One brainless move by an Edmonton player was all the Calgary Stampeders needed to snatch victory from the jaws of defeat on Saturday.
Chris Edwards stared at the Stampeders bench, pulled his hand across his throat in a gesture everyone knows is forbidden, and it was a flag and a new set of downs for the Stamps. The team closed out the drive with a game-winning touchdown grab by Marquay McDaniel. Thank you Edmonton.
It wasn’t a must win game. Far from it.
But, it was a particularly well-timed win for a number of reasons. First off, it gives the Stamps a sweep of the season series with the Eskimos and a potential tiebreaker. Second, it gives the Stamps a two-game edge on second place Winnipeg in the western standings. That season series is not set to be settled until the final week of the regular season. Third, it buys the team some time to get healthy.
We won’t know the full cost of the butcher’s bill from Saturday until later this week.
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We do know Junior Turner is facing more surgery. Turner was able to battle back from his last surgery, but within weeks his season was over. The fates of Ciante Evans, Joe Burnett, Jamar Wall and DaVaris Daniels remain up in the air.
On top of the western standings and with a loss or two to give, the Stamps are in good shape heading into the final third of the season; even with some key cogs missing from the machine.
This team won’t be perfect, and it doesn’t need to make regular season history. What matters is being the last team smiling on the last Sunday in November.
Thanks to a bonehead mistake by Chris Edwards, the Stampeders have improved their chances of being that team.
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