CFL.ca
Well, here we go.
After an up-and-down regular season for the Saskatchewan Roughriders, the playoffs are finally here. The Riders will host the BC Lions in the 2013 Western Semi-Final Sunday at 4:30 pm ET in a battle of two teams that know a lot about each other.
What a road it was to get here! And really, the regular season was only batting practice, a warmup, for the main event. But it was scrutinized endlessly along the way…agonizingly scrutinized.
You can’t really blame people around here for being guarded about their team. The Riders aren’t exactly on a roll heading into the post-season.
“It’s a brand new season,” Rider head coach Corey Chamblin said defiantly following Saturday’s 30-26 last-minute loss to Edmonton, a game in which the Riders rested top guns Darian Durant and Kory Sheets.
Of course Chamblin’s right, and it would be a disservice for anyone to look back now. Should the Riders have had more wins in 2013? Possibly. In fact probably.
But no one was going to touch the Calgary Stampeders anyways, and now the Stamps sit at home with the luxury of a first-round bye and await a visit from either the Riders or Lions in the Western Final.
No, it’s all about looking ahead right now for the Saskatchewan Roughriders but not too far ahead. A showdown in Cowtown in two weeks is a tantalizing matchup for the Green & White, but they have a stubborn BC squad standing in the way who, judging by their play as of late, are every bit as good as the Riders.
They’re just a lot younger.
The only question mark for the Roughriders as we sit on the cusp of the playoffs is the status of slotback Chris Getzlaf who led the club in receiving in 2013 with 1,045 yards.
Getzlaf missed Game 18 with a knee injury and we’re told his status is 50/50 for the playoffs. That’s huge, but if necessary, the Riders still have the under-utilized Geroy Simon and Rob Bagg at their disposal. Wouldn’t it be something if Geroy torched his former team in the playoffs just like Jason Clermont did in double overtime of the 2010 Western Semi-Final in Regina?
Things are setting up nicely for the scenario we foreshadowed way back in the spring.
However Lions coach Mike Benevides has a trick or two up his sleeve as well, not the least of which is who his starting quarterback will be in the playoffs. All three of Travis Lulay, Buck Pierce and Thomas DeMarco played in the Lions’ regular-season ending 26-7 win over Calgary Friday night and Benevides said they now have “data” on each of them.
But who’s kidding who? It will be a hunch, not data, which determines who’s behind centre for the Lions come Sunday at the Mosaic Madhouse.
“I think with BC their whole offence is designed around Lulay,” said Rider linebacker Craig Butler. “We’ve seen the other two guys this year, but not Lulay. Our defence will prepare for their offence. Whoever’s in at quarterback shouldn’t matter for us. We know what Lulay can do. He’s a Grey Cup champion and knows how to play this time of year. But for our defence, we just have to do our job.”
True.
But it’s not the Rider defence which needs to answer questions right now. It’s the offence, and everyone’s waiting to see if coordinator George Cortez has a few tricks of his own come kickoff time in the playoffs.
Oh the intrigue!
See you Sunday.
