STAMPS STOMPED AT HOME
Roughriders hand hosts a rare defeat
If you were drawing up the worst possible way for a game against the Saskatchewan Roughriders to go for the Calgary Stampeders, it would have looked an awful lot like what happened at McMahon Stadium on Friday night.
Bo Levi Mitchell couldn’t seem to find his receivers.
Jerome Messam had trouble gaining more than a couple yards a carry.
And worst of all, after a week in which Mitchell taunted the Riders’ Duron Carter on Twitter, the receiver-turned-defensive back delivered a gut-punch pick-six in the fourth quarter that essentially sealed the game for the visitors.
There was no silver lining Friday for the Stamps (13-2-1), who fell 30-7 to the Riders (9-7-0).
The Stampeders’ 17-game winning streak at home was snapped.
Their dreams of clinching the West Division will have to wait at least another day.
But more importantly, for the second straight game their offence seemed to struggle.
Mitchell’s night ended early after a performance that saw him complete 14-of-27 passes for 136 yards, while throwing for two interceptions and zero touchdowns.
Messam finished with 43 yards on 11 carries after dominating the Riders in the teams’ two previous showings.
Kamar Jorden’s six receptions for 68 yards were a bright spot, but only if you ignore the third quarter fumble that the Riders’ Jovon Johnson recovered and took back to the Stamps’ three-yard line.
Shortly afterward, Vernon Adams Jr. punched the ball in for a touchdown that gave the Riders a 21-4 lead once they’d converted for two points.
The Stamps pulled one back on an impressive 48-yard field goal from Rene Paredes near the end of the third quarter, but it wasn’t long before Carter would put the game to rest with an interception and 37-yard run into the end zone.
It was a statement touchdown and the entire Riders bench seemed to storm onto the field to celebrate, knowing they’d become the first team all season to beat the Stampeders at home.
While it will offer little consolation for the Stampeders, the defence did manage to mostly hold its own.
Of the Riders’ 30 points, one touchdown came from a Christion Jones punt return in the second quarter, one came from Carter’s interception and another came after Jorden’s fumble and the subsequent drive that started on the Stamps’ own three-yard line.
The defence did manage to chase Riders starting quarterback Kevin Glenn off the field in the first quarter after limiting him to one completion on three attempts and sacking him twice.
Brandon Bridge replaced Glenn and found considerably more success, completing 10-of-19 passes for 133 yards, although he threw two interceptions
With Bridge, from Toronto, stepping in for the Riders and Calgary’s own Andrew Buckley taking snaps under centre for the Stampeders, Friday’s game marked the first time anyone at McMahon could remember two Canadian quarterbacks playing in the same game.
On another night, that would have been a major story.
But on Friday, the Stampeders had bigger things to worry about.
After struggling in last weekend’s 28-25 victory over the Hamilton Tiger- Cats, the offence again looked like something was missing on Friday.
There is lots of time to correct the mistakes and the Stamps will almost certainly host the West Division final this year.
But the Riders managed to prove that McMahon Stadium isn’t always the impenetrable fortress it’s sometimes portrayed as. Winning the Western Final can’t feel like a guarantee anymore.
There’s no reason to give up on this team at all, but if the Stamps are going to fulfil the destiny they see for themselves and win the 2017 Grey Cup, Friday night’s game needs to be a wake-up call.
Their season depends on it.
BRUTAL BREAK
If Marken Michel’s season ended Friday night, it would be an especially cruel end to a spectacular rookie season.
Heading into Friday’s tilt with the Saskatchewan Roughriders, the Calgary Stampeders receiver was putting together a resume that might have made it hard to deny him the CFL’s Most Outstanding Rookie award at season’s end.
Not only had he caught 42 receptions for 784 yards, he had become such a reliable outlet for Mitchell that he’d fully solidified his spot in the team’s starting lineup.
“Marken’s not coming off the field,” Stampeders head coach Dave Dickenson said earlier this week.
“He’s had a good year. I think he’s been a good find for us, and he’s getting better, and ultimately has been giving defences problems, and that’s what we like.”
None of that changes just because Michel got hurt Friday night.
Still, though, it was hard not to feel sorry for the 24-year-old when he needed to be helped off the field after going down with an apparent hamstring injury in the first quarter.
It didn’t take long for the Stampeders to announce that he would not return.
The question now is how long he’ll be out.
While the Stampeders are relatively healthy right now, their receiving group has been hit hard by injuries throughout the season.
Kamar Jorden returned last weekend against the Hamilton Tiger-Cats, and DaVaris Daniels was back in the lineup for Friday’s game against the Riders.
By all accounts, Marquay McDaniel should be ready to go next week, despite missing this weekend.
But Michel has made himself invaluable to the Stamps offence and had seemed to be getting better every game as he familiarized himself more and more with the Canadian game.
If he’s out for an extended period, there’s no question the Stampeders will miss him.
QUICK CHANGE
Kevin Glenn didn’t even last a quarter.
While the Riders opted to go with Glenn at QB to start the game, the Stampeders jumped all over the veteran quarterback in the early going.
When the Riders got the ball with 2:32 left in the first quarter, it was Brandon Bridge they saw under centre.
The move paid immediate dividends for the Riders, and the Stampeders struggled to sack Bridge the way they had Glenn, who was taken down twice in his limited time.
By the end of the second quarter, though, the Stampeders did appear to have figured out Bridge a little bit, as both Brandon Smith and Ciante Evans picked off throws from the Canadian QB.