Monday Morning Sentimonies: Its Over

Riders 26 – Lions 33

The West-Semi was a was a fitting representation of how the 2026 season went as a whole. The Riders started out with a lot of promise only to fizzle and fail down the stretch. I think we all knew going in that odds of victory were miniscule, yet I’m sure you were left feeling disappointed after the game despite expecting to lose. 

It felt like I was watching a different team for most of the first half. The defense came out fired up getting massive pressure up front, hitting hard and neutralizing a very good BC offense. I couldn’t have been the only one who wondered if Mace took back the playcalling for this one. Offense also looked strong. Piled up over 80 yards rushing in the first half against the best run D in the league. Produced multiple long extended drives that kept Rourke on the sideline (the absolute best way to defend him). This was the team we expected in 2026 but hadn’t seen since the summer. 

Then with 5 minutes left in the first half everything changed. It was as if we were Cinderella and the clock struck 12 and all the magic wore off. That was when our secondary (mainly Fields and Ford) forgot that the primary goal of a defensive back is covering receivers. They let Berryhill so far behind them that he could have opened a driving range in the empty space. We started that play in 2 high safety. Both of them bit up short to the same side of the field! That play changed everything. Defense suddenly remembered they sucked. Offense couldn’t muster a big pay. Everything after that absolute bonehead of a play was just a slow funeral march to the end of the season. 

The game really boiled down to 2 things. Offense couldn’t find the endzone. Lots of great drives that all ended in 3s. 1 TD was not going to beat BC. Hell even if they mustered a 2^nd TD I think it changes the complexion of the game. Defense allowed a 69 and 70 yard TD. Take those 2 plays away and we likely win. Those 2 things were the difference. 

Offense was stymied by an inability to stretch the field. Even with our big 3 receivers we did not pose a vertical threat. For some reasons we thought the best use of Emilus (our highest paid receiver) was short swing passes and a rushing attempt (a rushing attempt!). Run game was the best we’d seen all season in the first half but our inability to build a passing attack off that eventually led to BC shutting it down and us having no other answer. 

Defensively, DeMarcus Fields was a trainwreck just completely useless on any play over 10 yards. Ford is about the worst guy you could pair with Fields to protect against dee passes. Trotting them out there as our deep guys is like trying to bluff with 7 high in poker facing a someone with a full house. Also, I don’t understand it but I swear the more people we drop into coverage the worse our coverage gets. We could drop 12 and I’m sure 3 receivers would be wide open. Early in the game we were committed to sending pressure and it worked great. As the game wore on we inexplicably went away from that and chose to put our faith in a pass defense that couldn’t stop a double amputee. 

And so ends another season. Lots of questions on this team as we head into the offseason. Its not all doom and gloom as there is a lot of talent on this roster but the last 2 months have pretty clearly shown that some significant changes are needed if we want to be legitimate contenders again.

Other random thoughts:

-       Who would have guessed at the start of this season that kicking would be the only thing that was not an issue come playoffs?

-       At this point can we just take the challenge flag away from Mace. Whoever is in charge of telling him to challenge should be kicked in the nuts… that or promoted to head of the CFL command centre where they would fit in better.