Stamps out to plug hole on special teams
Reassessment underway after coverage unit gets burned by two punt-return TDS
Allowing two punt-return touchdowns in one game just isn’t good enough.
It’s not good enough for Calgary Stampeders special teams coach Mark Kilam, and it’s not good enough for the guys on the unit Kilam coaches, either.
Last week against the Winnipeg Blue Bombers, the Stamps allowed returner Janarion Grant to scamper downfield for two punt-return touchdowns.
It might be reductive to say those two big plays cost the Stampeders the game — and first place in the West Division, for now — but, also, maybe not?
“That’s about as bad as it gets,” said Stamps special teams dynamo Charlie Power.
“The message from Kilam was we got kicked in the teeth and the only thing to do is put your chin down and fight back, so that’s what we’re going with.
“We know one game doesn’t define us. We’re not changing a whole lot, we’re just getting back to what we were doing before that game.”
Watching Grant’s two TDS, it’s surprising how much space he had when catching the ball. It’s not as if he pulled off a couple of miraculous jukes and broke a few tackles before finding the tiniest of holes and taking off downfield.
The Stampeders allowed Grant time and space, and he made them pay.
So what exactly went wrong? Immediately after the game, head coach Dave Dickenson was deeply critical of the effort on punt coverage.
“It was very disappointing. You could see them develop, we didn’t have very many people even around the ball,” Dickenson said. “Mark’s a great coach and we have to figure it out. We’ve got to get some people who take some pride in covering kicks and making sure we get the job done.
“There’s some great returners, some great schemes and all that business, but a lot of times special teams is effort and ... ‘I’m going to make sure I beat you in a one-onone battle,’ and obviously we lost most of those tonight.”
This week, Dickenson has acknowledged injuries have had an effect on the coverage unit.
Nate Holley is the team’s leader in special teams tackles with 12, but was used heavily as the team’s starting weakside linebacker against the Bombers due to an injury to Wynton Mcmanis.
There are other injuries, too, but Kilam dismissed the notion they were at the core of what was ailing the Stamps against the Bombers.
The Stampeders have spent the week watching film and trying to figure out what went wrong so they can fix it, and that’s got nothing to do with injuries.
“We identified a lot of things on film that we want to get better at ... how we’re fitting off each other on the (point of attack), the kick placement,” Kilam said.
“When things go wrong there’s a lot of errors, and I looked at myself first and how I can give them more variations to work with and coach it better, and how they understand how we want to fit the point-of-attack.”
The game against the Bombers marked the second time the Stamps have allowed two touchdowns on kicks/punts so far this year.
It also happened against the Hamilton Tiger-cats in mid-july when they allowed a touchdown on a missed field goal and another on a kickoff.
That’s not great, although you could argue it’s consistent with the leaguewide trend of big returns.
As a whole, the CFL is on pace to shatter previous records for return touchdowns.
As you might expect, Kilam wasn’t receptive to that suggestion.
Other teams might be allowing big returns, but that doesn’t make it acceptable for the Stampeders to do the same.
“No, I’ve always been a huge proponent of the return game. I think it’s the best part of the CFL,” Kilam said.
“For special teams coaches this year, the highs and lows are real. When you’re making plays it’s great, but when you’re giving up plays, especially when it costs your football team games, that’s tough to deal with.”
We’ve got to get some people who take some pride in covering kicks and making sure we get the job done.