There was no sugarcoating it in Calgary's locker room. The Stampeders took a beating up front, got outplayed at the line of scrimmage, and watched their quarterback situation shift mid-game because the offense simply wasn't getting anything done. Head coach Dave Dickenson didn't dress it up afterward, and neither did veteran linebacker Marquel Lee.
"They beat us. They put a whooping on us," Dickenson said flatly. "So not really words on that one. We just, we definitely got beat. It's tough. Like you said, we understand football's a rough game and we took our lumps on this one. And we're going to try to rally and find a way to get back on track."
Won and Lost in the Trenches
Dickenson pointed to one phase of the game as the difference-maker, and it wasn't scheme or execution in the passing game. It was simple physicality.
"I thought if we could create some momentum. But we didn't. And, you know, they just, they won the battle up front and, you know, usually in football physicality, the ones that win the line of scrimmage wins the game. And they definitely won that." — Dave Dickenson
He did note a flicker of hope before it all slipped away. "I thought we had a chance there at the end of the first half. You know, we did get a field goal," Dickenson said. But whatever momentum that field goal might have built never materialized, and Calgary couldn't climb back into it.
The Quarterback Change
Part of the story out of this one was seeing Josh Love get significant snaps in place of the starter. Dickenson made clear it wasn't about an injury — it was about needing a spark that wasn't coming.
"BA's doing okay... I don't think BA's hurt or anything like that, but it was just time to do that. We weren't being successful. It's just one of those things we had to do it." — Dave Dickenson
That's about as honest as a coach can be about a quarterback change — not a benching over injury, just a results-based call in the middle of a blowout.
Dickenson Wants Leadership From the Room, Not the Booth
Asked what happens next, Dickenson didn't reach for a scheme fix. He put it on the players.
"I think the leaders got to take over here. I really do. I think the leadership committee has to be, you know, it's really more about all of us trying to rally together. I think it has to be player-led." — Dave Dickenson
He didn't let the coaching staff off the hook either, adding that the staff has "got to understand we're just not giving them enough things to make them successful," and that changes need to be made to set the team up better going forward.
Lee: "We're in a Lull Right Now"
Marquel Lee wasn't interested in playing detective about when the game slipped away. His answer was blunt and stayed in the present.
"I really don't know, to be honest. I couldn't tell you. I just go out there and play ball, bro. Like, play in and play out. Just try to do the best I can." — Marquel Lee
With six games left in the season and Calgary searching for a reset, Lee acknowledged the schedule ahead gives the group a chance to find its footing — starting with a matchup against Ottawa. But he was careful not to treat that as anything close to a given.
"No disrespect to Ottawa. I mean, we're gonna have to show up and play at the end of the day. Like, we're in a lull right now, so we gotta go look in the mirror this week and fix the mistakes, come back better and execute as a whole better." — Marquel Lee
Lee leaned on the locker room's experience when asked whether the belief is still there among a veteran group that knows what a bad week looks like.
"Yeah, we still have the belief. We just gotta come to work. At the end of the day, that's what we're asked to do. That's our profession. That's our job. It's what we get paid to do. And we get paid to win games. So we gotta come to work and we gotta fix the problems that we need to fix, execute better. Hopefully we have a better shot next week." — Marquel Lee
What's Next
Calgary now heads into a stretch where Dickenson's call for player-led leadership gets tested in real time. The line-of-scrimmage issues that cost them this game don't fix themselves overnight, and with six games to go, the margin for another performance like this one is thin. Whether the fix comes from the "leadership committee" Dickenson referenced or simply from veterans like Lee putting their heads down and grinding through the mistakes, the Stampeders don't have much time to figure it out.
Check the Stampeders team page and the CFL standings to track how Calgary responds over the final stretch.
Watch the Full Videos
Calgary Stampeders: General Manager & Head Coach Dave Dickenson | Post-Game | 12.09.26
Calgary Stampeders: Marquel Lee | Post-Game | 12.09.26