At this point, you can’t blame Riders fans if they’re starting to ask the question — are we really going to go through this again?
After a hot start to the season, the Riders are now winless in five straight games. Thursday’s 20-19 defeat in Toronto was yet another game they could have won, if not for one phase that was far too atrocious for them to overcome.
This team was supposed to be different than the ones we saw the last two seasons, the squads that didn’t win a single game after Labour Day. Unlike those previous editions, you can still see the fight but football is a results-driven business and right now, business is bad in Saskatchewan.
Here’s the good, the bad, and the dumb of the Riders’ fifth loss of the season.
The Good
It’s a shame that one of the most impressive performances by a Rider defence in recent memory will merely be a footnote thanks to the efforts — or lack thereof — of the other side of the ball.
The Argos only found the end zone once all game, which is a good enough stat on its own. Add in the fact that the Double Blue made it to the one-yard line on three separate drives following the one Cameron Dukes touchdown plunge and came away with nothing, and it makes that stat even more incredible.
A week before the Riders begin their annual home-and-home with the Winnipeg Blue Bombers, it appears the team’s run defence is ready for the task of trying to shut down the league’s best running game. At BMO Field, they held the league’s leading rusher, Ka’Deem Carey, to just 35 yards on the ground.
The defence even gave the Riders a chance to close out a victory with a late-game interception from defensive back Marcus Sayles.
All of it in a losing effort. One that shouldn’t have been.
The Bad
For the second week in a row, the Riders’ coaching staff made some glaring mistakes that ended up costing the team the game.
A week ago, head coach Corey Mace was far too conservative on third-and-short. To his credit, they opted to go for it on every occasion this week, but any strides were erased by a complete lack of situational awareness and a performance by the offence that was simply offensive.
With 30 seconds left in the game, the Riders were facing a second-and-17 at their own goal line. It appeared that Harris had picked up the first down with a throw over the middle but Mace had called a time-out prior to the the snap. Unfortunately, it happens.
If you know me, you know that I’m as aggressive as they come. Throwing to win the game when you have a chance to is great, but even I have my limits. With 30 seconds left, offensive coordinator Marc Mueller could have run out the clock and all but assured his team would remain in the game, forcing it to overtime.
Instead, Harris tried to thread a ball to Sam Emilus that ended up getting knocked down with Toronto defensive backs all around him. The Riders were forced to punt and gave Toronto good enough field position to set up the game-winning rouge.
That entire series was the offence in a nutshell. After starting with so much promise on their first few drives and racing out to a 13-0 lead, they managed just 112 net yards the rest of the night. Their longest drive was 41 yards. They were anemic on first down, which gave them no chance to sustain any drives of significance.
Worst of all, it was Harris who let the Argos off the mat with a horrific interception mid-way through the second quarter that led to Toronto’s only major of the game. He’d later throw another one in essentially the same spot, deep in Rider territory.
As far as frustrating performances go, this one is at the top of the list for Rider fans this season.
The Worst
Argos quarterback Chad Kelly made his first appearance this season following his nine-game suspension for violating the league’s gender-based violence policy.
He shouldn’t have. I don’t think anything he’s said publicly throughout the year has shown he deserved to return to the field. I don’t think this is a good look for the league or the Argos.
I’ll leave it at that.
The Dumb
I’m not sure anything summarized the Riders’ night on offence like one specific play.
In the middle of the third quarter with the pocket collapsing around Harris, he tried to complete a pass to someone running a crossing route. Instead, the veteran QB rocketed the pass right into the back of centre Peter Godber’s head.
Had the Green and White gone on to win, it’s probably one of those plays they could have had a good laugh about. It’s still pretty funny, but humour tends to fall flat in a loss.
