The Calgary Stampeders came into their Week 10 game against the Blue Bombers with a rare opportunity.
Not since Dave Dickenson’s first season as a head coach in 2016 had the Calgary club swept Winnipeg. Over the last five years, the Bombers have reigned supreme over the West Division with five straight Grey Cup appearances, which followed three straight trips from the Stampeders.
The Stamps made the case that they are ready to consider heading back to the championship with a 28-27 walkoff win on Saturday, their third of the year over Winnipeg..
The game got off to an inauspicious start for the home team as they found themselves down 17-0 just a minute into the second quarter before climbing all the way back to win.
Here’s what I saw from high in Section I.
Adams goes deep again… and again… and again
Last year, the Calgary Stampeders had 19 explosive pass plays — passes of 30 or more yards — which was last in the CFL. As they head out for their midseason bye week, the team has now already exceeded that number with 20 total explosive passing plays, adding three more in this game.
The willingness to throw the ball downfield comes from both sides of that connection. Vernon Adams Jr. told reporters after the game that he goes downfield so often because he trusts his receivers to win that matchup.
“It’s different with VA, because he is just going to put the ball out there,” said Tevin Jones, who snagged both of Calgary’s passing touchdowns. “I’m just glad that he trusts me in general to just put the ball out there for me to catch it. We worked on that in practice, and you practice what you preach.”
Adams would go exactly 300 yards on the day, completing 17 of 24 passes.
Philpot returns
Jalen Philpot returned to the lineup for this game after being out with an injury last week against Ottawa.
It was a very efficient return. He collected all five of his targets for a game-high 88 yards and made an athletic toe-tapping catch on the sidelines that the crowd of over 20,000 initially thought was out of bounds.
Once the referee marked it as complete and the replay was shown in-house, the stadium erupted with appreciation.
Because of the game missed, Philpot is just off pace for his first 1,000-yard season with 449 through the team’s first nine games. Should he stay healthy and keep making catches at this rate, he could still find himself in that club in 2025.
Barnes brings it
Clark Barnes also made his return to the lineup, having missed three games due to an injury suffered in the first game against the Bombers earlier this season.
Barnes has been a go-to target for Vernon Adams when looking deep, and that trend continued in this game as he had a 39-yard catch to open the second half, as part of a four-catch 75-yard day of his own.
Barnes returned to the spot that was temporarily filled by rookie Damien Alford before he was also injured. The two have combined for nine explosive plays, six touchdowns and 598 yards on just 31 completions, and they sit first and second in the league when looking at yards per catch average.
Young Canadian contributions
This game only serves to emphasize the tip of the cap that Director of Canadian Scouting Dwayne Cameron deserves for his work in recent draft classes.
Four of the team’s draft picks from the 2025 draft are making an impact. Christopher Fortin has stepped in as the team’s starting centre, and behind him is short-yardage quarterback Quincy Vaughn. Damien Alford, when healthy, has been a matchup nightmare for opposing coaches. Ludovick Choquette is 17th in total rushing yardage among running backs, and is averaging 7.8 yards per carry while also contributing on special teams.
Add those to a National class that includes other starters like Philpot in year four, Barnes in year three, and second-year man Christy Nkanu, and it’s easy to see how the Stampeders have turned the tide.
Signing Adrian Greene away from the B.C. Lions also proved to be a stroke of genius. Despite missing two games, he has four interceptions and is leading the league at the halfway point.
The Mills Machine
After a rough week against the Redblacks, where Dedrick Mills was limited to just 11 yards on seven carries, he was back to form against the Bombers, taking the ball 18 times for 105 yards.
Mills continues to churn out yardage and now sits second behind James Butler for the league lead. What may be more impressive is that Mills has played seven games against the best four teams against the run on average and still has compiled the totals he has.
Winnipeg has now allowed 706 yards rushing on the season. Mills has 268 of those yards, or 38 percent. That total may have been higher if the Stamps didn’t take him out in the second game, only to see his backup, Choquette, add 59 more yards as the closer.
Sack Lunch Bunch
The Stampeders managed to get to Zach Collaros for four sacks on the day, including two from Jaylon Hutchings, who leads the team with six QB takedowns and is just one away from the league lead.
Hutchings, increasingly a problem as he continues through his first full season, had a calf injury coming into the game that threatened his ability to play, but it didn’t seem to slow him down at all. Neither did additional blockers, as he broke through double teams to pressure Collaros repeatedly.
“I knew I was going to play because we have a bye week coming up that I can use to rest it and get healthy,” Hutchings said after the game.
If a slowed-down and injured Hutchings can do this against the vaunted Blue Bombers, what will he have in store for the Elks come Labour Day?
Just a GOAT doing GOAT things
Rene Paredes hit his 12th career buzzer-beating field goal to win the game, a 40-yarder that wasn’t in doubt from the second it left his foot.
It is the fourth time Paredes has walked off the Bombers, having done it in September 2016, November 2021, and June 2024.
A few moments earlier, Paredes missed from 46 yards after being iced by the Bombers, who called a timeout with under three minutes to go.
Paredes said after the game that his mentality is always about the next kick instead of the last one, but this reporter thought back to his own performing days for the adage that “a poor dress rehearsal makes for a great performance.”
Riding the vibes
While winning cures all ills, there has been a marked change in the Stampeders’ locker room this year, and it hasn’t gone unnoticed by the league’s longest-tenured player.
“You see the vibes in the locker room. It’s completely different. We work hard, we grind all week, guys are buying in, and it’s going to help us towards the end of the year,” Paredes said of the raucous atmosphere post-game.
Those vibes aren’t a joke either.
Before every interview, there is a scramble to ensure that the players have a cowboy hat and expensive shades on for the swagger. Tevin Jones added a towel that is now part of the post-game look.
Players are standing behind the media shouting out hype-up phrases in support of whoever is in front of the microphone at the moment.
Parades summed it up like this: “Dave did a good job of bringing new guys in.”
Finally a breath
Next up for the Stampeders will be a well-deserved bye week.
During this period, they will reflect on their 6-3 start to the season, during which they have already surpassed last season’s win total.
When they return from the bye week, they will face a massive challenge. The league-leading Saskatchewan Roughriders come to town looking for revenge on the Stampeders, who represent the one in the Riders’ 7-1 record through Week 10. Fans from the flatlands often fill the stands at McMahon Stadium as well, taking away a home-field advantage.
Should Saskatchewan fall to Bo Levi Mitchell and the Hamilton Ti-Cats when the Stamps are resting, the game could be for first place in the West Division standings.
