ROUGH RIDE IN TORONTO
The Saskatchewan Roughriders show their disappointment as the Argonauts’ Cody Fajardo gets the winning touchdown defeating the Roughriders in the CFL East Final at BMO Field in Toronto on Sunday.
So close ...
The Saskatchewan Roughriders were one play away from effectively cementing a spot in the 2017 Grey Cup game.
A mere 76 seconds remained in Sunday’s CFL East Division final. The Toronto Argonauts were in a third-and-five situation on the Roughriders’ 40-yard line, trailing 21-18.
Due to a prohibitive, 54 km-h wind at BMO Field, a game-tying field-goal attempt was not an option for the Argos.
The only option was to gamble. The Roughriders’ defence, which had kept the visitors in the game despite a series of bloopers in other areas, needed to deliver just one more time to punch a ticket to Ottawa for the big game.
A proven big-game player, Ricky Ray, had other ideas.
The Argos’ pivot calmly found tailback James Wilder Jr., who was isolated on linebacker Samuel Eguavoen, for a 22-yard gain.
After an incompletion, Ray connected with ex-Roughrider Armanti Edwards on the oneyard line.
Two plays later, Cody Fajardo crossed the goal-line on a quarterback sneak.
A convert by Lirim Hajrullahu punctuated the scoring play. Argonauts 25, Roughriders 21. And there it stood.
After three quarters of general tedium, the game magically morphed into a playoff classic.
Seemingly doomed when faced with an 18-3 deficit, Saskatchewan scored 18 consecutive points — the biggest of which were courtesy of a 79-yard punt-return major by Christion Jones, who put his team ahead with 2:44 remaining.
Ray took it from there, directing a 10-play, 68-yard touchdown drive, and you know the rest.
A 38-year-old winner of three Grey Cups, Ray is known for being preternaturally calm. He lived up to that reputation at a crucial juncture on Sunday.
In so doing, he got the better of Roughriders head coach, general manager and defensive co-ordinator Chris Jones.
A noted defensive guru, Jones called a magnificent game until the waning minutes. But on that final drive, when the Roughriders desperately needed a stop, Jones could not find a schematic solution for Ray in a meeting of masterminds.
The defence Jones built from scratch, the one that sparkled for so much of the game, proved to be pliable at the worst possible time.
Jones’ handling of the Roughriders’ quarterbacking situation wasn’t the best, either.
He barely fell short of switching signal-callers on the fly before finally settling on Bridge, who overcame a shaky start and began to challenge the Corey Chamblin-choreographed Argonauts defence.
Glenn was pulled early in the second quarter. After back-toback two-and-outs by Bridge, Jones again turned to Glenn — who threw an interception on each of the next two possessions.
Bridge took over for good late in the second quarter — after Glenn had served up a total of three interceptions, including a pick-six, that resulted in Toronto 17 points.
Hindsight is infallible, of course, but it is difficult to understand why Jones decided to play musical quarterbacks.
Once the decision was made to remove Glenn, whose quarterback-efficiency rating for the day was 0.0, Bridge should have been left in the game for the duration.
Instead, Jones injected confusion into an already troubled quarterbacking situation.
A questionable call by offensive co-ordinator Stephen McAdoo didn’t help matters.
Late in the first quarter, the Roughriders were in a supposedly advantageous second-and-one situation on their 54-yard line.
A rudimentary quarterback sneak by Glenn would have produced a first down. Instead, McAdoo called for a handoff to Kienan LaFrance — as opposed to deploying the more elusive Marcus Thigpen — and Victor Butler made the tackle for a oneyard loss.
Punt. (This is a recording.) During a first half in which first downs were a novelty, the Roughriders somehow managed to botch a second-and-one. As much as Glenn struggled on Sunday, the strategy certainly didn’t do him any favours.
Why even risk a loss by handing off on second-and-one? Call for a sneak. It shouldn’t be that difficult.
Instead, the Riders went more than a quarter without a first down.
McAdoo and associates were eventually able to rectify what had been ailing the offence.
Adjustments were made to afford the quarterback more time. Bridge got settled and put up some timely points, setting up his 11-yard touchdown pass to Duron Carter by running for 36 yards.
Christion Jones’ scintillating scoring sprint promptly put Rider Nation on the precipice of pandemonium.
The Argos were left with a Ray of hope. That was enough.
When the game-winning touchdown was scored, the future Hall of Fame quarterback wasn’t even on the field — having been replaced by Fajardo in a short-yardage situation.
Fajardo’s touchdown handed Saskatchewan its most devastating loss in Toronto since Nov. 28, 1976, when Tony Gabriel’s 26-yard TD catch with 20 seconds remaining gave the Ottawa Rough Riders a 23-20 Grey Cup victory at Exhibition Stadium.
The spot where Gabriel caught THAT pass from Tom Clements is now in the midst of a parking lot, only a few first downs away from BMO Field.
So close ...
A noted defensive guru, Jones called a magnificent game until the waning minutes.