Introduction | East Division | West Division | Preseason Week 2
Summer football is finally back! The CFL preseason has begun, and the long road to the Grey Cup in November is underway. For those unfamiliar, the preseason is effectively a series of exhibition games before the regular season begins. The results of these games will not affect team standings, and as such are often used to give new or less utilized players on a team the opportunity to play more minutes and prove themselves. These games tend to be less competitive as teams take the opportunity to give their star players some extra rest before the games that actually matter begin. Still, the preseason can be a fun time, and sometimes you see something wacky happen. This week we only have one game to talk about, so let’s get into it.
WINNIPEG BLUE BOMBERS @ SASKATCHEWAN ROUGHRIDERS
Played: Monday May 20
Final Score: WPG 12 – SSK 25
Points Breakdown by Quarter: Q1: WPG-3 SSK-0 | Q2: WPG-3 SSK-12 | Q3: WPG-0 SSK-9 | Q4: WPG-6 SSK-4
Game VOD
We start the 2024 preseason with a surprising upset. The Bombers are still considered one of the best teams in the league, if not the best, so to get knocked over this badly by what I think most people would have pegged as a solid but not great Riders squad is going to be a tough pill for them to swallow. The Bombers offence could not get anything going, and when they could, they didn’t get much out of it. Six sacks, three interceptions, and a fumble completely neutered Winnipeg’s ability to score. Veteran quarterback Chris Streveler managed to keep things mostly under control in the first quarter, but after handing things over to Eric Barriere and Terry Wilson Jr. things quickly went off the rails. Meanwhile, the Riders came out in pretty good form and controlled the game from start to finish. Good, solid offensive play across all of their quarterbacks and receivers meant they didn’t lose any of their possessions early, and their defence ate Wilson and particularly Barriere alive. There was still absolutely room for improvement, but this squad looks like more of a contender than I initially thought.
It’s hard to say anything definitive about how the season will go after seeing this. Winnipeg certainly didn’t put their A-squad out on the field. Star quarterback Zach Collaros didn’t play a single minute of Monday’s game, nor did outstanding running back Brady Oliveira. Nevertheless, I imagine there were some stern words from the Winnipeg coaches in the locker room after such a lacklustre performance. I was pleasantly surprised by Saskatchewan, though. They looked good all game, and if their defence can play half that good against teams playing seriously in the regular season, they could be a real threat in the West. Regardless, taking down their hated rivals in such convincing fashion is definitely going to be a major boost to morale for both the players and the fans.
NEXT WEEK: PRESEASON WEEK 2
Ottawa @ Hamilton – Saturday May 25, 2PM EDT
Saskatchewan @ Edmonton – Saturday May 25, 4PM EDT
BC @ Calgary – Saturday May 25, 4PM EDT
Toronto @ Montreal – Saturday May 25, 7:30PM EDT