Saskatchewan Roughriders’ head coach Chris Jones sounded downright testy to reporters quizzing him after his CFL team beat the home-town Hamilton Tiger-Cats 27-19.
“We’re a good football team, so don’t get it twisted,” Jones said when asked about his team’s second-half fade. Then he reminded everyone the Riders were playing on the road, only six days after their previous game, with a backup quarterback and nine players were injured during the contest.
Point taken. Quarterback Brandon Bridge, who had never before started and won a CFL game, tossed three touchdown passes. The other substitutes helped hold together Saskatchewan’s injury-riddled lineup while the Tiger-Cats’ late-game play calling insured they weren’t going to pull one out of the fire.
With subsequent losses by B.C. and Edmonton, the six-win Riders are now in the thick of a playoff race with a coach who thinks he’s leading a good football team. It’s tough to argue with that right now.