The script was well-written this week. Under beautiful sunny skies, the Calgary Stampeders came storming back from a 10-point deficit late in the fourth quarter, including stopping the Saskatchewan Roughriders on a third-and-short in the red zone before driving down the field and having Rene Paredes kick a game-tying field goal to send the game to overtime.
It was a day where the Stampeders saw the largest crowd of the season so far following a well-attended FanFest. Surely the football gods would reward Calgary by allowing them to complete the comeback, right?
Sadly, the answer was no. Starting quarterback Jake Maier threw his second endzone interception — and third of the day — in the second overtime mini-game, sealing a Riders’ win by a score of 26-23.
Here’s what else I saw:
Maier misfires
“It was all instinct. I don’t regret doing it but obviously, I regret the outcome,” Maier said after the game when looking back on the game-sealing interception. “As soon as it left my hand, I thought that maybe we had won the game.”
Maier would throw three interceptions on the afternoon, each of which had a substantial impact. The first was to Rolan Milligan, who must have played basketball at some point in his life as he fumbled the ball forward off the turf and right back into his own hands before almost taking it all the way back for a score.
The play was originally ruled a touchdown, but Milligan was deemed out on the one-yard-line. Saskatchewan would punch it in on the next play.
Maier’s second interception was also a weird play as he threw to Tre Odoms-Dukes in the endzone, only to see the ball knocked away and then kicked into the air by the defender to fall into the waiting arms of Larry Dean. Another fluke play that reminded this reporter of the Kamar Jorden play last year against Winnipeg, where the ball popped off Jorden’s arm into a defender’s hands for a game-sealing pick.
That finality was saved for the third interception in overtime, again in the endzone.
Three picks, game-changing consequences on every one.
To go with the three interceptions, Maier would finish the day 18-of-35 for 288 yards and a touchdown.
The injury bug keeps on biting
Early in the practice week, the Stampeders announced that Reggie Begelton, the team’s top receiver, would be headed to the six-game injured list to join Ka’Deem Carey, who was placed there after the first game of the season.
The man scheduled to replace him, long-time NFL vet Tommylee Lewis, pulled a hamstring in practice this week, continuing his struggles to stay healthy.
The news did not get any better on Saturday night, as the team lost both Peyton Logan and Malik Henry to injury.
Henry went down with a non-contact injury in his “lower ankle” according to Stampeders head coach and general manager Dave Dickenson. While he didn’t specify much else, the coach’s demeanour suggested this could be a long-term situation for last year’s breakout pass catcher.
Peyton Logan had a large ice pack on his knee following the game but was walking around, so that situation will need to be watched.
The Stampeders are heading into a bye week and it could be that Dickenson will have to screw on his GM hat a little tighter this week to find replacements. The cupboards are essentially bare at receiver, with no one but Odoms-Dukes, Luther Hakunavanhu, and Colton Hunchak having played any substantial time in the CFL.
Dickenson said he will need a more formal diagnosis of Henry before reacting but is ready to go looking for help.
“If we need it, we will go try and find the right guys. I’m not saying they are even out there, but I’ve definitely been talking to people and keeping phone and text conversations open if opportunities arise,” he said. “We are pretty beat up right now.”
By the end of the game, the Stampeders had three rookie Canadians and Odoms-Dukes on the field, and that is not the formula for winning games at this level.
Paredes still perfect
Congratulations are in order for Rene Paredes, who hit career field goals number 499 through 502 in this game on a perfect four-for-four outing, including a 53-yarder to send the game to overtime.
Paredes missed two in a row earlier this season but hasn’t been off the mark since. He also didn’t have to make a tackle this week, which I’m sure he will see as an improvement in his game.
For what it is worth, credit to the CFL stats keepers who at the time of this writing have listed Clark Barnes, the rookie receiver, as having gone 0/0 in the field goal department. Important work being done!
Speaking of the football gods
There was a bizarre play early in the game, where Calgary strip-sacked Trevor Harris only to bungle and kick the ball around before Saskatchewan recovered it twelve yards ahead of the previous line of scrimmage.
It was somewhat of a fatal error from one of the Stampeders, who looked to be attempting to pick the ball up when another was diving towards it, causing it to squirt further upfield for the Riders, turning a turnover into a drive-extending first down for Saskatchewan.
Combining that fumble with the basketball dribble by Milligan and the kick-pick by Dean, it seemed that for once everything was going the Riders’ way.
You know the old saying though: “You have to be good to be lucky.” In this one, the Riders were just good enough to beat the Stamps.
At least they tackled hunger
I mentioned earlier that this was the best crowd of the year so far, with an official attendance of 24,923. Many of them were in green, as Rider Nation showed up at McMahon en masse.
The two fanbases also managed to collect the food and cash equivalent of nearly 25,000 pounds of food for the Purolator Tackle Hunger drive, one of the CFL’s most important charity initiatives.
Kudos to all involved in that important work.
Bye week then Blue Bombers
The Stampeders will get a chance to heal this week, before heading into Winnipeg on July 7 as part of a stretch that has them away from McMahon for almost a full month.
It’s tough to build crowd momentum when the schedule sees you away that long but with the other team in town about to go through substantive changes, maybe the Stampeders shouldn’t be going head-to-head against the news behemoth that is the Flames.
