Typically, I try to find something fun to reference in the opening lines of these articles, before moving on to tell you the seven to 10 things I noticed about the game. But after the Calgary Stampeders’ 33-30 playoff loss to the B.C. Lions on Saturday, it is time for a break from format.
Instead, I will fall back on the adage that five plays make or break a football team on any given day. It’s a school of thought so popular, not even the internet can quickly tell me who said it first.
In a game with a margin as razor-thin as a walk-off field goal, a few plays immediately come to mind. Here is the list in order of importance, not necessarily in chronological order:
The Kick Return Touchdown
The Stampeders had just scored a touchdown to get the game back within six points with an authoritative drive that signalled what was to come for the rest of the second half from the Calgary offence.
Rene Paredes kicked off, and Robert Carter Jr. dipsy-doodled his way through the Stampeders’ cover team on his way to a 95-yard touchdown that erased everything Calgary had spent the previous five minutes of game clock accomplishing.
It was just the second kick return touchdown the Stampeders surrendered in 2025, and it could have hardly come at a worse time.
The Doink
Rene Paredes hasn’t missed many converts this season, scoring a point on 41-of-43 attempts.
However, after the Stampeders scored a touchdown to tie the game at 27 in the fourth quarter, Paredes clanked one off the right upright. That resulted in a dead ball and kept the game tied, instead of giving Calgary a one-point lead.
Paredes will likely be forgiven by long-time fans of the club, as he is a first ballot Hall of Famer and, for my money, the best CFL kicker to ever do it. But in the moment, that miss loomed large.
The Fumble
The Stampeders’ defence played incredibly well against the best the CFL has to offer in Nathan Rourke and the B.C. Lions.
Time and time again, they forced Rourke off the field with relentless pressure from the front four. With just under two minutes left in the game, they got to Rourke again, forcing a punt that was caught at the Calgary 38-yard line.
Erik Brooks took a few steps and collided with Ben Labrosse from behind, fumbling the ball as it appeared to be hit by the tip of Labrosse’s elbow. The ball was then recovered at the Calgary 32-yard line by the Lions.
Instead of having possession in a tie game, near midfield, with an opportunity to grind the clock and walk it off themselves, suddenly the Stampeders were back out on defence.
The defence generated a quick two-and-out and forced a field goal, allowing the offence time to tie it up again shortly thereafter. In this instance, they still deserved better.
The Penultimate Blow
As good as the defence was all day long, at the very end, they gave up a dagger. Justin McInnis caught a 28-yard pass to get the Lions into field goal range with just three seconds remaining. It was the final play before Sean Whyte would walk it off and send the Lions to Saskatchewan for the West Final.
The team had held Rourke to under 200 passing yards before that play put him over. It capped what would have been considered a subpar effort if the Lions had lost.
The Expired Clock
While all of the other plays happened in the second half, we can also look at the play that ended the first half as a “what could have been” moment.
Adams Jr. got the team within field goal range with eight seconds left on the clock and a timeout remaining in the first half, at that point trailing 13-7. He would then take the snap, scramble towards the sideline, and find Tevin Jones on the four-yard line for a bobbled completion.
Normally great news, but the play took nine seconds. That meant the Stampeders came within a whiff of the goal line, but got nothing to show for it.
Add a likely field goal here, tack on the missed convert, and suddenly the Stampeders have 34 points instead of 30, and the B.C. walk-off doesn’t win the game. The Lions would have needed a touchdown rather than just a go-ahead field goal.
Neither of those two plays are clock-affected either, so the hypothetical butterfly effect of those makes would be lessened as far as overall impact on later decisions is concerned.
This wasn’t the only clock management mistake that would bite the Stampeders on the rear end in this game, as they also chose to leave time on the clock for Nathan Rourke in the fourth quarter with a pair of incompletions in the last minute. But I did say I’d limit myself to writing about the five plays that cost Calgary the game, and that would make six.
Next up
The Stampeders head home with garbage bag day to come. The team that everyone wrote off in the preseason still finds itself without a playoff win since 2018.
However, after more than doubling their win total from last year, while also fielding one of the youngest lineups in the league with incredible young Canadian depth, there seems to be an optimism amongst fans that had been missing since the pandemic.
Who will remain with the club at all levels remains to be seen, but any changes to come will be reported right here on 3DownNation.
As I approach the eighth anniversary of my first article published here, I remain humbled that you, the reader, still take the time to find out what I think each and every week.
Is it June yet?
Ryan Ballantine is a lifelong Stamps fan and host of the Go Stamps Go Show Podcast. He has been covering the team since 2008.
