It wasn’t pretty, but win over Riders had positives
Running back adds ground balance to Stampeders’ aerial-heavy offence
Even if it wasn’t the prettiest win anybody has ever seen, a Calgary Stampeders win over the Saskatchewan Roughriders is always going to feel pretty good for the Red & White.
Outside of a third quarter in which the Riders managed to chip away at the Stamps’ 17-0 halftime lead, the home team clearly got the better of the guys in green at McMahon Stadium.
There were some outstanding individual performances, too, and the Stampeders are beginning to look as if they’re rounding into form.
Here are five important takeaways from Saturday night’s proceedings:
1. BALANCE IS BETTER
Through the first four games of the season, the Stampeders were a passheavy team. On Saturday, running back Jerome Messam took over.
Messam had 28 carries for 135 yards and looked unstoppable at times, and the Stampeders are quite simply a better team when the 32-year-old is running over defenders and allowing Bo Levi Mitchell a little more room to find his receivers.
The Stamps ran the ball the same number of times as they threw it on Saturday, and while that’s not likely to be the case every week, the game provided a reminder of just how dangerous a weapon Messam can be.
2. HEALTHY AND HAPPY
With Charleston Hughes returning to the Stampeders lineup following a two-week injury absence, the defensive line looked like the dominant unit everyone knows it can be.
In the first half alone, Hughes had three sacks while James Vaughters chipped in with two.
The team is still without some big names on the D-line, and Cordarro Law and Ja’Gared Davis aren’t going to be back anytime soon.
With the guys the Stamps do have at their disposal, though, it’s going to take a herculean effort for an opposing offensive line to keep their quarterbacks safe and create holes for running backs.
After a couple of weeks where it felt like the D-line was in a constant state of crisis due to injuries, things are beginning to get back to normal.
3. ON POINT
Remember earlier this season, when Rene Paredes seemed to be really struggling at kicking both field goals and converts. That feels like a long time ago, doesn’t it?
A week after going five-for-five on field goal attempts against the Montreal Alouettes, Paredes was perfect again on Saturday, going two-fortwo. One of those field goals was from 47 yards, and it appears that the Stamps can once again have confidence in a guy who is among the best in the business when he’s on his game.
4. GET HIM GOING
As always, Mitchell did well to spread the ball around to his receivers on Saturday.
Both Kamar Jorden and Marquay McDaniel finished the game with 88 receiving yards, while Lemar Durant stepped up and finished with four catches for 61 yards.
It’s incredibly hard for defences to focus in on one receiver against this Stamps team, and that’s allowing multiple guys to thrive.
Ideally, though, the Stamps will find a way to get DaVaris Daniels going. Yes, the sophomore receiver is receiving a lot of attention from top defenders, but he’s too valuable to end games with only one catch for 17 yards, the way he did on Saturday.
5. PACE OF PLAY
This isn’t meant as a knock on either head coach from Saturday night, as both Stamps head coach Dave Dickenson and Riders coach Chris Jones have an obligation to their teams to challenge calls they think are wrong.
But wow, did the opening minutes of Saturday’s game feel like they stretched on forever, particularly when both coaches challenged the same play backto-back.
With TV timeouts getting called in the ensuing minutes, the first quarter felt unbearably long, and it couldn’t have been a fun in-stadium experience for the crowd that gathered at McMahon Stadium.
The CFL needs to take a look at how it can keep things moving, or fans will continue to become more resistant to leaving the comfort of their homes to watch games live and in-person.