Monday Morning Sentimonies: I’m Back

Riders 38 – Ti-Cats 7

Did you miss me? Did you even notice I was gone? I spent the last week fishing (hence the lack of posting). Got back on Saturday in time to attend the absolute oven of a game on Sunday. For those curious I am a so-so fisherman but pretty dependable beer drinker, so the week was moderately successful by Chris Jones standards. 

As for the game…

It was a tale of 2 halves. In the first half we drastically outplayed them in every aspect except the scoreboard. In the second half, we added the scoreboard to complete the cycle of things we dominated. 

Look, Jake Dolegala is not very good at football. And I mean that much like how a piece of insulation is not very good in a sandwich. I hope anyone who complained when we let him walk realizes how wrong you were and how right O’Day was. Since taking over for the injured Bo, he has produced exactly one TD. Unfortunately that was for the other team. He seemed to think all his receivers were taller than him and the odd time he got the ball within their actual catch radius they tended to drop it. I realize that we weren’t playing the highest level of competition but I was very happy with the defense. They were aggressive. They tackled probably the best I have seen all season. They got sacks. They got turnovers. They gave big time effort. On the 3^rd down stop, Ford diagnosed the play perfectly and attacked the right hole to make a stop. On the Woods pick, Brooks hustled his ass to make the last block necessary to get Woods to the endzone. Vaughters had a strong game. Woods may be the steal of the offseason. I even noticed Hoskins making some plays when given the chance. In a season where we let teams hang around in games, it was refreshing to see us put our feet on their throats.  

My only criticism of the offense is that they slept through most of the first half (an unfortunate recurring theme). Those 2 picks by Harris were also bad reads and would have been supper costly if we played a team with any ability to score. But other than that O did well. Ouelette had a solid return and chewed up some important yards. Baker and Emilus clearly benefited from the extra days off as they looked back to their old selves. And Tommy Time was on full display. Man does that guy ever fire up the team and the stadium. When we stuffed Dolegala it was a major momentum change. Its exactly that reason we employ a guy we does not get stopped.

Special Teams continues to be a roller coaster. It looked like Sexton was on the verge of superstardom. He made plays every time he touched the ball. So of course he becomes the latest player sacrificed to the injury list. I feel awful for him but his leg was more out of place than a competent QB in Ottawa when he went down. Kick coverage is mostly good but we continue to give up at least one big return per game (which is not a sustainable trend). Chapman is a good punter. Alex Hale shall henceforth be renamed Alex Fale. If you can’t trust your kicker when the ball is one the 40 yard line then your kicker should be seeking alternate employment. It’s obvious that even the coaches don’t trust him anymore. Rightly so. Punting from the 40 is stupid, just go for it. Maybe Hale should try kicking without the glasses, not like he can get much worth. If there is not a new kicker in camp when practice resumes after the bye then O’Day is not doing his job. Until then I am in favour of going for 2 point converts every time and gambling any FG siutation beyond the 20. 

The refs were also not doing us any favours. That was PI on Mace’s challenge. There was also PI on the Baker TD that was ignored. There was at least one time count violation they let slide. We were robbed of a fumble recovery (he tucked the ball, turned around and took a step. In what world is that incomplete?). I am unclear on how you rough a passer when there is an O-lineman still standing between the defender and the QB. Maybe the refs just decided to try an be merciful to the Ti-Cats for having to start Dolegala but it was not a very well officiated game. Just glad it did not impact the outcome.   

In the end we beat the crap out of a team that we were supposed to beat the crap out of. Would it have been different if Bo had played yes but 2014 also would have been different if Durant had not got hurt. Football is not always fair. All you can do is beat the team in front of you. Riders accomplished that and head into the bye with a 4-1 record. Other than a rash of injuries there is lots to be happy about so far.