Stampeders go into bye week knowing playoffs are a long shot

'We find different ways to lose games instead of different ways to win,' said Stampeders GM/head coach Dave Dickenson

Published Sep 10, 2023  •  Last updated 24 minutes ago  •  3 minute read

Edmonton Elks' quarterback Tre Ford (2) scores a touchdown against the Calgary Stampeders during second half CFL action at Commonwealth Stadium, in Edmonton on Saturday, Sept. 9, 2023. The Elks won 25-23. Photo by David Bloom /Postmedia

What do you say, really, if you’re the Calgary Stampeders?

They can do the math. They can look at the CFL standings and see where their 4-9 record leaves them. They can see that it’s going to take a miracle of sorts for them to somehow claw their way back into playoff contention.

And they can probably acknowledge that they aren’t a team that feels especially capable of turning water into wine these days.

After Saturday night’s devastating 25-23 loss, they head into their second bye week of the season looking like a group that’s banged up, beat down and likely to be watching the post-season from their couches.

What do you say in that situation?

“I didn’t say too much,” acknowledged Stampeders GM/head coach Dave Dickenson on Sunday morning. “I just think words are empty.

“My thought is try to take a deep breath and then figure out how to be a better player, a better coach, a better teammate and then use the time off to try to be that.”

The Stampeders are coming off a gruelling stretch of their season. August was always going to be tough, with two games against the league’s best team in the Toronto Argonauts, and games against the top teams in the West in the Winnipeg Blue Bombers and B.C. Lions.

Even if they’d lost all four of those — they didn’t, they beat the Argos once — the Stamps might have been in an OK spot if they’d been able to beat the teams they faced before and after that stretch.

But losses to the Ottawa Redblacks, Saskatchewan Roughriders and Montreal Alouettes in July made life hard.

Even then, a clean sweep of the Edmonton Elks in their Labour Day back-to-backs would have salvaged something. Instead, they wasted a big fourth-quarter lead on Saturday and split the series.

So now, here they are. The Saskatchewan Roughriders, who are holding the third and final playoff spot in the West Division, have two more wins than the Stamps and have played one fewer game.

A crossover spot might be their best chance at making the playoffs, but even then, the Hamilton Tiger-Cats have won one more game than the Stamps, who would need to finish ahead of the Ticats outright to earn a post-season berth in the East Division.

Nothing is impossible, but there aren’t any paths that seem especially likely right now.

Especially for a team that keeps shooting itself in the foot.

“Reality is reality. It is what it is,” Dickenson said. “The problem is these things aren’t isolated incidents. It’s happening all year. It’s the team and these situations seem to repeat themselves. Different guys and different this and that, but at this point in the 2023 season it’s a common occurrence.

“We find different ways to lose games instead of different ways to win.”

Any parallels to 2021 don’t really hold much water. Two years ago, the Stamps started the season 2-5 before regrouping during a badly needed bye week and going on a run that saw them qualify for the playoffs.

That COVID-shortened season was different, though, and the Stamps weren’t this far back.

Anyone hoping for some injury relief is going to be disappointed, too.

The Stampeders currently have 16 players on the six-game injured list, including some big, important veterans — guys like receivers Jalen Philpot and Malik Henry, and linebacker James Vaughters.

A bye week might give players time to nurse their wounds and recover from some nagging issues, but it doesn’t sound like the Stamps are expecting a bunch of much-needed reinforcements to come off their six-game injured list any time soon.

“We might get a guy or two back, but the injuries are what they are and they’re substantial,” Dickenson said. “We’ve been fighting, though. The guys who have gotten a chance to play and the guys we brought in have been doing a good job, but it doesn’t overcome the odd bad play or selfish play or dumb penalty.

“Those are the things losing teams look at and we’ve had our fair share of them.”

So for now, the Stamps are what they are.

And it looks increasingly certain that they aren’t a playoff team.

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