Winless in five, Riders have riddles to answer

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An old scoring debate was rekindled after the Saskatchewan Roughriders surrendered a walk-off rouge Thursday, keeping them winless in five straight CFL games following a 20-19 loss to the Toronto Argonauts.

The question after another crushing Saskatchewan collapse should be: “How did the Roughriders squander another victory?” There were plenty of reasons, such as a go-nowhere offence that totally botched its last possession and a defence that surrendered a 17-yard pass while trying to stop a third-and-15.

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Let’s deal first with the debate about, “Why does the CFL reward failure?” It’s asked by everyone who doesn’t like the CFL’s rouge rule, which can uniquely award a game-winning point on a missed field goal. It’s a hot topic and one of numerous riddles emanating from the contest.

Argos kicker Lirim Hajrullahu missed a 40-yard field goal on the game’s final play, sailing it 20-plus yards through the end zone for a 60-yard single that improved Toronto’s record to 6-4 while dropping the Roughriders to 5-5-1.

At least the Command Centre wasn’t involved for a change, as the league’s controversial “God Centre” stepped noticeably into the fray only once to correctly (!) disallow via video review a first-half touchdown catch by Argos receiver Damonte Coxie.

Here’s the answer to that first riddle: Rouges don’t reward failure.

They punish a team for surrendering field position, which is what the Roughriders did in the dying seconds. It shouldn’t have happened.

The score was 19-19. Riders quarterback Trevor Harris was sacked on Saskatchewan’s one-yard line, setting up a second-and-18 that he amazingly converted with a quick completion to Kian Schaffer-Baker, except the play was nullified because head coach Corey Mace had called a timeout.

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In postgame media interviews, Mace said he wanted to use every second possible before calling a timeout. That evidently wasn’t conveyed to Harris.

With 31 seconds remaining and replaying second-and-18, Harris threw a long incompletion to a well-covered Sam Emilus, stopping the clock with 25 seconds remaining. A short, low-risk pass or a running play would have been the better call, followed by a huddle to use almost all of the remaining time before Adam Korsak’s punt, from the end zone, drained the final seconds.

Instead, the Argos were left with enough time for a punt return and a running play before Hajrullahu’s final, game-winning kick.

It was horrible strategy, capping a game of questionable play-calling that constantly left the Roughriders facing second-and-long situations, followed by useless, ineffective short passes.

Harris, playing his second game since returning from a knee injury, guided the Roughriders to 172 offensive yards and a 13-0 lead before tossing two incomprehensible interceptions that initiated the Riders’ downfall. Maybe it’s because they were tired, for the third time this season playing an East road game on a shortened week against a team coming off a bye.

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Saskatchewan is 0-2-1 in those situations and should really hate the CFL’s schedule-makers.

Here’s the toughest question: How can a Riders defence that three times stopped the Argonauts offence on third-and-goal plays surrender a 17-yard pass on a third-and-15?

Toronto was trailing 19-16 and scrimmaged on its 45-yard line with 1:44 remaining, as Saskatchewan rushed three linemen and dropped nine defenders into a zone coverage that somehow let Dave Ungerer get wide open for a 17-yard reception. A simple knockdown would have given the Roughriders possession, control of the clock and set up Brett Lauther — who was 4-for-4 after going a disastrous 3-for-7 in his previous game — for a clinching field goal.

It was the first action this season for Argonauts quarterback Chad Kelly, the league’s outstanding player in 2023, who served a nine-game suspension for harassing a female assistant coach. Kelly threw for 322 yards with one interception and no touchdowns. Despite CFL claims it abides by a gender-based violence policy, nobody else from the Argonauts was publicly disciplined for downplaying or ignoring the coach’s complaints.

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Playing before a larger-than-normal crowd of almost 20,000 at BMO Field, the Argonauts graciously dedicated tributes to former Riders head coach (and former Toronto assistant) Ken Miller and Saskatchewanian Darren Dutchyshen, a long-time TSN announcer. Roughriders jerseys dotted the grandstands.

They totally wasted an all-world performance by Riders outside linebacker C.J. Reavis, who had a sack, at least one knockdown, 10 defensive tackles and repeatedly stopped the Argos before the goal line.

It’s truly a riddle, wondering why the visitors couldn’t win. Or maybe a conundrum.

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