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.