Riders hope to build on momentum in post-season
Grey Cup champs commonly teams that enter playoffs on winning streak
A strong performance late in the regular season can be a harbinger of continued good fortune.
CFL statistician Steve Daniel examined the performances of the last 10 Grey Cup winners during the latter part of the regular season.
Although each team had closing runs of various lengths in terms of wins or losses, a common thread was the champions were hot before the post-season began.
Daniel learned that championship teams were a combined 54-11 with a winning percentage of .831 as the playoffs approached.
“You look at history and, with the exception of last year with the Ottawa Redblacks, the team that wins the Grey Cup is hottest at the end of the season going into the playoffs,” Riders defensive tackle Eddie Steele said. “It’s very important to get on a roll.”
Steele shared in a championship roll in 2015 with the Edmonton Eskimos, who were coached by Riders field boss Chris Jones.
Edmonton won its final eight regular-season games of 2015 en route to finishing first in the West Division with a 14-4-0 record. The Eskimos then defeated the visiting Calgary Stampeders 45-31 in the West final and claimed the Grey Cup with a 26-20 win over the Redblacks.
“There is a certain level of confidence that we had lining up against teams week in and week out,” said Steele, in his first year with the Riders. “I’m not saying we knew that we were going to win, but we lined up expecting to beat essentially every team.”
The Riders and Eskimos are riding winning streaks heading into Saturday’s regular-season finale at Mosaic Stadium. The Riders have won two in a row, and are on an 8-3 roll, while the Eskimos are on a four-game winning streak.
The streaks are important because playoff positioning is on the line. The Eskimos (11-6-0) had a chance to finish second in the West if the Winnipeg Blue Bombers (116-0) lost to the Calgary Stampeders (13-3-1) on Friday night and Edmonton beats the Riders (107-0) on Saturday.
A Riders win would clinch third place and keep them in the West for the post-season. The fourthplace team will cross over to the East Division and play either the Toronto Argonauts or Redblacks in a semifinal.
The winner of Saturday’s game would also enter the playoffs on a winning note.
“You look at the history of all pro sports and the hottest team and the ones playing the best in their specific sport, they generally end up winning it,” Steele said. “There is a certain correlation to that.”
The Roughriders observed that trend in their last two championship seasons.
In 2007, the Riders won five of their final six regular-season games, and rested key players for a finale that did not have any bearing on the standings.
The 2013 edition was on a 3-1 mini-roll before losing the final game of the regular season. The Riders rested quarterback Darian Durant and others for a meaningless finale.
There are exceptions. The 2010 Roughriders lost four of their final five regular-season games before advancing to the Grey Cup game.
“If you lose, you just shake it off,” Riders quarterback Kevin Glenn said. “There are teams who have lost the last game of the season and still went on to win the Grey Cup. At the same time, you do want to go in on a winning note.”
CFL teams often break the season into six-game segments. Each is important, but Eskimos quarterback Mike Reilly — the 2015 Grey Cup MVP — feels the performance of a team in the final six games of the season has a lot to do with what happens in the playoffs.
“It’s easier to play your best football in the playoffs if you have been building in that direction for the last month of the season heading into that stretch,” Reilly said.
“We’re doing that and Saskatchewan is doing it as well. It’s not surprising to me because our players have been through that type of situation in Edmonton. A lot of guys in our locker-room were here in 2015 and we have a lot of guys from our team with Saskatchewan.”
There are teams who have lost the last game of the season and still went on to win the Grey Cup. At the same time, you do want to go in on a winning note.