Riders Look To End Skid In Montreal

There’s still six games to go in the regular season, but Sunday is a must win game for the Saskatchewan Roughriders.

Having lost their last three games, the Riders are heading east to Montreal to take on the Alouettes as they look to end their slide and find their way back into the win column.

“We need a win, we need a win to start this last six games of the season on a good note,” said quarterback Darian Durant.  “You have to take it one game at a time, so everything is important right now.”

The Riders have been focused this week during practice as their offence looks to bounce back from a few subpar games and their defence aims to get back to the shutdown form that allowed the team to jump out to an 8-1 to start to the year.

“It’s big because we need to get back on the winning track -- not big season-wise -- but where we’re at right now, we need to back to that winning feeling,” said defensive tackle Keith Shologan.

Over the last three weeks, the Riders offensively have been able to turn it on late in games and come within a few points of winning, but it’s been early in games that they’ve been ineffective, going two-and-out and turning the ball over.

Early in the season, they were able to get in a rhythm with running back Kory Sheets along the ground, but he’s been out the past two weeks with a knee injury, and appears to be another week away from returning.  

They have just 66 yards rushing in those last two games, while Durant has aired it out 49 and 52 times respectively.

“We want to do whatever we have to do to win and of course we want to be balanced,” Durant said.  “We definitely want to get the running game going, it makes us unpredictable and helps out on the play action.”

Head coach Corey Chamblin said while they want get things going on the ground with Chris Garrett, they don’t want to force the running game.

“You have to see where you are and what they’re giving you,” he said.  “If they’re going to load the box or something, than of course you can’t force it.”

The Riders and Alouettes had a close meeting in August at Mosaic Stadium, Chris Milo booted a game winning field goal to put the Riders on top 24-21.  In that game, the Riders offence was held in check for most of the game by the Als defence, which Durant said is much better than they get credit for.

“Defensively, they’re still one of the best defences in the league and they’re still a force to be reckoned with,” he said.  “They’ve got great cover guys, they disguise blitzes well, smart linebackers, and John Bowman is still one of the elite pass rushers in the league.”

Durant must also be aware of Chip Cox, who is leading the CFL in tackles with 86.  The Riders pivot called him the defensive player of the year.

“He’s definitely a guy that you have to keep an eye on, know where he is at all times, because he’s that type of player that can change the game with one play,” said Durant.

The Riders defence has been losing players left and right over the past few weeks, starting with middle linebacker Rey Williams and now fellow linebacker Weldon Brown has been out the past two games.

Going into Montreal, the offence isn’t what it use to be with Anthony Calvillo out with a concussion and Josh Neiswander taking over since that meeting with the Riders in August.

“You’re use to going to Montreal and having a static quarterback that places the ball really well, but now they move the line of scrimmage a lot, they get (Neiswander) moving, you have to make sure he doesn’t scramble as much,” explained Shologan on the challenges of facing Montreal.

“It changes the game plan a little bit, which we’re not use to going to Montreal, but then again, we’ve watched film and know what they’re going to give us.”

A win this week is big for the Riders, not only because it ends their losing streak, but it sets them up going into five straight divisional games to end the regular season.  They will also need to keep pace with the BC Lions, who steamrolled the Winnipeg Blue Bombers on Friday night, for second in the West Division.

“The big test is going to be, can win this week and then build off the win,” said Shologan.

“At any given game, we have to sure that at the end of the game when it’s all said and done, that the score is in our favour,” added Chamblin.  “I’m not asking the guys for perfection, I’m just asking them for excellent work.”

The Riders and Als will kickoff from Molson Stadium on Sunday morning at 11:00am.  If you can’t catch the game on TSN, you can follow @MarcSmith18 for updates throughout the game.