10 Thoughts: Roughriders prove eliteness in win over Tiger-Cats

National Post

12 hours ago

The Saskatchewan Roughriders are 8-1 for just the second time ever.
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In 2013, the Green and White got off to a similar start before going on to win the Grey Cup. On Saturday, in what was hyped up as a 'potential Grey Cup preview,' the Roughriders beat the visiting Hamilton Tiger-Cats 29-9 in Week 11 of the CFL season in front of a sold-out crowd at Mosaic Stadium.
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Here are 10 takeaways from the performance:
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10 Thoughts
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1. Based on the hype leading up to Saturday's game, it was going to be hard for the two division-leading teams to live up to the expectations in what many dubbed a 'Grey Cup preview.' And in the end, the Roughriders overcame a slow start and put together an overall solid offensive performance while Saskatchewan's defence played remarkably well against the league's highest-scoring offence. Two good teams went head-to-head, but the better team took over.
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2. A lot of the hype was due to the play of the two quarterbacks after their strong starts to the season. However, it was a tough start for the Roughriders quarterback Trevor Harris on Saturday as Tiger-Cats defensive back Jonathan Moxey dropped what should have been an interception on the first pass of the game. On Saskatchewan's second drive, Harris was intercepted on his third throw of the game.
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3. After that, Harris settled in just fine over the next few drives and ended the night with 307 yards and three touchdowns. As many have said, Harris is playing the best football of his lengthy career right now.
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4. On the other side, Tiger-Cats QB Bo Levi Mitchell, who had an outstanding 21 touchdowns to just three interceptions entering the game, threw two interceptions in the third quarter and ended the night with just 201 passing yards. The Roughriders defensive line also made it tough on Mitchell with six sacks. 'Stymied' would be a good word to describe the defensive performance.
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5. The atmosphere was great at the sold-out Mosaic Stadium for the game, which was dubbed 'Family Day' with several kids being involved in the game-day production. And there was a special moment during the pre-game player introductions as T.J. Harris, Trevor's oldest son, announced the offensive introductions and capped it off with: 'At quarterback, MY DAD, Trevor Harris.' It was a goosebump-inducing moment not only for those in attendance but also for the 39-year-old dad, who got teary-eyed in the moment and again after the game when I asked him about it during his media scrum.