A work in progress.  That's the feeling from the Saskatchewan Roughriders after they wrapped up their preseason schedule with a 24-23 loss to the Calgary Stampeders on Thursday night at Mosaic Stadium.

The starting offence played deep into the third quarter as they struggled to get much going in the first half, outside the opening drive of the game.  They found their legs in the third and gave the team the lead, but Calgary was able to pull out the win in the end.

“We came out in the third quarter and got some good things done, but we have to learn how to start faster and that's what we're going to work on,” said Durant after the loss.  He finished with 112 yards passing on 14-of-23 attempts with one touchdown and one interception.

“They played well, but the thing is we did what we had to do in that third quarter, we came out and put some points on the board, and we have to build off of that.”

It was a slowing moving game for much of the first half as the two starting defences dug in their heels and forced 13 straight punts at one point.  

The game started great for the Riders as Taj Smith recovered a fumble on the opening kick off and six plays later Sheets dove over the line for an early 7-0 lead, but that would be the only points in the first half for the Riders offence.

Rene Paredes hit on a 37-yard field goal midway through the first quarter to get Calgary on the board.  On the ensuing drive, Durant had a ball tipped at the line and picked off by Demonte' Bolden.  The Stampeders capitalized, scoring on a 20-yard catch and run by Rob Cote from Drew Tate.

Another Paredes field goal and a single in the second quarter gave Calgary a 14-7 lead heading into half time.

The Riders went two-and-out on their opening possession of the second half – with most of the starters still in – but a great punt by Chris Milo pinned the Stampeders deep and allowed the Riders to pick up two points on a safety.

The offence got rolling after that and scored on back to back drives, led by Sheets.  He scored on a 12-yard rush to the outside to put the Riders in front 16-14.  On the next drive, he broke off a 50-yard run that set up Durant's four-yard touchdown pass to Scott McHenry.

Sheets had the best day offensively for the Riders as he finished with ten carries for 97 yards and two touchdowns, and added five catches for 34 yards.

“We were just trying to see what they were doing and find a groove and make adjustments and we did that at halftime and came out and everything worked,” said Sheets after the game.

“They told us that we were going to play the third quarter and see how it goes and then we were going to come out,” he added on the decision for the starters to remain in late in the game.

The starters left with a 23-14 lead, but the back-ups weren't able to hold.  Calgary got a one-yard touchdown from LaMarcus Coker to start the fourth quarter.  Then after a missed 45-yard field goal by Riders kicking hopeful Brody McKnight, Calgary was able to get another field goal from Paredes, which gave them the win.

The defence wasn't quite as dominant as they were in Edmonton with Calgary's offensive line holding up well against the highly touted defensive line of the Riders.  

Ricky Foley, who was making his Riders debut, said he liked what he saw out of the first defensive unit.  “We've got a lot of talent on the defensive side of the ball and we're confident going into the season,” he said.

Middle linebacker Rey Williams also felt that the defence took some good steps towards getting ready for the season.  “We're going in the right direction, we've got to finish – especially at home – but I think we're going in the right direction,” he said.  “We have some good, talented football players and we were communicating really well in the first half.”

With the preseason now in the books, the Riders' coaching staff and front office will have some tough decisions to make as they put together the final roster heading into the regular season.

“I don't think anyone played themselves on or off the roster, it's probably going to remain the way we graded it in the last couple of days,” said head coach Corey Chamblin.

“I had some things in mind about how we will shape the roster up and just looking overall it's pretty tough,” he added.  “At the end of the day, we have to keep the players that are going to help us play smart football and are going to help us become a winning team.”

GAME NOTES...

-- Geroy Simon didn't have a pass thrown his way in the game and left after about a quarter of playing time.   He was in street clothes on the sidelines after the game, but Chamblin couldn't provide an injury update, if there was one.

-- Moose Jaw's Levi Steinhauer continued to make a strong case to stick on the roster as a rookie.  He picked up a sack in the fourth quarter and played a strong game on special teams as well.  Veteran Ricky Foley even took notice, “Levi Steinhauer had a great game again,” he told reporters after the game when talking about the talent on the defence.

-- Chris Getzlaf was the top receiver in the game, finishing with four catches for 49 yards.  Greg Carr had a couple of key drops and may have hurt his chances of sticking with the team, he finished with one catch for 20 yards.

-- The Riders aren't back on the field until Monday.  The final cuts are expected to be made over the next two days and then the focus will shift to the regular season opener next Saturday in Edmonton.