Darrell Davis: Riders make a point

One point.

That’s all the Saskatchewan Roughriders scored in their first exhibition game: One point during a 37-1 loss to the Calgary Stampeders.

That doesn’t exactly alleviate concerns anyone has about a team coming off a horrible offensive season, with inconsistent quarterbacking and mundane, low-risk and low-reward play-calling.

All the traditional excuses can be used for the pitiful performance: Almost all of Saskatchewan’s starters weren’t playing, including their first-string quarterback, and the offence was pretty basic. Besides, pre-season results don’t count, even for a team that hasn’t won an exhibition game since 2014. But Calgary’s second-stringers looked much better than Saskatchewan’s second-stringers.

Still, you would think somebody would have stood out, made an impression, scored a touchdown, caught a deep pass. All they got out of that game was the notion that quarterback Cody Fajardo played well enough to be the backup quarterback. There’s another point.