Photo courtesy: Saskatchewan Roughriders.

Of all the games the Saskatchewan Roughriders have played, that was definitely one of them.

The Riders beat the Ottawa Redblacks 20-13 in a wildly uneventful game in Ottawa. It wasn’t pretty, nor was it perfect, but it was very much needed for the Riders to get back on track.

Here are the rest of my thoughts on Saskatchewan’s win.

We’ll take that 

The big key in this game was in the turnover department, where the Riders forced three interceptions, including a pick-six from Antoine Brooks Jr. that helped Saskatchewan to an early lead. What was striking about these was just how easy they came. Not that the Riders didn’t deserve them, it’s just that they didn’t have to disguise any coverage or even get much pressure on Dru Brown at all. He just kind of threw it to them. 

I’ve talked before about the Riders’ bend but don’t break defence, and this is the best case scenario for that. Saskatchewan didn’t do anything wild in coverage, and they didn’t send all-out blitzes or anything like that. They just trusted that if they forced Ottawa to move the ball slowly down the field, they would eventually make a mistake. And that is exactly what happened. 

Welcome back

The Saskatchewan receiver room is starting to fill up with Kian Schaffer-Baker’s return from injury. Trevor Harris made sure he felt right at home with four receptions on five targets for 40 yards.

The challenge for Harris and this offence will be finding reps for everyone. The Riders’ pivot is one of the best in the league at spreading the ball around and getting it to the open target, so Saskatchewan is set up well for this. I have no idea which pass catcher defences will key in on every week.

Numbers never lie… right? 

So now that everyone is back, the offence should be running smoothly, right? Well, the numbers would say yes, but the eye test showed something different.

This is the second game in a row where I haven’t loved how the offence looked, but at the end of the night, Harris had 300+ yards passing. Saskatchewan could have put this game away much earlier than they did, but they followed up each non-pick-six interception that Brown threw with a two-and-out. Aside from the opening drive, the offence didn’t feel like it had much flow to it for a lot of the game. 

Overall, I’m not overly worried about this group offensively. A.J. Ouellette has found ways to be productive all season long, and they are overflowing with pass-catching options for Harris to work with. Now that everyone is healthy, hopefully they can all get in sync before the playoffs start next month.

To be Fair, kicking is hard

Turns out, Brett Lauther isn’t the only one who has kicking issues for the Green and White. The troubled kicker was out nursing a back injury that he no doubt suffered while carrying the weight of a frustrating season everywhere he goes. Lauther entered the week with one of the lowest point-after success rates at 90.9 percent, but that is 90.9 percent higher than his replacement, as Campbell Fair shanked both extra points in his debut.
It wasn’t just Fair who had problems. Saskatchewan had problems covering kicks all night, getting bailed out by a lack of discipline from Ottawa on a few occasions. A long Kalil Pimpleton return touchdown, which could have changed the result of this game, was called back due to an illegal block by linebacker Tyron Vrede.

Survive and advance

As I said earlier, this was not perfect. And, as I’ve said before, it’s my job to look at the “how” and not just the “how many.” But, there are some times when that isn’t as important, and I think this is one of those times.

The Riders had lost back-to-back games and needed to get back on track. Does this performance prove that every issue they had has been solved and they are ready to beat the Stamps by 50 in the playoffs? No, absolutely not. But that is a concern for a different game. This game was about getting back in the win column and taking control of the West Division. Mission accomplished. 

Final thoughts

This was a difficult game to really break down. The Riders were dominant, and at no point did the result of this game feel in doubt. But, they also didn’t play particularly well, and from a bigger picture standpoint, they have a lot of questions to answer. 

The good news is, they get to figure out those problems while sitting six points clear of the next closest team in the West and if the B.C. Lions lose on Saturday, will have a home playoff date guaranteed. There are worse places to be. 

We’ll see if they can get some momentum going again when they host the Argonauts next weekend at Mosaic Stadium.