The dream that was the 2013 Roughriders' season has turned into a nightmare after a 17-12 loss to the Montreal Alouettes on Sunday, the fourth loss in a row for a team that once looked like a juggernaut.
Touchdowns have been replaced by interceptions, long runs by fumbles and fantasies of winning the Grey Cup at home now seem just that - fantasies.
How did it all go so wrong, so fast?
It's easy to place blame on one specific thing and it's what fans and media members tend to do. Focusing in on one player, injury, or coach is simple and gives fans something to rail against and writers something to anchor their stories on.
Unfortunately, taking such a simplistic approach is both shortsighted and misleading.
In football, the two most obvious targets for blame are the coach and the quarterback. There have been some questionable decisions by Corey Chamblin over the team's losing streak (most notably bringing in the short-yardage team on the Alouettes' three-yard line, leaving Darian Durant on the bench), but there's more to the Riders' woes than coaching problems.
As for the quarterback? Well, to be charitable, Durant is struggling. He completed barely 50 per cent of his passes against Montreal and threw three interceptions to just one touchdown. Over the losing streak he's thrown more picks (seven) than touchdowns (six). It's a recipe for disaster, but Durant is also being put into a tough spot thanks to the injury to star tailback Kory Sheets. Sheets has missed two games since spraining his right knee against Toronto on Sept. 14 and his absence is noticeable. In fact, Sheets still leads the CFL in rushing despite missing those two games.
Without a running game to speak of, teams are able to play tighter coverage against the Riders' receivers, knowing that they can't be hurt on the ground.
Going from Sheets to a running-back-by-committee approach that features Chris Garrett is like eating Kobe beef for a week and then being served nothing but Hamburger Helper. It's a tough transition and the Riders' ground game has gone limp. They rushed for a grand total of 15(!) yards against Montreal.
Before Rider Nation collectively tosses those green jerseys back into the closet, they should take a breath. The Riders are still 8-5 and assured of making the playoffs, though it might not be the home game so many were hoping for. They still employ the best running back in the CFL, who should be back any week now. They still feature all of the same players who brought them to that long ago 8-1 record.
As a sports fan it can be hard to walk away from the ledge when things get bad; almost by definition, being a fan means wrapping yourself in the warm embrace of irrationality when the cold reality of the world outside seems inconvenient. This is where Riders fans find themselves: cold and angry, trying to make sense of a season that's gone from bad to worse in what seems like a flash.
Outside of Geroy Simon setting the all-time CFL record for receptions, it's been nothing but bad news for over a month.
If you believe in these sorts of things, the Riders are due for some good karma sometime soon. They're going to need it, or this season will only be remembered for what it could have been.
