Riders vs. BC Lions: Regular Season Finale

Good news, I made it back from Vegas. Ate at the Golden Steer, saw a ton of great bands, rolled a lot of dice and came back with my pants on (much to the delight of pretty much everyone involved). Now I am refreshed and ready for the final push in the Riders’ season.

Saturday the 2025 regular season comes to a close with the BC Lions in town. I have no clue what to expect. In theory BC should stomp us as a win guarantees a home playoff game and while we will be playing starters we will essentially be treating this like the second preseason game. But if Calgary manages to somehow lose to Edmonton, BC might not care and be interested in resting their key players. Plus while I know BC is not as embarrassing as the Bombers, last week did show that anything can happen in the CFL. 

BC has come a long way since we last met in Week 7. We rolled into BC place and laid a whooping on them dropping them to 3-4 and 4^th in the West. Now they have become the hottest team in the CFL riding a 5 game win streak. Their last loss came against (check notes) Ottawa?!? They are powered by a strong offense. #1 in yards and points. The only team averaging 30 points per game. They have a so-so defense overall but a very strong pass rush. I am glad we get to watch this game in person as I could not stand 3 hours of Suitor verbally fellating Rourke. I know he is playing at a very high level and deserves praise but its painfully obvious that TSN is going over the top to hype him up. 

The goal for the Riders is very different than a usual game. Obviously we would love to win but the primary goal is get some quality reps for our starters to make sure they don’t get rusty with a bye week coming up and then play as many back-ups as possible in the back half of the game.    

Offensively Trevor Harris will step back in. He won’t have Myers, Johnson or Robustelli but Bane, Emilus, Baker, Ajou and Nield with spot appearances by Picton will be fine. I already mentioned that intimidating BC pass rush. They lead the league in sacks. Now is not the time to have Harris get acquainted with the turf. Establish a strong run game and make sure he is getting the ball out quick. BC has the #6 run D. In the last BC game Harris was the most aggressive downfield I think I have ever seen him. While I think BC still has vulnerabilities there, we can save that for if we see them in the playoffs. Selfishly hoping we find a way to get Bane a TD. 

Defensively it will be interesting to see how we configure the secondary. We are still letting Milligan and Sayles heal up but Lokombo and possibly Ford will be available. I am about as big a fan of Lokombo as I am of rolling untimely sevens at the craps table but getting Canadian starters back is important.  Odds are Rourke will feast on a secondary that is missing its best 2 DBs and has Lokombo playing his first ball in months. BC has the least sacks allowed (thanks in large part to Rourke’s mobility) so sacks may be hard to come by but need to see pressure from the front 4. Come playoffs winning the battle in trenches is critical. BC does turn the ball over a lot (6^th most in the league) so if we can get pressure there will be chances for that patchwork secondary or our rock solid linebackers to make plays. 

Really interested to see how the American kicker Hughes does. Gotta be a great for the confidence knowing that all you have to do is make one solitary kick (or even be close) to be way better than the last guy we auditioned. 

I don’t see Calgary losing to Edmonton so odds are BC will be going full out. I can see us playing them really close for the first half and then letting them run away with it in the second half as our priority switches from getting quality reps in to making sure everyone important is ready to go in 2 weeks. 

While I’m sure I will still find reasons to curse and be mad, I am looking forward to relatively stress free game in about the nicest weather you could hope for in late October.

BC by 2 TDs.

Monday Morning Sentimonies: Don’t Worry, Be Happy

Riders 27 – Argos 19

If your response to the Riders clinching first place with a win on Friday is anything but elation then you come across sounding exactly like a rich teenage girl whose dad bought her a Lamborghini but she cried “I wanted the purple one!”. This is the best possible outcome of a regular season and you want to complain that we didn’t do it pretty enough? This has occurred 9 times in our 100+ year history. This is the 3^rd time in the past 50 years which encompasses the entirety of my existence. We are not exactly a franchise that has the luxury of waiting until we do things pretty. I assume people unhappy about how we got this first place finish were also unhappy when we won the Cup in 2007 because that game was pure ass. Being a Rider fan is mostly just signing up for pain… for god sake enjoy the few actual good things that happen. 

I hear lots of people bemoaning that this Rider team isn’t going to win in the postseason… you are right. But this Rider team will not be playing in the West final. Winning this game was so important because we now have 3 weeks to get healthy so that the best version of this team is ready to play in November. It gives a chance for our secondary to get healthy. It gives a chance for the guys who are playing through bumps and bruises to be at their best. I often complain that this team does things the hard way. Well this time they actually did the easy thing. 

There were lots of positives offensively. Harris was able to move the ball and avoid turnovers… well I mean he tried to turn it over but it mercifully got ruled incomplete. Sam Emilus is back! Big yards and big catches (that catch over the helmet was ridiculous). We should maybe run that slant play more. Last week Myers turned it into a TD. This week Emilus turned it into 50 yards. Should maybe try it a bit more. Minus the fumble Ouelette churned out hard yards once again as did Hudon. There were a number of miscues and we settled for FGs far too often but these last 2 weeks have made me feel a whole lot better about Harris and the O. 

Defense was a real mixed bag. They allowed just 19 points and only one TD so they did fine. The secondary was not awful. But the front 4 was completely invisible against a very weak Argo OL. That more than anything surprised me. The big positive is AJ freakin’ Allen. He is not getting near enough recognition for the level he is playing at. If he is not our nominee for top Canadian then the voters need to have their voting ability revoked. He just makes plays.

In the wake of Campbell Fair’s very brief and very tragic time as our kicker, Brett Lauther’s back magically healed up and he went out and had a perfect game. They did make it easy on him by never having him kick into the wind but he still did his job. If you want to see how much this team still loves him and believe him go watch to the end of this video where they hand out game balls. 

My final thought on the game is, how ironic is it that the thing that officially clinched first for us was the command centre intervening to help us... and getting it right?… did not see that coming.

The next two weeks are essentially a second preseason. The road game in Winnipeg is like the first preseason game where you play as many back-ups as humanly possible. The home game against BC you give your starters a solid half to make sure they don’t get rusty. Its great to have the luxury to rest guys while the rest of the West beats each other up. 

With the Riders clinching first place, I have decided to reward myself and my clear significant role in getting the team this far with a vacation in Las Vegas. Truth be told I was going regardless but much better to label it as a celebratory trip. There will be no game preview this week as I will instead be spending my time with a drink in one hand and craps dice in the other. 

One last note, as we do every week in Section 510, we played games for prizes. This week was the Pick 6 Challenge but with Argo themed pictures. Here’s the 6 pictures we were playing with. See if you get all the references

Riders vs. ArgoNots

The sentiment across the prairies this week has been decidedly “they can’t lose to these argos”… unfortunately its phrased more as a cautious question than a deeply believed statement. We should this game and I believe we will but honestly I can’t rule anything out based on how this season has gone. 

We are a win away from first place. Their season is over and 2 meaningless games stand between them and going home. We are 5-2 at home. They are 2-5 on the road. We have a team briming with talent. They have O-linemen that Ryan Dinwiddie makes snarky comments about their offseason regimen. Were it not for the fact that we are starting a preseason secondary they may have employed the mercy rule in this one. Fortunately the Argos rebalance the scales by conveniently starting a preseason QB. 

Look our secondary is a mess. No Milligan, Campbell or safety. I am still not sold that anything more than voodoo magic is holding Sayles’ lower body together. Fields is suddenly legitimately one of the best DBs we are fielding.. and that is not a compliment. Secondary is potentially an issue. But here’s the thing: Our front 7 can dominate enough to compensate. Toronto has no run game whatsoever (a miniscule 51 yards per game avg), they allow the most sacks and Jarrett Doege is how the French might say “le terriblé". There will be sacks, there will be turnovers. The main thing that worries me about Toronto is the chance that their unknown 4h string Horn might come in. Rider history is littered with unknown back-ups who made a name against us. 

While injuries may be testing the limits of our defensive depth, our offense remains relatively healthy (I don’t feel great typing this and am aggressively knocking on wood as we speak). Toronto’s D struggled when they cared and had Wynton McManis playing. They have neither of those now. We need early production like last week. Get them down early and then pound it at them with Ouelette and Hudon. You can’t manufacture “care” and Toronto doesn’t care. They are not going to stand up to 60 mins of physicality and aggression. They allow the most 30+ yard passes so take shots and get points on the board. 

This is a dream scenario. Friday night. Obsidian. Home crowd. All we need is one win against the second worst team in the CFL and we get first place and 3 weeks to rest before a West Final at home. We need to seize this opportunity. We don’t want to have to play meaningful ball next week in Winnipeg of the week after when BC is here. 

I feel very old man-ish saying this but “back in my day” we would have killed for even just a Friday night game. We would have killed loved ones for meaningful football this late in the year. And we would have pretty much crossed any moral, ethical and legal line for a chance at first place. Entire generations have not seen us finish in first. I have barely seen it. I am amped up beyond belief for this game and just paying that the football gods don’t summon an untimely gale-force wind to ruin this for us again. 

Even with a battered secondary we should stomp a team that doesn’t care. Therefore I boldly predict a victory but like a 9 point victory just because that’s how we roll. 

Get loud Saskatchewan. Lights out night with a chance a t first place. It don’t get better than that.

Monday Morning Sentimonies: Big Step Forward

Riders 20 – RedBlacks 13

Look, I know many of you wanted a far more resounding win given that we were playing the worst team in the league. To you I say boo-hoo. We won. Do you remember how good we played in game 15 of 2024? 2019? 2013? No you don’t. The end result of the season is all that matters and Friday’s win helped us take a massive step forward to our end goal. Sure, I would have preferred we dominate them more but that’s like saying I would prefer an 18oz steak over a 12oz one… if you offer me a 12 ouncer I’ll still be happy.

For me there were a lot of positives in that game. Are we where we need to be to make a strong playoff run? No. But we took some positive steps forward on a lot on fronts. After 2 straight loses, finding a way to win on the road was big. After a month of mediocre to bad performances I finally saw Trevor Harris show flashes of the guy who was briefly in the MOP conversation earlier this season. We actually scored a major in the quarter… something that is about as rare as the RedBlacks eclipsing 5 wins in a season. The offense showed up for more that their usual 1 quarter (yes it was only 2 quarters they were useful in this time but we are focusing on the positive progression). Defense managed to close out a game with minimal drama (there was drama but it was due to the offense). All in all lots of positives. The biggest being that we are 1 win away from clinching first. 

Now its not all roses and sunshine. The kicker brought into solve our inconsistent kicking was consistent… unfortunately it was consistently awful. Like it looked as though Lauther paid him off top make him look good by comparison. The punter brought in to solve our mediocre punting made us long for the return of our mediocre punter. And if our secondary suffers any more injuries Micah Johnson may legitimately be lining up at corner soon. I am fairly sure that Marcus Sayles is only being held together by duct tape and horse tranquilizers at this point. So other that having no useful kickers and injuries to pretty much anyone who plays DB, things are just fine. 

Defense was fairly solid last week but they were difference makers this week. It helped that Dru Brown did his best Harris homage and forgot that linebackers existed. Each LB had a pick and Sapp damn near had a fourth. You can still see inexperience in Sapp but I actually like what he brings to the table so far. Brooks just finds ways to make plays when he gets to start. Front 4 were disruptive. Overall a solid effort. 

Offense was finally able to put yards up. They needed a lot more points for what our defense was gifting them but Harris eclipsed 300 yards and could probably have hit 400 if not for drops by guys like Baker. He hit 8 different receivers. Most importantly no picks. The fumble was not on him and 9 times out of 10 that ball just falls to the turf rather than directly into a defender’s hands. AJ Ouelette is the player of the game bar none. His stats will only show 50 rush yards and 20 receiving but each one of those yards was important and hard earned against a very good Ottawa run D. He handled short yardage with Tommy out (I don’t love his style as he tries to go high rather than low but he was effective). And he saved the game by chasing that Ottawa defender down the field. That kind of effort and refusal to give up is what champions are made of. Ouelette has been quietly killing it for a month. Good things happen when we get Dohnte Myers the ball. He took a simple slant and turned it into our best offensive play of the day. Getting him involved needs to be a priority. 3 of our 4 losses have occurred when gets under 50 yards whereas we are 5-1 when get over 75. Feed him and let the man make plays.

With Friday’s win, we now sit just one win away from clinching first. Not only would that give us a first round bye but if we manage to win next week that makes our last 2 games meaningless and gives us 3 full weeks to gets healthy (or at least as close to healthy as you can get in November) something that is desperately needed as our defensive injuries mount. The only thing standing in our way now is a home game against a team that was just eliminated from the playoffs and will be starting their 3^rd string QB who was just sacked 9 times and threw 4 picks. So I guess what I’m saying is, Friday’s obsidian game is definitely somehow coming down to the last play of the game as we find some ridiculous way to almost lose. 

Other random thoughts:

-        Not a great day for TSN. Dustin Neilson repeatedly called our punter Joe Couch (no Dustin, we only wish it was Couch… as sad as that statement is to write) and Claire Hanna spent post game congratulating our players on clinching a home playoff game (we have not). As Jay Onrait would say "Ya Blew It"

-        In addition to awful kicking our cover teams were not great. Pimpleton almost busted it a few times and we were saved by a block in the back on the one he did break.

-        Can we put some respect on AJ Allen’s name? Consistently makes impact plays on defense. GO compare his stats to Cam Judge and tell me he at least should not be in the conversation for top Canadian. He damn well better be our nominee.

Riders vs. RedBlacks: Gut Check Time

The Riders are in Ottawa tonight looking to end their first losing streak of 2025. Nothing to be worried about since things always go super normal when we travel to Ottawa.

Ottawa is circling the drain. They need to win out to have a chance. Oddly enough 3 of their 4 wins have come against Calgary and BC. For many years the issue in Ottawa was a lack of talent. That’s not the case this year… other than maybe the secondary. Bob Dyce is a phenomenal human but he couldn’t get them out of the East basement if he bribed the rest of the division. 

But if last week proved anything, its that the Riders are quite capable of losing to bottom dwelling teams. Ottawa is desperate and coming off a bye. We are starting our 4^th safety since Labour Day. All outcomes are on the table in this one.

Based purely on talent on paper, you would expect Ottawa to have a great offense (Brown, Lewis, Hardy, Pimpleton, Dedmon) and a terrible D. The stats are obviously skewed by the many games missed by Brown but they are 6^th in yards gained and 3^rd in yards allowed.

Defensively we put in 3 solid quarters last week before falling apart. Gonna take all 4 to get it done in Ottawa. Reavis should be an improvement but we are still fielding a patchwork secondary against a pretty impressive group of receivers. That puts the pressure on the front 4. Ottawa is 7^th in sacks allowed and the only person on that team whose running concerns me is Crum. Best way to defend the pass is keep Brown on the turf. Ideally we get pressure with the front 4 but I think sending a 5^th rusher on pretty much every play would be fine. We can win the game with a disruptive pass rush. We can’t win if Brown has time for Geno Lewis to get open on Benny Sapp.

Offensively go back to the only thing that worked last week… Ouelette. It will be tough running as Ottawa has the #2 run D but do it anyway. Ottawa is this close to being officially cooked. If we can get an early score (what? Just because we have failed to score more than 3 first quarter points 10 times this season doesn’t mean a man can’t hope) and then pound them physically their will to continue will be a fragile as their QB. Few may be as happy as me about the return of Hudon but he’s another guy that can play a physical style. If Trevor Harris can’t get it together in this one I will officially start to worry. Ottawa has the least sacks this season and just traded away Lorenzo Mauldin. His jersey should stay whiter than a small town Saskatchewan bar. He now has all his weapons with Baker back in the fold. Time to start making good decisions, take what the D is giving and spread it around. That is a probably the weakest secondary in the CFL (aside from when we are forced to start Exume).

Lots of talk about kickers this week. As a side note, for all of you clamouring for the Riders to trade for Ward, he is currently the second worst kicker in the CFL and somehow Leone is the worst punter. Given that Dyce is a special teams guy by trade that can’t help his case to remain employed. I am glad we are giving Fair a chance due to Lauther’s “injury” (wink). The bar is set pretty low, make 3 of 4 kicks and you are officially better than the other guy. I'd rather find out now whether we have a better option than wait until playoffs. 

Look I know Ottawa has talented players and is coming off of bye but for god’s sake they just lost to a team that completed 3 passes. Our offense may be struggling but I think even declining Harris is good for a better offensive performance. We still have a very easy path to 1^st place. This is the east chance to take a big step forward in that quest… don’t blow it. 

Riders by a Tommy time TD… Tommy being Thomas Bertrand-Hudon this time.

Monday Morning Sentimonies: Embarrassing Effort

Riders 25 – Elks 27

With a chance to take a massive step forward in their quest for first place and facing the worst team in the division, the Riders went out and blew it like $2 hooker in a back alley. It was ugly, it was sloppy, it was shameful. 

The blame for the loss can be placed on three people in this order: 1) Trevor Harris, 2) The Coaches, 3) Brett Lauther. I’ll give an honourable mention to the refs, though their continued awfulness was not the reason we lost.

Trevor Harris was bad. He managed a rare feat throwing not 1 but 2 interceptions on the first drive. Both were the exact same play… he seemed to forget that linebackers existed. He made bad reads. When he made the right read he threw inaccurate passes. When he actually got it there his receivers could not hold onto the ball. It continued a concerning trend. He has not been good in a solid month now. Tough to win when your most important player can only manage one good quarter per game. 

The coaches did none of the players any favours. I don’t have time to detail all their terrible decision making but I’ll summarize one from each phase to highlight my point. Special teams: The decision to even attempt a 55 yarder was stupid. Yes Lauther holds some blame (I’ll get to him) but at no point did that attempt seem like a good idea to anyone who watched the Riders this season. Defensively the all out blitz on Edmonton’s last drive that lead to a long pass completion was dumb. Send one blitzer, fine. Maybe even 2. But all out blitz leaving your patchwork secondary out to dry was a terrible call in that situation. Offensively, I could point to our questionable decision to immediately have Emilus run the same stupid screen that landed him on the injury list he just came off of. But I will instead point to the 2 point convert with the game on the line. You needed 3 yards… a low percentage deep pass was asinine. Ouelette, Tommy, short hook or slant… that are dozens of plays that had a better chance of success. As we did routinely throughout the game, the coaches chose poorly and it cost us. 

Brett Lauther’s issues finally cost us. His inability to kick even remotely consistently has been but a frustrating footnote on an otherwise successfully season so far. But Saturday it caught up with us and burned us. We lost by 1 point. Even if you forgive him the 55 yarder the coaches should not have had him try, if he makes the other kick we win. He failed… again. Any other position (except QB) that failed that often would be replaced. Mace stubbornness in treating the kicker the same is not doing us favours. 

As for the refs. Despite the fact that refs are taught to let potential turnover plays that are close playout and sort it out on review, the refs blew the whistle so quick on that fumble that Julien Grant hadn’t even hit the ground yet. We got the turnover but it cost us an obvious TD. Also, the “Command Centre has not rhyme or reason to their actions” saga continued this weekend. Friday they inserted themselves in the Montreal game to call a BS roughing the passer. Saturday when Harris clearly got hit in the head while sliding they were nowhere to be seen. Its an absolute crapshoot. The ability for the booth to review anything but challenges, turnovers and scoring plays needs to be immediately removed. I would much rather live with the on-field refs making a few mistakes. At least they have the excuse of trying to watching things in real time. If Stewart Johnston really wants to improve the on-field product there are more obvious places to start than changing the configuration of the field. 

Is it time to panic? No. We remain in first place. But the level of concern is rising steadily each week. Here’s essentially what the Riders are now: The defense will give you 3 solid quarters and cave in the 4^th. The offense will randomly decide to show up for either the 2^nd or 3^rd quarter (not both). That’s it. We can count on 4 good quarters between our 2 most important phases. Hard to win when putting in only a half game of quality effort. People keep point to the 2013 team struggling down the stretch and its true. We have the talent to turn this around. But we are doing a great Blue Jays impersonation and squandering a massive lead to make the end of the season unnecessarily stressful. Hopefully we clumsily stumble to the same result they did. 

Other random thoughts:

-        The only person I’m not mad at is AJ Ouelette. Hell of a game by him.

-        The new punter has a strong leg but the directional kicking ability of Jon Ryan. Hopefully that improves with experience.

-        Also I have a mental block and can only refer to him a Micro despite knowing full-well that’s not his name.  

Riders vs. Elks: Back At It

What a wild week. I could literally write pages on what went on this week (rule changes, owner of the Elks passing away etc…) without even touching on the actual football game. 

The Riders have an opportunity the size of Gene Makowsky’s head in front of them. With 5 games to go we have a 2 game lead on first place. The next 3 games are against the 3 lowest teams in the standings. Not one of our next 3 opponents has a winning record including the team we face on Saturday in the Elks. The football gods have essentially done this…

 

We just hope that those football gods don’t go full Will Smith and slap us.

At 5-9 Edmonton is circling the drain. They essentially need to win out to have a shot at the post season. They had a brief upswing with a 3 game win streak shortly after we first played them. But they are 1 for their last 4. Though they lost their last 2 games on last second FGs. As bad as their record may be they are playing competitive football and a desperate team is one you gotta watch out for. Much like a desperate parent fighting for that last tickle me Elmo  there’s no telling what they will resort to (kids ask your parents, I assure you this is a quality reference). 

Riders are fresh off a bye and hoping that the rest will help avoid whatever garbage performance they tried putting in last game. Mixed news on the injury front. The good news Sayles, Emilus and Hudon should be back. The bad news still no Campbell, Ray or either safety. 

Let’s start on the offense. As much as the Elks have been playing better football since Fajardo stepped in, their D remains not so great and their injuries are piling up worse than ours. Elks have the #2 run D but a pass D so bad that rumour is it was the Elks who petitioned Stewart Johnston for a shorter field in an effort to reduce the yards they give up. Scouting report on the Elks’ secondary is simple. Avoid passing towards Tyrell Ford. Literally anyone else is a good option. Harris needs to step up in this one. Its been a while since he had a solid outing front to back. Lately we’ve had to settle for a brief quarter or 2 of him remembering he can play football and that just won’t cut it if we want that first round bye. Oueltte needs to be a consistent part of the O but the Elks allow the highest completion % in the CFL. For a QB like Harris this should be a dream.  Get Myers going. Mix in some Johnson and Emilus. This could be a game where Harris completes to 7 or more different players (I just hope they are all Riders). Only once in the past month has Edmonton kept a team under 28 points.

Defensively I would feel a hell of a lot better with Campbell and Ray but just having Sayles back and not going into the game with Exume being a legit option is a step forward. The book on the Elks’ offense is pretty simple Rankin is their best player, Cody is completing a high % of his passes and not turning the ball over but they give up a ton of sacks and their receivers are not very good. Last time we played them we had 8 sacks. I don’t expect that many this time around but our success will be dictated by how disruptive that front 4 can be. They were non-existent against Montreal. Hopefully a week of rest put some pep back in their step. Elks will try and counter their glaring pass blocking deficiencies (and Fajardo’s patented calmness in the pocket) by getting Rankin going, both on the ground and through the air. He is their leading receiver … can’t imagine why they are in last place. Slow Rankin down and dare them to beat us through the air. Just don’t give up the big chunk plays and I think even an injury riddled D can grind one out. 

As much as I would love to roll into Edmonton and lay an emphatic beating on them, I just don’t see it. They are too desperate and we never do anything the easy way. But here’s the reality, the Elks are 1-5 against the West. Were it not for 2 wins against the only team in the league crappier than them (Ottawa) they would be mathematically eliminated already. We are rested off a bye. They haven’t had a bye week since Week 7. We are a better team even though I’m convinced it will take a 48 yard FG from Lauther in the dying seconds to prove it. 

We all think this team has the potential to be champions. Well champions deliver the kill shot to struggling opponents when they have the chance. So let’s see it. 

Riders by a Lauther FG

Is it wrong that I hope Cody hits the uprights one last time for nostalgia sake?

Monday Morning Sentimonies: Stretch Run

 Note: By the time you read this, the CFL may have already made their big announcement which may render much of what I am about to say irrelevant or old news. I blame the CFL for not giving their old friend Rider Prophet a heads up on things or at least being more mindful of my schedule.

Hope you enjoyed the by week. I did not. With the Riders off I was forced to watch MBT suddenly rediscover how crappy he is a week too late; Vernon Adams be bad VA and throw picks and get hurt (again a few weeks too late); and one of the most disgraceful football games I have ever seen (and I watched every Michael Bishop start). After losing to a Bomber team that completed 3 passes Ottawa should miss the playoff not only this year but the next 3 years as well as punishment.

But enough about my rantings…

With 5 games to go, the path for the Riders is relatively simple. 1 win (or 1 loss by BC and Winnipeg) and we get a home playoff game. But we have our eyes set on a bigger prize. The magic number is 4 wins or Calgary losses to secure first place in the West. Our remaining schedule is as follows: @Edm, @Ott, Tor, @Win, BC.  

The perfect scenario would be winning our next 2, Calgary losing one. Then it’s a Friday night obsidian home game with 1^st place on the line. Oh baby!

But after a putrid outing before the bye, obviously some improvement is needed to reach the ultimate goal. So what is that?

Defensively we just need to get healthy. Sayles and Campbell back on the corners changes things in a hurry. We need at least one of Ford or Lokombo back to at least gain some semblance of Canadian depth back and avoid any scenario where Exume Is ever forced to play corner in a meaningful game. The front 7 I think will come back refreshed from a week off. It will be interesting to see how Ray is health-wise as he appeared to get hurt bad last game.

Offensively we need a spark. After working himself into the MOP conversation early in the season, Trevor Harris has been just OK over the last few. Obviously at 10-3 he’s getting the job done but the offense has been sputtering. I look for a spark in 2 places. One, hopefully we get Emilus back. Two, hopefully that gives us enough ratio flexibility to get Bane on the roster. Obviously Johnson and Myers are ahead of him and we needed Robustelli’s size at the time but if we are looking to jumpstart the offense I think Bane is a guy that can do it.

Special Teams we need bodies. We lost Korte-Moore for the season. Hudon has been out. Normal special teamers like Oneyka, Exume and Nield have been forced into starting roles. We are dressing a second fullback because we literally have no other Canadians to dress. Same with DeShawn Stevens. If we can get guys like Emilus, Campbell and Ford back it would ease the pressure on special teams. I would also love to see Hudon back because a Canadian back-up RB opens up a ton of ratio flexibility we have been missing since he went down.

We also need bums in seats. I know it will be getting colder but we gotta take advantage of this as fans. I don’t know if you have followed Rider history buts is basically decades upon decades of heartache and misery with brief fleeting moments of hope. This is one of those moments. We have had very few legit chances at first place in my lifetime. Come cheer on a winning team before the window closes and we suck again.

My only hope is that we don’t leave our chances at first up to the fate of a freak wind gust again. I’m still very bitter about that.

 

Monday Morning Sentimonies: Saturday Night Suckfest

Riders 31 – Als 48

*Editor’s note: You probably should not google Saturday night suckfest. Probably has some other connotations that may have unintended consequences on your algorithm.

In a stunning turn of events, Brett Lauther has quietly moved himself out of the conversation of things plaguing this team. On Saturday he was about the only part of the team that did his job. Defense was awful. Offense was awful. Weather was awful. My dry ribs combo was adequate at best. Just nothing was good about that game. We looked like a team that was a little too eager for a bye week. We rolled into Montreal and embarrassed a beat up Als team last month. They returned the favour om Saturday.

Look, we knew our secondary would be an issue. We had 2 starters (one of them being Fields) and 3 guys who were essentially dressed because they ranked slightly above a cardboard cutout in terms of starting options. In retrospect the cardboard cutout may have outplayed Exume. Montreal correctly identified Exume as a liability and had their way with him. It should not have taken us as long as it did to bench him. I get that we are desperate for anything resembling a Canadian on defense but I think Daniel Johnson or Ali Saad would have been as effective at CB. What I don’t understand is that we spend the entire year playing a soft zone and giving up easy completions underneath but when we get backup CBs in that’s when we decide to jump anything short? The secondary was not a surprise. The front 7 was a massive disappointment. Front 4 was invisible. Linebackers had no ability to stop one of the worst run games in the league. We needed them to step up and help a depleted back end… they did not.

Offense was kind enough to not let the defense suck alone. Interceptions. Fumbles. Drops. Total team effort on digging a hole too deep to get out of. We need to be honest with ourselves. Harris has been mediocre since the Hamilton game. His last few games he has done enough but his name is noticeably becoming absent in MOP conversations. He needs to be better. Play calling was also an issue in this one. In the 1^st quarter we had a 2^nd and 2 in FG range. All we had to do was run. Even if you get 1 yard, Tommy gets the other on 3^rd. Instead we got cute and tried to pass. It was incomplete and we were forced to settle for 3 when it should have been an easy 1^st down.

Lastly, let me just come out and say it: Screw the command centre! There is no rhyme or reason for when they intervene. Based on previous weeks we know that obvious face masks are not in their ability to remedy. But apparently procedure calls and illegal blocks are (if Montreal complains enough). Were those both penalties on us? Yes. But there is no consistency for when the booth inserts itself and it almost always seems to harm the Riders whatever they decide. There needs to be clear rules such as major penalties only. The “intervene when you feel like it approach” is not working.

This loss in not the biggest thing in the world. We were injury riddled and looking forward to a needed bye. We are also still in first place. But making a QB has terrible as MBT look like Ricky Ray is kinda like letting a one legged soccer player score a penalty kick on you.

Hopefully this bye week sees a few bodies return to the field. Legitimately we are an injury or two away from me needing to start in the secondary.

Riders vs. Alouettes: Be Legendary

The 10-2 Riders look to officially sew up a playoff spot when the 5-7 Alouettes roll into town on Saturday for Legends Night. Back in August a relatively healthy Rider team rolled into Montreal and laid such beating on a decimated Als team that it could almost be considered a criminal. This time a relatively healthy Als team rolls into Regina looking to return the favour to a Rider roster in need of the upcoming bye week. 

The Als’ season is pretty easy to summarize. They are 4-0 when Davis Alexander starts and 1-7 when (insert crappy QB not named Alexander) starts. Its that simple. They have a pretty solid defense but no semblance of an offense. Unfortunately for Als’ fans once again they will be forced to start (insert crappy QB not named Alexander). 

Don’t in any way expect a repeat of what happened in Montreal. They had no receivers in that game and no secondary. Last time Mack, Philpot, Fletcher, Decoy and Mustafa Johnson did not play. They will this week. The script is flipped as I have legit concerns about our ability to roster 5 DBs let alone an emergency 6^th. They are getting healthier. We are not. We have a bye coming up. This could have trap game written all over it. 

But there is one massive factor that rebalances the scales. That being McLeod Bethel-Thompson. After basically benching him with an “injury” the Als have had to come crawling back to him out of desperation. Problem is that while he will have vastly better receivers at his disposal. He remains as likely to be a good QB as other Thompsons such as Kenan, Charisa and Hunter S. On passes over 20 yards he has as many completions as interceptions… that being 1. Those 6 points he produced in the last meeting (at home) are pretty telling. He a major reason why the Als have the least TDs in the CFL… 8 less than the next worst. The Als are not great at running the ball so its all on MBT’s arm against our patchwork secondary. D-line will need to have a big game to help out a secondary missing 2-3 starters against actual receivers. 

Offense is healthy but will face a much stiffer test in the Als D this time around. They are 3^rd in points allowed and 2^nd in yards allowed. Honestly bet the under on this game because scoring will be at a premium. The Als do allow the second most yards per carry so we need to lean on Ouelette early and often. We also need to find a way to get Myers going. Johnson is the key guy for second down conversions but Myers is the big play guy. When he has a big workload good things happen. Als are second in sacks so O-line will have their work cut out keeping Harris upright. After a rough game 2 I think Ajou will have a bounce back game and make a couple big catches. 

If the Als had a mildly competent QB, given the state of our secondary and the looming bye week I would be picking the Als. I think we are better than them but timing is not on our side. But for the life of me I can’t see this team losing to MBT. I just can’t. We are going to lose at some point but its going to take an actual starting QB to do it. 

I hope in a fitting tribute to Alex Smith (one of the greatest and most underrated assistant coaches we have ever had) we see Thurman, Allen and Reavis put on a show.  

Riders by a Lauther FG because they love to put me through agony.

Monday Morning Sentimonies: Long Time Coming

Riders 21 – Bombers 13

From a table at a bar in downtown Toronto that I made put the game on their TV, I spent the afternoon alternating between cheering and yelling at the TV while curious onlookers just tried to enjoy a pint. Other than a couple servers (one of which was an Argos fan) I’m sure everyone just assumed I was crazy. But man did I leave that place happy… and a few doubles more inebriated than when I came in. 

But they did it! The Riders went into Winnipeg and won. We had not won a Banjo Bowl since 2018 and spent most of the intervening years just getting utterly embarrassed when we went there. Do you know how low you have to be to be embarrassed by Manitobans? That game was so ugly a paper bag and a bottle of moonshine couldn’t even improve it… but we won. In the process we took a 4 game lead over Winnipeg and secured the season series. 

Offense was awful. Harris took his usual quarter and change to remember how to play football. Receivers could not catch to save their soul (Robustelli and Ajou in particular). We turned the ball over. The endzone seemed about as foreign a concept as dental hygiene in Manitoba. I’m sure we were all thinking “here we go again”. But we hung in there. Ouelette is becoming the king of great heard running performances that look very meh on the stat sheet. Other than a couple games he rarely pops off but he is consistently churning out hard important yards and keeping the run game part of our offense even when we are struggling. You have to hand it to Harris, despite his struggles, in the 4^th quarter when we were on our own goal line (because Mario Alford briefly lost every f’n ounce of common sense he ever had) he stepped up and made a massive throw to Robustelli. Credit to O-line. Again it was not always pretty but we gave up zero sacks and Willie Jefferson registered on the stat sheet exactly the same number of times as Scott Schultz.   

Defense was yet again the driving force in this win. As expected Olivera had a bigger game but he certainly didn’t run all over us. Despite starting our 3^rd string safety (i.e. the guy we think is not worthy to lace up Lokombo’s cleats for him) the secondary actually looked pretty solid. Yes they allowed a couple big catches but that will happen. Obviously the Collaros injury impacted things but it was not like he was lighting it up when he was playing. He served up 2 INTs and should have had more. D-line had another impactful day and that obviously helps the secondary. When we had the lead and Streveler was under centre I knew it was over. The guy’s most consistent passing target was Tevaughn Campbell. Did it help that Castillo got an untimely case of Lautheritis? Oh yeah but we still win even if he makes his kicks. 

Speaking of kickers. I am very conflicted on how to feel about Lauther after that. He nailed all 5 of his FG attempts in a game where we absolutely needed that to happen to win. That should have been a massive confidence boost. But then he pooches a gimme PAT… it looked like he was trying to hit the sideline. Based on how bad it was I’m assuming something went wrong with the hold. Overall a much needed up day for Lauther but the issues still linger like the stench of Winnipeg on those brave enough to attend the game in person. 

Lastly I’ll touch on the “the hit”. I hate seeing Collaros get hurt. He’s a good dude and top end QBs like him are good for the league as a whole. But my sympathy in this particular case is pretty muted. That was not a dirty hit. Reavis did what he was supposed to and initiated contact in the right spot. His momentum just carried his helmet into Collaros’. I get why it was a penalty as that’s the bar in the CFL today but that’s a good football hit in my opinion. Also, I don’t think the impact would be as bad if this was his first head injury of the year. By my count this is at least his 4^th and he and the Bombers are not taken proper care (or any for that matter). He got diagnosed with a neck injury after his first and was rushed back only to exit the next game early. His head clearly bounced off the turf on Labour Day and he received zero medical attention. This is serious stuff and Collaros and the team just seem to want to cover their ears and say “lalalalala” until it goes away. 

Here's where the Riders sit after that big road win:

-        1 win and we clinch a playoff spot

-        2 wins and we clinch a home playoff game

-        Any combination of 5 wins or Calgary loses and we clinch first

That feels pretty damn good!

 Other random thoughts:

-        I still can’t get over what the hell a returner has good as Mario Alford was thinking on that damn near safety! Like what the hell dude?!?

-        Robustelli is a good route runner and has great hands, but the more I watch him the more I notice he is not great on contested catches. He has a tendency to give up to early and try in vain to draw a penalty.

-        3 people in downtown Toronto recognized my Rider jersey. One of them was visiting from Toledo.

Abbreviated Banjo Bowl Thoughts

 I am heading out of town for the weekend so I only have time for a short analysis of the Banjo Bowl.

We have not won a Banjo Bowl since 2018 (our lone win since 2015) and other than last year we have not been remotely close either. To say history is not on our side on this one is like saying history is not on the side of the clean cut image of Germany.

Then there is last week. There's a perspective out there that we barely beat the Bombers at home so what chance do we have on the road? I present an alternative perspective to consider though... We did not play out best offense in that. We did not play our best defense in the second half. Despite that the Bombers still could not beat us. 

A few things I do expect:

- The Bombers will start hot (much like our D did on Labour Day)

- Olivera will run for 150. 

- We will hang around much like they did. .

- This one will be about as pretty as a Manitoba bridesmaid/auntie-cousin.

I do honestly think this is our best chance at winning in years. I would probably bet money on the Bombers. But my heart says, ugly upset Rider win is very possible. We are the better team, if we can find a way to quiet that crowd and take away homefield advantage we have good shot.

I will be cheering/swearing us on from some random sports bar our East.

See you Monday

Tuesday Morning Sentimonies: Labour Day!

Riders 34 – Bombers 30

There is not much that beats the feeling of a sold out stadium cheering a Rider win on Labour Day. While the Riders certainly made us clench our buttholes a few times on the path to that victory, they got the job done. Cory Mace and Trevor Harris got their first Labour Day wins and we remained undefeated when playing teams without a P in their name. Just like everyone expected the heroes were Nield and Anderson. Also, just as people also predicted the score sheet included a punt single from Harris and a 2 point convert from Campbell. Good thing nothing crazy happened on Sunday and good thing I woke up this morning feeling not at all hungover. 

If you want to know how amped the team was for this game, go back and watch Aaron Patrick on the opening kickoff. He absolutely destroys the poor blocker tasked with trying to slow him down. Big way to start. Then watch what Malique Carney did in that first quarter. He was a one-man wrecking crew. Tackle for a loss, 2 sacks, fumble forced and recovered, just utterly embarrassing the poor guards he lined up on. The team was as amped up as the crowd. 

The defense had a monster first half and were really the driving force in keeping us in that game. They essentially allowed one play in that first half which was a long bomb to Clercius that was perfectly covered by Sayles and the WR just made a hell of a catch. Other than that the only other points they gave up was a FG when the offense fumbled the ball. Now did things get a little soft in the second half, the 4^th quarter in particular? Oh yeah. But they notched 5 sacks, 3 turnovers and provided a spark when the offense simply would not. Also in fairness to the D on that Wheatfall TD, Winnipeg was blatantly offside and I’m pretty sure should have also been called for a holding. 

Seems odd to criticize a team hat put up 30 points but I thought Winnipeg had real questionable play calling. Olivera was an afterthought with just 10 total touches and only 4 in the second half. Most of Winnipeg’s losses seem to involve this same theme of forgetting to use their best player. They really seemed to want to get Peyton Logan involved for some reason. On the play where Saad got a sack, Winnipeg should have ran for an easy first down. The decision to throw in that situation could only have been the byproduct of the Manitoba education system. Instead of running they seemed to base their game plan on rolling Collaros right and having him chuck it as far as he could. It worked out a couple times but its not exactly a great plan. 

As a man getting older, I understand moving a bit slower and taking longer to get limber. But Trevor Harris’ ongoing need to take a quarter of doing nothing to figure things out before being productive is getting infuriating. In 7 of 11 games this season we have scored 3 or less points in the first quarter. He was making some bad decisions early. I don’t know what in his mind told him that Nield in triple coverage was the best read but he did it.  He had his moments but Harris never really fully got into rhythm in that one. Fortunately, the run game stepped up and helped him big time. 89 yards from Ouelette might seem not impressive but they were all hard-fought important yards and often on runs that put us in 2^nd and medium or second and short. He consistently got positive yards on first down which was crucial. Then Anderson steps up and casually rattles of 2 TDs on 3 touches. And as much as he is a speed guy those TDs where some power running right through defenders. Myers and Johnson had some bad drops… but that also balances off with Robustelli casually tipping an already tipped ball back to himself. Willie Jefferson was kept essentially invisible except for jumping offside and giving as a free first down. 

Also as much as a I hate dwell on officiating when there are far better things to be talking about there’s a few things that can’t be ignored. Well, actually ignoring things is one of my issues. How no one on the field saw Ouellette’s helmet get ripped off his beyond me. What did they think? That Ouelette attacked the Winnipeg defender’s hand with his helmet? But worse, how is that not a situation Command Centre can fix? I have seen them insert themselves in games for far more marginal and far less obvious things. Makes no sense. 

Also need to address the Harris punt single. I (like Winnipeg) just assumed we would try and draw them offside, take the penalty and then punt. I swore when we snapped the ball. Then he punted and I realized that the coaches knew what they were doing and it was a great call. What was not a great call was how the refs called it. That should have been down at the 1. He was clearly moving forward from the goal line (forward progress) and then tackled back into the endzone. Again, I can forgive the refs on the field for doing their best in real time but as a scoring play that was reviewed by the booth. 

Lastly can someone explain how when Collaros (a man with a history of concussions so lengthy it will have its own wing in the hall of fame one day) has his head bounce off the turf and stays down visibly shaken he doesn’t even need any kind of medical assessment?!? We just act like it’s a blatant facemask and pretend it didn’t happen? 

But even the refs couldn’t put a damper on Labour Day. We won and that’s all that matters. When you win on Labour Day the beer seems colder, the music sweeter and the air even smells better (mostly due to the stench of Manitoba following the Bombers fans as they sadly vacate the stadium and our city). 

Other random thoughts:

-        The penalty call on Demksi for offensive pass interference was legit but in fairness if that’s the bar then we should have been called on the Ajou convert. Ran a blatant pick play.

-        Is there any chance that Lauther is going full George Costanza and trying to get fired? I don’t feel great about the prospect of a rookie kicking in the noise of the Banjo Bowl but at some point he does need to be given at least a week on the bench.

Riders vs. Bombers: Goth Labour Day Classic

It’s the biggest regular season game of the year. It’s the biggest crowd ever for a Rider game at new Mosaic. It’s a bitter rivalry between teams. Sunday is a big one.

Before I get into the game itself, I want to take a learning moment.  This weekend many Bomber fans will be making the trek from Winnipeg. Here are a few tips for interacting with them to ensure a safe and positive weekend for all.

-        Speak in very simple vocabulary. In Manitoba, 3^rd grade is considered “higher education”

-        Don’t be surprised or offended if they are missing a few teeth. A combination of inbreeding and a general disregard for hygiene make poor dental health very common.

-        They will be quick to try and make a joke about 4 cups in over 100 years. Just kindly point out that in the 2000s they have the same amount of cups as us. Since 1989 they also have the same number of cups. Its not their fault they want to dwell in the past, many have been stuck in 2^nd grade since the 90s. Time is relative.  

-         They may be easily startled by bright lights and cell phones. They only recently got electricity in the province.

-        Be kind to them. Literally any time they get to leave Manitoba it’s a highlight in their life. Manitoba is like if the worst parts of Prince Albert were a province. 

Onto the game.

I have been chatting about Labour Day with my boys and realized they have a very different view of it from me. I’m of a generation where it was a huge deal. One of the few times a Rider game would get televised. One of the few times the stands would be full. One of the few games we always won.  But their very recent experience is a 1-3 record in the past 4 years. Whereas my perspective is 15-4 since 2005. So I guess what I am saying is that you damn Riders better win this one so my kids grow up right. 

Defensively this could come down to which team ends up healthier. We will be missing Lokombo and Sayles. Demksi is questionable at this point with the patented Bomber “neck” injury. Demski being out would be massive as he is a notorious Rider killer and leads the Bombers in TDs. Collaros has been giving fans flashbacks of failed Bomber QBs of the past this season (Bishop, LeFors, Jyles, Brink, Brohm, Goltz, Elliot). He still has the potential to turn it on at any point but he has spent almost as much time throwing the ball to the other team has he has nursing his neck injury. He leads the league in INTs and uncharacteristically the Bombers have just the 6^th best O. They remain #1 in rushing so priority has to be slowing Olivera down. Second priority (especially with a patchwork secondary) will be limiting big plays. If you make him drive the field in greatly increases the odds of Collaros throwing a pick or taking a sack. Bombers have the second least big plays and we need to keep it that way. Front 4 needs a big game. We would all be ok with recreating the Craig Butler on Buck Pierce hit.  

Offense comes in much healthier and that’s good because we will need them. Bombers are 4^th in points allowed. They are good run stoppers but 6^th in passing yards allowed. The biggest thing is to not let Jefferson knock things down at will. Harris should be able to move the ball on Winnipeg provided he decides to show up in the first quarter and the receivers catch for him. I don’t see big yards from Ouelette in this one but he needs to play a consistent role and run for hard yards. Pass game runs through Myers and Johnson. I see Nield and Robustelli making some key catches.

Biggest thing is limiting mistakes. Catch the ball when its in your hands. Block the pass rusher in front of you. Don’t let WRs behind you in coverage.  The Bombers will make mistakes. We need to make less. 

Special teams will play a role in this one. We get Mario back which will be huge. Bombers have a good returner in Vaval and a kicker they can count on. I expect Lauther to kick and becoming a father will inspire him to nail his kicks… maybe. 

Bombers are 2-3 on the road this season. That said since 2021 we are just 2-9 vs. the Bombers. 2-11 if you include playoffs. Much like my blood alcohol level on Sunday, I see the Riders as a team trending up. Much like genetic diversity in Manitoba, I see the Bombers as a team trending down. We can and should win this game. 

Normally I would predict a game that takes years off my life and we come very close to using. But in a stunning change of pace I just have this feeling that we come out fired up and lay a beating on Collaros and the Bombers. 

Riders by 14. Mario scores a return. Zach throws 2 picks. High scoring game that's close until we pull away in the 4th.  

 

Riders vs. Stamps: Quarter-Assed Effort

Riders 15 – Stamps 32

 The saying goes, to be the best you gotta beat the best. Well Saturday quite clearly established who the best in the CFL is at this point in the season. Despite what the standings will tell you, it is definitely not us. The game at points was better than the first meeting but ultimately ended in mostly the same way. 

Here’s what was pretty clear watching that game (and the last one), Calgary is better on both sides of the trenches than us. The Riders have 27 sacks in the 8 games not against the Stamps. They have 1 against them. The Riders have allowed 8 sack in those 8 non-Calgary games… and 7 to the Stamps. There are many more ways to analyze this game but I can tell you the Stamps won because they are better in the trenches. 

I don’t even where to start with this mess. Much like in July it started out with us digging a hole. The good news was we manned up and punched back this time. We had the lead at half and looked to ready to go toe to toe with the Stamps. We apparently assumed that the Stamps would just stay down after we punched back because we seemed to have no answer when they responded with a punch of their own. We also seemed to think the second half was optional. 

There was some good on offense. Ouelette had a good day against a tough front and I like that we kept him involved. 2^nd quarter Harris looked like the guy we all think should be in the MOP conversation. Unfortunately the list of good things was much like our offense for most of the day… 2 and out. Harris tried in the first quarter but his receivers could not catch. Then out of frustration he decided to throw to Calgary instead. You can’t beat a top end team like the Stamps when the offense only puts in a quarter worth of work. 

The defense came into this game having not given up a TD in 2 straight games. As I predicted, they promptly ended that streak on the first drive. D-line couldn’t get within an area code of pressuring VA. Even when we tried sending pressure it looked like we just blitzed 3 versions of Scott Gordon (some of you may be too young for that reference but I assure you anyone who watched the Riders of the early 2000s knows vividly the Scott Gordon safety blitz/vanishing act). No one could tackle. Secondary looked exactly like you would expect when only 2 actual starters are playing their normal position and one of them is Fields. Communication was a mess and there were more missed assignments than a high school math class.

You may be expecting me to now join the mob and turn my anger to Lauther. Much like Lauther’s kicks, you would be inaccurate. I was originally pissed at him like the rest of Rider Nation but a buddy pointed something out. Go back and watch that kick… specifically watch the holder. Odds are you will yell out “Laces out Dan!” as I did. Couch screwed up the hold and Lauther hit nothing but laces.  Lauther is too much of a leader to say but its quite clear that even if its just mental… Couch is not working on holds. Please let Maier or Tommy try and see if it calms Lauther down. That does not in anyway absolve Lauther of responsibility here. He’s been atrocious this season but for at least this game… it was not all his fault. And if we are being honest, Couch is at best a mediocre punter.  

Look, we are still a good team. But Calgary is better. And you can’t make as many mistakes as we did and hope to beat a top team. Johnson dropped an easy TD. Brammer got rightly yelled at by Hardrick because he missed a fairly routine block that resulted in a sack. We missed tackles. We missed blocks. We missed coverages. Harris forced bad throws. The mistakes piled up and Calgary made us pay. The great teams will do that. We on the other hand still struggle make teams pay for mistakes. We had 2 INTs in that game and got exactly 1 point off those turnovers. On the season we average 2.5 points off turnovers. 

With the season series lost and Calgary hot on our heels, our hopes of first now hinge on staying ahead of Calgary in the standings. Once they pass us I don’t see them relinquishing first… unless VA is struck down by lightning or a car or Micah Awe en route to record setting 15th consecutive fine.  

Other random thoughts:

-        Jaxon Ford has potential to be an impact safety but he tackles exclusively with his shoulders. A bad habit he will need to correct if he wants to stick in the starting rotation.

-        If you watched on TSH you would have been oblivious to the fact that Lokombo got hurt at some point in the first half and never returned. TSN either did not notice or feel the need to mentioned that Exume had taken over at corner. They were too busy talking about German soccer for some reason. 

-        We need to start getting some bodies back. We have outstanding depth but are starting to reach the limits of it. Not a Lokombo lover but at this point we can’t afford him to be out any length of time. Guys like Wiebe, Korte-Moore, Hudon, Miller may not be starters but that some rock solid depth that has been taken out.

-        Exume looked like a lot less of a trainwreck at corner this game. Still don’t want him playing defense but he has improved.