Monday Morning Sentimonies: Déjà vu

Riders 28 – Ti-Cats 23

Stop me if you’ve heard this story before. The Riders start 2-0 under Corey Mace, the wins are anything but confidence instilling and filled with many curse worthy plays, offense had flashes of greatness amid long stretches of futility, Brett Lauther is mired in an early season slump. This is just last year on repeat… I just hope we can avoid that whole not winning for a month part.

In the aftermath of Saturday’s game I would like to remind people that the Riders are 2 and 0. Have their wins been so ugly that even a paper bag and case of beer could not make them pretty? Yes. Do I care? Not really. We found a way to win and that’s all that matters in the end. We haven’t won the West since 2019 and haven’t made it to a Grey Cup since 2013. I would endure 14 straight 3-2 rouge-fest victories in the rain to end either of those droughts.

People will tend to focus on the negatives after that game. Yes Lauther cost us 9 points in a one score game and year after year treats the summer CFL schedule like it’s the preseason. Yes our defense consistently left receivers so open that it looked like we were consciously trying to avoid them. Yes our offense is about as consistent as cell coverage in remote northern Saskatchewan. Believe me there are many things to criticize and the walls of my house were bathed in curse words for a large portion of that game. But in spite of all that we still won. We overcame. We battled through. We found a way.

I am dubbing 2025 the year of the Johnson. KeeSean is our best receiver (yes I even give him a slight edge over a healthy Emilus). The passing offense should run through him because he makes things happen. Daniel Johnson was a 5^th round pick making his first career start at tackle and did not look out of place. Micah Johnson remains a leader on and off the field and sets the bar for effort ever week. I dare say we need more Johnson. I love Johnson. I just can’t get enough Johnson. Give me all the Johnson I can handle. 

There are also a couple players who think that the rumours of their demise have been greatly exaggerated. AJ Ouelette (who many assumed would never again leave the IR) finally showed us the player we hoped we were getting when we signed him. I know it’s a big if but man, oh ma if he can stay healthy. Maro Alford was all but replaced in fans' minds coming into the season and just keeps making impact returns and justifying his ongoing spot on our roster. 

Offensively we need to find a way to start faster. Until that Ouelette run there was a whole lot of nothing going on. Some great things happened in the second half but we need to get going early. I am as big of Hudon fan as there is but Ka’Deem Carey got 6.5 yards per carry in his first appearance. I would be hesitant to take him off the roster.  Last week I cut Harris a break on his INT saying it was contact and not a lack of arm strength that led to it. This week it was a lack of arm strength. If he threw it further it’s a big completion and maybe a TD. Teams are going to start taking away short stuff if we cannot establish some kind of deep game. KeeSean is a stud. Myers continues to impress and Duncan-Busby is making the most of his opportunities. 

I will cut the D some slack because they received pretty limited offensive support. Through 3 quarters they held Hamilton to 10 points and added 6 of their own. They held up their endof the bargain. The struggled to hang on in the fourth though. I think Milanovich had an awful game plan. In the first quarter it was quite apparent that DeMarcus Fields was a liability and ripe for getting taken advantage of. Yet in the second half Lawler and White spent a lot of time lining up on the side of the field with Milligan and Sayles (aka the only good part of our secondary). I know that schematically we are built to give up passing yards but Saturday was a bit too soft even for my liking. Not pretty but enough to get the job done. 

Other random thoughts:

-        Our discipline is hugely improved over last year. We barely took any penalties in this one… and the one on Emilus was a Shamockery. It was a sham and a mockery. The only softer than that call was our pass coverage.

-        Some day people will start giving O’Day credit for his drafting. As just a small example go back and look at what he did in rounds 3-7 in 2024: Duncan-Busby (starting and improving every week), Straker (solid special teams player), D Johnson (starting offensive tackle), Mimbs (depth WR) and Ajou (in the NFL).

-        If you are a gambler (and I know many of readers are) always take the over on Lawler receiving yards when he plays the Riders.

-        Aubrey Miller is very noticeable in a good way on special teams.

-        Lauther will be fine… but just to be same someone program his phone so it shows September. Fall Lauther is infinitely better than Summer Lauther.