And now the moment you’ve all been waiting for.
After a gruelling 20-week regular season from which the Saskatchewan Roughriders emerged at 10-8, the 2014 Canadian Football League Playoffs are now at hand.
The bar has been raised so high in Saskatchewan for the past decade that, to me, the regular season has become somewhat tedious. As far back as June we found ourselves daydreaming about what the playoffs would bring, and in what way the Roughriders would have to defend their 2013 championship.
Now we know, and it’s infinitely thrilling that the time is now!
Saskatchewan’s 24-17 home win over Edmonton this past frigid Saturday night accomplished a lot of things: it snapped a five-game losing skid, showed the team it can win without Darian Durant, assured an above .500 record and guaranteed the Riders would stay in the West Division for the post-season rather than crossover into the East. It sets up a meeting between the Riders and Eskimos Sunday at Commonwealth Stadium in the Western Semi-Final (3:30 pm Sask time, TSN, 620 CKRM).
| Ready, set, go! |
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The regular season came down to the wire, but as Pat Steinberg writes, the fun’s only just started. For all of your up-to-date playoff insight, visit CFL.ca’s playoff headquarters. |
“Whether it was East or West, the team was prepared to go either but it’s always nice to stay in the West,” said a content Rider coach Corey Chamblin after the game.
“For us, we’ve played Edmonton the most the past few weeks and there are some known strengths and weaknesses in the opponent. In terms of prep, it’s good to know the opponent you’re playing. There are some base things to study from this game and they put their best foot forward to win this game.”
Indeed it was impressive how hard Edmonton tried to win Saturday night, given the fact it really had nothing to play for. It’s true that the Eskimos had the ability to affect who they’d play in the Western Semi-Final, but that seemed to be the last thing on their minds.
Meanwhile, the Rider coaches were tearing their hair out doing advance scouting last week for a possibility of four opponents in the first round of the playoffs: Edmonton, Hamilton, Montreal or Toronto.
Now they know it’s the Eskimos, and getting past them won’t be an easy task. Edmonton’s 12-6 record represents the biggest single-season turnaround in franchise history after going 4-14 last year. The Esks are also number one on offence and number two on defence going into the playoffs. How can you be better than that?
The thing you’ll be hearing about the most this week is the quarterbacks. Top pivots Mike Reilly and Darian Durant were held out of the final regular season game by the Eskimos and Riders respectively, and we’re told both were due to injury. Let the gamesmanship begin.
| 2014 CFL Playoffs: Always better live! |
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 The Eskimos and Riders have met three times in the last six weeks, and on Nov. 16, they’ll meet a fourth time. Reserve your spot at the Western Semi-Final today, as one of the league’s hottest rivalries adds another chapter.
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“Our quarterback was really hurt,” Chamblin smiled. “Regarding Mike Reilly, I think that’s just a ruse. It doesn’t matter who their quarterback will be. We’ll have to be ready to play.”
Of course, Darian Durant hasn’t played since Sept. 7 due to an elbow injury, and he’s slowly been worked into practice the past couple of weeks. In Durant’s absence the past three weeks, 41-year old veteran Kerry Joseph has filled in.
“Kerry did a good job (Saturday night),” Chamblin continued. “When he broke the run, he looked like Darian. He’s starting to look like a playoff quarterback. Whether it’s number four or number going in the playoffs, or both, we’ll be ready.”
The question is; which one will it be? Wouldn’t the Eskimos like to know. I expect this will be strung out all week, long enough for the Rider Nation to snap up tickets in advance for Sunday’s playoff game at Commonwealth Stadium.
In case you hadn’t heard, your attendance is requested.
“A lot of things have gone against us but I think the tide is turning for us,” Chamblin said optimistically. “I think it helps with prep playing Edmonton again, but I’m excited to get there and we’ll have our fans with us.”
For daily Rider news follow Rod on Twitter at @sportscage.
