EDMONTON — In a media world where one coach’s words can end up on another coach’s smartphone in seconds, most choose to simply be as complimentary as possible towards their opponent. We get it, even if it can make for boring quotes, at times.
So it was refreshing, then, to hear Edmonton Eskimos head coach Jason Maas point out the simple truth: If the Calgary Stampeders can lose three games in a row, they must be human after all.
If they can drop three straight, why not four?
“They don’t generally hurt themselves. Now, as of late they have,” began Maas, whose Eskimos head south for Sunday’s Canadian Football League Western final, the third time in the past four seasons that the affair has been a Battle of Alberta. “They’ve turned the ball over. They’ve had a lot of penalties — uncharacteristic of their football club. It’s nice to see a team is not impervious to that.”
Look — the Stampeders are the gold standard in the CFL. Nobody knows that more than an Eskimos club that snapped a 12-game losing streak to Calgary in the Labour Day rematch game of 2015. This season the Stamps won the first two meetings over Edmonton before the Eskimos beat Calgary 29-20 three weeks ago, the second Stampeders loss in a three-game slide they ride into this Western final.
Three straight losses? The Calgary Stampeders?
It’s not often those two phrases make the same sentence.
“When you turn over the ball, when you don’t protect the quarterback, when you have penalties, you don’t win games,” observed Maas. “They’ve lost three games by losing some of those battles. They’ll have to do better in that department, as will we.”
During that three-game losing streak, the Stampeders are minus-4 in turnovers, and minus-45 yards on penalty yards. Lose both of those categories in a playoff game, and how often do you get to play again the next week?
“They’re good at taking care of the ball, they’re good at taking it away,” said Maas. “You have to beat ‘em at that part of the game — the ball security battle.”
It must be said that Calgary’s 13-1-1 start to the 2017 season rendered their final three regular season contests academic. They earned a mental rest, which is awesome as long as you come out of the coma in time.
Upset by Ottawa in overtime of last year’s Grey Cup, the Stampeders have been Grey Cup favourites since opening day back in June. They’ve beaten their provincial rival mostly for fun over the past decade, so Maas’ job is to wipe that history clean, and get his players to believe.
They beat Calgary once, the last time out.
Why not twice?
“It had been almost two years since we’d beat ’em, and we got over that hump,” Maas admitted. “I felt like we’ve played ‘em tough and not beat ’em. So to finally play a good football game and come out on the positive end? It gives you confidence. We know, if we play good football we can beat those guys. We’ve proven it.”
Why believe? For one, the CFL’s most injury-plagued team in Edmonton has its key people back, and have won six straight games. No team is hotter at the moment, surely not Calgary.
Also, in a playoff forum where the pass rush, turnovers and the running game are often the three decisive factors, Edmonton doesn’t mind its matchups in any of those areas.
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Where Jerome Messam once gave Calgary a lopsided edge in the ground game, the acquisition of C.J. Gable (107 yards on 16 carries in the Western semifinal) at worst brings Edmonton close to even. As well, Edmonton has its pass rushers back and healthy, and the pressure applied last Sunday helped shape that semifinal win at Winnipeg.
As for turnovers, in a passing league like the CFL, much of that falls on the shoulders of the quarterbacks. Of the four remaining starting pivots in this fall’s playoffs, Edmonton’s Mike Reilly and Calgary’s Bo Levi Mitchell are undoubtedly the cream. That’s another matchup that could go either way come Sunday.
So, while the Stampeders can look at their history as a way of building confidence for this classic November matchup, the Eskimos will suffice to look at Calgary’s recent history — and their own — to do the same.
“When you look at teams, you want to find out why they’re losing,” Maas explains. “Things that we know can help you lose games: losing the turnover battle; having too many penalties. Calgary’s just not used to that.
“I’ve watched them for many a year, and they don’t generally hurt themselves,” he admitted. “If they continue to do that on Sunday? I feel better about our chances of winning.”