Stampeders get off to good start with 29-8 win over Montreal, but Cornish’s injury may hurt

While the Calgary Stampeders were dominant on the field in a 29-8 win over Montreal Saturday, it's a player who left the field early who may prove the most important. That would be Canadian running back Jon Cornish, the CFL's reigning rushing leader and most outstanding player, who left the game after a rough hit from Montreal's Kyries Hebert (who was ejected as a result). The Stampeders were fine without Cornish on the day, completely dominating the Alouettes on both sides of the ball (it was 29-1 until the final play), but if he's out for any length of time, they'll have to revamp their offence substantially. Thus, this may yet prove a Pyrrhic victory for them.

For the Stampeders, there are a ton of positives to take from this one. The passing offence looked amazing, with Bo Levi Mitchell completing 16 of 25 passes (64 per cent) for 313 yards and two touchdowns and finding tons of different receivers, including Maurice Price for a stunning 102-yard catch-and-run score. The rushing offence was decent too, with Cornish collecting 67 yards and a touchdown on 14 carries (4.8 yards per attempt, solid but not spectacular) and Matt Walter adding 32 more rushing yards on seven carries (4.6 yards per carry). It was maybe the defence that was the best, though; they held Montreal quarterback Troy Smith to 17 completions on 40 attempts (42.5 per cent) for 127 passing yards with an interception, and running back Brandon Whitaker to 59 yards on 12 carries (4.9 yards per attempt). Some of Smith's struggles were self-inflicted, as he kept throwing low-percentage long bombs and often overthrew receivers, but a lot of it was just great defence.

There are big questions for the Alouettes coming out of this loss. Their offence was utterly ineffectual Saturday, and while Calgary's defence deserves plenty of credit for that, Montreal wasn't able to make any adjustments that worked. Offensive coordinator Ryan Dinwiddie (who was only recently promoted after Rick Worman was fired in training camp) clearly has some work to do, especially on implementing some higher-percentage short passes. Smith also has to continue to adapt to the CFL, and realize that he doesn't need to throw the ball a mile on every down. He has great arm strength, but needs to work on the accuracy. There are obviously some tensions rising in Montreal, especially considering that this comes on the heels of two less-than-stellar preseason games. Smith reportedly called a players-only meeting after the loss, which doesn't seem to be an indication that all's well.

While things seem better for the Stampeders, Cornish's injury means that there will be plenty of worried Calgary fans too. He's been so critical to their offence over the last couple of years that any substantial absence on his part could really hurt the Stampeders, and that's certainly a possibility after the ugly-looking hit he took from Hebert, which had him laying on the field for quite some time (and even had an ambulance brought onto the field initially before he eventually walked off under his own power). He was walking and talking after the game, but told media members he doesn't remember the hit and will have to go through the concussion protocol:

That could mean that Cornish is out for some time, as that protocol is a six-step one that's supposed to involve 24 asymptomatic hours between each step (PDF). (It doesn't always seem to pan out that way, though.) Concussions vary, too, and it's quite possible for it to take weeks or months for a player to be symptom-free. Calgary does have depth at RB, with Walter and free-agent signing Jock Sanders providing options, but Cornish has been one of the league's top players for the last while; it's not at all easy to replace the reigning Most Outstanding Player. If he's out for a while, this may be remembered as quite a bad day for the Stampeders despite their win.