Inside the CFL: Stamps, Riders headed in different directions

By Sean Rooney on October 23, 2018.

Saskatchewan Roughriders' Tre Mason celebrates his touchdown during CFL football action against the Calgary Stampeders in Calgary, Saturday, Oct. 20, 2018. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Jeff McIntosh

“Good game last night,” whispered a friend to me at church Sunday morning.

“I can’t believe how bad they played,” said another the night before.

It’s all a matter of perspective.

The first gentleman was referring to the redemptive performance of the Saskatchewan Roughriders, whitewashed 31-0 in Winnipeg the week before. With the one game suspension to CFL sack leader Charleston Hughes — who was charged with impaired driving and refusing to take a breathalyzer test — plus injuries on the offensive line, a humiliated team in turmoil took on the first place Stampeders in Calgary and won 29-24.

Zach Collaros was good on 24 of 35 passes for 352 yards, no interceptions. Five Riders ran for 140 yards, the leader Cameron Marshall with 76. Receiver Jordan Williams-Lambert continued to shine with five catches for 113 yards.

How dominant was the offence? They only punted three times, the third coming with 34 seconds left. They scored on every other possession. They had the ball for 34:40. When Calgary’s best player Rob Maver kicked them in deep, the Riders escaped from the shadow of their goalposts every time.

Pinned at their six yard line with 2:53 remaining, Collaros threw to Williams-Lambert for 25 yards, a gutsy call by offensive coordinator Stephen McAdoo who is regularly (and fairly) criticized for being too conservative. It was a magnificent, thoroughly dominating performance. I haven’t seen a Stampeder defence manhandled so badly in years. And yet, to keep matters in perspective from a Calgary point of view, they only lost by five points, the same margin of defeat the previous week against B.C.

That is the good news for the Stamp fan who couldn’t believe how poorly his team performed. The offence was dreadful in the first half with Bo Levi Mitchell good on 4 of 7 passes for 48 yards. Collaros had 219 yards through the first 30 minutes. Bo improved the rest of the way completing 11 of 21 for 173 yards. But he threw a pick in the end-zone on a play he could have crawled in on his hands and knees. Later he had a straight path to paydirt but as usual, he refused to run probably depriving his team of victory and possibly first place.

After Calgary dropped a close one to B.C. Oct. 13, I said the Stamps have three games left to pick up a single point and finish first. I went on to say I didn’t think they could do it.

No 12-2 team in CFL history has lost its last four games. To avoid such a result some players need an attitude adjustment. After the game, whistling by the graveyard, Dave Dickenson said, “I like our team a lot, I do. The guys in that room keep fighting. We’ve lost two in a row, but I think personally we’ll make a good run at it and hopefully clinch the West.” Later, he added, “Our team’s building. We’re not where we need to be. We’ve got to get better. We’ll never win unless we get better.” My observation of the dressing room was that too many players aren’t concerned they lost the last two and don’t appreciate the slippery slope they’re on. There’s no turmoil in this dressing room. The last time Calgary lost two in a row at home was 2004.

Each team in the Western Division has sagged at some point during the season. Now it’s Calgary’s turn. The worst possible time? Not necessarily. If I’m right, they’ll host the semifinal on Nov. 11. By then they will have nearly three weeks for Bo to get on the same page with his new receivers and be ready to shoot the lights out.

Last Friday, B.C. completed one of the great comebacks in CFL history. Left for dead after Labour Day with a 2-6 record, the Lions have won six of their last seven and clinched a playoff spot. And they’re not done yet. If they beat Saskatchewan by more than three points on Saturday at Mosaic and knock off Calgary they will finish second. Meanwhile, if Winnipeg ends the season with losses to Calgary and Edmonton, the Eskimos will be in, the playoffs, the Bombers out.

Graham Kelly has covered the CFL for the Medicine Hat News for 46 years. Feedback for this column can be emailed to sports@medicinehatnews.com.