Riders season mercifully ends with loss in B.C.

An adventure that stared way back in June is officially in the books for this year’s edition of the Saskatchewan Roughriders. Their season ended in defeat, something that happened more often than not this year. This time, it was a 41-18 beat down at the hands of the Lions.

Normally in this space, I’d write something about what this game meant in the big picture of the things. Frankly though, this game doesn’t mean anything to the Riders in terms of this year or next. The book on this season was written long ago, and next season will be a completely new volume. This game was merely punching the clock for 60 more minutes and calling it a day.

So, with that in mind, we’ll just get to the good stuff.

Game Thoughts

Once again this week head coach Chris Jones didn’t seem to have much of a plan when it came to his quarterback usage. Mitchell Gale started the game but was often replaced with rookie G.J. Kinne and sometimes Brandon Bridge. What I would have liked to have seen was give Gale a quarter, give Kinne a quarter and then give Bridge the second half. At this point, Jones should know what Gale is more or less, Kinne gets his first taste of the CFL and Jones gets a good long look at Bridge. Instead, no quarterback was able to get into a rhythm until the Lions let up in garbage time. Too bad, hopefully Jones saw something we didn’t.

Bridge did seem to find a bit of a groove late in the game when he mopped up in garbage time, but considering the score at the time, it’s hard to say how much of that was him and how much was the Lions letting off the gas pedal. Either way, I think he might be worth looking at again in training camp next year.

What this game did prove was how badly this team still needs Darian Durant.  Yes, the offence wasn’t much better the last few games under Durant, but there was still the chance of a breakout with him under centre. The trio in this game never led you to believe they were going to come back once the score was 14-4.The news reported by TSN’s Farhan Lalji during the game was somewhat concerning about negotiations between Durant and the team. It’s still early though and a middle ground will hopefully be found. Hopefully Jones finds his guy to replace Durant down the road sooner than later as well.

Jones may have found yet another receiver in Phil Bates. Bates only had two catches for 27 yards but made a nice 14 yard snag to pick up much of those yards.

The offence was again the issue in this game. Yes, the Lions banked 41 points but the defence spent a lot of time on the field and did actually create turnovers early that could have turned the tide. Fixing the offensive line to give whoever quarterbacks this team time next year has to be a major offseason priority for Jones and company.

The last few weeks have been a struggle for veteran Rob Bagg. The receiver has had a few uncharacteristic drops but you can’t question his heart. Bagg was still going all out to try and make plays in a blowout in the dying minutes of a season that was done long ago. Given the state of Canadian receivers on this team, his job should be safe, but you never know.

It’s too bad Henoc Muamba didn’t get to Riderville sooner. The Canadian linebacker has been an impact player since being inserted into the defence. He should be the straw the stirs the drink defensively next year, which means Greg Jones could be looking for a new team over the winter. A few more games and he easily would have been the team’s top Canadian and perhaps even defensive player (which should have been Ed Gainey, not Otha Foster Jr, but anyway).

I feel like I should write something about penalty problems as the Riders were flagged nine more times for 91 yards but that is what it is now. Discipline will have to be a key message in training camp next year.

Jones is wasting no time getting ahead start on next season as he’s going on a five week scouting tour. A good use of time if you’re not playing into November, something Jones hopes to avoid next year.