Sports Take

I’ve been around at McMahon Stadium all season long and the call of the fans is needing a different spark at the QB position and I have been among them, but looking at the small details and not just the horrendous record through 10 games of the season, Jake Maier isn’t the issue.

Jake Maier leads the league in drives lead (no surprise with all the injuries and controversies this season) with 134 drives, 23 of them ending in touchdowns for a 17.2% success rate. The more telling stat is red zone passing numbers, first in attempts (33), first in completions (25), first in touchdowns (11). Bonus is 0 interceptions, the issue isn’t punching the ball in, it’s getting the ball into the red zone. His accuracy on deep throws is an issue (targets over 20 yards, 20/49, 40.8%, 7 TD, 2 INTS) and I’m sure defenses around the league know this and will clamp down an play a more press coverage to defend the short passes making it more difficult for them to move the ball down field. To me what this means is that the run game needs to be a prolific part of this offense, using play action after the run games been established and force defenses to be more honest with the run.

Dedrick Mills remains the teams leader with 406 yards rushing despite missing the last 4 games due to a personal matter(hope he’s doing well and it’s nothing too serious) leaving Peyton Logan the majority of rushes, he’s quick and agile and should be used as a 2nd down back with ability to catch out of the back field, combine that with someone who has the ability to run the ball through the gut of the defense and reach the second level would allow the Stampeders to show defenses many more combinations and force them to make way more decisions on every play. Force the linebackers on first down to freeze while wondering if the running back is getting the ball then going over their heads.

The other side is the defense, teams are discovering that there’s a serious issue with the run defense. My goodness it’s awful, 80 rushing first downs, averaging 108.8 yards against on the ground per game. Also last in the league in giving up first downs with 219. 3 more than the worst team in the league in the Hamilton Tiger-Cats. The pass defense is a bit more solid forcing 11 interceptions to hold second in the league, forcing fumbles and recovering them is different, they’re last in that category with 2.

I don’t believe that the offense is the issue in Calgary, it’s the front 7 of the defense. Which is baffling to me when the starters include Cam Judge, Micah Awe, Julien Howsare, Mike Rose, and James Vaughters. All former CFL All Stars in their positions, but only combining for 10 sacks. Is it possible that Brent Monson, Stampeders Defensive Coordinator, could find himself on the hotseat? It seems to be drawing closer.

Jake Maier isn’t the issue.

References http://CFL.ca