For third straight season, Riders and Bombers meet in fierce playoff showdown

A heated rivalry will take centre stage in the CFL West Division final.

The Saskatchewan Roughriders and Winnipeg Blue Bombers are going to meet in the playoffs for a third straight season Sunday. Kickoff for the game is set for 3 p.m.

The Bombers won the semifinal game in 2018 by a score of 23-18 and then won again 20-13 in the West final in 2019. Both of those games took place in Mosaic Stadium.

“You think about this opportunity at hand for the guys in the locker room, especially guys that were here in 2019,” quarterback Cody Fajardo said. “It’s not every day you get a chance the following (season) you get a chance to right your mistakes.”

This year’s edition of the showdown will have one key difference from previous years – it will take place at IG Field in Winnipeg.

“We have to go in there and play our best game in order to have a chance to win the game over there,” Fajardo said. “It’s going to be hostile, everything is going to be against us and we wouldn’t want it any other way.”

The Riders are coming into the game after defeating the Calgary Stampeders in a 33-30 game that required overtime between the two teams.

Meanwhile, Winnipeg has had first place in the West Division clinched since Oct. 23 after a 45-0 win over the B.C. Lions. It will have been 42 days since Winnipeg played a game that could influence their chances at repeating as Grey Cup champions.

Winnipeg finished the year with a league-best 11-3 record.

“We had two all-stars and they had 15 and you can’t argue with that. Are they that much better than us? I don’t think so and I don’t think our guys believe that,” head coach Craig Dickenson said.

“They were the class of the league this year – I said that after our second game (between the two) – I said it’s Winnipeg and the rest of us and I believe it still is but we’re hoping we can give them a good game and that’s why we play sports – you never know.”

Having all the time in between meaningful games means the Bombers have had a chance to rest many of their key starters. Running back Andrew Harris (knee) is a game-time decision but otherwise Winnipeg comes in with a fairly clean bill of health.

Meanwhile, the Riders have question marks surrounding the health of Duke Williams — who is a game-time decision due to a toe injury — and defensive end A.C. Leonard (hip) will play but isn’t 100 per cent. Linebacker Micah Teitz was ruled out for the game due to a foot injury.

The weather could become a factor in the game with winds expected to gust up to 70 kilometres an hour, the temperature dropping to around -15 C and blowing snow making their way to the Manitoba capital.

“The weather is going to affect the quality of play but I don’t think you’ll see it affect the effort or the want-to,” Dickenson said. “We practice in (the weather) all week and (Winnipeg) is going to be playing in the same conditions so we will take it as it comes.”

“It doesn’t bother me at all,” running back William Powell said. “If the wind is like that and it’s that cold and if I have to get the ball a lot of times, that doesn’t bother me at all.”

The Bombers defence has been historically good this year, only giving up 13.4 points a game. That’s the lowest mark for a Winnipeg team since 1958 when they allowed 11.4.

The Riders will look to score their first second-half points against the Riders in their season series. Winnipeg won both games by a combined 56-17 score. In those games, the Riders were outscored in the second half 37-0.

“Ultimately they just made more plays than us in the second half of both games and you’ve got to tip your hats to them – they are as good as they are for a reason,” Riders offensive coordinator Jason Maas said. “It’s up to us to match that intensity and that level of play in the second half and hopefully do it better early so we don’t have to come from behind.”

In order to do that, Fajardo may have to find his 2019 form where he was the West Division most outstanding player.

Fajardo and the offence have struggled in 2021, only averaging 20.7 points a game – third-fewest in the league. Fajardo has thrown for 2,970 yards, 14 touchdowns and 11 interceptions in 2021.

But while he threw four interceptions in the West semifinal, Fajardo also contributed 80 per cent of Saskatchewan’s offence – 189 passing yards to go along with 89 rushing yards. Fajardo also passed or ran for 19 of the Riders 22 first downs.

One of the things the Riders will need to do is slow down the pass rush of Winnipeg defensive ends Willie Jefferson and Jackson Jeffcoat. Jeffcoat recorded nine sacks this season while Jefferson added seven.

“I know (our offensive line) is up for the challenge. They’ve been getting prepared mentally with film study and stuff like that,” Powell said. “They’ve been getting prepared physically and getting their bodies ready. I’m proud of how those guys and how far they came this season. They will be ready for the challenge.”

The Riders defence will also need to try and stop a Winnipeg offence that is averaging a CFL-leading 25.8 points a game with 2021 West Division most outstanding player Zach Collaros at the helm. Collaros threw for 3,185 yards, 20 touchdowns and six interceptions.

Collaros was the Riders quarterback in 2018 and 2019. After being knocked out of the first game of the 2019 season due to a concussion, Collaros was eventually traded to Toronto after the emergence of Fajardo as the new starter. Later that season, Collaros was traded to Winnipeg where he helped them win the 2019 Grey Cup.

“He’s had a real bounce-back in his career and I think it started when he was traded here,” Dickenson said. “Credit to the Bombers for putting him in situations where he could be successful and have success in what he’s doing.

“He’s always been a great leader. He just needed to be with a team for a while and now that he’s been with the Bombers for a while, you’re seeing the benefits of that.”

The Riders have clawed their way through a season that saw their average margin of victory just 7.8 points in their 10 wins in 2021.

Dickenson hopes the fact they’ve played in so many close games will pay dividends if the West final is tightly contested.

“We’ve been through the wringer. If it’s close in the fourth, it’s not going to be a big deal for us,” Dickenson said. “We’ve got to start fast just to stay with these guys and if we can do that and hang with them and get a break here and a break there and make a play here and there and put a little bit of doubt in their minds, I think we’ve got a chance in the end.

“(If we) have it come down to a one-possession game in the fourth quarter, we like our chances if we can do that.”