Everything still in reach for Stamps
Game against Lions a necessary win
The Calgary Stampeders have the chance to flip the narrative.
If there’s any silver lining to the three-week swoon that they’re carrying into this week as they prepare to try one more time to clinch first place in the West Division, it’s that for all the losses, they still haven’t actually lost anything meaningful within the context of the entire season.
Beat the B.C. Lions on Saturday in Vancouver, and their threegame losing streak will have largely been meaningless in the standings. They ’ll still be hosting the West final at home on Nov. 18, and they ’ll still end the regular season with the best record in the entire CFL.
That’s what happens when you only lose one game before Labour Day. Some people might say that the season only starts in September, but the wins the Stampeders earned themselves between June and August bought them a heck of a lot of breathing room. Of course, now they actually have to win.
Even if they’re facing off against a Lions team with nothing to win or lose in Saturday’s contest, the way the Stamps have played over the past couple weeks isn’t exactly reassuring. And the Stamps seem completely unconvinced that the Lions will be taking it easy or resting key players as they prepare for the playoffs. There’s a lot on the line Saturday and it won’t be easy.
“Trust me, B.C. is going to play,” Stampeders head coach Dave Dickenson told Calgary reporters in a post-practice media session on Tuesday morning that was posted to social media by the team. “(Lions head coach Wally Buono) is going to have those guys ready and they’re going to be out there to win.”
If the Stampeders are going to pull off the win in Vancouver, they’re going to need to clean things up. Ball security is and will be a focus. On the passing side, there’s reason for optimism there. Bo Levi Mitchell generally looks like he has found some chemistry with the receivers who have come into the lineup to cover for the Stamps’ plethora of injured stars.
Defensively, there is a lot of work to be done, too. The defence needs to at least start to look like the unit that dominated everyone who stood in their way for the first three and a half months of the season.
Ultimately, the narrative surrounding the Stampeders for the last couple of years has been that they stumble at the tail-end of the season. Losing two Grey Cups in a row will do that to a team.
There’s a long way to go before they can flip that narrative, but they have the chance this week to prove that they can handle a little adversity and still come out on top.