GAME 5: STAMPEDERS vs Ottawa RedBlacks

[OzSome]

Ottawa RedBlacks started well in the season winning the first 2 games to equal their number of wins last season. The last two games against Edmonton Eskimos they went back to earth losing two games on a home-and-home series. RedBlacks is now 2-2 in the season while Calgary Stampeders is leading the Western Conference with 3-1 record. Stamps are not even playing their full potential yet with breakdown on defense, inconsistent offense, injuries and tons of penalties. Makes me wonder what can they do if their offense starts clicking consistently, defense cut down on their mistakes, eliminate the dumb penalties.

GAME TIME: Friday, July 24th at 5:00pm Mountain Time
TD Place Stadium (Ottawa)

TELEVISED: TSN in Canada, ESPN2 in the US

OFFENSE:

RB Jon Cornish were having a slow start in the first 3 games but finally had a great game starting in the 2nd half of last week's game vs Winnipeg. Cornish rushed for 120 yards earning him one of the Top Performer in the CFL last week. WR Eric Rogers also had a great game with 4 receptions for 71 yards with 1 TD. WR Joe West had a memorable game the last time Stamps played the Redblacks in Ottawa last season. With a heavy heart after finding out his brother got killed, he caught 4 passes for 129 yards earning his the CFL Player of the Week.

Offensive Line is having some injury problems. Edwin Harrison and Dan Federkeil already out because of the injury in the game against Toronto in Week 3. Last week, C Pierre Lavertu went down for a few series and Karl Lavoie taking his spot. A few series later after the Stamps scored a TD, Lavoie got hurt but he still stayed in the game for 2-point convert. Pierre Lavertu was forced back to the lineup when Lavoie couldn't go back anymore. Lavoie will be out for at least a few months. Hufnagel is now trying to figure out which OLine he will insert in the lineup against Ottawa. Is is National OL Paul Swiston or International OL Andre Ramsey? Having an International OLine (Garry Williams) in the lineup already all indication is Swiston will be in the lineup but during Huf's interview the other day, he mentioned that they played one International player short last week. With injury problems with OLine, Calgary signed International OL John Estes to a practice roster. Estes played as a right guard in his freshman season at University of Hawaii but switched his position as centre on his sophomore season.

DEFENSE:

Aside from the breakdown early in the game, defense actually played well during the game against Winnipeg. DE Freddie Bishop III had 3 tackles and 2 QB sacks last week vs Winnipeg. MLB jUwan Simpson then sealed the deal with an interception on Winnipeg last possession. Hopefully the defense plays in the 2nd half of the game last week will continue and give Henry Burris and company trouble. Secondary especially will have to play much better. DB Fred Bennett was back in practice this week after getting hurt in the game against Bombers.

SPECIAL TEAM:

I think we have to give the ST a lot of credit for the win. They delivered when the Stams are down by 2 TD early in the first half. Adam Berger was biggest catalyst forcing a fumble with Stamps recovering the fumble. They ended up scoring a TD and 2-point convert on that turnover. He then blocked the punt after a few series and Adam Thibault recovered the ball and ended up scoring a TD. Returner Tim Brown is now starting to get some good returns. His stat is now 10 kickoff return fr 238 yards and 15 punt returns for 134 yards. K Rene Paredes is still struggling but he made the FG agan when the team really needed it. He was good on his final FG late in the game that gave the Stamps the win.

OPPONENT:

Redblacks probably have one of the best receiving group in the CFL. They have former Stampeders Maurice Price and Brad Sinopli(23 for 243 yards and 1 TD). Former TiCats speedy receiver Chris Williams, Ellingston, Ernest Jackson. The question now is which Burris is going to quarterbacking for Ottawa, is it Hank or Frank?

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GO STAMPS GO!!!

[Pizza]

Redblacks probably have one of the best receiving group in the CFL. They have former Stampeders Maurice Price and Brad Sinopli(23 for 243 yards and 1 TD). Former TiCats speedy receiver Chris Williams, Ellingston, Ernest Jackson. The question now is which Burris is going to quarterbacking for Ottawa, is it Hank or Frank?

**********************************************

GO STAMPS GO!!!

Because I know Brad and you keep spelling his name incorrectly...

http://i.imgur.com/vub0CTL.jpg

[jayswin]

Did Ottawa really call their stadium TD Place Stadium? Isn't that kind of redundant?

[PostandIn]

Early contact by the DB on 1st down - no flag. Catchable ball dropped on 2nd down. So, the usual Stamps start.

[MissTeeks]

A first quarter lead! Burris couldn't hit the broad side of a barn so far.

[OzSome]

Because I know Brad and you keep spelling his name incorrectly...

http://i.imgur.com/vub0CTL.jpg

For some reason I keep thinking his name 'Si-nop-li' instead of 'Si-no-po-li'. Sorry dude i don't usually makes mistakes on player's name.

[OzSome]

Damn way too many stupid penalties already. 2nd down and 1 after Cornish 9-yards run but due to stupid penalty they didn't get the first down and settled for a field goal.

Calgary 11-0 in the first quarter.

[OzSome]

Ottawa just scored a TD (Burris to Jackson) then a 2-point convert (Burris to Jeremiah Johnson).

Hate to say this but there are way too many penalty flags thrown so far between the Stamps and Redblacks and it was only a first quarter.

[nixon45]

Brutal defensively on 2nd downs on that drive by Ottawa.

[nixon45]

Thank you Cappiciotti

[OzSome]

big play by Rob Cote then Cornish punched it in. Touchdown Calgary!!

[OzSome]

Josh Bell. Drop down on that stupid ball. Game is now tied 19-19

[OzSome]

Cool..Convert is not good because the ball-carrier was fumbled before he cross the goal line. Never heard of this rule before but it probably just applies to a 2-point convert.

[OzSome]

Another freaking dumb penalty. Time clock violation and lost of down. Luckily Ottawa just answered it with another dumb penalty roughing the kicker.

Wow Anthony Parker just fimbled the ball recovered by Ottawa. Freaking strange game.

[EldrickOnIce]

I didn't think you could fumble forward into the end zone and recover for td. Ball back to point of contact? Would that not be ruling?

[OzSome]

I didn't think you could fumble forward into the end zone and recover for td. Ball back to point of contact? Would that not be ruling?

That could be the case. I can't figure out what is the reason for it other than what you said.

[OzSome]

I am kind of curious how many penalty has been thrown so far.

[Frank MetaMusil]

First and 5 and Calgary decides to throw the ball twice. I strongly dislike Dave Dickenson's play calling.

[MissTeeks]

Crap:

@SUNMitchell: Jon Cornish is going for X-rays on his thumb and is questionable to return. #CFL

[OzSome]

According to Jock Climie, when Ottawa fumbled the ball before he went in the end zone the referee should have blown it dead unless Ottawa recover the ball on the end zone right away.

[OzSome]

Crap:

@SUNMitchell: Jon Cornish is going for X-rays on his thumb and is questionable to return. #CFL

I thought I saw the trainer looking at his hand earlier. Then he went to rushed the ball so I figure it is just nothing. That's sucks!

[MissTeeks]

Not coming back tonight either:

@TSNScianitti: #Stampeders just told me Jon Cornish is out of the game #CFL #FNF

[MissTeeks]

Ugh!

@TSNScianitti: #Stampeders staff now looking at Charleston Hughes's left shoulder #CFL #FNF

[OzSome]

Ugh!

@TSNScianitti: #Stampeders staff now looking at Charleston Hughes's left shoulder #CFL #FNF

Seriously??? Every game someone goes down.

Good gamble by Rick Campbell not giving up a safety. They only gave up 3 points instead of potential 2 points or 5 or 9 points. Kind of makes me wonder why give up a safety.

[OzSome]

Charleston Hughes is back and he just a QB sack.

[OzSome]

#3 for the Sackmaster tonight. Another sack by Quinn Smith on Burris.

[PostandIn]

Great sequence for the Stamps D.

[OzSome]

Why would Calgary call a timeout after that favourable call?

[PostandIn]

No catch but should have been PI on Ottawa. Early contact.

[Hockeyguy15]

Typical CFL reffing, so inconsistent.

[OzSome]

DB got burned again by a receiver. An 84-yard TD pass by Burris to Chris Williams.

[OzSome]

Fuller is having a bad night dropping footballs.

[EldrickOnIce]

Fuller is having a bad night dropping footballs.

Again

[Hockeyguy15]

Need the D to come up big again.

[flamesfan6]

welp

[CofR]

####

[Kidder]

Mitchell is the worst scrabbler I remember watching.

[White Out 403]

huge win for Ottawa. Good for them.

[flamesfan6]

crappy way to lose a game

[Bent Wookie]

Wow.

This team is really struggling at pretty well all aspects of the game.

BLM is totally off.
Receivers getting zero separation.
Lack of a running game.
Turnovers.
The secondary is non-existent.
Defense making few big plays.
Penalties.

Really, just a genuine lack of professionalism. They seem bored and unmotivated. This is not a Huff team.

[OzSome]

Penalties, turnovers and bad secondary defense cost us the game. They could have win the game in the regular period but Lavertu committed a penalty. Turnover by Mitchell on OT seals the deal. Mistakes over mistakes every game and it doesn't look like they are learning from their mistakes. Sucks to lose the game especially to 2 teams that could have been an easy points. The worse part was losing Jon Cornish. Hopefully he'll be back next game.

[Erick Estrada]

Boy this is the worst the team has looked under Huff since taking over the team. Ignoring the record the've been outplayed in all five games they have played this season as this team could easily be 0-5. Lots of problems on offense and defense.

[Roof-Daddy]

Ugly ugly season so far. Hope they get it figured out. Lucky they aren't 0-5 to be honest.

[Yoho]

Still dealing with a ton of injuries, they'll get it figured out.

[JiriHrdina]

Cornish with a broken thumb, out for "a while".

[PrettyBoyFlizzy]

I understand we are missing keys guys on the line but the effort and performance of this team the first 5 weeks has been shameful at best. They have zero drive and desire to repeat as champions and prove they are the best. Its early in the season, but it looks like this is going to be a 9-9, 8-10 with a very boring offense and defence that gets shredded by the likes of Henry Burris.

[JiriHrdina]

I understand we are missing keys guys on the line but the effort and performance of this team the first 5 weeks has been shameful at best. They have zero drive and desire to repeat as champions and prove they are the best. Its early in the season, but it looks like this is going to be a 9-9, 8-10 with a very boring offense and defence that gets shredded by the likes of Henry Burris.

:rolleyes:

Honestly the key in the CFL is building towards the playoff and playing well then. I think you under-estimate the importance of these injuries.
To question the effort of this team, this early in the season is premature and an over-reaction.

[troutman]

No team in the CFL looks especially strong this year.

[Armchair Quarterback]

Tough game for the Stamps. I disagree that the defence is to blame for this loss and for the way we have played this season. They have been stellar aside getting burned a couple times.

Our offence, on the other hand, has been terrible. Yes they've had some tough injuries but we have plenty of depth, so the current play we're seeing can't just be due to injuries. The play calling is atrocious and leads to boring, pass-happy, unimaginative football. And it has helped generate injuries on the offensive line as our lineman are constantly on their heels to protect the pass rather than pushing the play with the run.

Bo doesn't seem to have much chemistry with any of the receivers except for Rogers. Most of our major playmakers, including Mitchell, fumble the ball regularly or create easy turnovers by forcing the play.

This team's offence needs a serious overhaul if Calgary wants even a small chance of winning the Cup this year.

[PrettyBoyFlizzy]

Tough game for the Stamps. I disagree that the defence is to blame for this loss and for the way we have played this season. They have been stellar aside getting burned a couple times.

Our offence, on the other hand, has been terrible. Yes they've had some tough injuries but we have plenty of depth, so the current play we're seeing can't just be due to injuries. The play calling is atrocious and leads to boring, pass-happy, unimaginative football. And it has helped generate injuries on the offensive line as our lineman are constantly on their heels to protect the pass rather than pushing the play with the run.

Bo doesn't seem to have much chemistry with any of the receivers except for Rogers. Most of our major playmakers, including Mitchell, fumble the ball regularly or create easy turnovers by forcing the play.

This team's offence needs a serious overhaul if Calgary wants even a small chance of winning the Cup this year.

Well I don't think there is much hope of this offense being any better with the injury to Cornish.

Bo is has been nothing short of awful so far, he doesn't look like the young rising star that won the grey cup.

They need to move to a max protection and just dink and dunk, because clearly the offensive line depth is not as good as we thought, the line wasn't very good to begin the season, but with backups and signing off the street it has been a huge reason for the massive suck going on.

[dash_pinched]

Well I don't think there is much hope of this offense being any better with the injury to Cornish.

Bo is has been nothing short of awful so far, he doesn't look like the young rising star that won the grey cup.

They need to move to a max protection and just dink and dunk, because clearly the offensive line depth is not as good as we thought, the line wasn't very good to begin the season, but with backups and signing off the street it has been a huge reason for the massive suck going on.

Step back from the ledge.

[Armchair Quarterback]

Well I don't think there is much hope of this offense being any better with the injury to Cornish.

Bo is has been nothing short of awful so far, he doesn't look like the young rising star that won the grey cup.

They need to move to a max protection and just dink and dunk, because clearly the offensive line depth is not as good as we thought, the line wasn't very good to begin the season, but with backups and signing off the street it has been a huge reason for the massive suck going on.

Cornish is a huge loss although the result in the upcoming games will be similar to what we've seen all season, because he has been underused. The results are what we have seen in the first few games. Cornish's frustration with coaching staff is obvious. It's too bad that Dickenson just doesn't seem to get that Cornish is not only a great player, but the team rallies around him -- saw it in the game vs. Winnipeg. He lit a fire under the offence.

Bo has been awful because we lost some key receivers in the offseason and because Dickenson is putting too much pressure on him. We had an excellent run game last year which allowed Bo to shine when he needed to, but he is not yet at the point where he can carry the whole game with passing. We don't have the protection, or the receiving corps.

Bo's struggling because we are passing too much. We need to put the other team on its heels and beat them up a little bit more, which you can only do by playing a better run game. A few injuries shouldn't stop the run game -- we have decent backups at the RB position. Walter is a solid player and a good power back, not elite but can do the job.

[JiriHrdina]

Well I don't think there is much hope of this offense being any better with the injury to Cornish.

Bo is has been nothing short of awful so far, he doesn't look like the young rising star that won the grey cup.

They need to move to a max protection and just dink and dunk, because clearly the offensive line depth is not as good as we thought, the line wasn't very good to begin the season, but with backups and signing off the street it has been a huge reason for the massive suck going on.

I think the O-line is the key here and how it impacts the play of the QB. I thought they gave him better time last night, but they haven't been able to consistently establish the run, even with Cornish in. The injuries to the line have had a domino impact.
I would take an injury to a key receiver over an injury to a key o lineman any day of the week.

[Sainters7]

As much as the O has struggled, it's more understandable early in the year, especially with all the injuries. What really has me perplexed and nervous is the D. Wasn't this the best D in the league just last year?? They look awful. Their secondary reminds me of my Saints this year, completely vulnerable to the big play all day.

I have a lot more confidence in the Stamps O eventually righting the ship by fall than the D right now.

[Erick Estrada]

The thing to remember is Mitchell is only 25 and was probably rushed into the starting role at 24 years old last season. Things worked out last year behind a solid rushing attack and defense but this season the injury depleted offensive line isn't opening up running holes and the defense is leaking bad putting more pressure on Mitchell and the truth is he's simply not a polished QB at this stage of his career. He's not on the same page as his receivers and there are way too many throws that are nowhere near the receiver or simply inaccurate especially on deep patterns. I think he would benefit greatly by being spelled by Tate when he's struggling. Unfortunately Huff seems to have really gone conservative as it seems like there is no fear of losing your job on this Stampeders squad as guys like West, Buddy Jackson, Mitchell etc have all been awful at times but they don't have the fear of the coach replacing them. I'm hoping with last night's loss that Huff starts to put a little bit of fear into some of the starters as there looks to be a little bit of complacency setting in after the Grey Cup win.

[OzSome]

Stamps lost 3 more players due to injuries after yesterday's game. DL DeQuin Evans went down on the first play on special team. DB Adam Thibault also left the game due to injury on a special team play. Of course the worst part is losing RB Jon Cornish due to thumb injury and might be gone a few weeks.

[transplant99]

Wow.

This team is really struggling at pretty well all aspects of the game.

BLM is totally off.
Receivers getting zero separation.
Lack of a running game.
Turnovers.
The secondary is non-existent.
Defense making few big plays.
Penalties.

Really, just a genuine lack of professionalism. They seem bored and unmotivated. This is not a Huff team.

All bolded are a direct result of an O-Line decimated by injury and the replacements not being familiar enough with one another yet.

This wont be a 14 win type season for the Stamps, but I have little doubt they will be in pretty good shape heading into the post season.

[OzSome]

All bolded are a direct result of an O-Line decimated by injury and the replacements not being familiar enough with one another yet.

This wont be a 14 win type season for the Stamps, but I have little doubt they will be in pretty good shape heading into the post season.

I agree. I am more ticked off at the mistakes and not the inconsistent plays by both offense and defense. It looks like it will take longer to gel the team together. We lost a few players from last season : C Brett Jones, OL Stanley Bryant, R Nik Lewis, R Maurice Price, R Brad Sinopoli then we lost R Simon Charbonneau-Campeau, RT Dan Federkeil and LT Edwin Harrison. That's a lot for the offense. On defense, we didn't lose as much but we still some important players. I still think Stampeders will still the team to beat. They just need to start cutting down their mistakes and pretty much eliminate all the dumb penalties.