Winston Venable fined for hit that should’ve given Riders chance at victory

Montreal linebacker Winston Venable has been fined for leading with the crown of his helmet on a hit to Saskatchewan Roughriders running back Joe McKnight, the CFL announced on Thursday.

Winston Venable's fine for hit on Joe McKnight: $1000

— Rod Pedersen (@rodpedersen) October 27, 2016

On the final play of the fourth quarter and the Riders trailing 19-14, McKnight was stepping out of bounds while looking for a teammate to lateral the ball to when Venable launched himself at the ball carrier. If a penalty had been called, the Riders would’ve had one more play inside the 10-yard-line but no flag was thrown and the game ended.

Chris Jones was asked about the hit on McKnight earlier this week.

“It looked like a shot to me, but the official is standing right on the play. It would’ve given us one more play, which I would’ve liked to have had,” Jones said. “But the league deemed that it was a legal hit and unless they come down with a fine then it was a legal hit.”