The Calgary Stampeders snapped a four-game losing streak in Hamilton, defeating the Tiger-Cats 37-20 in a game in which they never trailed.
This is what I saw from my living room.
Adams leaves early
Stampeders guard Vernon Adams Jr. spoke this week about his loss of confidence during the longest winless streak of his career. However, from the first drive of the day, it seemed Adams was determined to get out of this long slump.
Adams ran twice on the first drive, which ended in a field goal. The decision to run showed the confidence he had lacked since Labor Day.
He wouldn't fly again until the afternoon, but he was well protected in the pocket and didn't often feel the heat. Adams finished the day with 29 yards on the ground.
Through the air, he was 16-of-23 for 257 yards. There were no touchdown throws, but more importantly, there were no interceptions, which have plagued QBs during this late-season slump.
Mills puts Stamps ahead by a century
Dedrick Mills is in a tight race for the league title, but he helped his cause by rushing for 105 yards on the day on 17 carries. He also found the end zone twice in the second half, his first touchdowns since mid-August.
Mills currently has a 46-yard cushion at the top of the league and trails only Dustin Crum in rushing yards on the year with 11. He also leads the league in carries of 10 yards or more with 44 and leads all CFL backs in average yards per carry.
While I expect BC's Nathan Rooke to be nominated for Western Division Most Outstanding Player, Mills should rightfully be nominated for the Stampeders.
Shocket shines
When the Stampeders selected Ludovic Choquette in the sixth round of the 2025 CFL draft, they thought they had a steal. Impressed by his performance at the Combine, they were thrilled that he was available so late during the annual restocking of the nation's cupboards.
As training camp continued, that belief came true as the diminutive running back made the roster and was in and out of the lineup throughout his rookie season.
When he had the ball, Choquette made the most of his opportunities. That included a seven-carry, 73-yard game Saturday in which he ran 44 yards for his first career score to end the first half.
Choquette now has 33 carries for 214 yards, averaging six yards per carry.
The Stampeders as a team combined for 211 yards on the ground.
Blocking protection
The 300-yard threshold should be the benchmark for a quarterback having a great day. Bo Levi Mitchell surpassed that mark twice against the Stampeders' secondary, but neither game felt like the Ticats were really in it.
An early interception by Adrian Green led to a Stampeders field goal, and a matching pick by Derrick Moncrief in the fourth quarter ended any hope of a Ticats victory.
Green now has five interceptions in 11 games, just one shy of the league lead.
Special mention goes to Jadon Grant, who may not have been credited with an interception, but did force a turnover on downs late in the game when he picked off Mitchell's pass on third down.
Nowhere to run, baby, nowhere to hide
Even better than the secondary was the front seven, which held the Ticats to just 34 yards on ten carries.
The defensive line also targeted Mitchell four times, with Clarence Hicks and Charles Wiley each picking up a pair of sacks.
On top of that, they stole the ball from the Tiktas in the red zone with a close-range conversion to end the third quarter.
Paredes is paying for it
In the first half, the Stampeders were able to move the ball, but before Choquette's aforementioned touchdown, the entire score came on the foot of Rene Paredes, who hit his first four shots to take a 12-3 lead.
The ageless wonder moved into fifth place all-time in field goals made, passing Troy Westwood, and finished with 622 career goals on 711 shots in 245 games. Next up for Paredes is Paul Osbaldiston, who has landed 669 kicks in 927 attempts in 304 games.
Paredes missed one kick in the game, missing it 54 yards in the second quarter.
Schedule is a mess
I know the Stampeders play on the road, but it's terrible that the football team started at 1:00 pm local time and the local hockey team opened their home game at 2:00 pm local time. They are owned by the same organization and they couldn't avoid duplicating their two main franchises?
This has already happened once when both teams played a home game, but there is no excuse for such a coincidence. This kills the potential audience for both, and as a Flames season ticket holder, I had to find someone else to use my tickets to ensure I could properly cover the Stampeders.
Brief Apology
To the regular readers of this column, I would like to apologize for not being able to write about last weekend's game between the Lions and Stampeders.
Between the combination of my son's minor lacrosse graduation dinner, which I had to attend as head coach, and the looming teacher's strike throwing other plans akimbo into disarray, I was unable to watch the game in a timely manner—let alone express any thoughts that would have been relevant by the time I wrote them.
This should not happen again this season and I appreciate your grace!
Further
The Stampeders will now head home to host the Toronto Argonauts in the annual Pink Power game in McMahon before finishing the regular season on the road a week later against the Edmonton Elks.
The Stampeders could still earn a playoff berth tonight, depending on the results of Game 2 between the Elks and Blue Bombers.
If the Elks lose, they will be eliminated from the postseason. Meanwhile, the Stampeders remain committed to making the West Division semifinals.
They will likely have to win their final two games and will still need help with the season series tiebreaker going in favor of the BC Lions, who have the Elks and likely rested Roughriders starter still on the roster for the final game of the regular season.
