The Saskatchewan Roughriders found their way back into the win column with a 33-27 victory over the B.C. Lions on Saturday night.
The Riders were smacked in the mouth last week, getting beaten up by the Stampeders worse than the 24-10 score indicated. This was another occasion where the score didn’t really do the game justice. It felt close for exactly zero seconds, despite going in the record books as a one-possession game.
Last week had Riders fans asking a lot of questions. Well, I certainly think this team answered most of those this week. Here are more of my thoughts on the Riders’ win.
They took offence to that
A lot of talk after last week’s loss against Calgary was about the offensive line and how they were dominated by the Stampeders. Well, Saskatchewan’s o-line did their best Michael Jordan impersonation, and took that personally.
They set the tone early with A.J. Ouellette’s first carry of the game, as they opened up a nice hole for Thor to run through for 16 yards. On the pass protection side, Harris had all the time in the world to pick apart the Lions’ defence. At one point, I just hit CTRL-C on the phrase “Harris with time” in my notes because it was coming up so often.
It was a dominant performance by that group and the exact type of response Riders fans were looking for after last week.
Rude house guests
The Riders were very nice hosts to Calgary last week, allowing the Stamps to do whatever they wanted – aside from starting the game on time, obviously. This week, they decided to be very rude house guests by going into B.C. and making life very uncomfortable for the Lions.
Nathan Rourke’s escapability was on full display, but even he had troubles with the Riders’ pressure. Saskatchewan’s pass rush forced a few overthrows from the Canadian QB while also putting him on the run for much of Saturday evening.
The defence was also tasked with stepping up after getting picked apart by Vernon Adams Jr. last week. They responded and looked a lot like the defence that led the Riders to their 4-0 start.
Pick your poison
Trevor Harris has long been known as the accurate QB who isn’t going to turn the ball over, so it would be easy to criticize his second-quarter interception with the Riders close to scoring range. I actually didn’t mind it.
Harris is ninth in the league in pass attempts that travel 20+ yards. And yes, he has missed time, but Nathan Rourke, David Alexander, Jeremiah Masoli, and Dru Brown are all either even or ahead of him in that category, and they haven’t played in every game either. Making the smart play underneath is great and very important to help move the chains. But when it’s all you do, it becomes way too predictable, and that is the territory Saskatchewan was falling into.
If Harris is going to push the ball downfield more, then I will gladly accept that a few of those may turn into interceptions.
We got a bite!
With the Riders looking to open up the playbook, it allowed them to maximize a few tendency-breakers. As mentioned above, Harris is known for working the short game, which Lions DB Robert Carter Jr. knew. Well, after Carter tried to jump an underneath route, the Riders knew that Carter knew.
On the next play, they took advantage. A pump-and-go put Carter Jr. on roller skates and allowed Meyers to head into the endzone for a major that felt like the dagger in this game, even in the third quarter.
Sam-I-am happy Emilus is back
The Riders were able to survive a few of their injuries at receiver, but it was clear after last week that they needed some of their guys to come back. First up was Samuel Emilus, and you immediately saw the impact.
Emilus had a big play downfield to help set up a field goal in the first half, finishing with 78 yards receiving. It was very clear that having him out there gave Trevor Harris a lot more comfort, and it seemed like Dhel Duncan-Busby and Joe Robustelli benefited from having a little more of the defence’s attention focused elsewhere.
Back Tevaughn track
Tevaughn Campbell has developed into a very big part of the Riders’ secondary. His absence was felt last week when Calgary’s passing attack dominated Saskatchewan. While his big play was taken off the board when an offside wiped out his pick-six, his return gave a noticeable boost to the secondary.
Aside from a couple of plays late, the Riders’ passing defence didn’t show many holes on Saturday night against a talented Lions receiving group, and they certainly didn’t have the same breakdowns as they did against the Stampeders last week.
Feel awful for Carey
The celebrations from the Green and White were obviously muted this week after Ka’Deem Carey suffered a gruesome-looking leg injury in the third quarter.
Carey is a veteran in the CFL, and you could see the impact of the injury as soon as it happened, with players on both sides taking a knee. Corey Mace looked visibly upset on the sideline after Carey was helped off the field.
Final thoughts
This was the type of performance the Riders needed after last week’s disappointing first loss. They won the battle in the trenches on both sides of the ball, and Trevor Harris looked excellent. Plus, that gives the Riders the season series win over the Lions. That could come into play given how close the West is.
Up next, the Riders will get their first look at the Edmonton Elks in their Mark Kilam era when they come to Regina on Friday night.
