After a Labour Day Classic in which the Calgary Stampeders won by three touchdowns on a day when they didn’t quite have the offence going, you can forgive most pundits for expecting the team that swept both Saskatchewan and Winnipeg to head up the highway and lay a similar beating on their provincial rivals.
Instead, Justin Rankin ran roughshod over the Calgary squad, and their defence swarmed the Calgary receivers en route to a 31-19 victory over the suddenly injury-depleted Stampeders.
Here’s what I saw from the press box at Commonwealth Stadium.
Packed trainers’ table
Already missing potential all-star defensive tackle Jaylon Hutchings as a game-time decision, this game went from bad to worse for Calgary.
Early on, Vernon Adams Jr. was hit and fell awkwardly into the leg of right-tackle Joshua Coker, who had to leave the game. That sent Zack Williams, who typically plays guard, out to play tackle for the first time at the professional level. It also promoted Tomas Jack-Kurdyla to a full-time role, replacing Williams. All of this with starting left tackle D’Antne Demery already on the shelf.
“It didn’t go well for us…” said head coach and general manager Dave Dickenson after the game. “(Williams) has practiced at tackle but never played there, but that’s the reality with small rosters. I’m not saying it was one guy either. (Edmonton) had some good games inside, and good moves inside, and when you are ahead, you can just pin your ears back.”
Hits keep coming
It wasn’t just the offence that suffered a blow to a starter. Folarin Orimolade also left the game and was spotted on the sideline late using crutches with a large bag of ice around his ankle.
Already missing Hutchings, and losing Orimolade and later Shaun Peterson Jr, who was helped off after a punt return block, Dickenson still wasn’t using the injuries as an excuse.
“These are tough games, and physical games, and they beat us. They were the more aggressive team, and I’m sure they had their injuries as well,” he said.
Stampeders linebacker Derrick Moncrief was also unwilling to accept that the team suffered as a result of the injuries.
“Professional sports is about the next man up,” he stressed. “The next man has got to embrace the opportunity, embrace the change, and go out there and do the best job he can.”
Back-to-back average Adams
It was another week of frustration for Vernon Adams Jr. against the Elks.
After throwing for just 162 yards last week, Adams was again held below his season average. He completed 15-of-29 passes for 229 yards, with no touchdowns and no interceptions.
VA thought he had a touchdown on the game’s opening drive, but upon review, it was determined that Jalen Philpot hadn’t secured the ball well enough when hitting the ground, and the Stampeders settled for a field goal.
Adams did find Erik Brooks for a 55-yard completion that eventually led to a Quincy Vaughn touchdown plunge, but it was an otherwise quiet day for the pivot. He was also sacked four times in the game and pressured frequently once the injury to Coker occurred.
“That’s a good team over there, but we weren’t making our plays,” Adams said while also mentioning the difficulty of shuffling the offensive line.
Adams was pulled from the game in favour of PJ Walker for the final offensive series, a move Dave Dickenson said was about the long-term season outlook rather than a need to win a single game. Adams had been sacked twice on the previous drive.
“We weren’t protecting him enough. At that point, you are still trying to win, but you have to understand that the CFL season is a war and not an individual battle,” Dickenson said. “I felt like we were going to keep battling, but I didn’t feel comfortable putting him back in there and potentially putting ourselves at a bigger risk.”
Mills neutered by scoreboard
The game script and injury situation took Dedrick Mills out of the conversation early as well, with the running back carrying the ball just eight times for 38 yards — his second-lowest number of carries on the season.
Mills also added 27 yards through the air on a fantastic catch-and-run on a second-and-22 situation that led to another Quincy Vaughn touchdown.
The 28-year-old is approaching the 1,000-yard mark for the season, needing 118 more yards to get there for the first time in his CFL career.
Paredes off-target
It was also an unusual night for Rene Paredes, who missed both a convert and a field goal attempt, both of which were returned out of the endzone.
Paredes initially thought he made the convert, but it struck the flag on the outside of the goal post.
Mark Vassett, the punter and holder on the field goal unit, made a heavy tackle along the sidelines that prevented the convert from being returned for two points.
While typically sure-footed, Paredes’ misses caused the game to be somewhat out of reach towards the end, as the four lost points were the difference between needing one touchdown and two.
There have been far more wins than losses on Paredes’s foot over the years, but it does need to be mentioned that the league’s oldest player is below 80 percent on his field goal percentage this season.
It doesn’t mean anything, but the last time Paredes finished below 80 percent in a season, the Stampeders took home the 2014 Grey Cup.
Next up
The Stampeders head back out on a bye week and will begin looking for help from elsewhere in the league when they return.
With this loss and Saskatchewan’s win over Winnipeg in the Banjo Bowl, the Stampeders now sit two games back of the Riders in the race for first place in the West Division. They are also two games ahead of the Bombers, and own the season series in that matchup.
All this means is that the team will be looking to clinch a playoff spot, potentially as early as the game against B.C., where a win combined with a pair of Toronto and Ottawa losses over the next two weeks would guarantee Calgary no worse than a crossover berth.
Once that spot is secured, the team will look to secure a home playoff game, something it hasn’t done since losing to the Blue Bombers in 2019.
