The Canadian Press
REGINA — Two weeks off would be good, wouldn’t it?
That’s very much the situation the Roughriders find themselves as they prepare for their final regular season game against the BC Lions this week. Week 20 presents itself a must-win situation for the Riders if they hope to have a chance at the No. 1 seed in the West Division.
That is also obviously taking into consideration the Calgary-Winnipeg game that will be taking place on Friday night. A Calgary win and they take the opportunity of having the first round of the playoffs off as they await the winner of the semi-final. But in the event that the Roughriders win this week and finish the season as the No. 1 team in the West Divison, they will have two weeks off having spent Week 21 of the regular season on a bye, along with getting the first round bye come playoff time.
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Nonetheless, the Riders know they have a home playoff game to look forward to.
“Whatever happens, happens. It’s out of our control at that point,” Riders head coach Chris Jones said of how the situation in Week 21 might unfold. “We just have to handle our business this week and play a very good BC team.”
Heading into Saturday’s game, Saskatchewan and BC boast fairly similar defensive units, especially when you look at their personnel across the defensive front with the duo of Charleston Hughes and Willie Jefferson being a near-comparison to the Lions end combination of Shawn Lemon and Odell Willis. The pair of defensive ends for Saskatchewan combine for 24 quarterback sacks this season compared to Lemon-Willis’ 21.
Chris Jones, who’s coaching career in the CFL began back in 2002 as the defensive line coach with the Alouettes says he recalls a time in the league where situations like what’s slowly unfolding in the West Division were unheard of.
“The league right now, it has a lot of parity right now. Early in my career, we were a really good team in Montreal and there wasn’t that parity. You knew that you were going to win eight or nine ball games before you even played the game. Now, the game has gotten much better. I think the coaching is much better. I think the organizations are much stronger. It’s a good thing for our league.”
As a result of that parity Jones speaks of, the Riders will be facing the Lions in their last regular season game with a lot still up for grabs. Jones spent much of his time spent with media this week addressing just how tough the Lions have become this season, complimenting their recent roster additions, especially Tyrell Sutton, but has seen the steam the Lions have been picking up in the latter half of the season.
“He (Wally Buono) has a really fine football team right now,” Jones says. “They’re all athletic, they’re good up front on both sides of the ball. They’ve got a big bruising back now that puts them in second-and-manageable situations. They’ve got a possession guy in 16 (Bryan Burnham), and they do a good job at throwing the deep ball, so we’ve got our hands full.”
The Roughriders are coming off of a game in which they defeated the Calgary Stampeders 29-24, handing the Stamps their second loss at home this season, but also being the second time the Riders beat the league-leading Stamps, making Saskatchewan the only team this season to have a winning record against them.
Despite the accomplishment and success against Calgary, Jones insists the Riders need to be better.
“We need to become a much stronger team here at home.”
Given the fact that Saskatchewan is guaranteed a home playoff game, their 5-3 record at Mosaic Stadium isn’t quite good enough for the man patrolling the Green and White’s sideline as the Lions come into Regina with a three-game winning streak.
“They’re playing some of the best football in the league,” Jones said. “They look to be playing a lot faster and having fun, so that’s what makes them dangerous.”
The tilt between the Riders and Lions is scheduled for 7:00 p.m. ET on Saturday.
With files from Riderville.com
