Three takeaways as Stamps wrap up CFL season with win in Regina

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It’s one for the road for the Calgary Stampeders …

A win away from home — for their first one of the CFL campaign — and a victory to send them into the sunset feeling at least a little better about the debacle that was the 2024 season.

“For the guys, I think it was excellent,” Stampeders GM/head coach Dave Dickenson told Stamps TV, moments after Saturday’s 27-12 triumph over the host Saskatchewan Roughriders at Regina’s Mosaic Stadium.

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“They played hard, and they played good football.”

Truth is the Roughriders didn’t have much to play for coming into the game.

In fact, the air went out of the day for them just ahead of their tilt with the Stampeders, when the Winnipeg Blue Bombers secured top spot in the CFL’s West Division. The Bombers’ 28-27 last-second edge of the host Montreal Alouettes locked the Riders out of the race for first place and solidified them in the West’s second slot for the upcoming post-season, leaving them without a lot of motivation for the regular-season finale.

But the Stamps will take the win to snap a nine-game winless skid, ending the ugly 5-12-1 year with a bit of joy.

Pass-catchers Clark Barnes, Cam Echols and Marken Michel each hauled in touchdown throws from QB Jake Maier. The first two — of 33 and nine yards, respectively — came in the second quarter to give the Stamps a 14-3 halftime lead, and Maier’s 67-yard strike to the ever-clutch Michel was insurance early on in the fourth frame.

The loss drops the Riders to 9-8-1, but they host the West semifinal against the 9-9 BC Lions next Sunday.

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Here are three Stamps takeaways from Saturday’s Week 21 win in Regina:

A WIN IS A WIN

Dickenson wanted the win to snap the long winless skid that has felt like a freefall for the ages.

“It’s amazing,” Maier told Stamps TV. “It hasn’t been the nicest year to us, obviously.

“Winning this game, whether it meant anything to the league or not, it meant the world to us, just because it’s been such a long-time. Now we can go to bed at night knowing we didn’t give up and we played well in our final game.”

The Stamps’ last victory came all the way back on Aug. 4 in a 27-23 takedown of the visiting Toronto Argonauts at McMahon Stadium. And at that time, they were still in the playoff hunt with a 4-4 record.

But nine straight games with just one tie — that in a bizarre 19-19 affair with the juggernaut Alouettes — to help them in the standings created a lost campaign for the Red and White.

“At least you finished on the right note,” Dickenson said. “Certainly the guys responded.”

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The five-win year is the worst since 2004, the last time the Stamps — then 4-14 — missed the CFL playoffs.

MAIER SOLID

OK, so it came against a Roughriders defence — with a lot of its starters resting — that might not have carried much motivation into the contest.

Nonetheless, the veteran Maier proved solid in the season finale.

“I’m super grateful that (Dickenson) gave me that opportunity,” Maier said. “As the game got going, I really felt the adrenaline kick in … And as the game went on, I got more and more comfortable.”

The twice-this-season-benched QB managed three TD throws in only one other game on the schedule. And in that one, he rolled up 307 yards with no interceptions for — most importantly — a win in a 25-24 edge of the visiting BC Lions.

The stats were similar Saturday, with Maier finishing 19-of-26 for 293 yards with that trio of TDs and zero INTs.

Make no mistake about it … that’s a winning stat-line in most games.

But such performances have come too few and far between by Maier, whose untimely turnovers have hurt the team.

“I called him in earlier in the week when I thought Matt (Shiltz) wasn’t going to play, and I said, ‘Jake, I think you give us the best chance to win. Are you willing to step in there again?’” Dickenson said. “And he said, ‘Heck … yeah … I want to play — I want to win. And he did have an excellent game.’”

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Even though he had it going Saturday, it was likely not enough for the always-upbeat Maier to keep his job for 2025.

CH-CH-CHANGES

So who else’s job is in jeopardy?

With just five wins in 2024 and only 11 in the last two seasons, wholesale changes have to be on the horizon.

Whether that means Dickenson is a part of those changes remains to be seen, but pundits alike believe it’s been too much for him to work both the GM and head-coaching gigs.

Certainly the coaching staff can’t continue as it currently exists, given the lack of recent success and a reversal of fortune for the franchise since its 2018 Grey Cup triumph.

And there are calls for improved leadership among the players in the dressing room.

“They know change is coming,” added Dickenson. “This is the last time this group is together.”

Stay tuned for all that with the off-season now off and running for the Stampeders.

tsaelhof@postmedia.com

http://www.x.com/ToddSaelhofPM

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