It was Christmas in July, and the Saskatchewan Roughriders were very close to getting a lump of coal after gift-wrapping a comeback to the Elks. But the Riders held on for a 21-18 win.
The debate about whether or not Die Hard is a Christmas movie will last until the end of time. The debate about whether the Roughriders are “for real” or not will last another week, as this game did nothing to change the minds of doubters across the country.
Here are my thoughts on the game.
Haunted by the Ghost of Christmas Past
Just when I thought the Riders’ bad starts were behind them, this game happens.
Saskatchewan could only muster 39 yards of net offence in 5:13 of possession in a first quarter that saw them score one point. They had been quite a bit better at starting on time in the last few weeks, but this was a problem at the start of the season. It would get a little better as the game went on, but this looked every bit like a Rider team that was looking past this game and towards Montreal next week.
Elf-inflicted problems
One of the habits the Riders worked out of their system in the early part of the year was a tendency to be too predictable in the run game on first down. Well, they fell back into that trap this week.
Saskatchewan ran the ball 11 times on first down against Edmonton. One of those runs was at the end of the game and went for 17 yards. The other 10 combined for went for 37 yards. They were constantly in second and long.
From there, Trevor Harris was pretty consistently throwing short of the sticks, and the Riders’ pass-catchers weren’t getting the extra yards needed. It was a painful offensive performance from a team that should be set up to do better.
Quit playing with your food
Every kid who grew up in a family that celebrated Christmas has heard a phrase along the lines of “if you keep playing with your food, Santa won’t bring you presents.” While I was never brave enough to test that theory out, the Riders were JUST able to get away with playing with their food against the Elks.
This, again, looked eerily similar to the first part of the season, where Saskatchewan would get a lead that almost felt safe, take their foot ENTIRELY off the gas pedal, and coast to a stress-enducing win. That is exactly what happened here.
Trevor Harris connected with KeeSean Johnson with 8:15 to go in the third quarter to give the Riders an 18-4 lead. They wouldn’t get another first down until there was 1:45 left in the fourth quarter. This game should have been very easy for the Green and White, but it wasn’t. It was almost entirely their own fault.
Home Alone?
Now we get to the reason for the season – or in this case, win – the Riders’ defence. The big boys up front got the job done in this game with eight sacks. Kevin McCallister had more help with the robbers in Home Alone than Cody Fajardo had on this night.
The pass rush was in the returning QB’s face all game. At first, they were mainly disrupting plays and forcing tough throws. But, as the game went on, this attack got to the QB, and they basically didn’t stop.
The most impressive part of it was how they did it. The majority of the time, they got to Fajardo while only rushing four, as Shane Ray, Micah Johnson, and Malik Carney combined for six of the eight sacks. To expect eight sacks a night would be a bit lofty, but this is the type of relentless attack that fans have been hoping to see from this group, and they came through.
Back from their Christmas Vacation
After taking a couple of weeks off before Christmas (in July), the Riders’ run defence returned in a big way.
Saskatchewan was uncharacteristically bad against the run against the Stampeders and Lions before a bit of a bounce back last week in the rematch with B.C. This week, they were back to their old ways. They held the Elks to 25 yards rushing total, with 20 of that coming on Fajardo scrambles. The pass rush was dominant, but the reason they were able to pin their ears back was that they turned Edmonton into a one-dimensional team by taking the run completely out of the equation.
More bad injury news
A couple of weeks ago, I had said that the Riders receiving group stepped up, but they needed the big guns to come back. Samuel Emilus did, and he was the boost Rider fans wanted to see.
But then, a sight no one wanted, as Emilus was tackled after a short gain and was slow to get up. The Riders do have a lot of talent at receiver, but Emilus might have the highest ceiling of all of them. For a number of reasons, Rider fans hope this is just a short-term issue for the talented pass catcher.
The Kee to the offence
The injury to Emilus left Harris’ sleigh without a leader. So, playing the role of Rudolph in this game was KeeSean Johnson, who stepped up in a big way.
It didn’t exactly play out that way, as Johnson did most of his damage before the Emilus injury, but it is surprisingly hard to work Christmas references into a football recap, so just go with me on this.
Before the Emilus injury, Johnson was a reliable option that gave Harris a dangerous combination to work with and gave room for the other guys to operate. Johnson finished the day with nine receptions for 78 yards and a score. If Emilus is out for an extended period of time, Johnson will once again be tasked with stepping up to lead this group.
VERY generous gift givers
The Edmonton Elks know it is very rude to show up for Christmas without giving your hosts some gifts, so that is what they did.
Edmonton was penalized 11 times for 133 yards, and it felt like all 11 of them were at a big moment or, at the very least, at a very bad time for Edmonton. It was the type of present haul that you have to tell the kids not to brag too much about it to their friends, or they might feel bad.
Final Thoughts
I know I have been a bit of a Grinch in this because, ultimately, the Riders’ win total grew one size with the team improving to 6-1 in this game, which is good enough for first in the West.
But that Rider performance didn’t leave a lot to get excited about. I love how the defence played in this game, but if the offence goes a full quarter without getting a first down against any other team in the league, they will lose that game. And if Edmonton had started its last-minute Christmas shopping – their late-game offensive push – a little earlier, they probably would have lost this one.
Saskatchewan now gets ready for a tilt with the Montreal Alouettes out East next weekend. They have had some injury issues of their own, but they also just beat the Stamps in Calgary.
The Riders will need to step it up in Montreal, or that Christmas Story won’t have a happy ending.
Peter Klein is a Saskatchewan-born, Calgary-based CFL analyst. He is a lifelong fan who has been covering the league across multiple platforms for the last 17 years.
