The Saskatchewan Roughriders got a win they had to have against the Calgary Stampeders. Peter Klein breaks down every CFL game for the week, and what it means in the push for the playoffs in the Canadian Football League.
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00:00Out in the CFL, this isn't going to be as in-depth here, but the Riders do get a win.
00:05It wasn't pretty all the time, but they do come up with those winning plays when they
00:09need it.
00:10And some of that was penalty-aided for sure, but they come up with a couple of big plays.
00:13They are now firmly in the race for the second playoff spot out in the West, having some
00:21breathing room now on Edmonton and Calgary, not a lot but some, is really important for
00:26this team.
00:27The fact that they were finally able to get something going in the run game with Armstead,
00:31who was running like this was his last chance, and it kind of is.
00:35And so that is, while I liked Hickson, and made the mistake on the Rider happy hour saying
00:39like, oh yeah, this guy's going to go over in his run total.
00:42This was why.
00:43And this was why I was a little pissed that I couldn't find a run total for Armstead going
00:48into this game, because Calgary's run defense is dogshit.
00:51But this was such a huge breath of fresh air for Saskatchewan to have that dynamic of a
00:56playmaker, making plays in the run game, making life easy for Trevor Harris, going
01:01down to the 4th quarter he had like 18 passes, like he was, this was not a pass-heavy game,
01:07the Riders just ran it down Calgary's throats and then came up with enough big plays defensively
01:12to get the victory.
01:14For Calgary, this feels it.
01:17This feels done.
01:18I have been pretty consistently putting them at the bottom of my power rankings the last
01:22little while, I think you can see why.
01:25They get the big play on the quarterback sneak, which, like, wow, against a Riders
01:30team that has been just dominant in the run game this season.
01:34And then they were able to get a little bit there with Mills going, and he was able to
01:39actually break one of the bets that we did have, where we had him under for his total.
01:43But still, this was, yeah, the stamp's been done before it started.
01:49Toxic, that's fair.
01:50It felt like, it felt like if they were going to be undone, that this was going to be the
01:55week to do it.
01:56That this was going to be the time, Saskatchewan hadn't won since, like, June.
02:00It had been seven games, and it had been since 2001, no, 2021, since the Riders had won after
02:07Labor Day.
02:08That's insanity.
02:10But still, this was your opportunity to get back into this playoff race.
02:15And when you think to where this team was, going into the Labor Day doubleheader with
02:20Edmonton, and then this one here with Saskatchewan, with Montreal, in between there.
02:24But you had an opportunity going into that Edmonton one, where it was like, yes, no,
02:28this Edmonton thing, nice and cute, we're going to put it in the dirt.
02:31It wasn't even Trey Ford doing that against the Stamps, right?
02:35It was McLeod Bethel Thompson who was picking them apart.
02:38You had a chance to just be like, hey, this is cute, fun story, but it's going to be like
02:41last year, where it's a fun story for a last place football team, now know your place and
02:46go sit down there.
02:47Instead, Edmonton was just keeping the basement warm for Calgary, who is now, I think, firmly
02:52planted in there, and have a long way to go to get out of it.
02:55I think, again, your concerns about the quarterback are… legitimate.
03:01I don't think he's the reason they lost.
03:03But it didn't, again, didn't come up with the big plays when they needed, and this defense
03:07that was supposed to be the strength of this team this year.
03:10Doing the CFL previews and all of these things, you look at the talent they have on the defensive
03:14side of the roster.
03:15I was doing my Difference Makers this year, going into this season, all of them were on
03:20the Stamps side.
03:21Or, sorry, all of them on the Stamps side were on the defense.
03:24And that defense has been a Difference Maker, and it's why they're losing.
03:27And that is just shocking to me.
03:30Hamilton stays hot with a win over the Argos.
03:32I said before, it felt like a good matchup for Hamilton.
03:35They are playing a whole lot better, and now the Argos really have to play better if they
03:39want to get this thing into the postseason.
03:42I mean, they're going to…
03:43I don't think Hamilton's going to catch Toronto.
03:45I really don't.
03:46And honestly, I think that Saskatchewan win on Friday really does help with the crossover
03:52thing a little bit.
03:53It's going to be tough for Hamilton to get into there, but they're playing some good
03:55football.
03:56But the Argos now, I think, really have to figure things out.
03:59Again, this is a talented defensive group that has been picked apart just a few too
04:03many times this year to really believe in them going forward.
04:07For Montreal, they reestablished themselves as the best team in the league.
04:11Nice little get-back-on-track game against an Ottawa team who they do stack up really
04:15well against.
04:16And now for Ottawa, I don't think Toronto is much of an issue for you standings-wise,
04:21although still a few weeks left, like that could change for sure.
04:25But you need to figure out why you can't figure out Montreal, and what you're going
04:31to do to try to fix this now.
04:34And out in Winnipeg, they slow down Edmonton.
04:36They tried to make Trey Ford beat them with his arm.
04:38They were rushing for, and I think had two spies on him?
04:42Which is quite the thing to do in the CFL with all the receivers running around and
04:46all the space that is out there anyway.
04:47And so they did a good job in kind of limiting that.
04:50Brady Oliveira looked like a beast.
04:53I still, I don't know what it is, I still do not feel fully locked in on Winnipeg as
04:59like the clear, oh yeah, number one in this league.
05:03And in the West, more specifically.
05:04Like I still, I still think they're gettable for BC.
05:08Very much so.
05:09Like I still think, if we were playing Madden, and CFL teams were included, and you could
05:16just like, best on, like, everyone is playing at their best.
05:20Who wins?
05:21It's BC.
05:22And honestly, I don't think it's that close.
05:24But Winnipeg just keeps winning these games, and BC just can't really click it.
05:28And honestly, I even think the best version of Saskatchewan at least gives this group
05:32a run for their money.
05:33So I'm not there yet with pushing Winnipeg as the team in the West, but I will say, they
05:40keep getting results, and that whole know-how-to-win thing, they definitely do that.
05:44We'll see how that goes now in the final bit of September into October, and then November.