Top 10 takeaways from Stampeders' season-opening loss to Lions

Calgary Stampeders QB Jake Maier is sacked by BC Lions Mathieu Betts in first half CFL action at McMahon Stadium in Calgary on Thursday, June 8, 2023. Darren Makowichuk/Postmedia

It was not the start the Calgary Stampeders were looking for.

Thursday night’s 25-15 loss to the BC Lions at McMahon Stadium was ugly at times. Maybe the effort was there, but the execution was lacking.

Of course, it was only Week 1. The Stamps always seem to struggle in Week 1, only to bounce back and eventually find themselves in the playoffs. That’s how it goes, right?

Well, we can’t just take that for granted, and the Stampeders know all too well that Thursday’s performance won’t cut it.

Here’s 10 takeaways from their loss to the Lions …

1. ATTENDANCE

There were 17,942 fans at McMahon Stadium on Thursday night.

There’s no way to spin that into a good number. It’s disappointing and, unfortunately, pretty predictable.

A Thursday night during the school year against a Lions team that typically doesn’t draw a ton in Calgary is never a recipe for a big crowd. The fact that the Stamps are fielding a team with a lot of unfamiliar faces and lost some of their more recognizable players — including, in no particular order, Bo Levi Mitchell, Jameer Thurman and Derek Dennis — probably didn’t help much either.

We can go through the list of factors: McMahon Stadium is aging. The Stamps have less visible, physical marketing around the city than they once did, although they’ve upped their social media marketing substantially.

Ultimately, though, less than 18,000 is concerning.

I would like to provide a bit of hope here, though, because I truly believe that we’re seeing efforts from the organization that are encouraging and should be spotlighted. There’s an energy around the efforts of vice-president of business operations Jay McNeil that I believe will pay dividends. I dropped by Stamps House pre-game and was blown away by the renovated and revamped space — the food is awesome, and while I can’t drink at games, it did look like the beverage options were great, too. And to the CFL’s credit, the league already seems to be paying more attention to the Stamps than they did last year. That helps.

The decline in attendance over the last five years is a big concern. There’s work to be done. I just happen to believe that the Stampeders have already begun doing it.

1. WEEK 1

Losing their season opener is, weirdly, something of a trend for the Stampeders.

They’ve won only two of their last seven, with one tie and four losses. For those wondering why I picked seven seasons, that’s how long I’ve been covering the team and when Dave Dickenson took over as head coach, so it’s not as arbitrary as it sounds.

This is obviously something we only have to breakdown once a year, but I do think it’s partially a symptom of the way the Stamps approach their pre-season games. They give a lot of opportunities for young players to show off their skill-sets in those games, while the veterans tend to barely play or not even make it onto the field at all.

Did that put guys like quarterback Jake Maier a little behind the eight-ball compared to his counterpart with the Lions, Vernon Adams Jr? When the two teams met in a pre-season game in Vancouver a week ago, Adams completed 12 passes for 213 yards and three touchdowns. Maier didn’t get in the game.

There’s a difference in philosophy there, it would seem.

Winning your last game of the season matters a whole lot more than winning your first, and that’s probably what matters most, but season openers, man, the Stamps just aren’t that great at them.

Calgary Stampeders Peyton Logan reacts to losing to the BC Lions in CFL action at McMahon Stadium in Calgary on Thursday, June 8, 2023. Darren Makowichuk/Postmedia

1. CAREY

Ka’Deem Carey was getting evaluated while the Stamps took to the field for their rundown on Friday afternoon, so we still don’t have any official word on the injury that took him out of the later parts of Thursday’s game.

It was a foot/toe injury, though, and the Stamps do seem hopeful that he’ll be available next week against the host Ottawa Redblacks.

“I think it was a toe injury, foot injury. He’s a running back so you have to be able to cut and move,” Dickenson said. “He takes care of his body, though, and he’s a tough guy, so let’s see what comes back and see if it’s a sprain or a bone bruise or something like that.”

Carey had seven carries for 37 yards. He’d certainly like to have more, but that’s tough when the Stamps fell behind early and were forced into passing the ball more as a result. Him missing the fourth quarter didn’t help, either.

Ultimately, if Carey does have to miss any time, both Peyton Logan and Dedrick Mills are ready to go. We know they can do the job, but the Stamps are going to need to keep Carey on the field this year.

1. THE PENALTY

Sometimes, there’s just a bit of bad luck involved in these games.

In the third quarter, Mike Rose sacked Adams. That could have been a huge moment in the game, but as Adams fought to stay on his feet, Tre Roberson came in and tackled him. He was called for roughing the passer, which resulted in a first down for the Lions.

It was just one of those tough moments. The Lions quarterback was definitely down — you could see it on the replay. But in the heat of the moment and in the middle of a fast and physical game, you could fully understand why Roberson thought he needed to make the tackle. It’s one of those plays where the ref made the right call, but you can’t help but feel bad for Roberson. Tackling Adams might have been the right play, even if it wasn’t.

Either way, it was one of a number of moments in the game when you felt the script might have flipped in the Stamps’ favour and then it didn’t. Two missed field-goals in the first quarter, a pass in the endzone that Malik Henry just barely dropped …

The Lions deserved to win, and the Stamps have lots of work to do. Football’s a game about execution. But a couple little things going slightly differently, and this might have been a different game.

1. BIG STEP

I’ve been telling people to keep an eye on Tre Odoms-Dukes all pre-season, and he made me look like I might — maybe — know what I’m talking about on Thursday night.

The second-year receiver was arguably the Stamps’ best offensive player. He stepped into the slot receiver role that was vacated by Kamar Jorden this year and made himself available for Maier in some critical moments.

At game’s end, Odoms-Dukes had seven catches for 75 yards and a touchdown. You can’t complain about that.

As receivers coach Nik Lewis said earlier this week, the Stamps are going to be at their best if they have all three of their American receivers going at the same time. That didn’t really happen on Friday night.

But Odoms-Dukes did his part.

1. USING BEGELTON DOWNFIELD

There’s a video on Youtube that features highlights from Reggie Begelton’s 2019 season ( https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2oTBW9JK6cU&ab_channel=ReggieBegelton ), and what’s striking about it is how often the Stamps look to him deep and over the top of the opposition defence.

He’s often seen ripping through the middle of the field and gets behind the opposing DB, catching the ball in stride and then taking off.

That’s not really how the Stamps used him Thursday, and it didn’t really feel like they used him that way all that much in 2022, either.

More often than not against the Lions, Maier would throw the ball to Begelton just a couple yards downfield, and then he’d rely on his exceptional running ability to get a couple yards-after-catch.

That generally works — nobody’s saying it doesn’t. I’ll just be curious to see if and when the Stamps start trying to use him as more of a deep-ball threat again. We know that works, too.

Calgary Stampeders QB Jake Maier battles the BC Lions defence in second half CFL action at McMahon Stadium in Calgary on Thursday, June 8, 2023. Darren Makowichuk/Postmedia

1. PRESSURE

Officially, the Stampeders weren’t credited with a single sack on Friday night, although that’s kind of dumb, because Rose clearly sacked Adams and the play was over before Roberson got that roughing-the-passer penalty. I feel like the sack should still count, but what are you going to do?

Either way, the Stamps didn’t put Adams under the pressure that you’d have liked to see. He had too much time in the pocket, plain and simple.

It’s something Dickenson admitted to plainly on Friday afternoon.

“I feel like we’ve got to be better on our twist game — we’ve got to penetrate more, and we’ve got to get in his face more,” Dickenson said. “But those guys haven’t played together a lot, and I’ve got to look at, as well. Did I give them enough in pre-season? You don’t want guys to get hurt. You don’t want to lose your stars. You think practice is enough — it looked good in practice. But maybe in game-time, it just didn’t have that same tempo and we didn’t execute at the same level that we thought it would.”

1. O-LINE

During Thursday’s game, there were a couple media members from outside the Calgary market who seemed to delight in making jokes about the Stamps cutting Derek Dennis every time Maier was under pressure.

It didn’t matter if the pressure was coming from the middle or the right-hand side, it was still all about the decision to release the Stamps’ long-time left-tackle.

And look, there’s no bigger fan of Dennis than me, but I’m not sure putting the blame on D’Antne Demery makes even a little bit of sense. Honestly, I thought he handled himself pretty OK out there.

But the reality is this: The Stamps had the best o-line in the league last year. On Thursday, they were playing without three of their five starters from last season — Dennis was released at the end of camp, Zack Williams is hurt, and Julian Good-Jones signed with the NFL’s Philadelphia Eagles. That has an impact.

Williams should be back soon, possibly as early as next week, and you’d expect the unit to grow and improve as they get more time together.

I don’t like saying, “It’s Week 1” and using it as an excuse for the Stamps. But in this particular case, it’s probably fair to preach a little patience.

1. LIONS LOOK REAL

I’m one of those media people who hasn’t been taking the Lions particularly seriously. You lose Nathan Rourke, and you lose Bryan Burnham, and I’m going to have questions.

They made me look pretty dumb on Thursday.

They weren’t perfect, but their underrated defensive line was relentless. It was solid in coverage, and Adams looks absolutely locked in. He completed 27-of-35 passes for 270 yards and a touchdown, while also running the ball for 35 yards and a TD.

In all likelihood, the Winnipeg Blue Bombers are going to finish the regular season as the West Division’s top team. It’s more interesting to wonder who might wind up in second.

It was only one game, but the Lions showed me enough that I’ve definitely got them in contention for that No. 2 spot.

1. FIX IT FAST

I would love to go back over the last decade and tell you how the Stamps have done when they’ve played in Ottawa, but unfortunately the CFL’s entire stats apparatus is broken.

But Ottawa’s been a tough place to play for the Stamps, even if they’ve gotten some good results there.

They’ll need to get locked in before next Thursday’s game in our nation’s capital, because while falling to 0-2 doesn’t mean the season’s over or anything, it definitely puts them way behind the eight-ball with big games against the Saskatchewan Roughriders and the Bombers on the horizon.

I don’t feel like anyone’s got a great read on what the Redblacks are going to be this season. But one way or another, the Stamps are going to need to be better in Ottawa than they were at McMahon on Thursday night.

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