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The Saskatchewan Roughriders’ short-yardage teams have been a liability for most of the 2016 CFL season.

Those units were critical yet again in deciding the outcome when the Roughriders played host to the Hamilton Tiger-Cats on Saturday. The difference this time was that the short-yardage units didn’t hurt the Roughriders, but instead contributed to their 20-18 victory.

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The game came down to three critical short-yardage plays.

The first one was a first-and-goal situation on the Tiger-Cats’ one-yard line with 5:45 left in the second quarter.

Now, as a 10-year CFL offensive lineman, I’ve been a part of thousands of quarterback sneaks but never as the ball carrier. That said, I don’t imagine that turning your back (and the ball) away from the first-down marker is a favourable position for the quarterback to be in.

Yet, Mitchell Gale — who is often called upon to quarterback the Roughriders’ short-yardage team — routinely turns his back on sneaks and effectively loses a half-yard in field position. On this particular occasion, Gale had the ball ripped from his embrace. The fumble was then recovered by Hamilton’s Adrian Tracy and returned 107 yards for an apparent touchdown.