For as bad as things are for the Saskatchewan Roughriders, it would be one thing if there was a clear light at the end of the tunnel.
But that’s not SportsCage regular Arash Madani’s outlook.
“The issue now is it feels like it’s coming apart. It feels like it’s slipping away from them,” Madani said on Tuesday’s show. “Who are your go-to guys right now? How are your dudes? How are your dawgs? If you’ve got to get it on second and long, second and medium, who is it?
“They look like a shell of what they were at the beginning of the season, and they look nothing like the team around this time last year.”
The situation is dire for the Riders as they prepare for their Monday game against the Montreal Alouettes. The Grey Cup rematch features the best team in the CFL and the Riders, who are tumbling down the standings.
Saskatchewan has lost five of its last seven games and almost certainly needs at least one win in its last three contests to qualify for the postseason. The Riders don’t have the tiebreaker over the B.C. Lions, Calgary Stampeders, and Winnipeg Blue Bombers – the three teams they’re battling for the last three playoff spots.
Throw in how they’re playing, and it’s a huge mess.
“Bad. Problematic. Worse than I had expected at this stage of things,” Madani said. “I know we said they’re getting healthy and they’re getting some guys back. And I know they’ve lost three in a row. But ask yourself this: When’s the last time that the Riders put together a really good and a really clean football game? It’s been a long while. And, yeah, injuries are a part of it. Nobody cares. That’s the reality of pro sports.
“They haven’t been good in a while. They haven’t been clean in a while. They’re not even close to playing good football.”
The Riders also have a difficult schedule to close out the regular season. After playing in Montreal, they host the Alouettes and Edmonton Elks to end the 18-game schedule.
That’s almost irrelevant to Madani.
“The opponent right now doesn’t matter for the Riders,” he said. “The Riders have to start playing better football. They have to start executing. They have to start making plays. They haven’t done this in a long time now. And it’s all three units where you’re seeing it.
“Is Montreal elite? Yes. Is that the concern for the Riders right now? To me, it isn’t.”
Watch the full segment below.
