A “growing sense of unease” would be the words I’d use to describe the mood amongst Calgary Stampeders fans these days.
We’ve been hearing it on the 5th Quarter call-in show and after Saturday’s 29-20 loss to Edmonton, a lot of that fan unease boiled over. Tough, but fair.
The fact is, throwing out the Montreal blowout against a team that quit mid-game, the Stampeders haven’t played what I’d consider a solid 60 minutes since Labour Day. Two of those wins (vs. Edmonton and Hamilton) were a direct result of the opposition snatching defeat from the jaws of victory with idiotic penalties in the dying seconds. A third (vs. Saskatchewan) came without a touchdown.
Fans seemed willing to accept a bad loss to the Saskatchewan Roughriders two weekends ago as a wakeup call but that, followed by Saturday’s loss to Edmonton, opened the angst-gate.
Fair criticism of this team right now is that they’re not sharp in general.
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Bo Levi Mitchell and his receivers started to look like they were getting back on the same page in the second half last Saturday, but truth be told that’s the first time in a while we’ve seen that. A patchwork offensive line took too many penalties. Jerome Messam doesn’t look like the powerhouse runner he did early in the season. And speaking of running: run, Bo, run! At least once in a while!
If Mitchell and his receivers can build on the connection they demonstrated late in Edmonton, the problem takes care of itself. If Messam looks too banged up to be a force, there’s Terry Williams. The offensive line needs Shane Bergman and Spencer Wilson healthy. They’re close. Roy Finch needs to be the guy returning kicks. He will be.
Fair warning: if you didn’t like some of the decisions Dave Dickenson made in Edmonton, you may not like Friday’s game plan against Winnipeg.
Dickenson doesn’t want to hit the post-season on a lengthy losing skid but at the same time, the only game this team needs to focus on is the Western Final. If starters need rest, get ’em some rest. If a backup needs to be battle-tested to see what he’s made of, make it happen.
Deep breath, Stampeder fans.
The horse may not be at full gallop, but he’s got some more miles in him. I figure there are eight other teams that would love to trade place with a 13-win team that’s already locked up a date in a divisional final and a bye week.
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