WEEK 16: STAMPS vs Riders

[OzSome]

Will you the real Stampeders please stand up? In the last 4 games, the Stamps shows their Jekyll and Hyde personality. Against the Riders, they started well showing how Dariant Durant responds when he is getting pressured and not getting the time to throw the ball. Then the second half, they started making him look good giving Riders receivers a lot of room and the pressure was pretty much non-existent. Of course we all know what happened on that game. Fantuz had a monster game, Dressler made the Stamps DB missed and so on. Calgary was given the chance to win again in OT because Saskatchewan missed the 2 point convert. Close to the end zone, Burris threw the ball to Lewis only to see Lewis fell short of catching the ball because of he injured his knee.
Game #2 against the BC Lions. Easy picking, right? Lions have been struggling all year and that should be an easy win. Factor in the supposedly bounced back after the late embarrassment in Regina. Henry Burris showed us his FRANK personality and the rest of the offense followed suits. Offense was brutal all day. The only group that was worst than the offense was the Special Team. They can't cover Davis letting him run wild giving BC Lions good field position. That's one of the reason BC Lions scored with field goals and so on. BC Lions offense were bad as well but because of the good field position given up by the special team, they ended up scoring some points. Speaking of special teams...whatever happen to Deon Murphy? It's just like watching Markus Howell doing punt/kickoff return over and over again. For the past few years, it seems like Calgary cannot find a good returners but other team does. Hamilton have Thigpen, Edm have Jackson and so on.Why can't we find those players? Is it because of the personnel or the conservative special team coaching?
Game #3 against the defending Grey Cup champion Montreal Alouettes. Hank Burris started off well and finished off well. Stamps offense embarrassed the Als' defense while our Defense chased Calvillo off the game. Awesome win and we all figured the real Stampeders showed up. Oh yeah special team did a lot better covering but returning kicks/punts was still average.
GAME #4 against the Alouettes again in their barnyard. This time, the inconsistent Stampeders showed up and Als embarrassed the Stamps. Stamps offense, Frank started the game. By the way, have we seen Joffrey Reynolds and Jon Cornish lately? I think they took their name stag on their uniform because the coaching staff seems to forget about them lately. As I recall, Reynolds and Cornish are running backs and their job is to run the ball and not block the opponent's defense all day. Defense? To be fair to the defense, they were on the field way too long all day. They started off really well and they were the reason why the game was not a blowout yet. After the fist half, they were so tired that they struggled a bit. Oh I guess I haven't talk about the special team yet... oh wait, do we have a special team?

Tomorrow, they will play the Riders in Mosaic Stadium or whatever you call that place. This is a big game for both teams and first place is on the line. They win this game doesn't mean they are automatically in first place at the end of the season as they still need to take care of their remaining games. Lose this game doesn't mean they have to kiss 1st place goodbye. Both teams still need to take care of their remaining games. It just means, with the win we are 4 points ahead of the Riders and that's a comfortable lead. Lose this game means they are tied with the Riders and if both teams ended up tied, the Riders gets the first place.

I think the Stamps just needs to play it smart. The defense should start off giving Durant a lot of pressure on the line. Keep punishing him with the big clean hit. Our DB should not give Riders receivers a lot of room especially Andy Fantuz who is known as Stamps' killer. The guy seems to play so much better against the Stamps all the time. Not worry about their individual stats especially in INT. Browner, who's been inconsistent lately need to play better and hard to play against. Something that will make QB ignore his side. Henry Burris need to leave his Frank personality at home and play like the Henry Burris that we all know. I can't see why we can't have a successful offense having to throw the ball to Rambo, Bryant, Lewis or hand the ball to Reynolds or Cornish. Coaching staff.... mix up plays. We have the best RB in the CFL in Reynolds and Cornish is not too shabby, use them to run the ball and not as a blocker all game. Special team? Hmmmm... all we need is pray for this guys. Sorry I guess I forgot that punter Burke Dales and kicker Rob Maver are part of the special team.

I apologized if this Game Thread is a bit negative but I am sure I am not the only frustrated in watching this team play in 3 of their last 4 games. Maybe we got spoiled early in the season with their success but I don't see why this team is so inconsistent lately. WE supposed to have one of the best QB in the CFL, best RB, one of the best receiving group and last year's top receiver. We also have one of the best OLine in Tsoumpas. Our defense is ranked first in mostly every categories so I don't see why we can't win first place in the West and maybe win the Grey Cup BUT in the last 4 games, they play like a good CFL team, a bad CFL team, and junior football vs CFL team.

Notable: It looks like MLB Juwan Simpson and DLine Maike Labinjo will miss the game due to injuries. Robert McCune who's playing as a DLine and Karl McCartney will split duties as a middle linebacker.


GO STAMPS GO!!!

[arloiginla]

My thoughts in a nutshell:

Teams are starting to figure out the Stamps D. They used to lead the league in sacks but are in middle of pack now. Teams put double tight protection in, stop the pass rush and QB's are burning the secondary for long completions.

I really hope Chris Jones figures out how to stop this.

And the offense has been getting worse, not better and thats a bad sign. Maybe they peaked too early. DD and the offense will have to figure out how to keep the Riders honest so they can't pin back their ears on Hank.

And special teams needs to be special. Field position will be crucial in this game.

Hoping for a Stamps win but not counting on it. I bet it's another high-scoring game.

[Flickered Flame]

I think we are seeing the real Stampeders right now. They are an above average team who looked better than what they really are because of who they were playing early in the season. The league this year has 3 above average teams in Calgary, Sask and Montreal. An average team in Hamilton and 4 below average teams in BC, Edmonton, Toronto and Winnipeg. The top 3 teams could beat each other on any given day because they all have major weaknesses including inconsistency.

As for tomorrow's game, it will be a very difficult game for the Stamps to win because I believe the Riders are in their heads. The problem with losing tomorrow is that the Stamps will have to play a 3rd game in Regina to make it to the Grey Cup.

I just hope they figure out to stop the Riders on 2nd down and that Burris and the offence can have a bunch of long drives. They cannot afford a bad or slow start.

[Beerfest]

Even If the Stampeders lose tomorrow, I still think we have a shot at the divison.
If the Stampeders lose tomorrow, both teams will have the same amount of points, but the Riders will have the season series advantage.

Riders remaining schedule after tomorrow.
Edmonton on the road
BC on the road
Edmonton at home.

Stampeders remaining schedule after tomorrow.
BC at home
Hamilton at home
Winnipeg at home

The Stampeders would have two home games and one road game, while the Riders would have two road games and one home game.

I could see the Stampeders going 3-0 after tomorrow and perhaps the Riders losing the road game in BC.

Of course if the Stampeders win tomorrow it will make things much easier.

[Cecil Terwilliger]

nm

[Flickered Flame]

Originally Posted by OzSome

Notable: It looks like MLB Juwan Simpson and DLine Maike Labinjo will miss the game due to injuries. Robert McCune who's playing as a DLine and Karl McCartney will split duties as a middle linebacker.

Allen Cameron confirms that Labinjo is gone for the rest of the season and is likely finished as a Stampeder.
http://communities.canada.com/calgar....aspx#comments

[Beerfest]

Originally Posted by Flickered Flame

Allen Cameron confirms that Labinjo is gone for the rest of the season and is likely finished as a Stampeder.
http://communities.canada.com/calgar....aspx#comments

Thats a shame, I always liked the guy, especially his performance in the 2008 Grey Cup.

His likely replacement doesnt sound to bad though, might be an upgrade.
From the same article.

with import Khari Long tabbed to take his spot, you may see an upgrade from the end position (he had 10 sacks in Hamilton last season).

[OzSome]

Looks like former TiCats DLine Khari Long and former Eskimos LB Siddez Shabbazz(sic) will be replacing Labinjo and Simpson in the lineup.

[Cowboy89]

Wish me luck, myself and 3 other brave Stamps fans made the trip to Regina for this game. You might see us in the stands on tv as representing the lone red in a sea of green.

[jschick88]

Originally Posted by Cowboy89

Wish me luck, myself and 3 other brave Stamps fans made the trip to Regina for this game. You might see us in the stands on tv as representing the lone red in a sea of green.

That takes a big set of Nards. Good luck.

[PeteLFan]

This game is all on Burris, stop giving the ball to the other team, and we should be fine. The guy's turnover problems are a huge issue like his league leading 18 interceptions. Thats way too many for a veteran QB.

We need to control the ball, keep the ball. Limit Durants fluke passes and game should be a easy W, the Riders are not good.

[arloiginla]

Originally Posted by PeteLFan

This game is all on Burris, stop giving the ball to the other team, and we should be fine. The guy's turnover problems are a huge issue like his league leading 18 interceptions. Thats way too many for a veteran QB.

We need to control the ball, keep the ball. Limit Durants fluke passes and game should be a easy W, the Riders are not good.

Not a fair assessment. The Riders are a good team. Not a great one, but a good one. They always get up for big opponents and Durant actually throws more interceptions than Burris, but his chuck-and-pray style works against the Stamps because Chris Jones hasn't changed his strategies yet.

This game will not be an easy W, nor should it be. It will be close and the Stamps need to bring a complete effort on all three facets in order to come out with two points.

[PeteLFan]

Durant is not a good QB, his 18 interceptions should be way more. If the Stamps played any form of defence the last time around, we would have picked him off 2-3 more times then the 1 we got.

I can't stand Saskatchewan, and there fans, biggest bunch of losers I have seen. Your team is the poster child for failure yet they act like they are the greatest thing in the world.

[ShaolinFlame]

We will never forget that goal line stand in 08 Mike. Thanks for that Grey Cup, and best of luck.

[I_H8_Crawford]

LOL stupid Stamps with ######ed penalties already... way to keep the Sask drive alive with stupid offside penalties Stamps!

[zamler]

TD Sask. So much for "stopping the big play". Lame.

[Beerfest]

Originally Posted by I_H8_Crawford

LOL stupid Stamps with ######ed penalties already... way to keep the Sask drive alive with stupid offside penalties Stamps!

How the hell does Browner go offside? Ugh.
And theres our AWESOME defence giving up big plays.
Chris Jones do you try new things?

[I_H8_Crawford]

Nice to see the D learned from last time they played Sask, and adjusted to stop the deep pass.... lol.

Scary thing is they only rushed 3, and it was STILL that easy for Sask. Brutal.

[JayP]

This game is over unless the offense comes out on fire.

So much unprepared play in the first 5 minutes:
- Poor gap control and tackling on the opening kick return
- Two needless offsides penalties.
- Linebackers looking for a sack and leaving Cates wide open for an easy screen pass.
- DBs getting torched by simple fly routes like that have all year.

[I_H8_Crawford]

LOL great start Burris you dumb ass.