Photo courtesy: Leah Hennel/CFL.ca

The Calgary Stampeders came into Week 20 without a playoff spot in hand, and potentially in danger of playing a “win and you’re in” game next week against Edmonton.

Nearly everything shook out in the Stampeders’ favour, however, as they clinched a playoff spot by virtue of an Edmonton loss before taking to the field and dominating the Toronto Argonauts to keep the path to a home playoff game in view.

Here’s what I saw from the stands.

Adams comfortable

Vernon Adams Jr. said a few weeks ago that he wasn’t feeling confident in his game. This game may have been the perfect antidote for the pivot ahead of what the Stampeders hope can be a deep playoff run.

Adams threw only 14 passes, but completed 12 for a total of 213 yards and a trio of touchdowns with no interceptions. He was taken out of the game halfway through the third quarter, or his numbers may have been even higher.

“Vernon had a really solid game,” said Stampeders’ head coach and general manager Dave Dickenson. “I don’t know if the numbers are there, but he is just playing well. These last three or four games, he’s been making big throws, down the field throws, but yet he is not being careless with the ball.”

A great start

Adrian Greene made an early statement about how the game would go.

On the second offensive play of the game, he grabbed his sixth interception of the season and returned it for a touchdown — his second pick-six since joining the Stampeders this offseason. It echoed his first from all the way in Week 2, which also came against the Argos.

Greene missed five games due to injury, but is still tied for the league lead in takeaways this season.

Smothering defence

The Argos were a ship without a captain when they rowed into McMahon together offensively.

Season-long starter Nick Arbuckle, who was slated to be the backup before the season began, was injured a few weeks ago, leaving the quarterbacking duties to the trio of Jarret Doege, Max Duggan, and Tucker Horn.

The three would combine for 246 yards through the air, one touchdown with two interceptions. I was surprised to see that they collectively completed 32-of-43 pass attempts (74.4 percent), given how frequently the Argo QBs were running for their lives from a Calgary defensive line that got to them for four sacks and forced two intentional grounding penalties. The Stamps’ defence also thought they had a pair of fumble recoveries, but both times they were overturned into incomplete passes.

Calgary would generate four turnovers on the day and look to be rounding back into the shape that saw them explode out of the starting blocks this season.

Mills runs them over

I said last week that Dedrick Mills should be the Stampeders nominee for Most Outstanding Player when the ballots are counted in Calgary, and he played like it again against the Argos.

With 115 yards on just 14 carries and an additional 62 yards through the air on just two catches, Mills would also move back into a tie for the league lead in rushing touchdowns with 11 on the season so far.

“(Mills) was carrying the mail,” said Dickenson. “I thought it was the best I’ve seen him on his check-downs and releases, and (the Argos) weren’t really accounting for him. He got some huge, huge plays that were off script in the passing game.”

Mills is closing in on a league rushing title, which would be his first, as he has a 155-yard lead on B.C.’s James Butler heading into the final week of action.

Not everything was perfect

The Stampeders had a pretty dominant outing on both sides of the ball, but not in all three phases.

Dickenson was unhappy with the cover teams in the game, as both kicker Rene Paredes and punter Mark Vassett had to get involved in making special teams tackles. The Argos had four punt returns for 71 total yards and six kickoff returns for 156 yards, allowing them to get into scoring position due to the shortened fields.

Paredes also missed another long field goal attempt late in the game. While largely a glorified practice rep given the game situation, Paredes has still been less accurate than ideal on kicks over 40 yards this year, with all but one of his nine misses coming from distance.

It’s a bird! It’s a plane! It’s a political ad…

A few weeks ago, the Stampeders had a post-game drone show just over the west end of the stadium featuring some football imagery and pro-Stampeders messaging. It was generally well received by the audience, especially as it is still a relatively new art form and not many have seen them live before.

It was a little shocking when another drone show started in the third quarter of the game, in the same place. Showing similar Calgary and football-related shapes, it suddenly flashed a political ad, recommending a specific mayoral candidate.

After checking with the team, multiple people confirmed that the organization was completely unaware that the show was going to happen and that it was not an endorsement.

The one and only

With the team’s tenth win of the season, they are guaranteed a West Division playoff spot, although their opponent and the location of the game are both still in question heading into the final week of the season.

Since the playoff crossover rule came into effect in 1996, every other team in the West Division has been in the crossover spot at least once. Calgary remains the lone existing CFL franchise to never have played an East Division playoff game.

The math

I got out my trusty slide rule and started working on the math for next week and the CFL West Division playoff picture, and as far as I can tell, here are the scenarios:

If both Calgary and Winnipeg win and B.C. loses, Calgary hosts Winnipeg, and B.C. crosses over to the East Division playoff

If Calgary wins and both Winnipeg and BC lose, Calgary hosts B.C., and Winnipeg crosses over.

If B.C. wins, they’ll host Calgary, and Winnipeg crosses over.

The Stamps play in the first of the three games involving these teams in Edmonton on Friday night and have to win to keep their hopes of a home playoff game alive.

Then, the team will have to root for the Riders to play enough starters to beat a Lions team that will be looking to secure home field and send a message before the playoffs begin that they are the true Western powerhouse in 2025.