Double losses prompt deep reflection
Stamps try to shake off rust after 0-2 start, and there's room for improvement all over
For the first time since Dave Dickenson took over as the Calgary Stampeders head coach, his team has started a season 0-2.
If the Stamps' Week 1 loss to the Toronto Argonauts felt like a game they should have won, well, Week 2 felt different.
The Stamps took too many penalties. They turned the ball over way too often. They couldn't find the end zone.
It was an ugly loss, and the fact that the hours after the 15-9 defeat to the B.C. Lions were spent with fans and media debating Bo Levi Mitchell's health says a lot.
If you want to say it's only
Week 2 and there was no pre-season, that's fine. It's probably fair to acknowledge that the Stampeders are still figuring things out and should get better.
But the wins and losses count just the same.
“It's not pre-season. These count,” said Dickenson. “In the CFL it's not how you start, it's how you finish, but it's a shorter season and we have to figure stuff out real fast.
“Put ourselves in a bit of a hole with two home losses already. I thought we'd have to build — I'm not saying this is unexpected. I did expect us to not self-implode, basically. I didn't expect us to not play a winning style of football and if people beat you, they beat you. Right now, we don't have any business winning football games because we're not playing football.”
Here are 10 takeaways from Thursday's loss:
THE INJURY TALK
It's probably because we're used to seeing Mitchell play at a higher standard than we've seen from him the last two games, but there has been a lot of speculation about whether he's got an injury hampering him right now.
The shoulder surgery he had after the 2019 season has some people concerned.
Mitchell isn't 100 per cent. We've known that since the second week of training camp when groin pain essentially forced him to pull himself out of practices. After Thursday's game, Mitchell insisted there's nothing major going on — or nothing that's affecting his performance, at least.
You wouldn't expect him to make excuses. That's not in his nature.
On Friday, Dickenson did acknowledge that Mitchell isn't in perfect shape.
“It's his lower body; he was limited (in practice this week) and he hasn't practised enough,” Dickenson said. “It's his legs. I feel like (in camp) I wanted him to practice more but he was forced out with the groin. After the first game, he got a hit on his lower body and was sore and he just couldn't feel like he was moving well.
“Unfortunately, what that does is you can't move in or out of the pocket, you're kind of a standing target there.”
THE PICKS, THOUGH
The Stampeders aren't going to win football games if they're turning the ball over repeatedly. That includes turnovers-ondowns, but the interceptions are a concern.
Dickenson said that on at least two of the picks Mitchell threw, the Lions defensive back outplayed the Stamps receiver, but acknowledged that Mitchell may have gotten a little greedy after a couple of nice throws. He tried to force passes into windows that weren't there.
Mitchell's done way-morethan-enough to earn the benefit of the doubt at this point. Throwing a career-high four interceptions stands out specifically because it's a career high.
It would be absurd to suggest that Mitchell won't bounce back. The Stamps just need it to happen sooner rather than later.
PROTECTION
It's worth noting that Mitchell found himself under a lot of pressure for much of the game. He was sacked three times, and the Lions were in his face constantly.
The Stampeders offensive line is a work in progress. We know that. There's talent there, but as a group, the starting five haven't played together that much.
It's reasonable to say they deserve some time to develop chemistry and understanding, but the Stamps do need Mitchell to have more time.
“I think we've just got to execute better,” said Stamps centre Sean Mcewen. “As far as playing together, obviously having more reps will go a long way. But technically, schematically, we've just got to execute better. Myself included.”
PENALTIES
At times, it felt like every time the Stampeders offence would come up with a big play, they'd immediately take a penalty — or they'd lose yards through a sack — the next time they lined up.
In total, the Stampeders were penalized 11 times for 99 yards, and the sheer number of offside and procedure penalties was alarming.
“It's really perplexing,” Dickenson said. “I personally feel like it's just concentration, not in the huddle. The quarterback has to make sure everyone knows what the count is on and I think we're doing a good job. If you're a good offence you change your cadence, and that's what we want to do.
“Unfortunately, it seems like it's causing us as much trouble or more trouble than the other team. Concentration and focus. The lack of it right now is costing us, obviously, as you can tell by the results. It's just not winning football.”
ESTABLISHING THE RUN
We made a big deal about the lengths the Stampeders went to establish their run game in Week 1. They ran the ball 24 times.
In Week 2, that fell off. The Stamps only ran the ball 14 times, and one of those was a short-yardage play where they only needed one yard.
The Stamps were actually pretty decent running the ball on Thursday night. Ka'deem Carey picked up 48 yards on 11 runs, while Ante Milanovic-litre had 18 yards on two carries.
The Stamps were down for most of the game, and in that situation you're inevitably going to throw the ball more than you run it.
Figuring out the balance, though, will undoubtedly help.
SOURCE OF STRENGTH
Lions quarterback Michael Reilly had too much time to move around and find his receivers. That's something the Stampeders acknowledged.
It's worth noting, though, that the combination of Derek Wiggan and Mike Rose remain effective. They each had a sack and clogged up the middle of the line throughout the game.
We knew they were going to be pretty great this season, and while some fans may not be in the mood for looking at the positives, Rose and Wiggan have lived up to their billing.
ANOTHER ONE
Since we're talking about the positives here for a minute, it's worth taking a moment to acknowledge that Darnell Sankey was pretty exceptional in just his second CFL start.
He had eight defensive tackles at middle linebacker. His partner on the weakside, Jameer Thurman, added five.
I'm generally of the opinion that the Stampeders defence responded well after the Lions' early second-quarter touchdown. Perfect? No, and it definitely helped the final score that Lions kicker Takeru Yamasaki missed a couple of field goals he should have made.
But the Stampeders are strong down the middle. Thurman and Sankey are going to be part of the solution for this group.
DECENT DEBUT
Malik Henry had some hiccups in his audition as the Stampeders returner.
He definitely shouldn't have run the ball out of the end zone in the final minute. We know that, but he's a young guy making his debut. Not to make too many excuses, but mistakes do happen.
He also did have a fumble that he recovered. So no, not perfect.
But when he got the ball in his hands, he flashed.
Henry returned four punts for 80 yards. He returned three kickoffs for 81 yards and one missed field goal for 19 yards.
Sean Riley looked pretty good in Week 1, so maybe this is going to be a battle for the foreseeable future. Either way, Henry put his name in the mix.
GET IN THE ZONE
This should probably be listed higher, but the fact that the Stampeders have only scored one touchdown in two games is concerning.
This is probably more of a byproduct of all the other concerns listed above than it's own issue, but the Stamps aren't going to win if they don't score touchdowns.
Right now, they're not scoring touchdowns.
This is, admittedly, not the most insightful takeaway. Could have gone with, “You've gotta pay close attention to Bryan Burnham” instead and just talked about how amazing the Lions receiver is to watch — and boy, is he incredible.
Either way, the Stamps need touchdowns. That's the entire point.
IT DOESN'T GET EASIER
Losing two games at home isn't good, plain and simple. There is, however, still plenty of time to recover and get back in the mix.
The improvements have to come fast, though.
The Stamps face what figures to be a dangerous Montreal Alouettes team next week. Then, they travel to Winnipeg to play the defending Grey Cup champion Blue Bombers, who also happen to have been the only truly convincing team in Week 1.
After that, it's the Labour Day back-to-back. So yeah, there's little room for error.