The good, the bad, and the dumb of the Saskatchewan Roughriders’ 32-26 Labour Day Classic win over Winnipeg

Photo: Tanner Piper/3DownNation. All rights reserved.

After a week in which pizza dominated the discussion ahead of the 61st Labour Day Classic between the Saskatchewan Roughriders and Winnipeg Blue Bombers, it was the record-setting 34,352 fans at Mosaic Stadium who got served a decent pie on Saturday night.

It wasn’t the best game ever played on this day, nor was it the wildest or most chaotic, but it will be memorable in its own way as the home team walked off with a 32-26 overtime win over their Manitoba rivals.

The win is not only important because it was the Labour Day Classic and it’s always important no matter what, but also in the context of this season. The win gives the Riders some much-needed breathing room in the race for a home playoff game in the West Division. The win also gets the Riders, at least temporarily, tied with Edmonton for first place.

Here’s the good, the bad, and the dumb of the Riders’ eighth win of the season.

The Good

The scoreboard may not show it entirely, but this felt like the first time in a while — perhaps all season — that we’ve seen what we’ve come to expect from the Saskatchewan Roughriders’ defence.

The defensive line, led by Caleb Sanders in the middle, had a strong night making life difficult for Zach Collaros. Sanders may not be producing eye-popping numbers, but he is regularly causing havoc and getting in the opposing quarterback’s kitchen.

Late in the fourth quarter, following an 11-yard run for a first down from Collaros, the defence responded with two straight sacks from Seyi Oladipo Jr. and Aubrey Miller Jr. to give the ball back to the offence with a chance to close out the game. This is the kind of play we saw from this group a year ago that ultimately led them to a Grey Cup championship.

Former NFLer Derick Roberson had himself a game too with six tackles and a sack that produced a safety in the first quarter of the game.

The secondary had its moments, but ultimately couldn’t pull in an interception.

It wasn’t a perfect night from the defence; some poorly timed penalties set them back a few times. But overall, it felt more like the group we saw last year in terms of coming up with the big play at the right time. We’ll see if they can build upon it as we head down the stretch.

The Bad

This game nearly got away from the Riders late due in large part to a decision by offensive coordinator Marc Mueller.

After a tremendous stop from the defence that saw the Riders get the ball back with just over two minutes to go, Trevor Harris had a prime opportunity to close out the game and make sure that Zach Collaros wasn’t given one last chance to send this game to overtime (or win it, if Mike O’Shea had the guts).

The drive was moving along until they got to midfield and were facing a second-and-seven on their own 51-yard line. Mueller dialled up a draw to running back Quali Conley. He was stopped three yards short of a first down. You could also make the argument that the Riders should have gone for a first down on third down in that spot, but I didn’t particularly like the draw to begin with.

I think it would have been more prudent for Harris to put the ball in the air and be a little more aggressive in picking up that first down, as it would have essentially ended the game. Instead, Collaros had 40 seconds to play with, and he got some help from the Riders on that drive. Some bad and unnecessary penalties (they were, in fact, penalties. Sorry, Rider fans) eventually led to the Bombers tying the game with zeroes on the clock.

Fortune favours the bold; that was a situation where the Riders could have played to win. Instead, they had to play extra football.

The Dumb

We finally saw a bit of a wrinkle in the Riders’ Tommy Stevens offensive package.

As the fourth quarter began, we saw Stevens under centre for the Green and White with Harris lined up at tight end. You had to know something was up, as there was no chance the Riders would ever line up Harris at tight end and ask him to either block or run a route in traffic. When he stays on the field with Stevens, he generally goes to the wide-side receiver spot to draw a defender with him.

Shortly after the formation was set, Stevens and Harris pulled the ol’ switcheroo, and it was Stevens who took his spot along the line and ran a route.

Unfortunately, Harris never even looked at Stevens, but he did find Dhel Duncan-Busby for 22 yards, with a facemask penalty tacking on another 15 yards. That drive eventually ended with one of Stevens’ three rushing touchdowns on the night.

What we’re all waiting on is for Stevens to eventually throw the ball to Harris one of these times they’re both on the field, and Harris is out wide. That’ll be fun.