The Stampeders playoff streak is currently the longest in North American professional sports.
The NHL has the shortest current active streaks, with the Boston Bruins and Toronto Maple Leafs tied at eight consecutive seasons. In the NFL, the Kansas City Chiefs have made the playoffs nine seasons in a row.
We go back to Boston for basketball, as the Celtics have punched that ticket for the last ten years. The Los Angeles Dodgers are the clubhouse leader in Major League Baseball at 11 seasons. MLS features the New York Red Bulls with 14 straight.
But, with 18 consecutive trips to the postseason in Calgary, there are fans of the Red and White who can legally drink in the stadium now who weren’t even born the last time the Stampeders missed the playoffs.
While they came within a whisker of missing last season, the Stampeders hoped coming into this year that the 6-12 mark they put up was an aberration to be quickly rectified. After back-to-back losses in the Labour Day Classic and the rematch in Edmonton, it seems nearly impossible to believe that the streak won’t end this season.
They haven’t been swept by Edmonton in the series since 2004, when Matt Dunigan was the coach and the team finished 4-14. A 37-16 defeat on Saturday night broke that streak.
Here’s how it all fell apart at Commonwealth.
Bad bounces, blunders bury Bonner
Logan Bonner came into his first CFL start and looked very efficient in the first quarter. He went two-for-three on his first drive, which ended in a field goal.
Bonner marched down the field on the team’s second drive, taking the ball to the Elks’ six-yard line. He was intercepted on the next play, killing the offensive momentum he had built to that point. That would be the first of five interceptions and seven total turnovers in the game.
I do want to be fair to the young pivot out of Utah State, as three passes were deflected and then intercepted. Another saw the receiver slip before the ball arrived and was caught by an Elks defender. The only truly bad interception thrown was that one in the first quarter.
Bonner also showed the hubris of youth, going downfield frequently when shorter passes may have been available, a hallmark of his college playing days as well. This resulted in the final interception, thrown on the game’s last play when nothing mattered but a last-gasp attempt to throw a TD pass.
All in all, he completed 21-of-36 passes for 286 yards.
It may be difficult to believe after five interceptions, but if Matthew Shiltz isn’t healthy enough to give it a go next week, I think Bonner should get another start. There was a zip to his passes and a willingness to attack that has been missing from this Stampeders attack.
The normal standouts
Given the potential magnitude of this loss, it would be easy to write about everything that went wrong — and there was plenty. But three players deserve credit for their individual games.
Reggie Begelton was used in the way he should be in this offence. Often found in the middle of the field, rather than behind the line of scrimmage waiting for a screen pass, the receiver was targeted 12 times and was the most effective offensive player for the team with eight catches for 123 yards.
On special teams, Rene Paredes did Rene Paredes things and made every kick he was asked to, accounting for all of Calgary’s offensive points.
Which leads to…
A bouquet for Rose
Mike Rose brought Calgary fans to their feet in the fourth quarter when he snatched a McLeod Bethel Thompson pass out of the air and took off, going 83 yards for the score — the second-longest interception return of the season.
It was the only Calgary touchdown of the day.
Rose has been a part of a struggling Calgary defensive line that now has just 18 sacks on the season. He leads the way with four, while James Vaughters has three, and three different players have two each, including Charles Wiley, who was the lone player to reach Bethel-Thompson in this game.
The line has been decimated by free agency over the last two seasons, and the impact of losing Folarin Orimolade, Derek Wiggan, and Issac Adeyemi-Bergland is still being felt.
The Stampeders are the worst in the league against the run and allowed 213 yards to the Elks on 29 carries for a 7.3 YPC average. That is almost a full yard more than their average, which was already a yard worse than any other team in the league. The Ticats are the second-worst in the league, allowing 5.4 yards per carry.
Even more bizarre is that despite how much they have been gashed on the ground, the Stamps came in with the second-fewest rushing attempts against in the league. You really get bang for your buck on handoffs against Calgary!
Hot Seat Gets Hotter
With back-to-back losses to Edmonton for the first time in two decades and league-leading Montreal on the horizon, there is no relief in sight for the Stampeders and their coaching staff.
It is worth noting that their opponent these last two weeks have gone 5-2 since moving on from their head coach and general manager after a poor start to the season, reeling off enough wins to get back in playoff contention.
While I am not suggesting the Stampeders would make a move midseason — something they haven’t done since Steve Buratto was fired five games into the 1985 season — it also wouldn’t come as much of a surprise given recent results.
