Jamie Nye: Riders’ final game was a 60-minute version of their 2021 season

The Saskatchewan Roughriders’ season finale was a microcosm of their entire season.

They started quickly out of the gate, their defence did enough to win, they got exposed by the Winnipeg Blue Bombers’ run attack, they got back on their feet to make it look like a date with destiny was on the way and then they got snuffed out as the offence couldn’t put up enough points.

We know Cody Fajardo is as gutsy as they come. We know this defence can hang with the best of them. We also know this team has some deficiencies to be taken care of to clear its final hurdle to get to a Grey Cup.

And it all starts up front. As much as fans want to play the blame game with offensive co-ordinator Jason Maas and Fajardo, did you not see how the Bombers won?

They protected Zach Collaros and dominated up front. Craig Dickenson said before the game that technique takes a backseat to brutality, and it did on Sunday.

In 2022, the Riders need to get bigger and nastier at the line of scrimmage if they want to slay the beast that has become the Winnipeg Blue Bombers.