensive line.
Saturday’s game was definitely closer than the Stampeders would have liked, but there were also a couple key moments during which the Stamps could have put away the Lions early.
Twice, Mitchell found Reggie Begelton in the endzone and the Stamps’ candidate for Most Outstanding Player couldn’t quite come down with the ball.
You can’t exactly complain about Begelton’s performance, given that he’s a huge reason why the Stamps are even in a position of hosting a playoff game at all. But if he’d come down with either ball, Saturday’s game would have been over before any Lions rally could even get started.
The Lions generally focused-in on limiting Begelton’s impact on the game, a task that was made easier because Rogers was missing. There’s absolutely no reason to worry about Begelton, though, it’s not even like he had a bad game. He just didn’t come down with two tough catches in the endzone.
All I’m saying is it’s hard not to wonder how the game might have gone differently if he had come down with either.
Last week, Rene Paredes missed a field goal and a convert against the Bombers.
It almost felt like something that might be worth worrying about, but once you really thought about it you remembered that Paredes always bounces back from tough games.
And that’s exactly what he did on Saturday night.
Paredes went 4-for-4 on field goals.
Sometimes, we only talk about kickers when they’re missing, so it’s worth just taking a moment to acknowledge that Paredes was perfect against the Lions and remains invaluably consistent. He could be a real asset in the month ahead.
Hergy Mayala finished his rookie season on Saturday night by putting up the second 100-yard receiving game of his career.
His first-year numbers suggest the Stamps may have selected a real stud in the first round of the 2019 Draft. He finished with 562 yards and five touchdowns — all five TDs came in the Stamps’ last four games.
That’s more yards than any of the Stamps’ big-name first-year receivers this decade. Yes, that includes Anthony Parker, Juwan Brescacin and Lemar Durant.
It’s possible that the Stampeders have the next great Canadian receiver on their roster right now. When Juwan Brescacin is back next year, they’re going to have two legitimate game-changing national talents available every week — and a few other really intriguing prospects.
The Stampeders are going to be playing the Bombers for the third time in four games in the West semifinal.
I don’t know how else to say it, but that’s just plain weird.
Both teams are going to be incredibly aware of the other’s strengths and weaknesses. It’s hard to imagine there are going to be many surprises.
Beyond making note of that, there’s not really much to add.
How that familiarity impacts proceedings on Sunday at McMahon is going to be a major storyline and, as always, you get the feeling that small details are going to really, really matter.
I’m not a betting man, but if I was, I’d be staying away from the West semifinal.
The Stamps and Bombers met three times this year.
The first game, in Winnipeg, ended with a 26-24 win for the Bombers.
The second, in Calgary, ended with a 37-33 win for the Stamps.
The third, again in Winnipeg, finished with the Bombers edging out the Stamps for a 29-28 victory.
That’s three games, with the Stamps scoring 89 points combined, and the Bombers managing 88.
Technically, you’d have to list the home team as the slight favourites, so winning Saturday’s game and securing the right to host the Bombers at McMahon Stadium could be huge for the Stampeders.
This one just feels way too close to call.
I know I talked about McCoil earlier, but it really does feel like he could be one of the most impactful late-season signings we’ve seen in the CFL in a long time.
His fourth-quarter interception gets more and more impressive every time you watch it.
McCoil seems to sense exactly where the ball is going to go before Lions QB Brandon Bridge has even figured it out, and made a highly athletic catch before taking off downfield.
He admitted afterward that he wanted to get into the endzone, and we get that, but a game-sealing interception and 61-yard run with the ball isn’t exactly bad.
Either way, it looks like Stamps president/GM John Hufnagel pulled off a little bit of magic with the McCoil signing two weeks ago.
Fraser Sopik may not have gotten many votes for Most Outstanding Rookie, but he had a really encouraging rookie season. He suffered what appeared to be a knee injury early in Saturday’s game, and if he’s out longterm that will be a big loss for the Stamps … DeVone Claybrooks deserves another year to get the Lions’ house in order. His first season as a head coach was obviously disappointing, but the guy’s done enough to get a second shot … Aaron Peck is going to be one to watch next season. There’s something about the rookie receiver that’s really intriguing.