SCOREBOARD TELLS THE FINAL TALE FOR THE ROUGHRIDERS
First-half complaints from fans silenced by touchdown in last few minutes of game
Thisisataleoftwocities—regina and Vancouver — and two words: Winning and losing.
Rewind to Thursday night in Regina, where the Saskatchewan Roughriders defeated the Hamilton Tiger-cats 18-13.
The noise and complaints from Roughriders fans were on high as the first half came to a close. The constant theme of quarterbacks — and the rotation of Brandon Bridge and David Watford — was on full review as the work of Roughriders head coach Chris Jones was widely critiqued. “What is he doing?”
“Is he crazy?”
“This won’t work.”
“It’s not fair to the quarterbacks!”
Duron Carter’s position — defensive back, as opposed to receiver — wasn’t the main point of criticism anymore, was it?
However, what was being overlooked was how Saskatchewan’s defence and special teams were playing at a very high level.
Most people had the opinion that all Hamilton needed was a touchdown and the game was over. One problem: The TigerCats never got that touchdown.
Saskatchewan hung in, registered the only offensive touchdown, and won.
On this night, all Jones had to do was point to the scoreboard and run off the field. Case closed.
Two nights later in Winnipeg, a crucial early-season game was played between the Blue Bombers and B.C. Lions.
A sweep in this back-to-back series (which concludes Saturday in Vancouver) would leave the losing team in a major hole.
Sticking with the usual quarterback theme, how did Matt Nichols’ return from injury impact the Blue Bombers? Yeah, a bit. Within the first five minutes of the game, the Blue and Gold clearly looked like a rejuvenated team in all aspects. The energy level was high, the stadium was buzzing, and it all led to a resounding, 41-19 victory.
As for the visitors, the same can’t be said. When the review of head coach Wally Buono is that the offence couldn’t stay on the field while the defence couldn’t get off the field, that usually isn’t a good thing, like Rob Vanstone’s columns or Murray Mccormick’s food reviews. (Stick to curling, Murray, not curly fries.)
B.C.’S downfall is being pinned on one player — the quarterback — for the most part. Jonathan Jennings hasn’t produced, but it comes down to more than his ability.
Jennings’ lack of confidence is apparent. And now there are questions about when quarterback Travis Lulay may return to the lineup. The club needs to fix other issues, too, but the focus is always on the quarterback.
Or the quarterbacks, in Saskatchewan’s case. Neither the Roughriders nor the Lions received impactful quarterbacking, but the outcomes were drastically different. So were the reactions. One team won. The other one lost. Two quarterback challenged teams. Two different perspectives.
Now for the weekly predictions, along with Vanstone’s (incorrect) perspectives.
CALGARY AT OTTAWA (THURSDAY, 5:30 P.M.) Vanstone: Never pick Calgary to lose until the playoffs. Stampeders by eight.
Taman: Never agree with Vanstone. Redblacks by three.
TORONTO AT EDMONTON (FRIDAY, 7 P.M.)
Vanstone: Turf monsters won’t devour Eskimos this week. Eskimos by four.
Taman: Edmonton needs to show up and play consistent football. Spotty all year. Eskimos by six.
WINNIPEG AT B.C. (SATURDAY, 8 P.M.) Vanstone: CFL’S equivalent of Jets vs. Canucks. Bombers by 11. Taman: A huge, impactful game. One would think Winnipeg would win. Hold on. Who did Vanstone pick? OK. Good to know. Lions by three.
Records after Week 4: Vanstone 12-4 (2-2 last week); Taman 9-7 (2-2).
FANTASY PLAYERS TO WATCH
Taman: Eskimos quarterback Mike Reilly. Facing Reilly when he is coming off a loss is not good for the Toronto defence. Vanstone: Calgary’s Don Jackson is averaging 8.2 yards per carry and already has a 70-yard run to his credit.
Review of Week 3 fantasy picks: I picked Winnipeg ’s Andrew Harris, who rushed 12 times for 109 yards and one touchdown Saturday. Vanstone picked Hamilton’s Brandon Banks, who had seven catches for 113 yards. But Vanstone also expected Banks to be covered by Carter — not Ed Gainey. Note to the well-known Bob Carstone: The idea of going to practice is to watch, not sleep. Goodnight, Rob.
Taman’s Take appears weekly.