The way the Saskatchewan Roughriders lost to the Winnipeg Blue Bombers last Saturday has Arash Madani rethinking how he feels about them.
“I was under the belief that the Riders were elite,” the SportsCage regular said. “It’s Edmonton and Montreal and then it’s everybody else.”
The Roughriders are still third in the CFL but fell to 8-5 on the season after losing the Banjo Bowl to the Bombers 19-6. They failed to score a touchdown.
The offence struggled amid injuries to running back A.J. Ouellette and receivers Kian Schaffer-Baker and Sam Emilus. The Riders recorded 278 yards of net offence and just 52 rushing yards.
Madani wondered if the B.C. Lions are a better team than the Riders. The Lions crushed the Montreal Alouettes 48-29 on Saturday to win for the sixth time in their last seven games and move to 7-6.
“When you talk about clicking on all cylinders and being reliable and dependable, I think it’s just Montreal and Edmonton,” Madani said.
Madani also weighed in on the officiating from the Riders-Bombers contest, particularly a questionable hit quarterback Trevor Harris absorbed.
“There’s a difference between malice and incompetence,” he said. “The biggest issue of the day is right before the half, (Bombers defensive lineman) Willie Jefferson jumps offside, unabated to the quarterback, no whistle, gets a free shot on Trevor Harris, and everybody in the building, including (referee) Andre Proulx, knew it was offside, but they didn’t blow it dead,” Madani said.
“How are you coming out (as the CFL) and saying player safety is paramount to us and then that happens.”
Watch the full segment below.
