Back and ready to tackle Week 2.
The Stamps returned to practice on Tuesday morning following their 32-24 season-opening victory over the Hamilton Tiger-Cats on Friday night.
Next up, it’s a battle with the BC Lions Saturday night in Vancouver.
Moving The Ball
The Stampeders scored on their first five drives on Friday not including a one play kneel-down before the half.
In all Calgary put together eight scoring drives which included six field-goals from Rene Paredes and passing touchdowns from Jake Maier to Cam Echols – for his first CFL touchdown – and Clark Barnes.
Head coach and general manager Dave Dickenson was happy with the group’s ability to move the ball but would like to see a few more drives finish in the endzone.
“I thought we didn’t have the shortest fields,” he explained. “When we did we didn’t stick it in the endzone like we wanted to, but I felt like we were balanced – we were running and passing. We took some shots down the field which was good and I thought we were very efficient. I’d like to be a little more explosive but we were very efficient.”
Staying Healthy
Injuries were a problem for the Stampeders all season in 2023. They had a few tough ones in camp but escaped mostly healthy from Week 1.
Dickenson has been happy with the depth and the fact that they come out relatively unscathed from the opening tilt.
“We’ve got a pretty deep team,” said Dickenson. “I kept a few more guys around than I normally do at the beginning of the season. We will see if we need them. I do believe the depth is paying off, we’re practicing fast and have done some good things.”
Quick Notes
Jake Maier, Rene Paredes and Kelon Thomas were named to the Pro Football Focus CFL Honour Roll for Week 1.
Maier completed 21-passes for 252-yards and two touchdowns, finishing with a 94.0 grade.
Paredes connected on all six of his field-goal attempts and had a 83.9 grade.
Kelon Thomas finished with an 88.1 grade during his special teams work.