For the rest of the CFL, it appears to be a big “Uh Oh”. The Saskatchewan Roughriders appear to have woken up.
In their best performance of the season to date, the Green & White kept their slim playoff hopes alive with a 33-21 home victory over the Montreal Alouettes Sunday afternoon before 30,843 fans at Mosaic Stadium.
And almost immediately, the victory had the Rider Nation buzzing. It was the #1 topic on coffee row Monday morning: “So what has to happen for the Riders to make the playoffs?”
The truth is, a lot. The odds are far greater that the Roughriders will miss the playoffs for the first time since 2011 because, according to CFL official statistician Steve Daniel, the Riders have to win all of their remaining five games and hope the Bombers, Lions, and Alouettes continue to lose.
But remarkably, it could happen. And things have finally started to turn for Saskatchewan and the only question that remains is: have they left it too late?
If you’re around the team every day, it’s impossible not to notice that this is a totally different football team than the one which started the season 0-9 and caused the firings of head coach Corey Chamblin and GM Brendan Taman.
Their replacements, Bob Dyce and Jeremy O’Day both on the interim, are working in concert to change the mindset of their locker room.
It’s subtle things, like changing the practice techniques and leaving the roster alone, for the most part. Sunday’s game was the first time all season that there were no changes to the roster from the week before. Lack of injuries played a part in this, but the reluctance to tinker with the lineup seems to have instilled a renewed sense of confidence amongst the players.
In Sunday’s game, the Riders led 6-0 after their first possession and never relinquished the lead the rest of the way.
“It’s a different mentally now,” revealed quarterback Kevin Glenn who tossed for 212 yards and a touchdown in Sunday’s game. “We have a lot of the same guys but sprinkled in some new guys, like Naaman Roosevelt, but for the most part, we had a good team early on and weren’t getting the breaks and weren’t doing the right things early. But it’s a different mindset now. You can credit the coaches and the guys, but everyone is coming together.”
Glenn’s right. Roosevelt is one of a handful of American rookies on this team that bided his time on the practice roster in the first half but is now making the most of his playing time on a club that is well below .500. The Buffalo product and former NFL’er led the team in receiving Sunday with three catches for 68 yards.
Ditto for offensive tackle Jermarcus Hardrick and defensive tackle Andre “Juicy” Monroe who’ve been starting since the coaching change and have displayed unending hustle in practice and in games.
All it took was one win in another must-win game for the Roughriders to be infused with glowing optimism. The veterans have shone a positive light on things as well, including defensive end John Chick who delivered a passionate pregame speech to his team. It seemed to have provided the necessary inspiration.
Is there a miracle finish in store for the Riders?
“That’s our plan,” Bob Dyce chuckled in his postgame news conference. “It’s funny, I’ve let certain players talk to the team at certain points. John Chick asked me if he could talk to the team and he had an important message. He said he has nothing but belief in this team and we need to keep fighting and see where the cards fall.”
You can’t turn your back on the Roughriders now.
It appears the fun has just begun.
