The Saskatchewan Roughriders have won six of their first eight games. They’re in first place in the West Division by a half game over the Edmonton Elks. Injuries aside, there isn’t much to worry about.
So, why is Arash Madani calling Saturday’s road tilt against the Hamilton Tiger-Cats a must-win game?
“This is the midway-point-of-the-season game,” he said on his Tuesday segment of Coast to Coast on the SportsCage. “You’re playing a Hamilton team that literally doesn’t have a quarterback, that’s hanging on by a thread. The Riders are 6-2. They have all these injuries. They have all these problems. This is the game they’ve got to have.
“You’re then 7-2. You’re suddenly staying alive in the West. You’re getting yourself a little bit of breathing room. Especially with all these dudes banged up, there’s going to be a gauntlet coming. These are the games – the Ottawas, the Hamiltons – that you have to win. Because everything else is going to be a dog fight – even Winnipeg.”
Madani and host Barney Shynkaruk went on to discuss the Ticats’ issues at quarterback sans Bo Levi Mitchell. Shynkaruk suggested the Tiger-Cats still have the makings of a good team.
The guest wasn’t on board with that theory.
“I disagree because if you don’t have a quarterback, you don’t have a chance,” Madani said. “On top of that, the Riders have one more rest day. Hamilton had to fly back from B.C. That was an ugly game against the Lions. If there was a game the Ticats could have snuck away with, it was that one against the Lions.
“You just don’t have it.”
This all comes down to Riders. No, they’re not playing the Elks or another top team, but there’s a key reason to get up for this one.
“Get this (win), and you’re in a really, really good and comfortable situation at the midway point of the season,” Madani said.
Watch the segment below.
