Photo courtesy: Saskatchewan Roughriders.

It took all 60 minutes, but the team with the better players on the field eventually won.

The Saskatchewan Roughriders made the smart decision not to play a number of their starters, including quarterback Trevor Harris, running back A.J. Ouellette, and defensive lineman Micah Johnson, amongst many others.

That decision turned out to be even better given how it turned out to be a wet night at Princess Auto Stadium.

With all of that in mind, basically everyone expected the Blue Bombers to win this game and win it fairly easily, though some of us did expect the Riders to cover the 5.5-point spread offered up by oddsmakers.

Frankly, had head coach Corey Mace not turned to third-string quarterback Jack Coan in the fourth quarter, the Riders may have been able to hang on for the win. With that said, it was still the right call to give Coan the ball as you don’t get too many real-world situations to test your third-string quarterback in a game where the outcome doesn’t matter.

I’ll leave what this win says about the current state of the Bombers to my colleague John Hodge. From a Riders perspective, even if they lost, they know they can still be competitive should a rash of injuries hit this team in the West Final.

Here’s the good, the bad, and the dumb of Saskatchewan’s fifth loss of the season.

The Good

We saw something rarely seen from the Green and White to open this game: aggressiveness on their very first possession.

After recovering a Trey Vaval fumble on the opening kickoff, the Riders took possession at the Winnipeg 43-yard line. Far too often this season, we’ve seen offensive coordinator Marc Mueller follow up a big game-changing turnover with a run up the gut for maybe a yard or two, followed up by either an incompletion or a short pass that ends up short of a first down, leading to the Riders punting the ball right back.

Not this time.

On their very first play from scrimmage, with backup quarterback Jake Maier in nonetheless, Mueller dialled up a flea flicker deep-shot for receiver Joe Robustelli. The pass wasn’t completed but the Bombers were called for pass interference on the play, setting up a one-yard sneak from Coan for an early 6-0 lead.

The points were a bonus in this game but as TSN’s Luke Willson pointed out on the broadcast, whoever the Riders face in the West Final will now have to think about it for a second before selling out to stop the run on first down in such a situation.

I’m also a big fan of taking a shot down the field following a turnover as hitting such a play can easily change the game for your team. The play also sent the message that the Riders were in Winnipeg to play and not just go through the motions.

The Bad

The outcome of this game didn’t matter from a Riders perspective, but the habits did.

If there was one troubling sign for Saskatchewan in this one, it was the number of poorly-timed penalties they took.

In total, the Riders were flagged eight times for 65 yards and while that yardage is a little low for the number of flags, what’s more concerning is when these penalties occurred.

On the Bombers’ first offensive possession, C.J. Reavis was flagged for pass interference on a second down that would have gotten the defence off the field. The extended drive led to the lone Blue Bombers touchdown of the game. Another pass interference call in the third quarter also came on second down, but that one proved to be less damaging.

Half of the eight accepted flags came on either a Blue Bombers second or third down, including a pyramiding call on a successful field goal from Sergio Castillo, which allowed the Bombers to continue their drive and drain the clock instead of giving the offence 30 to 40 seconds following the kickoff.

On offence, a holding call with just over two minutes to go in the first half wiped out a solid nine-yard gain from Mario Anderson Jr. on first down and eventually led to a two-and-out.

Penalties are going to happen throughout a football game. The goal is to try and limit their damage and the Riders could have done a better job of that on Friday night.

The Dumb 

There’s no doubt that CFL players are incredibly athletic, but sometimes we need a little reminder that despite their superhuman abilities, they are in fact human as well.

In the fourth quarter, strong-side linebacker Antoine Brooks Jr. attempted a backflip after a Zach Collaros pass fell incomplete. The former Maryland Terp didn’t exactly stick the landing but managed to maintain his balance and not make a complete fool of himself.

In that same quarter, quarterback Jack Coan took off for a nine-yard gain on a first-down play. Once Coan’s space started to run out, he decided it was time to hit the deck. I don’t know for sure, but I’m guessing Coan didn’t play much baseball as a kid or if he did, he might have been a pitcher because the head-first slide was pretty awkward.

I’m sure when the team reviews the film both of these moments will bring a few laughs to the room. All in good fun, of course.