Skidding Roughriders no longer resemble earlier selves

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A CFL season that started with surprising promise for the Saskatchewan Roughriders has spiralled into a six-game tailspin caused by dropped balls, untimely penalties, defensive lapses, strategic boo-boos, injuries, a costly turnover by return specialist Mario Alford and gosh, what else?

The list of reasons extends longer than the Roughriders’ winless streak.

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The skid sits at six games after a Mosaic Stadium-record crowd of 33,861 saw the Winnipeg Blue Bombers, who lost quarterback Zach Collaros amid a parade of injuries, thwart Saskatchewan’s late-game comeback attempt to win 35-33 in the annual Labour Day Classic on Sunday.

The Bombers brass is reportedly irate about the illegal, penalized head shot Collaros absorbed from Roughriders D-lineman Miles Brown while the quarterback was shredding Saskatchewan’s defence during the second quarter.

Brown’s helmet-to-helmet hit was indeed dirty and uncalled for, much like the pile-driving tackle Bombers linebacker Adam Bighill inflicted upon Roughriders backup quarterback Shea Patterson in the dying seconds of an earlier loss to Saskatchewan. The Blue Bombers unironically claimed that hit was clean, before the CFL rightly fined Bighill for the unpenalized infraction. Bighill was among Sunday’s parade of injuries, suffering an apparent knee injury during the fourth quarter.

The CFL certainly needs to do a better job of protecting its quarterbacks during a season in which seven of the nine teams have lost starters to injuries. Collaros has a history of concussions, so his status is uncertain heading into Saturday’s Banjo Bowl, the finale of the traditional home-and-home grudge series.

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Before being replaced by Chris Streveler, who led the Bombers to only six second-half points, Collaros’ biggest play was a 44-yard touchdown pass to uncovered Nic Demski. Alford conceded a silly, crucial single on the ensuing kickoff and accounted for the game’s turning point moments later when he fumbled a punt return into the end zone, which the Bombers recovered for a touchdown.

The Roughriders lost their starter, Trevor Harris, for six games earlier this season with a knee injury. In his third game back, Harris completed 30 of 49 passes for 368 yards with no interceptions and three touchdowns, plus he sneaked one yard for a major. Harris did that while making quick throws behind a makeshift offensive line, which lost centre Peter Godber and guard Zack Fry, forcing all-star defensive tackle Micah Johnson to play right guard.

The Roughriders trailed 29-14 at halftime, although they could have used the clock more wisely to set up a field goal in the final seconds of the first half. And despite the team’s shoddy performance, there were no boos heard as the Roughriders headed to their locker room for intermission.

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“Stick with us, bleed green,” said Roughriders head coach Corey Mace, when asked during his postgame media conference by Rawlco Radio’s Britton Gray what he would say to the team’s fans. “If you’re with us, that’s what we need cuz we’re holding onto each other tight.

“Our fan base is the best fan base in the world and I believe fan bases stick with their team regardless. So what I can say is, if you’ve seen anything about this team, we will play our ass off. If a couple fall our way, being as tight as it is in the West right now, you have a different conversation in a month.”

Winnipeg led 32-20 after three quarters before Harris constructed two fourth-quarter drives, throwing sometimes to receivers who had earlier dropped passes. A foiled two-point convert, a recovered onside kickoff and a Bombers pass interference penalty left the Roughriders trying a 60-field, last-play field goal to win the game. Kicking into a breeze, Brett Lauther’s attempt was short.

Winnipeg improved to 6-6 and moved into a tie with the B.C. Lions atop the West standings. Saskatchewan dropped momentarily into third place at 5-6-1 and has sparked horrific memories of the past two seasons, when the Roughriders lost their last seven games to miss back-to-back postseasons with 6-12 records.

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This year’s Roughriders are better than those woebegone squads and they don’t quit, as shown on Sunday, but these disasters didn’t befall them earlier in the season.

Helped by late-game turnovers and big plays, the Roughriders opened their 2024 campaign by winning their first four contests and subsequently owning first place with a 5-1 record. Were those early Roughriders good or simply pretenders? The answer is becoming clearer now.

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