EDMONTON — The Saskatchewan Roughriders are to face the Edmonton Eskimos today in the teams’ first meeting of the 2017 CFL regular season.
The Roughriders are coming off a bye week, but that was preceded by a 41-8 victory over the B.C. Lions on Aug. 13. The Eskimos suffered their first loss of the season on Aug. 17, when they were beaten 33-26 by the Winnipeg Blue Bombers.
To set up today’s CFL contest (7:30 p.m., CKRM, TSN), here’s one man’s list of five people (or things) that bear watching:
1. Bye Bye: The Roughriders are in a familiar situation today as they return to action after a week off, having also had a bye after their third regular-season game. The first time around, Saskatchewan smoked the visiting Hamilton Tiger-Cats 37-20 on July 8 and took the momentum generated from that win into a week off. In the Roughriders’ first game back from that bye, they were trounced 27-10 by the host Calgary Stampeders on July 22. Saskatchewan is 3-4-0 in games following bye weeks since 2014, but that run includes four losses in its past five contests in this scenario.
2. A Tale of Two Cities: The Roughriders enjoy Regina — they’re 3-1-0 at Mosaic Stadium in 2017 — but they haven’t been too fond of any other city they’ve played in this season. Saskatchewan is 0-3-0 on the road and was dominated in Calgary and Vancouver (where the Lions prevailed 30-15 on Aug. 5). Roughriders quarterback Kevin Glenn’s statistics reflect the disparity between home and away thus far: He has thrown 13 touchdown passes and has averaged 354 yards in four games at Mosaic Stadium, but he has tossed just one TD pass and has averaged 229 yards in the Roughriders’ three road games.
3. Christion Jones: The former University of Alabama Crimson Tide returner has made an impact on the Roughriders’ special teams in his two games in the lineup, returning eight punts for 165 yards and four kickoffs for 94 yards. Jones had seven punt returns for 139 yards against the visiting Lions, which was the most productive game by a Roughrider returner since Corey Holmes took back six punts for 181 yards against the Toronto Argonauts on Sept. 15, 2002. Jones isn’t a burner, but he sets up his blocks and hits holes exceedingly well.
4. Josh Bartel: Without a lot of fanfare, the veteran punter has been doing an excellent job for the Roughriders this season. Bartel went into the week ranked fifth in the league in punting average (44.0 yards), but Saskatchewan was ranked third in net average (35.7 yards). In back-to-back games against the Lions, Bartel helped the special teams hold B.C. returner Chris Rainey to 115 yards on 13 returns — and that included a 35-yard runback on Aug. 13. Take that one return away and Rainey averaged just 6.7 yards on 12 returns over two games.
5. Thaddeus Coleman: Like Bartel, Coleman has been quietly going about his business this season. The Roughriders’ right offensive tackle will have his work cut out for him again today as he takes on Eskimos defensive ends Odell Willis and John Chick. The talkative Willis leads Edmonton with six sacks this season, using his speed and spin move to great effect. But Coleman practised against Willis for three seasons when they were Eskimos teammates, so Coleman knows what Willis likes to do in certain situations — and that could come in handy today.
