TORONTO — There are a lot of wins and not a lot of losses in the combined record of the Saskatchewan Roughriders and BC Lions.
That’s precisely why whoever wins their matchup on Saturday at BC Place will temporarily hold first place in the West Division standings. The 4-0 Riders travel to Vancouver to face the 4-1 Lions in a battle of two first-quarter-of-the-season CFL heavyweights.
Saskatchewan’s undefeated record is owed to a well-organized crew that keeps finding ways to win. Despite losing their starting quarterback Trevor Harris to injury, the Green and White rallied under backup Shea Patterson to beat the Toronto Argonauts at Mosaic Stadium in Week 5 and remain the only team with a perfect record after the Alouettes’ loss to the same Argos on Thursday.
BC meanwhile continues to win the same win they have over the last two seasons, with an explosive passing offence led by quarterback Vernon Adams Jr. The Leos are relying on their pivot who’s performing at a record-breaking pace to carry them to victory most weeks.
“This is tough, I think these are the two best teams in the league,” said Donnovan Bennett in a conversation with special guest Luca Celebre in this week’s edition of The Waggle Podcast. “I think this could go a long way in determining where home field advantage goes in the West.”
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Lions and Riders have been the class of the West Division in 2024 and if things remain as they are, their race for the division title could go down to the wire, making this Week 6 matchup even more important on a calendar already full of decisive matchups.
No team has scored more points per game than the Roughriders entering Week 6, while no club has accumulated more net yards of offence per game than the Lions. Saskatchewan is also the best team when it comes to protecting the football and taking it away with a plus 10 turnover differential, while BC has thrown the fewest interceptions in 2024 with only a single one in five games.
The unstoppable force meets the immovable object as something has got to give when these two teams face each other at BC Place. It begs the question of who’s the favourite to win the game?
“I think if Trevor Harris was playing, I would maybe lean to Saskatchewan being able to keep up,” Celebre told Bennett about his perspective on the game.
Patterson was effective in place of Harris against the Argos, completing 15 of 23 passes for 192 yards and a major while rushing four times for 18 yards and one more score. The big story to the win was a defence that forced five turnovers, including a pick six by defensive back Marcus Sayles that broke a 20-20 tie in the fourth quarter.
The Lions meanwhile are almost at full power on offence, a unit that is even better in 2023 after adding running back William Stanback, who leads the league in rushing yards with 311.
“But like you said, I think the efficient offence and Patterson just being efficient might not be enough to keep up with Vernon Adams Jr. in that offence,” added Celebre. “Not only Alexander Hollins, but seeing the game that Justin McInnis had last week and William Stanback getting involved in the passing game a little bit. He’s leading the league in rushing and really giving them that running game that I feel like they so desperately needed last year.
“It’s really hard without Trevor Harris for me to pick Saskatchewan.”
If Patterson is to take care of business one more time he will have to rely on a stellar group of skill-position players led by the returning Shawn Bane Jr., who started the season on fire before missing the last two games due to injury. Joining him will be Kian Schaffer-Baker, Samuel Emilus and running back AJ Ouellette, who’s coming off back-to-back games where he rushed for at least 67 yards.
Lions and Riders settle that dispute on Saturday at BC Place. Kickoff is set for 7:00 p.m. ET, 4:00 p.m. PT. You can catch the action on TSN. U.S. fans can watch on CBS Sports while International fans can watch on CFL+.