Riders Home Playoff Clinching Scenarios

Riders Home Playoff Clinching Scenarios

Published: Monday, Oct 22nd 2018, 8:10pm

By: Stephen Safinuk (@Safimod)

With only two weeks left in the season, there are multiple ways in which the Riders could clinch a home playoff game, some of which would leave fans at Mosaic Stadium very, very confused.

Let’s take a look at some of the ways the Riders clinch that elusive home game. 1^st place is simple, but second place is where things get a little messy.

1^st place

1. – Calgary loses to Winnipeg (Friday) and BC (Next weekend) and Saskatchewan beats BC (Saturday)

2^nd Place

1. – Saskatchewan beats BC on Saturday night.
2. – BC loses to either Saskatchewan (Saturday night) or Calgary (next weekend)
3. – Winnipeg beats Calgary (Friday night), BC Beats Saskatchewan (Saturday night) and both Winnipeg and BC win next weekend. All 3 teams would be tied for 2^nd, but Saskatchewan would own the 3-way tie breaker.

The 4^th scenario in which the Riders could clinch at least 2^nd would be my favourite of the bunch, and would assume that Calgary wins on Friday night versus Winnipeg to eliminate our chances at 1^st.

– If the Riders lose by less than 3 points, they would clinch 2^nd overall in the West.

Imagine the following scenarios playing out at Mosaic Stadium, in front of 33,000 confused Rider fans.

• BC vs Saskatchewan goes to overtime, with BC getting the ball first. BC scores a touchdown and converts that mandatory 2 point convert to go up by 8. Saskatchewan turns around and scores a touchdown to make it a 2 point game. On the ensuing convert, the ball is snapped to Zach Collaros, who takes a knee and walks off the field with a 2 point loss and 2^nd place.
• Game is tied in the 4^th quarter on the last play of the game. The Riders have the ball at midfield. The ball is snapped, and Zach Collaros runs 55 yards in the wrong direction to give up a safety, lose the game, and clinch 2^nd place.

There are many other similar possibilities (ie a late field goal to bring the score to within two points), all of which would be hilarious to watch, but absolutely the right call.

Similarly, if the Riders were up by 6 points, and the Lions had a Hail Mary to close out the game and make it. The Lions would kneel down on the extra point to send the game to overtime, rather than go for a 1 or 2 point victory.