The Canadian Press
The Riders and Bombers may be heated prairie rivals but over the last two weeks, they proved they are both going in the right direction.
While some in Rider Nation may be a little down after a 48-28 loss in the Banjo Bowl, here is a reality check.
Five weeks ago the Saskatchewan Roughriders were 2-4. They were again the West Division’s pretender among a group of contenders.
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They had four games in front of them. They had four games to show the rest of the league and their own fan base that this season wasn’t going to be ‘here we go again’ but rather ‘here we go’.
What they’ve done over the course of those four games was beat up three teams above them in the standings.
It started with BC, then it carried over to a huge win against the Edmonton Eskimos on the road as they broke a lengthy streak of losses on the road against West Division rivals. Up next was a third straight dominate performance against the Winnipeg Blue Bombers in the Labour Day Classic.
5-4 was their record in the definition of going from pretender to contender.
On Saturday they came into Investors Group Field looking to pull the Bombers even closer to them in the standings. They were once again fifth in the West Division and they were facing a similar hostile environment as the Bombers had faced in the previous year.
It shouldn’t have been too much of a surprise that the home team had the advantage and took the opportunity.
In fact the game was reminicient of the last week’s game. Home team used the home crowd energy to come out fast, dictate the play and make game changing plays at the most opportune time.
The Riders shouldn’t hang their head to low after the loss.
Can the Bombers keep things rolling and keep moving up the standings? (Jason Halstead/CFL.ca)
There is a new normal for this team who has been at the bottom of the standings and playing inadequate football for two and a half seasons. That new normal is winning more than losing.
The Riders quality of play has improved. The defence should be feared and the offence is a threat to score 30+ points every single week.
It’s been a welcome change and leads to optimism the Roughriders can climb out of fifth place as they are a half game behind the BC Lions for fourth and a playoff spot.
The only reason to be concerned is the injury to Kevin Glenn. If the Riders lose their quarterback for any extended amount of time and that could derail the path the Riders have been on in a climb up the standings.
However, with the playmakers they have on both sides of the ball, they’re much more fit to overcome such an injury than years past.
Now to the Bombers, who were being talked about as the second best team in the league after beating the Edmonton Eskimos a few weeks ago. They then got beat up by the Roughriders, which put in a bit of doubt on whether the Bombers have become elite.
Saturday, they re-affirmed that they are.
Every time the Roughriders threatened the Bombers lead they had an answer until they started to pull away in the second half.
The Bombers now enter their bye week and can really think about making a serious run to the Grey Cup. Right now they’re holding the spot to host the West Semi-Final. Last year, who knows if that would have made a difference instead of heading to BC.
Head Coach Mike O’Shea made the big move to trust Matt Nichols as his quarterback last season and seems to be making a lot of bold moves that have been paying off.
For instance, the punt return touchdown as Kevin Fogg played the decoy and had the Roughriders cover team going the opposite direction from where the ball really was. Maurice Leggett only had three Riders in his way because of the well executed misdirection.
While the two teams split their rivalry games, they both were able to flex their muscle and show that football is doing well on the prairies, for both markets.
