Stamps hang on barely for win against Bombers

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The recap from TSN.ca

The Turning Point: The first half was a disaster for the Winnipeg Blue Bombers, but it could have ended on a bright note had they just made two key plays.  Firstly, with 1:57  left in the half and the Stamps with 2nd and 27 on their own 5 yard line, the Bomber defense wasn’t able to stop Stamps QB Henry Burris from hooking up with Nik Lewis for a 27 yard pass allowing the Stamps to get out of the shadow of their end zone and possibly having to give up a safety on 3rd down.  That drive ended with a Joffrey Reynolds 17 yard catch and run (and amazing dive) for a touchdown to make it 23-3.  The Bombers got the ball back with 36 seconds left and managed to get the ball down into field goal range, but on the last play of the half Mike Bishop completed a pass to Terrence Edwards, but Edwards failed to get down onto the turf right away or out of bounds before time ran out to help set up a field goal.  The Bombers walked away with no points and instead of being down by 10 points or less at the half, they were down by 20 and it was just too big a hole for them to climb out of in the second half.

The game ball goes to: Bombers running back Fred Reid was amazing once Bombers head coach Mike Kelly realized he was allowed to use the running back more than twice in a half (more on that in the random game thoughts).  167 yards on 17 carries and added 2 touchdowns.  He also caught three passes out of the backfield for 23 yards.

Random game thoughts: Stamps wideout Nik Lewis passed the 6,000 yard mark and also slid into 6th all-time on the Stamps receiving list.  …  Bombers didn’t get a pass completed until halfway into the 2nd quarter.  They also didn’t have a first down until that same time until the Stamps handed them one with a penalty.  Bombers had only five first downs in the 1st half, three of them as a result of Calgary penalties  …  Winnipeg started the game with four straight ’2 and outs’  …  Bombers have lost their last seven games they’ve played in Calgary  …  Last six games for Calgary has seen them rack up penalty calls of 80 yards or more.  Calgary’s secondary was responsible for 79 yards off of 3 pass interference / illegal contact calls and 1 objectionable conduct call  …  Bombers kicker Alexis Serna was 3 for 3 in field goals – one of them was from 54 yards out, the longest so far in the CFL this season  …   Reid’s numbers for the game are even more amazing when you consider he only had four carries in the first half for a total of 17 yards  …  It was a battle of brothers in this game featuring the Ralph brothers (Brett for Calgary and Brock for Winnipeg) as well as the Johnson brothers (Teyo for Calgary and Riall for Winnipeg)

Final grades

This was a game of two different halves…  Calgary completely owned the first half, but the Bombers made some great adjustments and played very well in the second half despite the eventual loss.   As such, we’re going to give the teams two different grades… One for the first half and one for the second half!

Bombers Offense: 1st half D / 2nd half A
Bombers Defense: 1st half C- / 2nd half A-
Bombers Special Teams: 1st half C / 2nd half B

Stamps Offense: 1st half A / 2nd half D
Stamps Defense: 1st half A / 2nd half F
Stamps Special Teams: 1st half B+ / 2nd half C-

Riders strike late and hang on for last minute win

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The recap from TSN.ca

The turning point: The Stampeders had a six point lead and the ball at about midfield with a little over two minutes to go and could have easily locked up the game with a first down to either kill more time or get kicker Sandro DeAngelis closer for a field goal that would have given the Stamps a nine point lead.  Coach John Hufnagel though called two very conservative running plays that gained all of four yards.  Sandro – who was a perfect nine for nine on the season in FG attempts up to that point – then lined up on the right hash mark for a 49 yard field goal attempt that was somewhat wind aided, but pushed it wide left.  The Riders Weston Dressler ran it out of the endzone and to the Stamps 45 yard line giving them excellent field position.  Two plays later Sask QB Darrian Durant hit Chris Getzlaf with a 65 yard TD pass and run to put the Riders up by one with a little over a minute left in the game.  Calgary couldn’t muster a first down in the next two drives they were given and it was game over.

The game ball goes to: Before the game Roughriders coach Ken Miller said that unless it was obvious that QB Durant had a hot hand, he was going to put in backup QB Steven Jyles in after four or five series and despite an early TD pass from Durant he did just that, but Jyles was mostly ineffective in the second quarter and Durant was put back in at the start of the second half. Good call by Miller as Durant went 17 of 28 passing for three touchdowns and one INT.

Random game thoughts: Stamps linebacker Odell Willis picked up another sack for his league leading 7th of the season. Amazing when you consider he wasn’t even in the lineup for week one  …  Riders WR Andy Fantuz was a late scratch forcing Chris Getzlaf into the starting lineup, obviously Chris stepped up big time with five catches for a total of 101 yards and 2 TDs  …  Joffrey Reynolds ran for 112 yards off of 14 rushing attempts.

Final grades
Riders Offense: B-
Riders Defense: B
Riders Special Teams: C

Stamps Offense: B-
Stamps Defense: B-
Stamps Special Teams: C+