ROUGHRIDERS ROUT LIKELY WILL COME ABOUT IN MONTREAL
Cheapo prediction: The Saskatchewan Roughriders are poised to eviscerate the Manzielouettes.
The TSN Turning Point may very well be the coin toss.
The Montreal Alouettes, after all, cannot make heads or tails of this lost season (latest in a series). In a desperation move, Alouettes general manager Kavis Reed acquired quarterback Johnny Manziel from the Hamilton Tiger-Cats on July 22, only to watch the 2012 Heisman Trophy winner erupt for zero touchdown passes and five interceptions over three subsequent starts with Montreal.
And now, Manziel is preparing to be fed to the Chris Jonescoached Roughriders defence, which has powered the team to an 8-5 record and a second-place standing in the CFL’s tough West Division.
Warning to Montreal sporting aficionados: Sunday’s alleged game at Percival Molson Stadium will be uglier than a Montreal Canadiens forward freezing the puck against the boards ... during a shootout.
So, uh, have a nice time. Yes, yes, the Roughriders did lose to the Alouettes earlier this season, in the supposedly forbidding territory known as Mosaic Stadium. But the Roughriders, remember, were a different team back on June 30.
Quarterback Zach Collaros was on the six-game injured list, the offensive line was still establishing some cohesion, the defence was sharpening its game, and the wide receivers had yet to produce as much as one touchdown.
OK, the Saskatchewan wideouts still need GPS to locate the end zone, but you get the idea.
Make the final: Saskatchewan ##, Montreal # (fill in the blanks at your leisure).
If this assessment proves to be erroneous, do not blame the columnist. This is an accountability-free zone.
Should the Roughriders somehow fail on Sunday, all criticism should be directed to the team for evoking memories of the Danny Barrett years.
With Barrett as the head coach, the Roughriders had an exasperating tendency to lose to lesser teams, with a home playoff game being among the casualties. And now, just to irritate you, we present some flashbacks ...
2003: Despite finishing with an 11-7 record, Saskatchewan was the only team to lose to the 1-17 Tiger-Cats. “They ruined our perfect season,” then-Hamilton quarterback Danny McManus said of the Roughriders.
2004: Saskatchewan (9-9) lost all three of its games to the 7-11 Winnipeg Blue Bombers.
2005: The Roughriders (9-9) went 0-2 against the Ottawa Renegades, who were such a smashing success in 2015 that they soon folded.
2006: En route to posting a mandatory 9-9 record, Barrett’s brigade inexplicably lost all three of its games against the Edmonton Eskimos — like the 2004 Bombers, a 7-11 team.
Some opposing receivers were much like a 7-Eleven — open all the time—when the Roughriders of that era had one of those days.
Everything changed in 2007, under general manager Eric Tillman and head coach Kent Austin.
Suddenly, the Roughriders began taking advantage of the free spaces on the CFL’s bingo card. If the Roughriders were playing an inferior team, recordwise, a Saskatchewan win was a mortal lock. Not coincidentally, the Roughriders ascended to the ranks of the league’s elite under Tillman, Austin, et al.
So here is the current edition of the Green and White, flirting with a breakthrough in Year 3 under Jones. Saskatchewan sports the second-best record in the league, thanks to a 5-1 surge, and can secure a home playoff game by enjoying a robust finish.
After a predictable victory over the hapless Alouettes, the real games can resume.