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Sunday the Riders travel to La Belle Provence to face
the Alouettes. Normally when we face an opponent that is in an embarrassing
state of disarray as the Als are I would spend a large portion of this write-up
pointing out and making repeated fun of all their faults. I mean I could
probably do a couple pages on the wonders of Kavis Reed’s leadership alone. But
alas, I can’t really bring myself to do this for the simple fact that… we’ve
lost to this dumpster fire, at home. It was a long time ago and I think we’ve
made strides as a team since then but still, it’s a thorn in my side.
Plain and simple this is a game we need to win and
should win. We are in the driver’s seat for 2nd in the West while
they are on pace to miss the playoffs for a 4th straight season (a
near statistical impossibility in a 9 team league). The sad part is that they
don’t even get to benefit from their futility as they don’t have a 1st
round draft pick FOR THE NEXT 3 YEARS. I know the Riders aren’t big on doing
things the easy way (see last week) but this is the easiest game remaining on
our schedule and we need every win we can get in what will surely be a dog
fight in the west down the stretch.
Its no secret that our defense has had its struggles
of late. By no means has it been playing terrible football but its not been
playing the dominant kind of defense we grew accustomed to and quite frankly
need. Well this game is a golden opportunity for them to re-establish their
dominance. The Als’ offense is awful. How awful you ask? Worse than the Riders.
Yes, that awful. They have scored less offensive TDs than us, have the least
yards, the least points, most INTs thrown. While many will point the finger
squarely at Johnny Manziel, for me, the core of their problem starts with their
O-line. It is god awful. They would probably be better off starting cardboard
cut-outs of other famous O-linemen then their current group. One could point to
the fact that Kavis Reed traded away a stud Canadian guard in Ryan Bomber for
an import DB, or the fact that after acquiring Landon Rice as part of he
Manziel trade they cut him and he proceeded to sign back with Hamilton as
possible factors in the state of the Montreal O-line but who am I to questions Kavis
Reed’s forensics. They have already allowed 48 sacks. For context, last season
the Lions allowed the most sacks all year with 49. The Riders have allowed 14
sacks the season, the Als allowed 17 IN THE PAST 3 GAMES! Its been a while
since Charleston Hughes notched a sack but I guarantee that ends on Saturday.
Anything less than 5 sacks against the Als should be considered a
disappointment by our D.
Two things to be weary of with the Als O. One is
William Stanback. He has an impressive 6.4 yards per carry and is one of the
few bright spots in Montreal. No one runs less than the Als so its not a
massive concern but we need to limit his impact when he has the ball. The other
thing is the scrambling/improvisation of Manziel. He’s a guy that if you can
keep in the pocket and make him beat you with his arms… especially in that
offense, and especially behind that line, he will crumble. The front 7 need to
assert their dominance in this one and I expect them to. This is an offense
that averages under 17 point per game, I like our odds of keeping them under
that.
As for our offense, well let’s just say I’m not
nearly as optimistic. The big news is that we are resting Roosevelt thus taking
one of the 3 people who have actually crossed the goal line out of our offense.
Kenny Shaw steps in which could be a good thing is he’s anything close to his
Argo days but who knows. That leaves Josh Stanford as our most experienced WR… let
that sink and fill you with a sense of dread. I would play Rob Bagg if it was
up to me to add some veteran presence to the receivers but I doubt we do. With
Roosevelt out that means we need to lean on Thigpen, Williams-Lambert and Kyran
Moore (in that order). Pound Mason to keep the D honest but make sure Thiggy is
involved early and often (note to Steve McAdoo: those 2 concepts are not
mutually exclusive). He can turn any play into a TD. In the passing game
Lambert becomes your go to guy (please not Evans or Stanford) and Kyran Moore
needs to be kept involved because he too has the speed to turn any play into 6.
Montreal is not a very good defense: 2nd most points allowed, most
yards allowed, least takeaways. They have been playing somewhat better in
recent weeks, though that is relative to the utter awfulness of the start of
the season. Collaros needs to limit his INTs. Montreal has 21 points off the league
low 20 turnovers they’ve forced (that's an amaing 1 point per turnover) so if
there was ever an opponent for him to get his groove back its this week. It
would be nice to see 3 TDs again but more realistically I’ll settle for 2 TDs
and doing something of value in the second half leading to Lauther kicking FGs
in the 40 yard range. If we can sustain drives, that defense will tire out as
the game goes on and their offense offers no support.
Montreal has always been a tough place for the Riders
(can’t imagine what there could possibly be to distract you there). We are
actually 1-5 in our last 6 visits to McGill Stadium. So we can’t afford to look
past this game. The good news is that the Alouettes themselves are 1-10 in
their last 11 visits to McGill stadium. Based on our season so far its tough to
be hugely confident in the Riders even in a game like this but I just don’t see
us losing this game. Our defense should be able to win this game by themselves.
I don’t expect a lopsided beat down because we don’t do things the easy way but
I do expect a win that does not come down to the opponent missing a kick.
Riders by 14.
