Photo courtesy: Andrew Mahon/CFL.ca
The Saskatchewan Roughriders completed the sweep of their back-to-back against the Winnipeg Blue Bombers on Saturday with a 21-13 win.
This game certainly lacked some of the wild moments of the Labour Day Classic, but it is still a strong win for the Riders, who took the Banjo Bowl for the first time in five years.
Here are the rest of my thoughts on a big win for the Riders.
Zach Collaros injury
It is tough to talk about this game in any way without discussing the injury to Zach Collaros. In a scene that is becoming all too familiar, the former Bombers’ QB was knocked out of this game after taking a hit in the third quarter.
It is not my place to tell someone what to do with their career, much less their life, and we do not yet know the nature of the injury. But I’m not going to feel comfortable watching another Collaros game. Every time any pass rush gets close to him, I get a very uneasy feeling. I am not someone who wants to shy away from the violent part of the sport — in fact, I celebrate the Riders for turning into one of the hardest-hitting teams in the league — but you can’t ignore every red flag when it comes to this particular player. I am sure the Bombers’ staff is doing their absolute best to make sure he is ok when he steps on the field, but there is only so much you can do. Ultimately, it is his decision.
As for the play itself, I don’t think it was a dirty hit or anything like that. In today’s CFL, that is absolutely a penalty. If this were 20 years ago, A) C.J. Reavis would have hit him a lot harder than that, and B) we would be talking about how Reavis BLEW UP Collaros, who likely would have been diagnosed with a case of “getting his bell rung.” But we know more about all of these things now, so I had no problem with the penalty call. I just don’t think that makes it a dirty hit.
Not that it is any consolation for Collaros, but this comes in a game where the Riders’ pass rush wasn’t nearly as effective as we are used to. Malik Carney registered the only sack of the game for Saskatchewan. It is just the second time in the last seven games that the Riders haven’t had multiple sacks.
Football-picking DBs
Creating interceptions was the calling card of the Riders’ defence a year ago. This year, it feels like the dominance of the defensive line has gotten more of the attention, but in this game, it was the secondary taking that spotlight back. Tevaughn Campbell put last week’s game away with a big pick on the two-point conversion. This week, he was at it again with a pair of interceptions, with the last one feeling like the dagger.
Those were two of four picks in the game, and it wasn’t just the volume, but the timing of each one of them felt absolutely massive. The DaMarcus Fields’ interception came when Saskatchewan was down seven and couldn’t afford to fall further behind. Marcus Sayles’ pick felt like a potential six-point swing that helped the Riders get back into the game at the end of the first half, while Campbell’s second interception came on the Hail Mary at the end of the game.
The defence has stepped up all season long, but it seems the secondary is starting to come together to reach last year’s level again. That is a very good sign for Rider Nation.
Pressure when it counts
As mentioned above, the pass rush wasn’t as dominant as it was in the Labour Day Classic. But, much like the interceptions, it really stepped up when it mattered most.
On the first Campbell interception that helped put the game away, Malik Carney made a very smart play to set it all up. It looked like Winnipeg was trying to set up a screen for Nik Demski, but Carney read that. Instead of barrelling full tilt towards Chris Streveler and doing exactly what Winnipeg wanted, he went on a bit of a side quest, cut right in front of Demski to take that option away, and then did the aforementioned barrelling. It forced Streveler to go to a second read. Carney then closed quickly enough that he was still able to affect the pass, which allowed it to fall into the warm, welcoming arms of the former NFL DB.
Those are the types of plays that win games this time of year, and it absolutely sealed the deal this week.
Bombs away
I have talked at length about my frustration with how predictable the Riders’ offence can be. While this week wasn’t a banner one for the group, I did really like how they attacked Winnipeg’s defence.
Saskatchewan is at its best when Trevor Harris is working the short and intermediate passing game. But if I know that and you know that, then odds are the other teams in the CFL know that. You need to take a few shots to keep defences from crowding you in those areas, and that is exactly what the Riders did in this game.
Trevor Harris took several deep shots in the Banjo Bowl, and while they didn’t all hit, enough of them did to make it worth the Riders’ while. The biggest one came after Mario Alford’s confusing punt return that set the Riders up at their own one (more on that later). Most observers of this game would have assumed Harris and the Riders would go super conservative and try to escape their goalposts’ shadow. Instead, Harris took a deep shot to Joe Robustelli for a big gain. One more deep shot drew a pass interference call, and just like that, Saskatchewan was in field goal range.
Harris is never going to turn into Michael Bishop, airing the ball out all over the field. But we saw the Stamps smother the Riders a couple of weeks ago, and we’ve seen a few close calls where DBs were jumping underneath routes. Saskatchewan can’t just travel the road to the Grey Cup eight yards at a time. They are going to have to keep attacking like this if they want to head back to this same stadium in November for a chance at a championship.
Thanks for the h-Elk
After Saskatchewan lost to Calgary in Week 12, the Riders’ lead in the West was down to two points. Most of the talk coming out of that, especially from the Stampede City, was something along the lines of, “Well, the Riders will probably split with Winnipeg and the Stamps will sweep the Elks, so Calgary is basically in first place.” And that, my friends and people who hate-read these every week, is why they play the games.
Cody Fajardo picked up one of his biggest wins of the season for the Riders as he and the rest of the Elks beat Calgary 31-19. That gives Saskatchewan a four-point cushion for first in the West with just six games remaining. Looking at the schedule the rest of the way, Saskatchewan only has two more games left against teams currently in a playoff spot. Calgary has four such games. The Riders don’t have any games left against teams that are currently above .500, while Calgary has one.
Now, that one is a bit tricky because the only teams currently above .500 are Calgary, Saskatchewan, and Hamilton. But the point remains. The Riders are in a much better spot than a lot of people would have imagined after the loss in Calgary. Plus, they now have the season series with Winnipeg and are eight points clear of their prairie rivals. It seems very likely that a playoff game is coming to Regina; it is just a matter of figuring out which one.
Kickstart our hearts
This thought is a lot different now than it would have been at the beginning of the game. Brett Lauther missed the point after that would have tied the game, but the struggling kicker bounced back, hitting five field goals, including one very late to help put the game away.
It will take a while for Rider fans to trust their kicker again, but this is a very good start. Hopefully, this is the game that gets his confidence back and puts the struggles of this year behind him.
Wario Alford
This game was not without its poor special teams moment for Saskatchewan. In the fourth quarter, Mario Alford tried to reverse the field on a missed field goal return and came very close to giving up a safety. As we discussed above, the Riders were able to bail him out, but it was still a baffling decision.
It looks like Alford is still recovering from the issues that kept him out earlier in the year. He’s healthy enough to keep playing, but the speed that made him a gamebreaker at the beginning of the season hasn’t come back yet.
Final Thoughts
This was not a masterpiece by any stretch of the imagination, but it had been a long time since Saskatchewan won the Banjo Bowl, and Winnipeg is still a very difficult place to play. You don’t have to apologize for any win in that stadium, and I do think the better team won this game.
This weekend couldn’t have played out any better for Saskatchewan, who feel like they are back in the driver’s seat in the West. They will be favoured in every game they play the rest of the way and have some wiggle room now at the top of the division. They’ll have a chance to stay hot when they take on the Alouettes to wrap up Week 15 on Saturday evening.