If you have seen the Saskatchewan Roughriders on offence lately it is hard to imagine that the Grey Cup champs are sitting at 5-2, one game back of the impressive Calgary Stampeders and Edmonton Eskimos. However that is exactly where we are at going into Week 9 of the 2014 CFL season, as despite the Roughriders deciding to forget how to find the back of the endzone despite having one of the highest paid players in the league at quarterback in Darian Durant things have been coming up Saskatchewan's way ever since their crash to earth back in July.
A massive win over the Winnipeg Blue Bombers in which two defensive touchdowns were needed to escape from Manitoba with a win that Saskatchewan quite honestly had no business winning was followed by a home performance against a pathetic and beat down Montreal team that left much to be desired from fans who thought playing the Als in the midst of their recent struggles would be the cure to Darian Durant's problems. That wasn't the case on the weekend as the team put up just 16 points on Montreal at home, with a 20 yard touchdown strike from Durant to veteran Rob Bagg serving as the lone endzone discovery by the Roughriders despite playing arguably the worst team in the CFL this season.
That is a cause for concern for head coach Corey Chamblin, but luckily the defence has given him no such worries in 2014. Defensive end John Chick has turned back the clock and looks about as dominant as he was before he tried his hand at the NFL which has put a big band aid over the Roughriders problems in recent weeks. Can't score on offence? It isn't a problem when John Chick is helping the opposing offence start their second down play well behind the original line of scrimmage with one of his multiple sacks per game as the veteran pass rusher inches closer and closer to setting a CFL record this season.
However it is still going to be an issue for the Riders eventually as after all, you can't win if you don't score and in the Canadian Football League that phrase holds even more true as anyone can tell you that scoring one touchdown on offence in two games in the CFL is going to catch up with you eventually, especially when you are playing in a division in which every team in the West has a winning record of two games above ,500 or more.
Holding four of their five wins over the East, the next stretch of games for Saskatchewan are going to tell the whole story of exactly how broken this team is on offence or if it is just continuing to experience growing pains before the important stretch of games throughout September and October that will include the annual Labour Day series with the Winnipeg Blue Bombers as well as multiple games against the likes of the Lions, Stamps and Eskimos will make or break the 2014 Riders chances of a Grey Cup.
That shouldn't be too hard to figure out, after all even the most casual fan can look at the CFL standings and see all of the talent is out in the West, something that makes the Riders 5-2 record with four wins against East teams a hollow record other than the fact that it keeps Saskatchewan within striking distance of first place entering the two month race for the playoffs. With every team in the West posing a threat, the Roughriders are going to have to improve in a hurry if they are going to stay close to the top of the division when all of the dust settles this fall. If that is going to happen, they will also need to start putting points on the scoreboard by the way of touchdowns sooner than later.
