Photo courtesy: Chris Tanouye/CFL.
There are no easy weeks in professional football, and that statement might be more applicable than ever in the CFL this year.
The Riders came into the nation’s capital on Friday evening as a 5.5-point road favourite against the winless Ottawa Redblacks. Some may have thought that this would be a relatively easy night for the visitors, but it was anything but. Saskatchewan had to fight and claw to come out with the 27-22 win.
Here’s the good, the bad, and the dumb of the Riders’ third win of the season.
The Good
The CFL season is a series of ups and downs. After coming off their first loss a week ago, I think it’s fair to say that many of us anticipated that the Riders would come out and play angry, trying to avenge what happened against the Argos.
Instead, on just the second play from scrimmage, Trevor Harris threw his second interception in as many weeks, as a bouncing ball ended up in the hands of former teammate A.J. Allen. Both Sam Emlius and Kian Schaffer-Baker suffered from a case of the dropsies early, and the defence didn’t have much of an answer for the Redblacks early. They even allowed the Redblacks to block a punt. It was 10-0 for Ottawa before you knew it.
It was hardly a banner game for Trevor Harris, who finished 18-of-31 passing for just 243 yards, two touchdowns, and one interception. You had to wonder if it wasn’t going to be the Riders’ night.
How is this the good, might you ask? Well, from there the Riders slowly found their legs and managed to have the game tied at 13 heading into the half. After that, Matthew Sexton’s first career CFL punt return touchdown, and another major from KeeSean Johnson would give Saskatchewan the lead heading into the final quarter. That was thanks in part to a cowardly field goal from Ryan Dinwiddie, but it was a lead nonetheless.
While the Redblacks kept things close, the Riders did feel generally in control for most of the second half.
Of all of the games in Riders’ history, this was one of them. Will it be long remembered? Probably not, but it was another example of this team’s mental toughness. As good teams do, they found a way to win when things weren’t going their way.
The Bad
With all of that said, the Riders had a chance to make this game far more pleasurable for their fans down the stretch.
Harris and the offence got the ball back with 6:20 to go after forcing the Redblacks to punt late down five points. This is the scenario that every quarterback wants to find themselves in — a solid, long drive ending in a touchdown that effectively ends the game.
The drive had a promising start with a 12-yard rush on first down from Quali Conley (who I am growing quite fond of) and another seven-yard dash set up a second-and-three from mid-field. What should have been a fairly easy first down conversion ended as an incomplete pass as something went wrong between Harris and KeeSean Johnson.
Personally, I would have been tempted to go for it and try to ice the game, but it’s also not a punt that I hate. Either way, the offence stalled out with a good chance to add to their lead and end the game.
It’s a trend we’ve seen from this team time and time again. Lucky for them, the defence came up with a game-saving stop on third-and-one at their own 16 this time. Without that, who knows what might have happened? One of these days, they might not get so lucky.
The Dumb
To say it’s been an entertaining start to the CFL season would be an understatement. Just about every game has been at least watchable, and most have been quite enjoyable. This one probably falls more in the watchable, but not memorable category.
Nothing too out of the box or wild happened, but we did get one moment that stood out as something you don’t see every day.
On his first attempt of the night, Oscar Chapman had his punt blocked by Ottawa linebacker Brian Cole II, but not in a conventional way. The ball sailed through Cole’s hands and right into his face.
DOINK! PUNT INTO THE FACE!
— JM =^) (@jm539581.bsky.social) July 3, 2026 at 6:05 PM
Talk about using your noggin!
