For many, this past week would be considered a negative one for the Saskatchewan Roughriders. Despite their thrilling 32-30 overtime win in Ottawa on Friday night, the Riders were officially eliminated from post-season contention a few days later when the Eskimos took out Montreal. In reality, though, the past few days have been really positive for Saskatchewan and things are looking up for 2017.

Looking up

As disappointing as missing the playoffs is, it’s not like it’s a surprise. We’ve known for quite some time the Riders were going to miss the playoffs, so getting officially eliminated was only a matter of time. That doesn’t mean everything is negative right now, though, because it’s actually very much the opposite.

Let’s start on the field, where Saskatchewan has won three straight games, all over solid opponents. The Riders’ latest win just continued the trend emerging during this nice little stretch for the Riders. Unlike earlier in the season, the Riders are winning close games as opposed to losing them and are doing that because they’re executing when it matters the most.

I’ve been really impressed with what we’ve seen the Riders do in recent fourth quarters. Let’s take a look at our latest example from Friday night. Yes, they gave up 22 fourth quarter points, which isn’t ideal, but Saskatchewan executed like a playoff team with the ball in its hands.

The Riders answered back immediately both times when Ottawa tied things up in the fourth quarter, the first time going 105 yards for a major to regain a seven point lead. While they didn’t score in the second instance, Darian Durant completed two huge passes to setup a potential game-winning Tyler Crapigna field goal from 55 yards.

Crapigna missed that one but redeemed himself in overtime with the winning boot a few minutes later, but it was fourth quarter offensive execution that allowed Saskatchewan to not let the ball game slip away.

As I said, though, this is becoming a bit of a trend. Their Week 14 win over Hamilton saw the Riders put together an impressive 12-play drive with just over three minutes remaining to win on another Crapigna field goal. The week before that it was a late, eight-play, game-tying touchdown drive that allowed Saskatchewan to knock off Edmonton in overtime.

We weren’t seeing stuff like this earlier in the season and, as such, the Riders were losing a lot of tightly contested games. As this group has grown and matured under a new head coach, it’s gotten better and all of this bodes well for 2017.

Then there’s what happened off the field this past week. Monday’s trade with the Tiger-Cats really intrigues me from Saskatchewan’s perspective and I really like the thinking behind it. The Riders sent defensive lineman Justin Capicciotti and offensive lineman Xavier Fulton to Hamilton in exchange for defensive lineman Linden Gaydosh, receiver Tommy Streeter, and a pair of picks in 2017’s CFL Draft.

Gaydosh and Capicciotti are the key pieces in this deal, which is why I like it so much for Saskatchewan. Despite being a key free agent pickup, Capicciotti just didn’t seem to fit with Chris Jones’s defence and he’d been surpassed by Ese Mrabure and, most recently, Willie Jefferson on the depth chart. Capicciotti should be a better fit in Hamilton, but I’m more interested in what Saskatchewan is bringing back.

BUY WEEK 17 TICKETS

» Friday, 7:00 p.m. ET: Ottawa at Hamilton

» Friday, 10:00 p.m. ET: Winnipeg at BC

» Saturday, 4:00 p.m. ET: Saskatchewan at Toronto

» Saturday, 7:00 p.m. ET: Montreal at Calgary

If Gaydosh is able to stay healthy, the Riders could have a huge impact maker on their hands. Gaydosh is a beast and has the ability to dominate in the interior, but myriad injuries have prevented that from happening the last few years. With Capicciotti never really fitting in Regina, getting Gaydosh in return could be a huge addition IF he can stay healthy. I do realize, however, that is a big if.

Even if Gaydosh continues to struggle with durability, though, the Riders were able to shed some cash on their salary cap while also bringing in a fourth and seventh round pick. I like the deal quite a bit from their standpoint and it’s another notch in what has become an increasingly positive belt of late.

Crushing blow

The Montreal Alouettes couldn’t afford a loss to the Edmonton Eskimos on Monday afternoon, but that’s exactly what happened. When Marshall Ferguson and I debated whether the Als had a real chance of making a playoff run, it all hinged on what they did at home to the Eskimos. Unfortunately, the game wasn’t close.

Thanks to a 21-point third quarter, the Eskimos dispatched of Montreal by three possessions and did a vast amount of damage to their opponent’s playoff hopes. Edmonton has all but sealed a crossover playoff spot while now leaving the Als with just one difficult road to the post-season.

The only way Montreal makes the playoffs now is by finishing first or second in the division. At a glance, that might not seem overly daunting, but a closer look tells a different story.

The Als trail Ottawa and Hamilton by two games for one of those two East Division playoff spots with a five-win Toronto team in between. While closing that gap isn’t impossible, I would use the term “unrealistic” to categorize their chances.

As we pointed out in Berg vs. Ferg, Montreal has an extremely tough schedule to finish the season. Needing to make up a fair amount of ground, the Als have to face a Stampeders team that looks unbeatable twice in their final four games. Montreal also has rapidly improving Saskatchewan on the docket before closing the season with a road game in Hamilton. Yeah, that’s not an easy finish to the season.

To make matters worse, the Als have no leverage in the tiebreaking area, either. Montreal has lost the season series with both the Ticats and REDBLACKS, meaning the Als would have to finish ahead of those two teams to make the playoffs. That means Montreal would have to engineer a three-game swing on one of its rivals and I just can’t see that happening knowing its remaining schedule.

A lot of the positivity that was created by Jacques Chapdelaine’s arrival in Montreal seems to have dissipated. A win over Edmonton would have put the Als into “game on” mode in their quest for a playoff spot. A loss, though, has them needing to outperform a difficult schedule to qualify for the post-season. Montreal’s future looks bright, but it can’t gloss over the disappointment of a really tough loss on Monday.

Through the Lens: The best photos from Week 16

Photos of the Week: Week 16 [1 of 33] (Adam Gagnon/CFL.ca)

Quick hits

We have to give another tip of the hat to the Calgary Stampeders, who have clinched home field in the Western Final in just over a month. The Stamps have been the class of the league from start to finish and they emphasized that with a 48-20 win in Toronto to close out week 16. The next challenge on their hands has nothing to do with their remaining opposition, though.

Calgary now has five weeks to manage properly. The Stamps play the next three weeks before getting a bye in the final week of the season. Combined with their bye through the division semi-finals, Calgary will two straight weeks off leading into their next meaningful game. The Eskimos managed a similar situation perfectly last season, and I have no doubts in how the Stamps will go about their business here.

Speaking of the West Division, we know four teams are making the playoffs this year. While it’s not official yet, you can set a crossover in stone, meaning Calgary, BC, Winnipeg, and Edmonton will all be playing after Week 20. Who plays where and in what division, though, is still very much up for grabs.

The Lions, Bombers, and Eskimos still need to battle it out for seeding behind the Stampeders down the stretch. I like BC’s chances of locking down second in the division best right now, mainly because of the Lions’ schedule. The Lions have a game each with Winnipeg and Edmonton remaining, giving them two shots to inflict damage on a rival. The Esks and Bombers only have one such shot.

Finally, I do have to mention how awesome the Alouettes handled themselves on Monday. As we talked about earlier, Montreal had their playoff hopes all but extinguished in that loss to Edmonton. That didn’t stop them from serving Thanksgiving dinner to the less fortunate at Welcome Hall Mission. Winning isn’t everything and the Als proved that in such an awesome way.