For much of the first half, Throwback Thursday probably gave Rider fans a serious case of deja vu.
Without their starting quarterback Trevor Harris, the Green and White again looked helpless on offence. That was until one drive changed the course of the game.
Backup pivot Shea Patterson led his team on an eight-play, 94-yard touchdown drive, helping propel the Riders to a 10-9 lead at the half. From there, everyone played their part in a total team win.
Here’s the good, the bad, and the dumb of the Riders’ fourth win of the season.
The Good
On most nights when a team’s defence generates five turnovers — including a pick-six — they’d be getting flowers. They certainly deserve their fair share here as without that performance from Corey Mace’s unit, there’s no doubt the Riders would have lost this game.
However, they also wouldn’t have won this game if Patterson, who was making his first career start, hadn’t soundly outplayed his counterpart Cameron Dukes.
The former Michigan Wolverine’s stat line will hardly go down in Rider history, as he completed 15 of his 24 pass attempts for only 192 yards and a touchdown. But, more importantly, Patterson didn’t turn the ball over once. He played a relatively clean game to ensure the rest of his team could get them over the finish line.
Patterson didn’t win the Riders the game but he didn’t lose them the game either. Sometimes, that’s all you can ask for from your backup quarterback, especially one making his debut.
It didn’t look like Patterson was going to have a good night early. His throws were off and he didn’t seem to have an answer for the relentless pressure the Argos were sending. But then came the 94-yard touchdown drive that included a beautiful 26-yard pass over the middle to Jerreth Sterns and the 27-year-old found his groove. He looked more comfortable the rest of the night, even adding a 9-yard rushing touchdown of his own that was reminiscent of the team’s starting quarterback before Harris, Cody Fajardo.
I never thought Patterson was going to be the next starting quarterback for this team but he was better than Mason Fine and that’s why he was chosen to be the team’s backup. The tests will only get tougher for Patterson but he passed his first one — perhaps not with flying colours but it was enough.
The Bad
In all my time writing my postgame thoughts on Rider games for 3DownNation, I don’t think I’ve ever struggled so much to come up with something bad.
The easiest thing to say is that nothing stood out as overtly bad. All three phases showed up for the Riders and contributed in their own way.
They probably could have scored a few more points off of turnovers and allowing touchdowns on special teams is never good, but for the most part, neither has been a huge issue for the team to date. They also took a few untimely penalties but discipline is improving.
The Dumb
I know the CFL has an official weather safety policy — there’s a whole section on their website where anyone can read them –but Thursday’s decisions in that regard still didn’t seem to add up.
As the teams were on the field warming up ahead of the game, a voice came over the public address system at Mosaic Stadium telling everyone to vacate the field as there was lightning spotted in the area.
Except it was sunny with very few, if any, menacing clouds in sight. Those of us who were already at the stadium were certainly confused, especially when two weeks ago two clear lightning strikes lit up the stadium during the fourth quarter of the game between the Riders and Ticats and play continued as if neither happened.
In the end, the alleged lightning only delayed the start of the game by about 10 minutes but it was perplexing nonetheless.
The application of the rule seems as random as the league’s alleged air quality policy. Just make it make sense.
Editor’s note: This article has been amended to remove an error regarding Corey Mace’s challenge record.
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Joel Gasson is a Regina-based sports writer, broadcaster and football fanatic. He is also a beer aficionado.
