The good, the bad, and the dumb of the Saskatchewan Roughriders’ 28-24 win over Toronto

Photo courtesy: CFL.

If the Saskatchewan Roughriders were a steak on the grill, they were seconds from being overcooked on Saturday night against the Toronto Argonauts.

Through the first half, the sold-out crowd at Mosaic Stadium was left with very little to cheer about as the Riders played about as poorly as they had all season in all three phases. Everything changed in the second half, as the steak became edible after resting and the home team erased a 10-point deficit to win 28-24.

The Riders got a lot of help from the Double Blue, who seemingly imploded in the second half. After losing two games in a row, Saskatchewan will take it. It might not be hyperbole to suggest it could have saved them a bellyache down the stretch, with not only the B.C. Lions but now also the Calgary Stampeders and Winnipeg Blue Bombers suddenly breathing down their necks.

Here’s the good, the bad, and the dumb of the Riders’ seventh win of the season.

The Good

A lot went wrong for the Riders on Saturday; they easily could have and maybe should have lost this football game. However, they showed their mental toughness and managed to pull this one out in perhaps their best escape-artist impression of the Corey Mace era.

One aspect that went well for the Riders all night was their running game. It was obvious early that Quali Conley was running mad. We’ve seen the American running back grow throughout the course of the season, but he’s often been seen as more of a speed back rather than someone who is going to invite or initiate contact.

Against the Argos, Conley was regularly running downhill, looking more like the team’s starting back A.J. Ouellette than we are used to. Conley’s 78 yards on 10 carries were a new career high for the former Arizona Wildcat.

No run was bigger than a 21-yard gain on first-and-20 following a Daniel Wiebe holding penalty that put the Riders in a bind up four with 96 seconds remaining in the game. That play had to be deflating for the Argos, who had an excellent opportunity to get the ball back in Chad Kelly’s hands with enough time to score a touchdown to win. They also had an option to keep the ball in Kelly’s hands, but opted to punt on a third-and-two minutes early, but I digress. Instead, Kelly only had about 20 seconds left to try and lead his team to victory.

The Bad

There’s a whole lot we could talk about here. The offence was anemic in the first half, and the defence had few answers for a one-dimensional Argos offence. Kelly shredded Josh Bell’s group for 295 yards and three touchdowns through 30 minutes.

In the second half, the offence found their legs a bit and the defence shut out the Argos entirely, as their only points came on a safety in the fourth quarter.

One thing that remained a problem throughout the game was — and stop me if you’ve heard this before — the Riders’ kicking game.

After two perfect games, Global kicker Alex Hale once again missed another field goal and an extra point attempt — four points that could have made a big difference in this game. The Riders were lucky that the Argos had kicking issues of their own with a missed PAT, a blocked PAT that was returned for two points, and a missed field goal from Brady Lidster.

Because nothing about this game was simple or straightforward, Hale did nail a 55-yarder at the half that gave the Riders some life heading into the locker room.

I don’t feel like Mace will actually make the change to Dawson Hodge just yet, if ever, and weirdly, this team seems to have more success with poor kicking. So, maybe they shouldn’t?

The Dumb

A staple at Rider games over the years has been a contest following the first quarter of play where fans attempt to throw footballs at a moving target for a cash prize. The pot grows every time the fan hits the target as it moves across the north end zone.

We’ve seen many displays of excellent football throwing ability and many that were less than stellar.

On Saturday, I witnessed something that I had never seen before during this contest. The fan participating had hit every single target and ran to the final ball for his final attempt. Rather than taking the easy route to complete the perfect run, he tried a no-look throw behind his back to try to hit the target. Needless to say, he missed terribly.

While I applaud the creativity and the showmanship, when nearly $105 is on the line, I think I’d opt for the standard throwing motion. But, hey, to each their own.

Joel Gasson is a Regina-based sports writer, broadcaster and football fanatic. He is also a beer aficionado.