5 Takeaways: Redblacks take advantage of sloppy Calgary Stampeders in Ottawa

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It was another no-doubt result on the Calgary Stampeders schedule.

Only this night, it went the way of the opposition.

For the first time on the 2025 Canadian Football League season, the Stampeders were dominated by a rival.

The host Ottawa Redblacks stuffed the run game, won the turnover battle — including a pick-six — and stayed more disciplined than the visitors in winning a 31-11 affair at TD Place.

Not enough offence.

Too many turnovers.

And far too many penalties.

“We didn’t make any plays,” Stampeders GM/head coach Dave Dickenson told CHQR. “But actually, guys kept fighting. There was a lot of heart — you could see it.

“There was just no plays being made. And the plays we normally do make, we didn’t make. And then we started turning the ball over and taking too many penalties.

“I’m not down on the group — they had fight. I’m just down on the performance.”

The loss dropped the Stamps to 5-3, as they dropped a second-straight game for the first time in 2025. Meanwhile, the Redblacks got a badly needed win to improve to 2-6 in the CFL standings.

Here are 5 takeaways from the Stampeders loss in the nation’s capital …

1) TOO MANY TURNOVERS

With Vernon Adams Jr. sidelined by a head injury, backup quarterback P.J. Walker was in the spotlight for the Stamps, making his first-ever CFL start.

Just as it did in last week’s fourth-quarter oopsy, it didn’t go well for the former NFL pivot.

Walker’s basic stats were solid. The 30-year-old QB was 20-of-37 for 273 passing yards and his first-ever CFL touchdown pass — to Dominique Rhymes over the middle covering 29 yards to get the Red and White back in the game in the fourth quarter.

But three interceptions proved to be Walker’s — and the Stamps’ — undoing. He underthrew his target on the first one, overthrew his intended receiver on the second one. And then game the dagger on an INT runback of 61 yards by A McGee in the fourth quarter that saw Walker turn a fire a hitch pass right into the arms of the Redblacks defender.

It was an easy pick-off. Too easy.

“You can’t win games having three turnovers,” Walker told reporters. “We connected on a couple of plays, but the outcome could be a little different. Gotta be better the next time we get an opportunity to go out there and play.

“I felt like, honestly, I got into my rhythm,” continued Walker. “I felt good, and I was throwing it around the field. Sometimes you just don’t make all the plays you need to, but it’s part of the game.

“You just have to battle through adversity.”

Off four turnovers on the night, including one on downs gambling deep in their own territory with little time left, the Redblacks counted 14 points.

That’s a recipe for success if you’re the thieving team.

“Listen … P.J. made a lot of good plays, and he did turn the ball over,” Dickenson said. “But I thought he held himself in there.

“He’s certainly a guy that you could tell did some really good things, but just not as consistent. And he just made a couple throws that I know he’d like back.”

2) NOT ALL ON P.J.

Yes … the turnovers were terrible, snuffing out solid marches and potential scoring drives.
But Walker was put in second down-and-long all night — 15 times, in fact.

The run game let the Stamps down with Walker at QB again for the second straight week. Adams has enjoyed the luxury of Dedrick Mills running for five and six yards at a time on first down, putting the defence often in an awkward position.

However, the offensive line couldn’t handle the defensive-box play schemed up by the Redblacks, similar to how it happened when they lost to the same squad at McMahon Stadium on the monsoon-type night in Week 3.

They just flat out stuffed the Stamps ground effort.

“We didn’t win the line of scrimmage on offence at all,” Dickenson said. “Our offensive line couldn’t move them. Don’t know why. We’ll see.”

How bad was it?

The Stamps came in with the best run game in the league — by a lot.

And it left beat up and bruised both on physically and mentally.

Mills, the league’s top rusher, authored just 11 yards on seven carries.
Teammate Jeshrun Antwi was held to no yards on four hauls.

And Stamps rookie Ludovic Choquette was the high guy, with just 10 yards on four runs.

Ouch.

“We didn’t make a lot of plays on offence,” Stampeders receiver Dominique Rhymes told CHQR.

3) FLAGS, FLAGS EVERYWHERE

It was the the Red, White and Orange on this night, with flags decorating the field to punish the Stamps.
In all, the visitors were flagged 12 times, costing them a whopping 113 yards.

“It is a lot,” Stamps defensive lineman Justin Sambu told CHQR. “We’re going to have to work on it. You know … that’s what we got three days of practice for before the game. So we’ll get back and look at the film, get back on the practice field and make sure that we get rid of those and minimize those as much as we can.”

On the other hand, the Redblacks totalled five penalties for 55 yards.

It was the second-straight week the Stampeders lacked the kind of discipline needed to win games.
And guess what? They lost for the second-straight week — the first double of that kind on their year.

“With the refereeing, honestly, the whole standard is a work in progress right now,” Dickenson said.

“We’ve got to play up to a standard to make sure we don’t put it in the hands of the officials. We’ve got to do the right things so we don’t get the call. So …yeah … certainly too many flags across the board. In all three phases, we’ve got to be better.”

4) DEFENCE TOUGH AGAIN

The 31 points put up by the Redblacks looks like a lot.

But only half of that total was on the Red and White defence.

“We did a fair job stopping their run,” Dickenson said.

That unit allowed just a couple of TD marches — both in the second quarter — continuing its surprise breakthrough despite only coming together for the first time this season with 12 new starters in place.

And even key injuries aren’t hurting the defence.

In fact, the Stamps allowed just 274 yards on the evening, keeping the score in doubt until a couple of timely turnovers by the offence did in the team.

“I thought the defence really found themselves again at the second half,” Sambu said. “I think the first half we’re really trying to fight and figure out what we need to do to change. The second half felt like we played more freely. We were going out there, making plays, making stops and making them punt.

“But we have to it from the beginning of the game if we want to win.”

5) RED, WHITE & TIRED, TOO

The month of July was a busy stretch for the Stampeders.

They played five games in 31 days, including the last four in 20 days.
Now, that’s a heavy load.

After triumphing through challenges for the first part of the month, the schedule finally caught up to them these last two games.

The byproduct was the rash of injuries to key players on both sides of the ball — to QB Adams, receivers Jalen Philpot and Damien Alford and cornerbacks Adrian Greene and Ben Labrosse.

While the secondary — and defence as a whole — did a yeoman’s job anyway Thursday without Greene, Labrosse and previously injured Tyler Richardson, the loss of Philpot and Alford likely made the night even more challenging for CFL rookie Walker.

“The hardest thing in football as a team is staying consistent,” Sambu said. “So you know, that’s something that we’re gonna have to continue to grind come back next week strong.”

Indeed, the offence is a hurting unit right now, highlighted by the absence of its most valuable weapons in Adams and veteran pass-catcher Reggie Begelton.

So a long week off is just what the doctor ordered, with the Stamps next in action nine days from now — against the visiting Winnipeg Blue Bombers on Sunday, Aug. 9 at McMahon (5 p.m.).

And August itself is full of days-off for the Stamps, with only two games in the month — both coming on home turf.

The team needs it to refresh and get back to its spirited winning ways of the early part of the schedule.

“It was just a game we lost momentum early,” added Dickenson. “Special games-wise, too, we just couldn’t get the play we needed or the kicks we wanted. And ultimately, it wasn’t a good enough performance.”

tsaelhof@postmedia.com
www.x.com/ToddSaelhofPM