November 5, 2024

Costabile: 3 storylines to watch in the Western Final

Arthur Ward/CFL.ca

With a trip to the 111th Grey Cup on the line, Saturday’s Western Final between the Saskatchewan Roughriders and Winnipeg Blue Bombers is sure to be must-see TV.

The Bombers and Riders met three times in the regular season with Winnipeg winning two of the contests between these heated prairie rivals.

The first matchup in Week 7 featured Shea Patterson at quarterback with Trevor Harris still sitting on the injured list. The Riders only win of the season series, 19-9, was a defensive battle that saw just one touchdown scored, a Patterson pass to running back Clint Ratkovich. Saskatchewan’s defence held the Bombers offence to just field goals – Sergio Castillo was good on three of his four attempts – and had an interception on Zach Collaros. This game improved Saskatchewan to 5-1 and the Bombers fell to 2-5.

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Their next meeting was the OK Tire Labour Day Weekend matchup with the teams on vastly different streaks than their previous battle. Winnipeg got the best of Saskatchewan in this one, winning 35-33, their fourth-straight victory. It was the Roughriders sixth-straight week without a win. Winnipeg’s special teams had a big play, with Mario Alford dropping a punt and Nick Hallett scooping it up to score.

Just a week later, the two squads met once again for their annual Labour Day Weekend rematch. The 26-21 win for the Bombers was their fifth-straight and kept Saskatchewan riding their winless skid. Kenny Lawler and Chris Streveler scored for the Bombers while Canadian cornerback Tyrell Ford picked off Trevor Harris twice.

Since that last meeting in Week 14, the Roughriders turned things around. They won four-in-a-row before dropping their regular season finale, a game where their playoff seeding was already locked in and many starters were resting. Since then Winnipeg also kept winning, going 4-1 to finish out the season.

Who gets the best of the other this weekend? We’ll find out soon enough but until then, here are three storylines to keep an eye on in Saturday’s Western Final.

WILL THE RIDERS DEFENCE CONTINUE TO TAKE THE BALL AWAY?

 

Just as they did in the regular season, the Saskatchewan Roughriders won the turnover battle in last week’s Western Semi-Final. They picked off Vernon Adams Jr. three times, only committing one turnover on downs, on their way to victory to move on to the Western Final to take on the Winnipeg Blue Bombers.

They’ll be itching to continue to take the ball away against Zach Collaros, who threw the second-most INTs in the regular season (15), only trailing Hamilton’s Bo Levi Mitchell (18). And don’t forget, that Roughriders defence hauled in the second-most interceptions (24) in the regular season, led by Rolan Milligan Jr., who had a league-leading eight.

Those turnovers could be the difference in the winner-takes-all matchup. While Brady Oliveira will be heavily relied upon to establish the run (more on that later), Collaros will still need to air the ball out to his receivers with the interceptions leader and the rest of the ballhawking defence patrolling down field.

KENNY LAWLER THE DIFFERENCE MAKER?

 

The Winnipeg Blue Bombers passing attack in 2024 wasn’t as potent as we were used to seeing over the last few seasons with the team dealing with quite a few injuries to their receiving corps. Winnipeg finished the regular season second-last in passing yards, 260.2 per game, just in front of Calgary (260.1).

The playoffs are a whole different beast, however, and while Ontaria Wilson (1,026 yards) has been excellent for the Bombers and Nic Demski is still one of Zach Collaros‘ favourite, most reliable targets, the passing game may ride on the shoulders of Kenny Lawler.

After sitting out with injury until Week 11, Lawler has gotten better and better as the season has progressed. He’s heating up at the perfect time, with three of his last four outings going for over 100 yards and he’s averaged a whopping 21.6 yards per catch over that span. The 30-year-old also hauled in two of his four touchdowns on the season in Week 17 against Edmonton and had countless contested, jaw-dropping, how-did-he-do-that catches along the way.

In two outings against Saskatchewan this season in Week 13 and 14, he was injured in their first meeting in Week 7, the six-foot-two, 199-pounder hauled in 118 yards and a major score. And don’t forget, in last year’s Western Final against BC, Lawler was the Bombers’ leading receiver with 83 yards on six catches.

BUILT FOR NOVEMBER

 

The Western Final features two tailbacks who are ready for playoff football: Brady Oliveira and AJ Ouellette.

Looking back at the regular season action, Ouellette only played in one game against Winnipeg. He suited up in Week 7 where he ran the rock 17 times for 88 yards and missed the Week 13 and 14 matchups dealing with a hip injury.

Oliveira played in all three but the Riders defence, that was excellent against the run in 2024 (league-low 80.3 yards per game on the ground), held him to just 134 yards on 32 carries in total.

As mentioned before, the playoffs are a whole different story and both of these guys have had some big performances when it matters the most.

Just last week in the Western Semi-Final, Ouellette had two touchdowns to go along with 70 yards on 14 carries and hauled in both passes thrown his way for 15. Ouellette was a factor in last year’s Eastern Final as well, getting in on the receiving and running game. The 29-year-old caught five of six passes thrown his direction for 37 yards and ran the rock 14 times for 71 yards. And don’t forget his big day two season ago in the 109th Grey Cup. Ouellette scored twice helping the Argonauts capture the Grey Cup against the Bombers.

Oliveira has been sensational in the post-season as well. In last year’s Western Final, the 27-year-old tallied 109 yards and a touchdown on 21 carries. In the Western Final in 2022, he was a man who could not be stopped, rushing for 130 yards on 20 carries and added 37 more yards through the air. In the 110th Grey Cup, Oliveira had 119 and a touchdown on 19 attempts.

Both of these running backs have a similar style; they run hard, are almost impossible to take down on first contact, can pass protect, and can catch the football out of the backfield. Each will be leaned on to establish the run for their respective clubs. Who breaks through to help propel their team to the 111th Grey Cup?

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