1989 West Final: Saskatchewan Roughriders at Edmonton Eskimos

[@wade5307]

The Albright scoop & score changed everything. Edmonton was up 10-3, driving for more, Ham is then heavily blitzed and sacked on back to back plays…the second of which forced a fumble and a defensive TD. Huge momentum changer. They really sent the heat after Ham all game long. The Riders never looked back.

[@orbyfan]

The Eskimos faced so little adversity or opposition that year that they didn't know how to respond to a team that came back against them. Despite their record, the Eskimos had some weaknesses (e.g., kicker/punter, wide receiver), and the Roughriders did a good job of exploiting them.

[@LeeHardingTV]

Thanks for posting! I remember this game very well! I was curling in Lafleche and watching the game in between. I remember how Mandarich was talking big and saying it wouldn't even be close. Then he ate crow!

[@orbyfan]

He didn't say anything that everyone else wasn't thinking.

[@wade5307]

The 16-2 Eskimos were pretty much an unstoppable force that year, a team so dominant they broke all kinds of records and had an absurd point differential, +342 pts! They scored 644 averaging more than 35 pts per game. I don’t think anyone other than the Rider players thought they had a shot against the mighty Eskimos. But when it’s one game and you’re a hot team, anything can happen. One magical postseason for Saskatchewan!

[@whyimsmarterthanyou]

Yup, James Curry thought it was a fait accompli as well. He did offer to play in the Grey Cup, though, after the upset.

[@CGMedia2023]

The Riders peaked too soon the year before and choked at home against a very ordinary BC team. They made up for it in 1989 doing the same to a vastly superior Edmonton team.

[@ForeverExpos]

Very sad to hear that Dave Albright, the Touchdown scorer in one of the all-time greatest plays in Rider history, passed away this week at just 63 years old. My deepest sympathies to his friends and family. To see the great play, and the scoop and score after "The Hit" by Eddie Lowe, go to the 32:58 mark of this video.

[@StFidjnr]

can you please upload the 1989 Grey cup game itself

[@derekwatson1242]

Could you please put more 80s 90s rider games up please. Appreciate it. Or any cfl games for that matter

[@johnnysama]

One of the biggest upsets in CFL history. It is crazy to think that if the Edmonton team hung on, "The Kick" wouldn't have happened.

[@patrickmcneil9180]

Not only were the Esks 16-2, they were 9-0 at home! Where would the CFN feed have aired? CBC was showing all the playoff games at the time, were they not? I remember a collection of home videos recapping the 87, 88, and 89 seasons that used the CFN feed for highlights and it was the first time I'd heard of it.

[@ShmuelWeintraub]

CFN was the league's in house production arm. In the 70s and 80s the league split coverage between CBC and CTV. CTV dropped CFL coverage in the mid 80s, which meant there were a significant number of games that would not have been televised at all. The league created it's own operation to cover and market these games (theoretically both within Canada and as an export). CFN was available to both independent and regional network TV stations. en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Canadian_Football_Network

[@BallparkHunter]

It also helps when you are playing your opponents on at least 3 occasions during the season, but for a 9-9 team to soundly defeat the 16-2 Eskies was quite the feat.

[@legomyeggo5364]

My dad played in this game on the rough riders he was # 24

[@tedstensrud494]

Awesome. Defensive back?

[@wade5307]

Steve Wiggins right?

[@legomyeggo5364]

@@wade5307 yeah

[@smg1665]

At 38:30, funny ball boy moment!

[@KNS1996DFS]

Who is the guy who wore the police siren helmet?

[@BunnieWabbit]

Go Albright!!

[@archie-pelago]

Not as big of an upset as one might think. The Riders had already beaten Edmonton once that season. Edmonton was so arrogant with their little nickname towels.

[@24quorthonschuldiner62]

Bullshit!! 16-2, the best regular season record at the time, this was the biggest upset in CFL history in my opinion so stop talking out of your ass, you obviously don’t know shit about football