What’s the opposite of seventh heaven?
Whatever it is, that’s where the Saskatchewan Roughriders find themselves. They’re now winless in seven games following a 26-21 loss to the Winnipeg Blue Bombers at Princess Auto Stadium.
Throughout much of this slump, the Riders have been a play or two away. That was the case again on Saturday afternoon but at a certain point, they have to start making those plays.
As contagious as winning is, so is losing. Right now, missing the playoffs for a third consecutive season seems more likely than not.
Here’s the good, the bad, and the dumb of the Riders’ seventh loss of the season.
The Good
As bad as things are for the Riders right now, this is still a much different version of the team than the ones we’ve seen in the last couple of years.
This game was a perfect example. As they’ve often done in the past, the Green and White had a less-than-desirable start to the game when their first punt was blocked by Bombers’ defensive lineman Willie Jefferson. After holding the Bombers to three points, the Riders followed that up with an interception from Trevor Harris to Bombers’ defensive back Tyrell Ford, leading to a rushing touchdown from quarterback Chris Streveler.
Before you could blink the Bombers were up 10-0. We’ve all seen that script before but this time, the Riders were able to flip it. Instead of giving up another 50-burger, they kept things relatively calm throughout the rest of the first half, keeping a sold-out Winnipeg crowd out of the game.
For once, the Banjo Bowl was a game in the second half. They hung around and gave themselves a chance to win.
But, as the old saying goes, it’s not the moral victory football league. The Riders need to find ways to start winning games.
The Bad
There was one play that turned a relatively even football game in the Bombers’ favour — and it was a punt.
With just under five minutes to go, the Riders found themselves at the Winnipeg 48-yard line and head coach Corey Mace had to make a decision. Do you punt or do you try and kick a 55-yard field goal? Since it was third-and-10, going for it was probably out of the question.
In the end, Mace decided to punt with the hopes of using punter Adam Korsak to pin the Bombers deep into their own end. The kick bounced a few yards before the goal line and trickled through the back of the end zone. The field position the Riders gained by stopping the Bombers on their own 15 on the previous drive and taking over around mid-field was erased.
Given that the wind was blowing at the Riders’ back on that drive, it’s quite possible kicker Brett Lauther could have made that kick. However, nothing is assured from that distance.
Mace’s decision to punt was not necessarily the issue, it came down to execution. Had the ball bounced a different way or was kicked more toward the sideline, the Riders may have been able to keep the pressure on the Blue and Gold.
Instead, the field position relief set of a series of events — including a roughing the passer call on defensive lineman Miles Brown that, in my opinion, wasn’t a penalty as Brown made contact with Chris Streveler above the knee — that led to the Bombers driving for a go-ahead touchdown and a lead they would never relinquish.
When you’re a team mired in a now seven-game winless streak, that is the sort of thing that happens.
The Dumb
For the first time since the start of the 2008 season, a CFL game was available on an over-the-air broadcast network in Canada.
This year’s Banjo Bowl aired on CTV, marking the league’s return to broadcast television. It was also the first CFL game on CTV in 36 years.
I have to give some credit to the broadcast crew for putting together a fun opening that included the use of the original CFL on CTV intro and a graphics package inspired by the ones that were used back then.
It’s too bad that we didn’t get much else different from the usual CFL on TSN broadcast from that point on. I think the games on CTV could benefit from a little differentiation to make them feel bigger. It could be a different graphics package altogether or even just a different score bug.
I’m skeptical whether these games will lead to higher ratings, as Canadians don’t watch over-the-air television with an antenna as much as Americans do. Fans are beyond conditioned to tune into TSN at this point, but it’s worth a try.
