Dave Dickenson described the first half of the Calgary Stampeders as being ‘Jekyll and Hyde.’
Seems like a pretty accurate description from the team’s GM and head coach.
Through nine games, the Stamps are 4-5. They’re right smack in the middle of the CFL’s West Division standings, sitting in third place.
They’re in a playoff spot for now, sure, but nobody who has watched them can be feeling great about what would happen if they got there. And look, it’s August in the Canadian Football League and if history has taught us one thing it’s that we should surely, absolutely, definitively not be making any conclusions about any team when it’s still summer in the Great White North.
Conversely, there’s a frustration that’s building around the Stamps.
We’ve seen flashes of what they can look like at their best.
But there have been way too many games where they haven’t come anywhere even remotely close to that level. Jekyll and Hyde, as Dickenson said.
“I think there was some good play at times (but) a little lack of consistency,” explained the Stampeders boss. “We’re not in love with our position but we know we can get to where we need to go. It’s important to kind of look at the past and learn from the past but keep eyes looking forward.”
A lack of consistency is probably the most easily identifiable character trait of these Stampeders.
It’s great that they came storming back two weekends ago with a brilliant fourth quarter to beat the Toronto Argonauts, but where was that execution and intensity earlier in the game when they were down 22-6 at halftime and the McMahon Stadium faithful voiced their displeasure by booing the team off the field?
There have been some truly awful games, like their 33-6 loss to the Ottawa Redblacks on July 26, and some impressive performances — particularly on defence — like when the Stamps knocked off the B.C. Lions 25-24 a week earlier.
They’re better at home than they are on the road, for sure, but week-in and week-out, you just never quite know what you’re going to get from these Stampeders.
And not to put it too plainly, but midway through the 2024 campaign that’s just not what you want.
They need to find some consistency and they need to do it now. The status quo won’t cut it.
“It starts within yourself. I’ve always kind of known that, six different teams, I just told the guys, regardless of whose fault it is, if we lose as a team we all lose,” said Stamps linebacker Micah Awe. “We all get fired, we all go elsewehere, some of us, careers end. At the end of the day you have to look in the mirror and say ‘what can I do better?’ and then do that. If you focus on your 1/12th, things naturally get better.
“When you start worrying about other things you can’t control, that’s when things go downhill. We’re definitely at a crossroads right now.”
That’s a sentiment that star receiver Reggie Begelton completely agrees with. He first joined the Stampeders in 2017 when the Stampeders were winning the West Division every year and seemed to be producing a handful of NFLers every season.
The standards were high and personal accountability was everything.
“It just honestly, it’s everybody doing their job but reflecting on one’s self on what you can do better,” Begelton said. “We’ve got a lot of young guys on this team, a lot of rookies, especially in prime spots like on special teams. It’s all about learning the game and how to have that veteran presence even if you’re a rookie and going out and asking the right questions or looking up to other guys in the league and studying, that’s just part of the profession.”
Now, the Stampeders have nine more games to figure this out. They’ve got a lot less time than that to find some consistency and elevate their games if they want a prime playoff spot.
That starts on Thursday with a return engagement against the Redblacks – the same team that dominated them last month – at McMahon Stadium.
What’s going to be the key to getting things on track?
“I wish I knew the exact answer,” Dickenson said. “Listen, the CFL schedule has something to do with it, small rosters and injuries have something to do with it. But a lot of it is details and a mindset. To me, it’s all about a mindset, hard to manufacture energy but you’re professional and we all do this for a living. You’ve got to make sure that game is the most important thing in your life and do your job.”
QUICK HITS
Backup QB Matt Shiltz participated in practice on Monday. He’s been on the six-game injured list … Starting centre Sean McEwen did not practice. He’s nursing an injury, although it’s unclear how serious it is and whether it will affect his availability against the Redblacks … It still looks like Peyton Logan will be the only running back on the roster this week.
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