Redemption is not necessarily at the top of the Calgary Stampeders’ list of priorities on Thursday.
The last time they faced the Ottawa Redblacks (5-2), the Stamps (4-5) played their worst game of the season. They were thoroughly embarrassed in a 33-6 defeat where the scoreline didn’t fully reflect how one-sided the game actually was.
So when they take on the Redblacks again on Thursday (7 p.m., TSN, QR Calgary), this time at home, it would obviously be meaningful if they could reverse the outcome and prove that they aren’t as bad as they were on July 26.
It’s just that they’ve also played two games since that defeat, including last weekend’s ugly 39-25 loss to the Toronto Argonauts.
So getting a little payback is far from the only thing on the Stamps’ minds.
“I want growth, I do want growth,” said Stampeders GM/head coach Dave Dickenson. “The thing I tell (the players) all the time is I’m just telling them to get better this week, play better than you did last week. Everyone should do that.
“It would have maybe come into play more if there weren’t things we needed to fix from our last game, but I don’t want to look three games back. I want to look one game back. Where did we have our troubles, our deficiencies, what do we need to do to win?”
The Stampeders are searching for consistency, although it’s probably worth noting that they’ve been better at home.
But Thursday night will be a huge test and that would be true whether it was at McMahon Stadium or on the road.
New-look offensive line
The offensive line is in a rough spot, with Zack Williams on the six-game injured list, Sean McEwen missing this week — although he’s thankfully only on the one-game injured list — and Trevon Tate no longer with the team as of Tuesday afternoon.
Their o-line will feature four players who weren’t in the lineup the last time these two teams met, and the Redblacks happen to have one of the most fearsome defensive lines in the CFL.
For a position group where experience and continuity are extremely important, the new look is a challenge. Not an insurmountable one, but a challenge nonetheless.
“I need to do the best job I can to keep them confident in the huddle, keep them confident on the sidelines and understand that it is going to be very imperfect,” said Stamps QB Jake Maier when asked what he could do to help bring the best out of the o-line. “I think we’re playing a defensive line group that is as good as anybody in this league, I think they’ve earned that right to be referred to as that. So just keeping them confident, getting the football out of my hands efficiently and making sure we’re keeping them off balance with our tempos.”
Across the lineup, the Stamps are making eight changes to the group that struggled against the Argos last week, too.
How that plays out is anyone’s guess, but if there’s one thing that’s certain it’s that the Stampeders need to be better than they’ve been in recent road games against the Redblacks and Argos if they’re going to have any chance of getting a good result on Thursday.
They’ll head into a long period of downtime following the game, with a bye week and then a long period of preparation for the Labour Day Classic against the Edmonton Elks on Sept. 2.
The teams around them in the standings will be busy between now and then and the West Division could look very different.
So getting a win and carrying some positive momentum into the break is vital.
“I think (Stamps defensive back) Demerio (Houston) said it best when he broke us down. ‘Earn your bye week’ and I think there’s a mentality there,” Maier said. “Yes, you want to win, we’ve played very good football at home and we want to keep that going, but we need to play well. We do have almost an off-season here as this game ends, which is good and bad, but you want to be able to earn your downtime and put yourself in a situation going into a bye week where you have momentum where you can maybe gain some ground on the rest of the teams in the (West Division). All those things are right in front of us and I love that we get to do that at home.”