This will be my last post in what
has been a glorious 2025. A year that saw the Riders win the Grey Cup. We will
be celebrating that one for a long time… mainly because history tells us we may
need to wait another decade to enjoy this again.
So as you sip on your nog and
whatever you choose to covertly spike it with look back fondly on this season:
-The Alford return TD in the Argo game
-An actual Nelson Lokombo pick… I think it may have
even been on purpose.
-Winning Labour Day AND the Banjo Bowl
-Not having a gust of wind ruin our chance of first place
-Despite all his struggles, Brett Lauther still clearly
not being the worst kicker on the Riders
-The ridiculous series of events that led to the West
Final victory including kicking a FG when we should not have, punting when we definitely
should not have and a magical pass to Nield to seal it.
-People getting mad that Corey Mace curses.
What were your notable moments from
this season?
From the whole Rider Prophet family
we wishing you all a a
Merry Christmas, Happy Hanukkah, Kwazy Kwanza, a tip-top Tet and a solemn,
dignified Ramadan.
Sorry about not posting last week. I
hope you have recovered from the emotional damage of my brief absence. I went
down to Minnesota last weekend for a T-Wolves and Vikings game.
The trip was great… at least for me
as a Vikings fan. They were so inspired by my presence that they won 31-0. My travelling
companion who is a big Commanders fan has a very different view of the game. He
spent a lot of money to see Jayden Daniels get hurt and not see a solitary point.
Learned a few things while I was down there. First the Vikes have a “raffle” not
a 50/50. The reason its not called a 50/50 is because it is in fact a 60/40
with the winner getting 40. The way economy is going an actual Hundo/Nundo may
occur in my lifetime.
Also the Timberwolves have an outstanding in-game
promo called Bricken’ For Chicken. If an opposing player misses back to back
free throws the whole crowd wins a chicken sandwich. Man did that crowd get
amped up for those free throws. We actually saw Bricken’ for Chicken hit as a
Clipper missed 2 free throws. The building erupted. It got me thinking that the
Riders need an equivalent promo. Maybe Missin’ for Mission where missed FGs win
you ski passes to Mission Ridge. Or Doinkin’ for Donuts.
On to Rider news…
In what was the least surprising occurrence
since the Command Centre getting a call wrong, Trevor Harris is coming back for
one more. It was pretty clear in the days following the Grey Cup that he was
not done playing. Coming off a season where he stayed mostly healthy and had a great year both statistically and in terms of accomplishment why not? We were in some
trouble at QB if he didn’t come back so this is great news. As an added bonus
Tommy Time is coming back as well. We know he is a stud is short yardage. I
will be curious to see if he gets a legit chance to compete for #2. Question
will be if Maier also comes back. He owes it to himself to see what else is out
there in free agency but honestly with no starting jobs open he may opt to stay
in a pretty good situation here backing up an old man.
With QB secured the question becomes,
what’s next? Championship teams have 2 key elements: they are strong in the
trenches and have great Canadian depth. So that makes OL, DL and Canadians like
Emilus and, Campbell Allen priorities.
On the O-line we are currently sitting
pretty good. With Hardrick back we have both starting tackles and our Centre
locked up. We also have Fry and Johnson as well as our draft pick from last season who was just the top lineman in U-Sports.
D-line will be interesting. Individually
I love all our original starters (Carney, Micah, Rose, Ray) but they are all old.
And the risk with “running it back” is getting old. Colonel Sanders is a big
one for me. Him and Saad can be a strong interior if we want to go younger.
Dhonte Myers has had 3 NFL workouts
so far (Minnesota, Chicago, Denver). As much as I don’t want him to go, it would
not be the worst thing for him to go down to an NFL camp and come back in September.
Less of a hit to sign him for half a season than now.
That’s it for today. Your homework is
tomake suggestions for our Bricken’ for
Chicken equivalent.
As
we do every season, we end the year by presenting the infamous Rider Prophet
Awards. Recognizing all that is hilarious, awful and otherwise noteworthy in
the CFL. Longtime readers will note some changes to the awards. I have sun-setted
a few of the old awards and brought in some new ones. It’s an overt attempt to
try and freshen things up akin to a sitcom adding a new character.
This
year’s award winners will receive a congratulatory pat on the back... I blew all the prize budget in Vegas.
Let’s
get to the awards.
Defensive Player of the Year
This
new award will actually jointly honour a pair of players. Collectively these 2
did more to boost defensive statistics and big plays in the CFL than all defensive
coordinators combined. I am talking of course about Zach Collaros and Chris Streveler.
These two threw a combined 27 interceptions and at one point during the season, somehow
managed to rank #1 and #2 in the league in interceptions. For their perseverance
and hard work, Collaros and Streveler as your inaugural Rider Prophet Defensive
Players of the Year.
Offensive Player of the Year
In
a year where pretty much every story coming out of Riderville was positive, one
player stood alone. Kosi Oneyka.
Details
have been hard to come by but somehow he did something so offensive to the team
that he was released outright. Do you know how bad it has to be for a Canadian
player to be released from a team that at the time was dealing with a rash of
injuries to Canadians and desperate for anyone with the right passport?
Whatever Kosi did… I hope it was worth it, because he picked a bad year to get
kicked off the Riders.
Quote of the Year
Following
a loss in June Argo Coach Ryan Dinwiddie gave a press conference for the ages.
You can rewatch it in all its glory below. The best part of it was when a reporter
served up a softball question about the Argo defense making an interception to put
them on the one yard line. Dinwiddie instead chose violence and responded “I thought
new got beat up front. We got one of our guards at 280 pounds, I don’t know
what he did all offseason”
Previous Winners: Ben Major,Craig Dickenson x2, Tom
Velessi,Cody Fajardo, Dave Dickenson,Kavis
Reed/Jacques Chapdelaine, Greg Quick,Solomon Elimimian, Ed Hervey,
Joe Mack, Henry Burris, Eddie Johnson, Jason Clermont, Mike Abou-Mechrek x2
Play of the Year
I
watch a lot of football so its rare when I see something that completely
surprises me, or I haven’t seen before. In week 17 Trevor Harris accomplished
such a feat. While Harris has received awards for his great play, I will be
awarding him for a for more dubious reason. He gets my play of the year for
managing to throw 2 interceptions in the same drive. That is not a typo.
On his third pass of the game he threw a pick. The defender ended up fumbling
to ball back to us. Two plays later Harris gave it right back.
Never
seen that before.
Most Insulted Sports Figure
Nelson
Lokomobo was trending to win this award for a second year in a row until he got
hurt. For the first time in ages, my most insulted sports figure was not a
Rider... just a former Rider.
I
dolled out a lot of insults at the expense of Zach Collaros, almost as many insults
as he dolled out INTs (but try as I may, I could not keep pace). I actually
like Collaros and respect his accomplishments but the super petty part of me is
happy to see Winnipeg finally get a dose of the Collaros that the Riders had.
Previous Winners: Nelson Lokombo, Craig Dickenson, Riders O-line, Riders
Offensive Tackles, John Ryan, Brandon Bridge, Steve McAdoo, The Riders
Secondary, Any Rider QB not named Durant, Pat Neufeld, Chris Getzlaf, Ryan
Dinwiddie, Jim Daley, Michael Bishop x 2, Marcel Bellefeuille
Botched Call of the Year
I
can’t even narrow this down to one play so I will just give this to everything
related to the Command Centre (making them back to back award winners in this
category). This is by far the worst aspect of CFL football today. There is no
rhyme or reason for when they do or do not intervene. There is less than a 50%
chance that if they do intervene they will get it right. It’s a sham and a
mockery… a shamockery if you will.
Fans’ Choice Douchebag of the Year
This
seems like the perfect segue from the previous award. You the fans have spoken once
again and with once of the narrowest margins we have had in a while, the CFL
Command Centre is your Fans’ Choice Douchebag of the Year. They received 37% of
the votes. A clear sign that you hate them as a much as me. A rare case of
democracy actually working.
I
would like to acknowledge that we had a record high number of write in votes
this year with the likes of: Stewart Johnson, Shawn Lemon, the Blue Bombers
(for signing Demario Houston), Bob Dyce, and “the guy four rows down from us
that was inebriated and shoving nearby fans, then refused to leave when
security was called and had to be frogmarched out of the stadium by the police”
Previous Winners: Chad Kelly, Craig Reynolds/Jeremy O’Day/Craig
Dickenson Garett Marino, Andrew
Harris, Simoni Lawrence, Jason Maas x2, Cory Chamblin, Chris Jones, Jon Cornish
x2, Henry Burris, Dwight Anderson, Mike Kelly, Jason Jimenez, Rob Murphy
Next
week we will award the 17th Annual Rider Prophet Awards.
The cornerstone of those awards is the Fans’ Choice Douchebag of the Year. The
annual opportunity for you the fans to cast your vote and recognize outstanding
achievements in the field of Douchebaggery.
Cast
your vote on Twitter @RiderProphet. I also accept write in votes in the
Comments below:
Here
are this year’s nominees:
Chad
Kelly – I feel the
defending champion should have the chance to repeat… and its not like missing
the entire season due to injury stopped Kelly from being a douche. There was
his claim that he is a top 32 QB in the NFL and his social media post gloriously
foreshadowing his triumphant return… that ever happened.
CFL
Command Centre – Another
repeat nominee from last year. From there insistence on inserting themselves in
calls that no one wanted them to, to their complete lack of anything resembling
a coherent logic for when to intervene and whether or not to get the call right.
Not much unites Canadians these days but our universal hatred of the Command
Centre certainly does.
Micah
Awe – The dirtiest
player in the CFL and its not even close. I can only assume he has embarrassing
photos of top league execs because he continues to deliver illegal hits with impunity
knowing the worst we will get is his 20th consecutive fine. I think
we owes the league some money for his hit in the WSF that was once again glossed
over.
Shawn
Oakman – When the words
“threated”, “sexually explicit material” and “child” all make it into the one
sentence outlining the wrongdoings that more than enough to warrant a nomination.
It has now been over a week since
the Riders won the Grey Cup and this province (myself included) still remain
firmly entranced in the championship glow.
Look, Grey Cups in Saskatchewan are
a big freakin’ deal! The only other award we tend to get is for being the
murder capital of Canada. So you’ll have to forgive us if the party drags on
for a while. We have gone decades between them so we got a lot of celebrating
to get in in case it needs to tide us over.
One group who is not taking this
particularly well is Bomber fans. I get it. Watching your most hated rival win
a Cup on your home turf while your team has been out of it for 2 weeks is
painful. Had the Bombers won here in 2022 no amount of whiskey would have drown
my sorrows (though I damn sure would have tried). But just shut up and take your
lumps rather than drawing further attention to how butt hurt you are by trying
to hurl terrible unsolicited insults. Topping the list is “You only have 5
championships ever”. This is true but we have the same number of Cups as you
since 1990 and more since 2000. No one really cares that you were good in the
40s and 50s. Another popular retort is that “there is no shame in getting to a lot
of Cups and losing”. There most certainly is. No one looks on the Buffalo Bills
of the 90s as anything but an abject failure. Second place is just the first
loser and boy do you know how to lose Cups (more than anyone in history). But if
you really want to see a Bomber fan’s logic fail apart and start frantically trying
to move the goal posts on the argument tell them “Ok if losing a Grey Cup isn’t
a big deal then really the Bomber should be mocked more for 2009 than the
Riders because we at least made the finals right?”
I know there were many idiot Rider
fans in the 2 years that Winnipeg won the cup who could not take their
butt-hurtedness with any form of dignity but we won this year so we get to
celebrate and make fun of you. If you would just quietly skulk in the corner,
we’d leave you alone and thank you for hosting a great Grey Cup. But when you attempt
to wade into things are start trying to bring us down you just come across as
desperate.
We get a few more weeks to enjoy this
before reality hits us… everyone but like 5 people on this team are pending free
agents. O’Day has a ton of work to do if we are to have even a chance at the
first ever repeat in franchise history. But now is not the time to panic. The
fact that no one is signed also means that we have a ton of money to sign
people with. There is going to be some really tough negotiations and decisions
coming up. Myers, KeeSean, Baldonado and Colonel Sanders are coming off rookie
deals and have definitely established themselves of players worth more than
league minimums. Emilus and AJ Allen deserve to be paid like the top end Canadians
they are. Championships, a great coach and a winning culture help attract people
here but players aren’t charities.
Expect a few small time Canadians
to sign in the coming days. Also Expect Harris to re-sign before Christmas (its
so a done deal). Everything else will need to wait until the Salary Cap year resets
Jan 1.
As always, the Rider Prophet is
here to help get you through the long offseason. We are starting our offseason
coverage with the notorious Rider Prophet Awards headlined by the Fans’ Choice
Douchebag of the Year Award. Voting starts tomorrow. So be sure to let you
voice be heard.
You’ll have to forgive me not
posting on Monday morning. While I certainly didn’t go as hard as the players, I
did have a bottle of 2013 Grey Cup Whiskey and a visit to the green mile to
keep me from getting to bed at a reasonable hour.
We did it!!! 12 longs year we
waited for this moment and man oh man was it sweet. When the clock hit zero
(with a brief pause to make sure Bradbury didn’t rain on our parade from the command
centre) me and the whole province erupted.
As expected it was the defense that
lead the way. Four turnovers, none bigger than the goal line forced fumble by Campbell
that Sayles recovered. They held Montreal under 20 points. Other than a bust in
coverage in the secondary (cough, Fields, cough) they really did not allow
much. Marcus Sayles had a monster game. It’s amazing how good he his when his
lower body is not held together by duct tape and horse tranquilizers. Remember
that he is a Rider because BC didn’t think he was talented enough and cut
him in training camp. Thank you BC. Baldonado is growing into an impact pass
rusher in front of our eyes. A fitting way to end the season for a defense that
has been so good all year.
The big difference is that offense didn’t
leave them high and dry. They scored early and kept scoring and against a stingy D. O-line kept Harris
so clean he didn’t even need to wash his jersey. No turnovers. They made
mistakes, we didn’t. I was fully expecting a struggling Harris game. And yes he
certainly tried to throw a pick 6. But he didn’t. And other than that he
was really dialed in. Nice to see us Myers involved (good things happens when
he touches the ball) and Emilus is just a flat out stud.
Also credit to the coaching staff.
Called a great game, particularly on O. Made great in-game decisions like that challenge of pass interference.
Last year we saw a lot of potential but a lot of mistakes from Mace and his
crew. This year, they looked like seasoned vets. They also drink beer like seasoned
vets, another plus in my books.
This was a really weird year. All season
you had the feeling that they were building something special. All season they remained
atop the league. But at no point were they dominant or did they feel like
they were certifiably the best.
Standing amid hundreds of fellow Rider fans at Albert
and Vic singing song after song in unison is when it really hit me. We won!
Nothing brings this province together more than the Riders winning and Grey Cup
wins here are so special because they are so rare. It’s refreshing to end a season
just feeling content. Not angry. Not disappointed. Not hopeless. But happy.
Drink it in Rider Nation. The Cup came home and we could not be prouder of the
team that put in the work to make it happen.
I would like to point out that in
the 96 years this team existed before the Rider Prophet came onto the scene we
had just 2 total cups. Since my arrival we have won 3, more than the entirety
of before. I know correlation is not causality… but times are certainly better
during the age of the Prophet.
It has been 11 long seasons since I
have been able to write a post this important. I don’t know if you’ve heard but
if you have a been a Rider fan long enough you will know that 11 years, that’s
enough. If you do not understand this reference then it is your duty as Rider
fan to pause now and go watch this video… I’ll wait.
2013 was the last time the Riders
appeared in the Grey Cup. For context back then there was no Tik Tok, the
Ottawa RedBlacks had yet to play a single game, Winnipeg was in the East
division and Micah Johnson was a spry young rookie just starting his CFL
career.
On Sunday the Riders have a chance to
raise the Grey Cup for just the fifth time in their 100+ year history. To say it’s
kinda a big deal would be like saying air is kinda important to sustain life.
These two teams played twice in the
regular season but the results of those games are as meaningful as my season
pass to Maxwell’s Amusement (kids ask your parents). In the first one the Rider
pummeled a depleted Alouettes team and the in the second one the Als pummeled a
depleted Rider secondary… mostly Exume. This will be the first time this season
these teams face each other at full strength.
The story of the Als is they go as
Alexander goes. They are 10-0 (including playoffs) this season when he starts
and 3-8 and he doesn’t. So the key to victory is clearly murdering Alexander.
I’m kidding I do not promote violent crime. That said if he were to be
kidnapped for the day and safely released Monday it would not be the worst
thing.
While many are focusing on the QB story,
for me the bigger factor in this game is defense. This game features the best
two defensive units in the CFL. Both loaded with playmakers at all positions.
Both stingy in given up points.
Let’s start with our defense. They
are the reason we are here and if we win it will be because of them. Its no secret
what Mace’s defensive strategy is. Stop the run, force long drives and get
sacks and turnovers. I think that plays well into this match-up. Als had the
second worst running attack this season (I know we are all shocked that Maas would
ignore the run). That said, Stevie Scott has had an impressive playoffs so far
and can’t be taken lightly. The big story is of course the health of Alexander’s
hamstring. They say he’ll be fine. I say let’s make him prove it. If he’s allowed
to stay in the pocket he can hide the injury. But if he’s forced to run odds of
him tweaking it are so high Shawn Lemon is tempted to bet on it. He’s already
tweaked it twice this season running. So get pressure and get him moving. He is
not afraid to chuck it deep. 7 of his 10 TDs this season came on passes over 20
yards. We need to limit those big plays. Last week this unit shut down BC who presented
similar challenges as Montreal but is arguable better at every position other than OL.
I have faith in the Defense… maybe not Mace level, punt with no time on the clock
faith, but pretty strong faith.
Offensively this is going to be a
grind. The Als are very good on defense. #4 in points allowed. Least total
yards allowed. Least pass yards allowed. Tied for most sacks. If you thought
Harris struggled against BC last week, well buckle up. The Als have one primary
weakness… their run defense. They were 6th against the run in the
regular season and the loss of Oakman only further weakens them. Now you could
take the Winnipeg approach and only run your star RB 8 times against that
weakness or you could play competent football and hammer them with Ouelette. In
a grind out game he’s who I am leaning on heavy. Passing plays will be there
but Harris needs to be careful with the ball. He can’t lock onto receivers or
be indecisive or Montreal will eat him up. I would look to get him in a rhythm early
with some short easy passes. We cannot afford to wait until after MGK plays for
Harris to decide to play football. We won 75% of games this season when scoring
6 or more in the first quarter (its actually 100% if you exclude the final 2 meaningless
games). The winning % drops to 60% when scoring 5 or less. We know the defense
will start strong. Any kind of early offensive support is massive. Good things
happen when Myers gets the ball so lets do that early. He can turn a short
crosser into 6. Based on last game I would say lean on Emilus when we need a
first down (assuming Keesean does not play).
I unfortunately expect a script similar
to the West Final. I do believe Harris can win a ring but he’s not going to
look like a conquering hero doing it. He’s going to throw a pick early. He’s
not going to score until the second quarter. The defense will once again need
to keep us in this. This will be a low scoring defensive struggle.
But we are built for this. We are healthier.
Better rested. Deeper. I expect a strong second half where we out-grind the
Als. Brett Lauther is going to have to make a kick that either absolves him of
every miss ever or places him on a Paul McCallum story arc. I’m believe it will
be the former. Harris may not be good as he once was but he's as good once as he ever was. He showed he can deliver when the stakes are at the highest (even if the stakes are only high because he could not deliver before then).
In true Rider fashion we are going
to find the ugliest way possible to do this. But as has been the case with this
team all season, they are going to find a way to it.
Riders 24 – Als 20.. with Ouelette as your MVP and Allen as top Canadian.
I’ll see you at Albert and Victoria after the game.
What’s the point of sports if not
to enable degenerate gambling? This quote is endorsed by Shawn Lemon, Shohei Ohtani
(or at least his translator, wink, wink) and pretty much anyone involved in
basketball apparently.
With the Grey Cup
coming up there will be many an opportunity to place bets.But we do things a little
different around here. So here are my top 10 unofficial Grey Cup Prop Bets.
Let me know in the comments what you are betting on:
1.The amount of times the 2009 Grey Cup is mentioned during
the broadcast – Over/Under 6.5
2.The amount of times the more recent 2010 Grey Cup is
mentioned during the broadcast – Over/Under 0.5
3.The amount of times Glen Suitor finds a ridiculous
segue to talk about Nathan Rourke even though he is not in the game – Over/Under
2.5
4.Will there be a dribble punt? – Yes/No
5.The amount of times either boner pills or adult
underwear commercials air during the game – Over/Under 8.5
6.In what quarter will Jason Maas waste his challenge on
a 4 yard play that causes him a full-on emotional meltdown? – 1,2,3 or 4
7.How long will the stupid in-game interview with MGK go?
Over/Under 4.5 mins
a.Bonus Question 1 – Will a significant scoring play be missed
by the announcers because of said stupid interview? Yes/No
b.Bonus Question 2 – Will Glen Suitor make a lame joke about being more of a country guy during said stupid interview? Yes/No
8.Length of time of the longest video review? Over/Under
5.5 mins
a.Bonus Question – Do they still get it wrong? Yes/No
9.Number of babies born nine months from now named after
the Grey Cup MVP if the Riders win? Over/Under 250.5
10.Wild ass guess for the most obscure player who could
win Grey Cup MVP (no QBs or star players. Think like ’07 James Johnson)
As Saturday’s game wore on, the list
of grievances I had against the Riders just kept mounting. Receivers couldn’t
catch. Harris slept through the first half. And the coaching decisions… I was
about as big a fan of them as I was of Michael Bishop. But here’s the thing,
all is forgiven because despite all that we found a way to win. Style points
are as useful as a 2025 Winnipeg Blue Bombers home playoff ticket. I am so
freakin’ happy! I can honestly think of no more fitting way for this team to
punch their ticket to the Grey Cup than that monstrosity of a game. The 2025 Riders win ugly... but dammit, they win.
As we got closer and closer to kickoff,
I was growing more and more concerned that the “Sellout” crowd was going to look
like a preseason game. But the seats filled in way more than I ever expected and
those that showed up brought the energy. For about 59 minutes of that game the
team seemed to do its best to suck that energy out of the stadium but Mosaic
was rocking and there’s no better place to be when it is.
This win goes to the defense. They
are the only reason we are where we are. They were the only ones to show up in
the first half. They took the highest powered offense in the CFL and held them
to 7 points through 45 minutes and 21 points overall (BC’s lowest point total
since July). This was despite zero offensive support and having to overcome a turnover
in our own end. And when the game was on the line and Corey Mace put his trust
in the defense, they rewarded his faith by not allowing a solitary first down
on the final 2 BC drives. That entire unit played their assess off and deserve
a ton of credit.
While it was mostly praise I heaped
on the defense, it was mostly profanity I heaped on the O. I will say that the O-line
did a great job of protecting Harris and winning the battle in the trenches.
And early on when nothing was working AJ Ouelette was the work horse we needed him
to be churning out big run after big run. The rest of the O… well they came
through when it mattered most. Harris was utterly useless until after halftime.
He was making bad reads, forcing throws and missing receivers. Now the receivers
were doing him no favours by refusing to make catches for him. But when it seemed
like our window of opportunity was closing they all stepped up. Harris delivered
drives. Emilus was a flat out beast (likely was “randomly” selected for a pee
test after the game). Myers came through big. And on a roster stacked with big
name receivers it was Tommy Nield (an afterthought to most at the start of this season among the receivers) who stepped up when we absolutely needed a catch. The offensive performance was
so ugly that all the rye in Saskatchewan could not have made it pretty but when
Nield scored that TD all was forgiven. Coming through when it matters most is what
counts.
How ironic is it that our ticket to
the Grey Cup was secured by the command centre making a ruling in our favour?
I don’t want to dwell on it because
clearly Corey Mace was right in the end. But I hated a lot of his decisions.
Hated the decision not to go for it on 3rd and short from midfield (it’s
the entire reason you employ Tommy Stevens). Hated the decision to not run once
from the 5 yard line. Hated the FG. Really hated punting it. There was a lot of
really questionable decision making going on. But to his credit, Mace believed
in his defense and the rest of team and in the end he was right. After a
12 year absence from the Grey Cup I am not about to get nit picky about how the
coach managed to get us back there.
As the fireworks went up into the
sky and my heart rate started easing back down it set in for real… this team is
going to the Grey Cup! Being a Rider fan is mostly about preparing yourself to
be hurt or disappointed. So when a true happy moment comes along and the team
delivers its almost too good to believe. But believe it.
Other random thoughts:
-When the coin toss was done by Georgette Reed and she
nailed it you knew it was going to be our night.
-That poor guy who had to try and kick a frozen football
50 yards in front of thousands of people for the contest. I don’t think the real kickers would
have made it. The guy’s kick got about as far off the turf as an O-lineman’s
vertical.
-Here’s my theory after rewatching the Hatcher TD.
There was an obvious massive bust in coverage. To my untrained eyes it looked
like Reavis didn’t trust Fields (he did spend a lot of the game yelling a him)
and left his zone to try and compensate for Fields. The others assumed he was
providing support over the top but he cheated too far to the other side of the
field.
-If it were a regular season game, Trevor Harris would
totally have been pulled for concussion protocol after that big hit. I know it makes
me petty but the fact that Betts’ injured knee kept him from playing every down
after that seems like karma for hitting Harris’ head with it.
-I have a bottle of 2013 Grey Cup whiskey just waiting
to be cracked on Sunday to celebrate.
For only the 9th time in
our hundred-plus year history and only the third time in the past 49 years the
Riders are hosting the West Final. We played in one last year. We have not
hosted one since 2019. We have not won one since 2013. This is a pretty big friggin’
deal. The stakes are higher than Ricky Williams in Denver (I am prouder than I
should be of that line. Its witty on multiple levels). I am pumped!
I am super pumped because it is on
the verge of selling out. I legit thought we’d get 27,000. The prospect of a
packed stadium amps me up even more. Now I can here some of you griping “but
they gave away a lot of tickets” to which I say… good! I have been calling on
the Riders for years to do what it takes to pack the stands. The best marketing
for the team is experiencing an exciting win with 30,000 other people. I assure
you the Riders will get more marketing benefit from giving away a few tickets and packing the stands than all the Tikky Tokkies in the world could muster.
The narrative on BC is their high
powered offense led by Nathan Rourke. They have won 7 straight game (including
playoffs). They have been held under 30 points just 3 times since Week 6. (Though
I will give you one guess as to which team held them under 30 two of those three
times it happened.) The sweat from Nathan Rourke's brow could cure most communicable diseases. And the thing is, the narrative is true (well except the curing part, that is only true in Suitor’s world). They have a great offense.
But I am not scared. For one, we
happen to have a great defense and will be as healthy as you could hope for at
this time of year. But also, we have played BC really well this year. Now when
you look at the 3 games you have to ignore the first one because Masoli started
at QB and letting him pass at this point in his career is akin to putting only
8 players on the field in terms of how likely it is to lead to victory. You
also have to ignore the second half of the last game where we did not care or
play any important players (and still had a chance to win). Last you have to
ignore the 4th quarter in the 2nd game where we were
nursing a massive lead and playing prevent. If you look only at the 5 quarters
of meaningful Harris vs. Rourke play this season we outscored them 51-32.
Now do I think we can take them
lightly or that this will be easy on my ticker? No but I have a healthy
confidence that we should not fear BC.
I am glad to have our full starting
secondary back (begrudgingly yes, even Lokombo), we will need them. But as
always it starts up front. Rider football is stop the run, make them throw and pressure
them until sacks/turnovers happen. That formula doesn’t change now. BC allows
the fewest sacks (thanks in large part to Rourke’s mobility) so sacks may be at
a premium but we need our front 4 to be disruptive. Hurry his throws. Make him
move. Get some hits on him. For all his offensive stats, Rourke also finished tied
for the league lead in interceptions. You know how much I have mocked Collaros for
his inability to throw to the right team. Well Rouke is as error prone. Hell he
even threw one to Lokombo. Remember?!? I honestly expect a ton of passing yards
but believe the defense can hold BC to FG tries instead of majors more often
than not. That will require limiting the big plays. If we can force long drives
I trust our front 7 to impact things.
The reality is despite our strong
defense, BC will put up points. Probably at least 25. So the game really hinges
on whether Trevor Harris can put up 30. If he does, I like our chances. BC leads the
league in sacks but find themselves near the bottom in pretty much every other statistical
category. 7th in points allowed, 7th in run D, second
most big passing plays allowed. Rourke putting up 30 per game wasn’t just a
luxury, it was a necessity to balance their defensive shortcomings. They have guys
who can make plays but if we can get the ball out quick to neutralize the pass
rush Harris can put yards up. We will have Myers (who put up 130 and 2 TDS last
time he played BC), Emilus, Baker (who put up 75 in the first half in the
regular season finale), hopefully Johnson. Pick your poison. Oh an even if you stop
all them Nield and Busby can make plays too. More importantly, playoff football
in the cold is exactly why you bring in an AJ Ouelette. Feed that man the ball
and let’s be the hammer in this game not the nail (hammer, Ouelette, what another
great display of writing by me). Him running hard or catching swing passes will
open up so much for our receivers. One big thing is we need our offense to capitalize
when the D gets a big play. Too often we fail to score off turnovers. This is
the two best teams in the West you can’t miss opportunities to make a team pay as
they will not come often.
Special teams advantage probably
goes to BC as they have the best kicker in the CFL and we have a kicker (I think).
Our kick coverage and return game probably level the field a bit. We do have
the advantage in discipline. BC took the most penalty yards in the regular season.
If we can stay disciplined it gives us an edge.
Look, I am a faithful Rider die
hard and I don’t ask much. Its been 12 years since we’ve been to a Cup. This is
the best roster we have assemble since then. This is the healthiest and most rested
a team could hope to be. This is our chance. Please let us be happy. Once a
decade does not seem like asking too much. I’ll do my part by using Rye as antifreeze
and screaming my lungs out. The team just needs to do theirs.
Based on how this season has gone
expect an ugly, frustrating, closer than it should be game that brings you to
the brink of either crying or punching someone/something. But I believe in this
team and I believe that while BC is used to smoking the green, on Saturday the Green
will be smoking BC.
For the Riders being on bye it was
certainly an eventful sporting weekend. The Blue Jays’ magical postseason run
came to a dramatic but heartbreaking end. It was shocking that it occurred in a
city with such a good track record when it comes to game 7. Actually, what was
shocking was that when Vladdy tempted fate by wearing an Austin Matthews jersey
he had success but when he wore the jersey of someone who actually won when it
mattered he did not… doesn’t seem fair. What does seem fair is the Bombers’
season ending by Collaros throwing an interception . Clearly he assumed that
because he was playing an east team in November it must be time for his annual
Grey Cup choke.
BC earned the right to travel to
Regina this coming Saturday and honestly if I had to pick, I’d prefer to play
BC. Watching the West-semi, BC played OK. Calgary just made too many mistakes. Calgary
fumbled at a key moment, missed a convert, allowed a kick return TD and committed
some of the most egregious clock management at the end of the first half that I
have seen since Craig Dickenson was here (wait, where is Craig now?). Despite
all of that BC needed a last second FG to win. I’m not saying you can take that
offense lightly. They are dangerous. But they are beatable and the defense gave
up 170 on the ground and 330 through the air.
If you watched the semis you no
doubt saw the new league sponsorship by Mobil. They evidently paid for the
right to have their name emblazoned as a tramp stamp on every player’s jersey.
Now I am all for the league growing revenue and expanding sponsorship but I don’t
really get why Mobil wanted this. Was there a boardroom discussion somewhere
that asked “What do we want the first thing people think of when then they of
Mobil to be?” and then some guy in a suit blurted out a little too enthusiastically
“Athlete’s Asses!!!”
The forecast for Saturday currently
calls for right around 0. Honestly for November football in Regina this is
about as good as you can hope for. And a little rye will take the edge of the coldness right off. So let’s get out and pack the stands. This
is one win from the Grey Cup. I don’t know if you have followed the history of
this franchise but we don’t have many Grey Cups. To be this close to another
chance is a friggin big deal! Let’s pack the stands and scream until our voices
give out.
I am pumped. My robe is hanging and
ready to be donned. It’s playoffs on the prairies baby!
With the Riders enjoying a bye
week, we get the rare chance to pause and reflect on the regular season before
the anticipation/crippling stress of playoff football sets in. In no particular order
here are some thoughts I had as I looked back on a successful 2025 regular season.
-Corey Mace deserves credit for his growth as a coach.
You could tell from day 1 he was the right hire but he made a lot of game
management mistakes in his rookie year. I’m not saying he was perfect in year 2 but you
could tell her learned from his mistakes and a better coach overall this year.
-Once again you could triple the salary we are paying
OL coach Edwin Harrison and it would not cover the value he brings to this
team.
-Last year many were questioning why the Riders
bothered brining in AJ Ouelette. This season was why. Very few highlight reel
plays but a consistent workhorse who got it done all season when it mattered.
Also he just drives around town in a jacked up half ton full of dogs… he was
clearly meant to live in this province.
-We openly worry about Harris’ age and durability but
only 2 QBs started more games than him this year (one of which was old man
Mitchell).
-In back to back years O’Day has managed to find a new left
tackle (Reid last year, Collins this year), that’s impressive.
-KeeSean Johnson was 4th in the CFL in receiving
yards and 3rd in receptions despite missing 2 games.
-Can we put some love on Jorgen Hus? He is so good at
what he does we pretty much forget he is even out there.
-Speaking of putting some love on… AJ Freakin’ Allen!
People rightly praise Cam Judge for his outstanding play and being arguably the
top Canadian LB in the league. Allen was better than Judge in every single statistical
category except tackles for a loss. Allen started as a special teams plater and
excelled at that. So we gave him some rotational reps on D and he excelled at
that. So we made him a starter and low and behold he excelled at that. Based on
his track record we should let the guy kick FGs.
-Micah Johnson has more sacks since turning 35 than many
guys do in the entirety of their 20s. He is like the old fridge in your parent’s
basement… it will outperform and outlast anything coming onto the market in the
past 5 years.
-If the CFL Commissioner wants to endear himself to the
fans all he has to do is abolish the CFL Replay centre. Coaches challenges and
scoring play reviews only. That or allow a live 2 way mic into the command centre
so we can hear what they say and they can hear us curse at their failures.
As for this weekend, while I think
both home teams should win I can’t count our Calgary or Winnipeg. In the West I
would much rather play BC. In the east I would much rather Winnipeg be put out
of their misery early and emphatically.
Only in the CFL could I manage to
get angry about the results of a meaningless game. Simply put the Riders beat
the Lions on Saturday… but they could not beat the refs. We had a touchdown
taken off the board by a whistle blow so prematurely that the call on the field
qualified for admission to the neonatal care unit. The Command Centre also made
their habitual Rider-hating appearance to overturn a called incompletion despite
a lack of clear evidence giving BC a TD. Was it a completion? Maybe but I don’t
believe there was sufficient evidence to overturn the call on the field. The refs
also somehow managed to miss this:
I firmly believe and keep trying to say there is no ref conspiracy against the Riders but refs keep piling on evidence to the contrary.
Do I care at the end of the day
that we lost? No. But its frustrating when the number 1 thing fans ask for is
to fix the command centre and officiating and the League responds by
reconfiguring the fields instead.
Tainted results aside you have to feel
pretty darn good about that game as a Rider fan. When our starters we’re in, we
were clearly the better team… well as long as you ignore that first play on
defense where Campbell made no effort to move to cover his guy and Field channeled
his inner Junior Mertile in his tackling effort. Even when we started rolling with
our back-ups BC was only marginally better than us.
Offensively Harris looked sharp
going 10/11. While its entertaining to see Lamar Harris outrunning defenders, we
were all pleading for him to slide about 4 yards sooner. Shaefer-Baker had a
hell of a half and is clearly ready to go for playoffs. He made some very difficult
catches. Him taking a drink of Gatorade from the BC sidelines was pure entertainment.
The O-line kept Harris clean and even the back-ups did not give up a sack until
the 2nd half. The Riders did not punt until the 3rd
quarter. This was BC’s starting D with a home playoff game on the line and
despite missing our 3 top receivers, we we’re able to move the ball on them.
Jack Coan is doing really well on sneaks. Tommy Stevens must have been dying on the
sidelines. If he got some of the holes that Coan got Saturday he would have
score 2 long TDs. Given how well Coan was doing, the decision to let Maier run
a sneak which resulted in a fumble seems all the more questionable.
Defensively other than that first play
where we were clearly asleep, we held the much lauded BC offense (with all
their starters) to a whole lot of nothing. The line was getting great pressure and
managed 2 sacks against a BC line that has given up the least sacks all year.
Hell the golden child of the CFL even managed to throw a pick to Lokombo. Do
you know how bad you have to be to be one of 2 people in the history of the CFL
to throw a pick to Lokombo? Ironically the only other document instance was
also BC. VA threw one to him in the playoff game at Mosaic. Should BC end up here in the
West Final I may need to see if I can find a Lokombo anytime INT prop bet just
in case.
Special teams was a mixed bag. It
was refreshing to have a kicker come in and just do his job. Hughes not only eclipsed
the non-existent bar established by Campbell Fair but nailed it every time he
was called on. Nice to see Alford get the all-time Rider record… though I’m
lying if I say I truly believe he has one more return TD left in him. Coverage
team had some issues. Mirco had one boomer and a couple so-so kicks.
Overall the game was a success. Our
starters got some quality reps in. We emerged relatively healthy. And we sent a
message to divisional opponent that we finished first for a reason. We now have
2 full weeks to get ready for the West Final. The regular season was a big
success and our reward is being one home win away from the ultimate goal.
Other random thoughts:
-It was a predictably small crowd but kudos to those
that came, the stadium was loud relative to the number of people there.
-I would pay money to watch a video of the throwing
motion of the guy who did the Toss the Rock challenge on loop. It was the
football equivalent of Charles Barkley golfing.
-Hair dye mat be able to maintain Rory Allen’s Elvis hairdo
but it can’t hide the effects of time on his face.
-When they do the Price is Right stats contest I have
decided that I am more offended by the participants’ lack of knowledge of basic
Price is Right betting strategy than I am of their lack of knowledge of the
Riders or basic logic. We need some mandatory Bob Barker film study is school curriculum.
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 4th 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 (6th 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.
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 3rd 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
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