TORONTO — The Saskatchewan Roughriders will be looking to start a new winning streak Saturday.
The CFL team had its run of four straight victories snapped last Saturday, when the Ottawa Redblacks defeated the Roughriders 30-25 at Mosaic Stadium. Saskatchewan takes the bitter taste from that game into Saturday’s contest against the Toronto Argonauts at BMO Field (5 p.m., CKRM, TSN).
Saskatchewan enters Saturday’s game with a 7-5-0 record, while the Argos are 3-8-0 and riding a three-game losing skid.
Here’s one man’s list of five things (or players) to watch during Saturday’s game.
- Back on the beam: The Roughriders have a chance to return to their winning ways in the first of two straight games against teams with losing records. After visiting the Argos, Saskatchewan is to face the Montreal Alouettes on Sept. 30 before it meets another above-.500 team (the Edmonton Eskimos on Oct. 8). The Roughriders’ next two games also are against clubs that have had issues at quarterback this season: Toronto is starting McLeod Bethel-Thompson in place of an injured Ricky Ray and Montreal is trying to find out if either Antonio Pipkin or Johnny Manziel can be a quality No. 1 QB.
- It’s their specialty: Saskatchewan went into the week with a league-best four kick-return touchdowns this season, with Kyran Moore (two punts), Christion Jones (one punt) and Marcus Thigpen (one kickoff) going the distance to help the special teams contribute to the scoring totals. The special teams are responsible for another major — Sam Eguavoen’s return of a blocked punt — but that TD officially is considered a defensive fumble return. Toronto has yet to register a kick-return TD this season and is tied for last in the CFL with two kick-return touchdowns allowed; Saskatchewan also has surrendered two.
- Get in line: The Roughriders’ defensive line has been dominant all season, but the group didn’t record any sacks against Ottawa. That was only the second time in 12 games this season that Saskatchewan’s defence didn’t get to an opposing quarterback (the Redblacks also kept the Roughriders at bay on June 21). Saskatchewan went into the week ranked second in the CFL with 29 sacks (the B.C. Lions had 31) and the Green and White will face a solid offensive line in Toronto. The Argos have surrendered just 20 sacks this season, the third-lowest total in the league entering the week.
- Mike Edem: The Roughriders’ safety is on pace to have his finest statistical season in the league. Through 12 games, the sixth-year CFLer has recorded 37 defensive tackles (his career high is 47, set in 2013) and eight special-teams tackles (his career high of 13 was set in 2014). Edem also has recorded two knockdowns, two tackles for losses, an interception and a fumble recovery for a total of 51 defensive plays, second-highest among Roughriders defenders behind only Eguavoen (77). Edem has been moved around as Saskatchewan’s defence looks to match up its DBs with opposing receivers and his man-to-man coverage has been sound.
- From one extreme to the other: Saskatchewan’s defence went into Week 15 having forced a CFL-high 77 two-and-outs by opposing offences. That’s good. Unfortunately, Saskatchewan’s offence went into Week 15 having gone two-and-out a league-high 76 times. That’s not so good. Saskatchewan is in the middle of the pack among the CFL’s nine teams when it comes to time of possession, but the offence has to start putting together some sustained drives after the defence holds the opposing team’s offence in check. The Roughriders have converted on just 38 per cent of their second-down plays this season, leaving them eighth in the CFL.
