Stamps stay away from playing the blame game
Key mistakes at pivotal moments were nemesis of otherwise solid outing
Marquay McDaniel didn’t hide his feelings on Kamar Jorden’s late fumble in Sunday’s Grey Cup.
His teammates, though, refused to follow suit.
Jorden made a mistake and fumbled a ball. It allowed the Toronto Argonauts to recover and run 109 yards downfield for a touchdown that would tie the game.
The Argos kicked a field goal a couple minutes later and then Bo Levi Mitchell threw an interception in the end zone.
The Argos are 2017 Grey Cup champions. The Stampeders are not.
Mitchell, for his part, refused to condemn his receiver.
“I think (Jorden) had a hell of a game. I think he balled out all game and was locked in,” Mitchell said.
“It was one bad play. I know he’ll kick himself for it, but we love him and it’s not on that one play. We had a chance to win the game at the end of the game.”
McDaniel, though, came out on the offensive.
“It’s a stupid play,” McDaniel said. “You can talk all you want about doing this, doing that, but it’s a dumb play. Stupid football lost this game and offensively, we left our defence out to dry.”
The mood in the Stampeders locker-room last year after they lost to the Ottawa Redblacks in the Grey Cup can mostly be described as sadness.
They were gutted. They couldn’t believe they’d lost, but outside of a few criticisms from Mitchell and Jerome Messam about Dave Dickenson’s decision to give the ball to third-string quarterback Andrew Buckley on a late play, they seemed united.
On Sunday, they were mad. Not necessarily mad at Jorden, but mad nonetheless.
Only McDaniel really ripped on his fellow receiver, though, but he didn’t hold back.
“I mean, you’re not going nowhere,” McDaniel said.
“Have two hands on the ball. Where you going? You’re in traffic. Put two hands on the ball. Go down, and at worst we’re going to get a field goal. I just don’t get it, honestly. It is what it is.”
There’s no denying that Jorden made a mistake, but it’s not entirely fair to blame Jorden for the loss.
The fact is, the Stampeders had other opportunities.
They got the ball back with less than a minute on the clock and Jorden made a spectacular catch to move them into field position, but Mitchell threw an interception.
A field goal would have tied the game and sent it to overtime, but they opted to go for the win.
Even on the play in which Jorden fumbled, the Stamps were on the eight-yard line and a field goal would have put them ahead by 11 points.
Maybe giving the ball to Messam was the safer choice.
To pin this game on Jorden — or Tommie Campbell, who got beat by DeVier Posey on a 100-yard touchdown — ignores a lot of that.
After a huge game personally, a devastated DaVaris Daniels defended his friend and teammate.
“That’s not the reason we lost the game,” Daniels said. “We had plenty more opportunities. We had plenty more possessions where we could have done more with the ball as an offence but we didn’t.
“That play’s going to stand out because of the type of game it was, but this one sucks. It’s on everybody, it’s not on one person.”
NOT MUCH COULD BE SAID
Dickenson admitted that he hadn’t said much to his team when he’d addressed them in the lockerroom post-game.
Clearly as devastated as his players, Dickenson explained that Sunday was just one of those times where there’s not much point in trying to make anyone feel better.
“I couldn’t (say) much, I really couldn’t,” Dickenson said. “It’s too fresh, it’s too hard. Any words I say, they won’t resonate. They won’t make anyone feel better. They’re just words.”
Dickenson did his best to answer questions from the media after the loss, but he struggled.
He was hurting and needed some time.
So will his players.
FINAL GAME NOTES
There were some good performances from the Stampeders in Sunday’s game. And it’s a shame that they will get lost in the disappointment of the defeat. So we’ll just name a few here. Daniels was excellent. Micah Johnson locked down the middle. Randy Colling was actually impressive in limited playing time. Jameer Thurman was the best player in the first half. Charleston Hughes and Ja’Gared Davis put Ricky Ray under lots of pressure … If this was the last game of Rob Cote’s career, it’s an awful way to go out for a class act.
That play’s going to stand out because of the type of game it was, but this one sucks. It’s on everybody, it’s not on one person.