Another week, another close loss, another slow start that buries the Calgary Stampeders before they ever get going. Calgary fought back hard in the second half but came up short again, and everyone from the head coach to the running back to the quarterback is saying the same thing: this is on us, and it starts at practice.
Head coach Dave Dickenson didn’t hide from it after the game. “I definitely know we’re not playing our brand of football that we could win in the first half,” he said. Calgary settled in on defense by going back to basics — “some just more standard calls to see if maybe the communication just wasn’t good enough” — and it worked well enough to get a turnover on short yardage and force a missed extra point from the other side. But by then the hole was already dug.
A Pattern That’s Getting Old
Quarterback Vernon Adams Jr. put it bluntly. Calgary keeps losing games by one score, and he’s tired of it. “It’s just getting old from me, you know what I’m saying? Not being able to put points up early to help the defense out. Just too many two and outs,” Adams said. He took ownership of it, too, pointing to a first half where Calgary managed only 3 points.
“I’m tired of saying it, you know, I got to just start faster. I don’t know what that is. My routine, my whatever it is, I need to get it right and help this team out and stop letting the organization down.” — Vernon Adams Jr.
Running back Dedrick Mills echoed the frustration but pointed the same finger back at the group as a whole. “It’s a little frustrating and we all a little frustrated, but at the end of the day, like I said, it starts with practice,” Mills said. He credited the offensive line for opening things up once Calgary found its rhythm in the second half, saying he was “just playing my game” while the calls and the blocking put him in position to move the ball.
Mills didn’t shy away from how much these one-score losses sting. “It’s also a hurt because we know we better than what we putting out on film,” he said.
The Fumble That Wasn’t the Real Story
Late in the game, receiver Eric Brooks coughed up the football in a moment that could’ve been the headline on its own. But both Adams and Dickenson made it clear that wasn’t why Calgary lost.
“I went right to him right after. And I told him it definitely wasn’t that play. That’s not the reason why we lost. We only put up 3 points in the first half. And a lot of that is me missing throws and not putting our team in good position.” — Vernon Adams Jr.
Dickenson backed that up when asked about Brooks. “Turnovers happen. Eric is certainly a guy that works really hard and is a great pro playmaker for us as well,” he said. “He’ll be looking for that next opportunity.” Dickenson also pointed out the bigger truth of the night — “the ball basically runs this game,” and if you win the turnover battle you usually win the game. Calgary didn’t.
Defense Digs the Hole, Then Climbs Out
Linebacker Miles Brown was straightforward about where the game got away from Calgary early. “I think on defense we gave up too much to begin, dug ourself in a hole that’s hard to get out of,” Brown said. But he pointed to the fight afterward — including a massive third-and-one stop — as the kind of moment that defines a group.
“I think that the fight in itself, and then plays like that, mold a group. It truly shows us who we are in big moments. Can we step up? Who are we when our backs are against the wall?” — Miles Brown
Brown also brushed off any concern about facing a stretch of mobile quarterbacks — Alexander, Rourke, Kelly — back to back to back. “If we play defense the way that we’re supposed to play defense, it doesn’t matter who’s throwing the ball,” he said. “We don’t care who’s back there.”
Frustration on the Sideline — and a Controversial Flag
Dickenson was asked directly about the visible emotion on Calgary’s bench during the game, and he made clear he’s not against it. “I don’t mind frustration. That means you care,” Dickenson said. “But you gotta be an adult about it. You gotta be men. And the big thing I think everybody needs to understand is look in the mirror first.”
He also didn’t hold back on an unnecessary roughness call that went against Calgary in the second quarter, insisting it should’ve been overturned. “There’s no call in football for a shoulder to a head on a running back inbounds,” Dickenson said. “Command Center in Toronto has the right to fix that… if it was a spear, it’s a call. I was told shoulder to the head, which is legal. So we’ll see what happens.”
What Comes Next
Dickenson summed up the season’s problem in one line: “We’ve had a lot of close games we’re losing, and you gotta be careful because winning is contagious and losing is contagious, and we need it to go our way.” Calgary has the talent to be dangerous — the second-half fight proves that every week — but until they fix the slow starts, these one-score losses are going to keep piling up. The Stampeders head back to practice with the same message from the locker room to the coaching staff: look in the mirror, fix the details, and start fast for once.
Watch the Full Videos
Calgary Stampeders: Dedrick Mills | Post-Game | 18.07.26
Calgary Stampeders: Vernon Adams Jr. | Post-Game | 18.07.26
Calgary Stampeders: General Manager & Head Coach Dave Dickenson | Post-Game | 18.07.26
Calgary Stampeders: Miles Brown | Post-Game | 18.07.26