A day of hope turned into a day of despair for the Saskatchewan Roughriders on Saturday.
The day began with the Riders having an outside chance of finishing first in the CFL’s West Division, but a 28-27 victory by the Winnipeg Blue Bombers over the Montreal Alouettes ended that hope.
Then the Riders took to the field against the Calgary Stampeders in their regular-season finale and put in a lacklustre effort that resulted in a 27-12 defeat.
The Winnipeg victory, coming on a 51-yard field goal by Sergio Castillo on the final play of the game, snatched the possibility of finishing first from the Riders. The ensuing mental letdown played a major role in the loss to the last-place Stampeders.
“We obviously didn’t play how we wanted to play today. I don’t want to bank it on a letdown being the reason, but you never really know. We were prepared …