(Shine that up for us, boys) The Saskatchewan Roughriders played an almost perfect game against the Calgary Stampeders on Sunday and escaped McMahon Stadium with a hard-earned 20-16 victory. The weather conditions were intense with temperatures hitting -25 celcius with the wind chill. The field was icy, and it began to snow in the fourth quarter. These are the sorts of games where teams who play disciplined, run the ball and make the fewest mistakes will win more often than not. Many Roughrider fans (myself included) were apprehensive going into this game. Our running attack had hardly been robust, and our run defence was among the worst in the CFL. To make matters worse our primary run stopper, the minister of defence Barrin Simpson would be playing on a very wonky ankle. Our special teams had basically been a disaster all season long, and our kicking game was a question mark with the reliable Luca Congi out with injury.
As luck would have it, no kicks would be required. The offence decided to finish all drives with touchdowns instead, a good decision on their part. Barrin Simpson started and contributed 4 early tackles, setting the tone for the run defence. Unfortunately his ankle could not hold up and capable reserve Mike McCullough finished in the middle. McCullough has played significant minutes in Simpson's absence this year, and there has not been much of a dropoff. The run defence was incredible in this game. Aside from one play Jon Cornish was invisible, and Joffrey Reynolds was held in check all day. Calgary tried to establish the run early, but were stopped short on second and 3 and second and 4 a few times and never really got the run going. A perplexing aspect of the Stamps' rushing attack was Burris' reluctance to run the ball. He carried once for a single yard, despite having many opportunities to take off with the ball. Durant on the other hand showed no reluctance to get involved with his feet. He had a very welcome 6 carries for 51 yards, and Wes Cates was solid on the ground as well with 12 for 60. Who predicted the Riders would outrush the Stamps? Definitely not I. Cates was especially huge down the stretch when the Riders had the ball with 3 minutes left. Calgary had already burned their timeout, but I was getting ready for a Rider two and out. However, the Riders wanted this game more than the Stamps and it really showed on that final drive. Cates ran for some hard yards and the offensive line provided a couple great surges. The Green and White put together two consecutive first downs to ice the game and finish in the victory formation.
Speaking of mistakes, the special teams were predictably awful. We botched an extra point which thankfully did not hurt us, and Ryan Grice-Mullen almost cost us our season with another fumbled punt. As the ball was bouncing around on the ground, surrounded by black jerseys I thought to myself, "This is a fitting end to the season. Lose on a special teams debacle." Thank goodness for the hustle of Jerrell Freeman. He singlehandedly saved the team's season with a great hustle play, recovering the fumbled punt in the end zone. Freeman had a huge game on defence as well, with 9 tackles and a sack. Jerrell, thank you for a great game, but you did probably save Jim Daley's job which may or may not be good.
So while the Riders avoided disaster the Calgary Stampeders self-destructed. The Stamps took numerous costly penalties, while the Riders showed great composure in not responding. Nik Lewis really set the tone by taking a personal foul on Calgary's first offensive play, and it was downhill for Calgary from there. The refs seemed to have very little tolerance for shenanigans on Sunday, and Calgary was unable to adjust to how the game was being called. Many people complained about the objectionable conduct penalty on Romby Bryant where he flexed his muscles after a catch. You know what? There had been zero tolerance for that sort of play in the first three quarters, so don't do it. Plain and simple. Also, act like you've made a catch before. I mean, that's your job, right? I don't flex my rippling muscles after successfully ringing through a customer at Superstore. It's just kind of what I'm expected to do.
No game summary would be complete without giving a nod to Stampeder-killer Chris Getzlaf. He was stellar again with 8 catches for 109 yards and a touchdown. Calgary's halfbacks are their weakness on defence and the Riders were able to exploit it all night. Nice work Doug Berry with the gameplan. Cary Koch also had a great touchdown catch. I don't know if this guy is signed for next season yet, but let's make sure he's back here. I would love to see him play a whole season in Rider Green. All-in-all it was a great team effort. So far in the playoffs we played 2 quarters against an average BC team and won a close game. Then we played 3 quarters against a good Calgary team and won a close game. Next week we will have to play 4 quarters against an elite Montreal team to win a close game. The Riders will no doubt be underdogs, but I don't think anyone can doubt that this team can compete with any in the league when they're on their game. Stay tuned, next week is going to be nuts.
As luck would have it, no kicks would be required. The offence decided to finish all drives with touchdowns instead, a good decision on their part. Barrin Simpson started and contributed 4 early tackles, setting the tone for the run defence. Unfortunately his ankle could not hold up and capable reserve Mike McCullough finished in the middle. McCullough has played significant minutes in Simpson's absence this year, and there has not been much of a dropoff. The run defence was incredible in this game. Aside from one play Jon Cornish was invisible, and Joffrey Reynolds was held in check all day. Calgary tried to establish the run early, but were stopped short on second and 3 and second and 4 a few times and never really got the run going. A perplexing aspect of the Stamps' rushing attack was Burris' reluctance to run the ball. He carried once for a single yard, despite having many opportunities to take off with the ball. Durant on the other hand showed no reluctance to get involved with his feet. He had a very welcome 6 carries for 51 yards, and Wes Cates was solid on the ground as well with 12 for 60. Who predicted the Riders would outrush the Stamps? Definitely not I. Cates was especially huge down the stretch when the Riders had the ball with 3 minutes left. Calgary had already burned their timeout, but I was getting ready for a Rider two and out. However, the Riders wanted this game more than the Stamps and it really showed on that final drive. Cates ran for some hard yards and the offensive line provided a couple great surges. The Green and White put together two consecutive first downs to ice the game and finish in the victory formation.
Speaking of mistakes, the special teams were predictably awful. We botched an extra point which thankfully did not hurt us, and Ryan Grice-Mullen almost cost us our season with another fumbled punt. As the ball was bouncing around on the ground, surrounded by black jerseys I thought to myself, "This is a fitting end to the season. Lose on a special teams debacle." Thank goodness for the hustle of Jerrell Freeman. He singlehandedly saved the team's season with a great hustle play, recovering the fumbled punt in the end zone. Freeman had a huge game on defence as well, with 9 tackles and a sack. Jerrell, thank you for a great game, but you did probably save Jim Daley's job which may or may not be good.
So while the Riders avoided disaster the Calgary Stampeders self-destructed. The Stamps took numerous costly penalties, while the Riders showed great composure in not responding. Nik Lewis really set the tone by taking a personal foul on Calgary's first offensive play, and it was downhill for Calgary from there. The refs seemed to have very little tolerance for shenanigans on Sunday, and Calgary was unable to adjust to how the game was being called. Many people complained about the objectionable conduct penalty on Romby Bryant where he flexed his muscles after a catch. You know what? There had been zero tolerance for that sort of play in the first three quarters, so don't do it. Plain and simple. Also, act like you've made a catch before. I mean, that's your job, right? I don't flex my rippling muscles after successfully ringing through a customer at Superstore. It's just kind of what I'm expected to do.
No game summary would be complete without giving a nod to Stampeder-killer Chris Getzlaf. He was stellar again with 8 catches for 109 yards and a touchdown. Calgary's halfbacks are their weakness on defence and the Riders were able to exploit it all night. Nice work Doug Berry with the gameplan. Cary Koch also had a great touchdown catch. I don't know if this guy is signed for next season yet, but let's make sure he's back here. I would love to see him play a whole season in Rider Green. All-in-all it was a great team effort. So far in the playoffs we played 2 quarters against an average BC team and won a close game. Then we played 3 quarters against a good Calgary team and won a close game. Next week we will have to play 4 quarters against an elite Montreal team to win a close game. The Riders will no doubt be underdogs, but I don't think anyone can doubt that this team can compete with any in the league when they're on their game. Stay tuned, next week is going to be nuts.
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