If you can, for just a second, forget about the fact it was a loss.
For the uninitiated, I'm referring to the Saskatchewan Roughriders' 39-36 thriller-of-an overtime loss at Edmonton Friday night against the Eskimos.
It's a game that in the aftermath in the City of Champions, they were referring to as a "heart-stopper.” And here in Saskatchewan, we're referring to the game as a "heart-stopper" as well, several days after the fact.
Going into the contest, not many were giving the upstart Roughriders a chance against the defending Grey Cup champions. In fact the odds makers had the Eskimos installed as favourites by as many as 11 points.
However in a flip-the-script scenario from the Roughriders' season-opening 30-17 home loss to Toronto in which they were down 14-0 just six minutes in the game, Friday night the Green and White remarkably jumped out to a 13-0 lead in the second quarter over the stunned Eskimos. But no one was resting easy and the Riders' 19-14 halftime lead was tenuous at best.
You people all know what happened in the second half because you watched the game. The Riders imploded in the third quarter and for much of the fourth, and were trailing 33-19 with less than 10 minutes to go. That's when many in the Wheat Province switched off their television sets, so they tell me.
Boy, did they miss a doozy of a finish! In the final six minutes the Riders struck for touchdowns by John Chiles and Shamawd Chamblers and, along with a long Tyler Crapigna field goal, amazingly led 36-33 with just 19 seconds remaining.
Unfortunately right after that is when they lost the game, not in overtime like so many are lamenting around here.
Expecting the Eskimos to launch a couple of Hail Marys in the dying seconds Friday night, the Riders dropped nine players into a prevent defense on a fateful pair of plays. Star Eskimo quarterback Mike Reilly then gained just enough yards on those back-to-back plays to put kicker Sean Whyte into position for a 51-yard field goal to tie the game 36-36 with no time left.
It feels redundant to recap what happened in overtime, but suffice it to say Whyte stroked a 32-yard field goal on the Esks' first possession while the Riders turned it over on downs on theirs on a failed Darian Durant sneak and it was game over. Fireworks were shooting off everywhere and it was bedlam at Commonwealth Stadium before a CFL season-high crowd of 34,196.
While Rider fans are justifiably groaning about the team's penchant for failing miserably in short yardage situations early on this season, the game was lost in the moments before that QB sneak in overtime.
Head Coach and General Manager Chris Jones admitted as much on the CKRM post-game show and it took a big man to do so.
"At the end of the game they only had 13 seconds left," Jones winced. "We were just a little bit too passive in coverage there and allowed 'em to get too much yardage to allow them to kick the field goal. If I had it to do over, we wouldn't be in that situation."
Watching the tape of the game Saturday, I noticed TSN's Chris Cuthbert referred to the Eskimos' final drive as "awfully easy."
To me, those final few moments felt like a mini-2009 Grey Cup and the 13th Man incident. The Riders had this victory in the bag but got pick-pocketed, and were left wondering, "What the hell happened?"
All the same emotions were there Friday night from that famed November afternoon and the Grey Cup game in Calgary seven seasons ago. Our hearts were beating a million miles a minute, our hands were sweaty and we were on the edge of our seats in the dying moments.
Exciting, blood-pumping football is back, after a two-year absence.
Upon our return to the Queen City, Rider fans were gushing about Friday's game all weekend long.
"I don't care if we win," one long-time Rider fan mentioned Saturday afternoon. "I just want the Riders to entertain me!"
"LIAR!" I exclaimed, with a smirk on my face. Of course everybody around here wants the Roughriders to win every game and if it's a doozy of a contest, well, that's just a bonus.
So in the end, Friday's game was another loss. And the crappy reality for the Roughriders is that they're the CFL's only winless team at 0-2. But that really doesn't seem to matter right now because the Rider Nation got a glimpse of what's in store for the weeks and maybe even seasons ahead — gutsy, determined, aggressive football with a head coach who employs the Don Mathews strategy of living on the edge. They're gonna go for it and not be timid, and that likely includes on defence, too, given the way they let the Eskimos wiggle off the hook Friday night.
And now Saskatchewan and the entire Rider Nation is turned onto this team with a home date looming this Saturday against Wally Buono's 2-1 B.C. Lions Saturday afternoon at 5:00 p.m. at Mosaic Stadium.
There are only eight home games left in the Grand Ol' Lady folks, and as part of the Farewell Season hoopla the 1966 Grey Cup champion Roughriders will be honoured at Saturday's game.
We haven't had a sellout yet this season but I'll bet you right now the park will be packed for Saturday's showdown.
Roughrider Football — the kind we like — is back.
