Riders have leg up in West playoff fight
MONTREAL Zach Collaros won’t allow himself to get caught up in statistics.
The two points the Saskatchewan Roughriders earned for Sunday’s 34-29 road win over the lowly Montreal Alouettes were the only numbers that counted for Collaros, who threw for a season-high 394 yards.
“I could care less about 300-yard games,” Collaros said.
“The arbitrary number of 300 means absolutely nothing. I just want to win games.”
The Riders won Sunday and kept themselves in the driver’s seat for a home playoff game. Saskatchewan improved its record to 9-5, which puts them four points behind the first-place Calgary Stampeders (11-2) in the West Division.
The Edmonton Eskimos and Winnipeg Blue Bombers are tied for third place at 7-7. Winnipeg moved into the tie by thumping the Eskimos 30-3 on Saturday. The B.C. Lions (6-7) are in fifth place.
“It’s a good feeling being able to control your own destiny from the standpoint of making the playoffs,” Collaros said. “We also control our own destiny of getting a home playoff game, but our next game is against a very good opponent.”
The Riders and Eskimos meet Oct. 8 at Mosaic Stadium in a game that could go a long way toward determining home-field advantage in the playoffs.
“The biggest game of the weekend is pretty much us against (Edmonton),” Riders offensive tackle Thaddeus Coleman said. “That will say a lot about the West.”
Sunday’s win said a lot about Collaros, whom the Riders acquired from the Hamilton TigerCats in January for a second-round pick in the 2018 CFL draft.
“When they traded for him, we knew that he would have to be the leader of our offence and he was going to have to be the man as our quarterback,” Coleman said. “He has been doing pretty well since he has been in the game. He’s going to have ups and downs like any other player. He just has to come out there swinging.”