The Calgary Stampeders’ 20–12 loss to the Ottawa Redblacks was their first loss of the season. 

Obviously, any loss is bad. But, it’s not all bad; they’ve still exceeded expectations early in the season. 

They currently sit in 3rd place in the West at 2–1. 

Week 4 is their first bye week of the year. That means they will have a chance to regroup and make improvements before their next game. 

Here are four things they should focus on improving during the bye week. 

Short Yardage Offense

Short yardage offense may not be a big part of the game in terms of plays per game. But having a high percentage short-yardage attack is essential to offensive success.

P.J. Walker getting the nod as the short-yardage QB was one of my biggest surprises this young season. 

First of all, Quincy Vaughn proved himself extremely capable in short-yardage situations while in college. 

Secondly, Vaughn was perfect in short-yardage situations in the preseason. 

P.J. Walker hasn’t been bad, but he could do better. Through three games, Walker has gone 3/5 in short-yardage situations (getting either a first down or TD). 60% isn’t going to cut it in the long term. 

Coach Dickenson spoke about the situation in his post-game interview. He said Walker has done a good job; he simply missed his aiming point on his second attempt against the Redblacks. That allowed the unblocked end to make the tackle. 

The Calgary Stampeders need to make a choice soon. Can Walker get the job done? Or should Canadian Rookie Quincy Vaughn take over that role? 

In the preseason, Vaughn went 2/2 (1 touchdown, 1 first down). He also did a great job replacing Walker in week 3 (2/2 with 2 first downs). 

Vernon Adams Jr.

Adams Jr. does some dancing in the pocket to find Rhymes for a first down!🕺#CFLGameDay pic.twitter.com/jJzHdwac3s

— CFL (@CFL) June 21, 2025

The trade for Vernon Adams Jr. was met with a lot of hype. So far this season, he’s lived up to the hype, for the most part.

• 53/85 (62.4%)
• 803 yards passing
• 0 tds
• 3 ints
• 108 yards rushing, 1 td

The statistics don’t fully measure his impact on the team. His leadership and energy can’t be understated. 

However, there is one glaring hole in his play this season: he has 0 touchdown passes. With the Stampeders struggling to finish drives, they will need Adams, their leader, to get the ball in the end zone more often. 

Turno

vers

Taking care of the ball is vital at any level of football. Unfortunately, the Calgary Stampeders haven’t done a great job of it so far this season.

The Stampeders gave the ball away five times in week three alone. 

• 1 fumble lost
• 1 int
• 3 on downs
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Two of the turnovers on downs were near the goal line, and the other was from the 25. Successful field goals on those three drives would have won Calgary the game. 

Their inability to take care of

the football and finish drives is the reason they only scored 12 points despite 337 yards of total offense. 

The defense has played well so far this season, but the Stampeders won’t win many games, scoring only 12 points. 

Kicking and Punting

annnd it's good!! pic.twitter.com/js5rS4aYkI

— Calgary Stampeders (@calstampeders) June 21, 2025

One of the fun things about the CFL game is the importance of field positions. That puts an extra emphasis on good kicking and punting. 

The Calgary Stampeders have gre

at players in both spots, but both could do a bit better. 

Paredes went 3/4 in week three after a 3/5 game the week before. To be fair, he was battling the elements in both games. But Paredes is one of the best kickers to ever play in the CFL. That comes with slightly unrealistic expectations. 

I’m expecting Paredes to get back on track and kick better than his 9/12 start to the season. 

It’s easy to see why Fra

ser Masin was picked first in the CFL Global Draft. Through three weeks, we’ve already seen flashes of the talent that coaches are so high on. 

• 14 punts
• 47.6 average 
• 2 singles

It

hasn’t all been good, though. Masin’s first two punts of the game were out of bounds, too short. His 3rd punt went out of the endzone for a single rather than pinning the Redblacks deep. Those mistakes cost Calgary a lot of field position in a close game. 

As Masin gets more experience in the Canadian game, I expect those types of mistakes to occur less and less often.