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.