The final score from Friday night’s CFL contest between the Saskatchewan Roughriders and Calgary Stampeders indicates it was a close and competitive game between two teams battling for a playoff spot.
In reality, it was anything but.
The Stampeders turned in a dominant performance on both sides of the ball, with a 14-point showing in the fourth quarter leading to a 34-13 lead and an eventual 37-31 victory at Mosaic Stadium.
While the scoreboard looked close almost all game, the feeling on the field was far different as Saskatchewan was unable to finish drives, gave up a slew of big plays early and late and just didn’t seem to have it until Calgary turned off the burners late in the game.
It all left coach Corey Mace wondering what exactly was going on with his team.
“Three games there that are important head-to-head matchups and right now we don't have that killer instinct to go ahead and take advantage of those,” Mace said. “We got to figure out the whys of what's happening. There's some obvious things. We can't come out there and play like that specifically this time of year.”
Stampeders quarterback Vernon Adams Jr. was the story of the game as he completed 22 of 29 passes for 242 yards and — most importantly — four touchdowns and no interceptions. His ability to scramble and get the ball deep downfield or just chip away and create long, time-consuming drives gave the Riders fits all night.
And while Saskatchewan was able to stick with Calgary early, it seemed like a matter of time before the Stamps pulled away for good.
“Everybody's pissed. Everybody's upset,” Mace said. “I could show you each week that we go into the game super confident that we're going to be able to get the job done. It leaves you scratching your head a little bit trying to figure out what the hell just happened. We got to be better in these moments.”
A rather amazing stat on the night came from Riders quarterback Trevor Harris, who completed 36 of 50 passes for 453 yards, four majors and a single interception. While a good portion of those yards came late in the fourth quarter when the game was well out of reach, it was still an impressive outing.
And a necessary one, as the Riders couldn’t get anything going on the ground, with only 30 yards rushing on the night.
“It's really tough to say without watching the tape but just from being out there I would say we had some mistakes that we have to get back,” said Riders receiver Daniel Wiebe, who returned from injury and had six catches for 98 yards. “There were some big plays that didn't go our way, so we have to get in the film room and I'm sure there's gonna be a lot to learn a lot that we can improve on, which is a good thing.”
Now for the overall consequences.
The Riders fall to 8-7 and depending on how things turn out with the remainder of the games this weekend, they could find themselves in a four-way tie among teams with eight wins, including 8-8 Calgary.
Saskatchewan is also in a rough spot when it comes to tiebreakers, as they’ve now lost the head-to-head series against B.C., Winnipeg and Calgary. If there’s a tie for the final playoff spots, they’ll be on the outside looking in.
“We can't live in the what-ifs. We could have won the last three games and we'd be in a great spot,” Wiebe said. “We gotta live in reality and have a little bit of an uphill climb, but that doesn't mean it can't be done, so I think we're just gonna have to live in that reality and make the best of it.”
The Riders have games against East Division-leading Montreal in Week 19 on the road, against the Als at home in Week 20 and against West Division-leading Edmonton in Week 21.
Three games against the toughest opponents possible, but it’s a situation Mace is hoping to make the best of.
“If you want to gain some confidence trying to make this push into the playoffs, these are the opponents that you want,” he said.
Wiebe, Kian Schaffer-Baker and Johnny Johnson III had Saskatchewan’s majors. Jalen Philpot, Erik Brooks, Tevin Jones and Clark Barnes had Calgary’s touchdowns.
Saskatchewan returns to action Oct. 12 in Montreal.
