Heading into their third and final bye of the season, the Saskatchewan Roughrider’s playoff aspirations are very much in question.
On Monday, head coach Craig Dickenson joined Michael Ball for his weekly appearance on the Thanksgiving holiday.
With the loss to the Tiger-Cats on Friday, the Roughriders are now two points ahead of Hamilton for the final playoff spot in the Eastern Division.
The Tiger-Cats will meet the Calgary Stampeders this week before closing out their season with a pair of games against the Ottawa REDBLACKS.
After the Riders bye week, they will finish their season with a home and home set against the Calgary Stampeders.
Hamilton owns the tiebreaker between the two teams.
Despite a tough loss on Friday, Dickenson didn’t want to label the contest with the Tiger-Cats as a must win affair since the game didn’t eliminate his team from postseason contention. He did say the Riders path got more difficult with the defeat in Hamilton.
One of the main causes for the Riders recent five game losing streak has been their inability to win the battle at the line of scrimmages on both sides of the ball.
Defensively, the Riders have been unable to provide as much pressure to opposing quarterbacks like they did at the beginning of the season. A pair of key losses have been Anthony Lanier and Garrett Marino. Lanier has been sidelined with an injury, while Marino was released last month. Dickenson says the defence not only misses the contributions of those two players, but also the ability to create a healthy rotation with the defensive line with the extra bodies.
On the injury front, Saskatchewan may get some get some good news when they return from the break. Dickenson is hopeful they will be able to get running back Jamal Morrow back the six game injured list. Morrow has been sidelined since Aug with a broken hand, before suffering the injury, the 27 year old was likely the top player for Saskatchewan this season with contributions on offence and special teams before Mario Alford arrived.
Regarding the statuses of Lanier and receiver Duke Williams, the Riders head coach was less optimistic. He noted that Lanier is in Regina receiving medical attention but noted the defensive tackle is still . having issues recovering from his injury. Williams is currently receiving medical opinions in the United States on his injured ankle.
Dickenson says the Riders are preparing to play without the two key players, but added if either player is able to return to the lineup they will treat it as an added bonus.
The Roughriders are off until begin their season ending home and home set with the Calgary Stampeders. The first encounter will be the final Roughrider home game of the season, on Saturday October 22nd, with a 5:00 kickoff.
Coverage on 620 CKRM will begin with Countdown to Kickoff at 2:00.
