Riders vs. RedBlacks: The Drive For Five

Saturday the Riders return home to face the 6-4 RedBlacks. They will be looking too stretch their win streak to 5 games, something they haven’t done since 2014. Incidentally we lost our QB in a winning effort in the Banjo Bowl that year as well… hopefully the parallels stop there. Ottawa will be looking to rebound from a dreadful stretch of football. They have lost 3 of their last 4 games. Their opponents in those loses were Toronto, Montreal and BC aka the 3 worst teams in the CFL. Once again the Riders have a chance to pounce on a team that comes in struggling.

The Riders have 3 East games followed by 4 West ones to end the season. They realistically need to go at least 2-1 in this East stretch and ideally 3-0 if we are serious about playing football at Mosaic Stadium in November. A lot of football to be played before then so we just need to keep winning games and let the rest sort itself out… but it is refreshing for it to at least be a possibility once again.

Going to change things up and start on offense where the collective sigh of relief across the prairies when we heard Collaros had passed concussion protocol could have powered a wind generator for many hours. I know he’s not exactly lighting up the scoreboard but he gives some semblance of life to an otherwise lifeless offense. Tough challenge for him and our O in facing a Noel Thorpe defense. They come in with the second least points allowed and third most sacks. The good news is that even if Thorpe manages to reduce our offensive production by 50% it will have a barely negligible effect on the game (look at me focusing on the positives). Priority #1 has to be keeping Collaros’ melon from bouncing off the turf. Strong play in the trenches and a committed running game obviously are key. But we also need to get that ball out quicker (and I’m not talking about the stupid screen play that a blind man could see coming). It would be nice to hit some slants or timing outs or slotback hooks and really work those medium passes to move the chains. We need something in between stupid screen plays and chucking up prayers into double coverage and praying our WRs can bail us out. Marcus Thigpen remains our best chance of scoring on O so we bloody well better use him. We need a TD from our O and ideally 2.

On the other side of the ball, Trevor Harris is probably very happy that Matt Nichols is drawing all the attention because we’re it not for him people would be focusing a lot more on how bad Harris has been of late. Just over 50% completion in both of his last 2 games, had 3 interceptions and just one offensive TD (finally an even match-up for our O). Ottawa is a confusing team. They are stacked with offensive talent: Powell, Sinopoli, Spencer, Ellingson but are just 7^th in offensive TDs and have the 2^nd worst running attack (both in terms of yards and average gain per carry). They have the ability to break out at any point so we can’t take them lightly. It starts up front with what is their biggest offensive weakness and what is really holding them back: their O-line. Second most sacks allowed so far and our D-line should be able to push those numbers even higher. Game plan should be very similar to last week: attack the line, shut down the run, pressure Harris, force turnovers. Pass coverage will be tougher as Ottawa has talent across the board at receiver. I mean we had trouble containing Drew Wolitarsky last week. We really need to focus on taking away the short and intermediate passes. Ottawa has the least pass completions over 30 yards and Harris has one of the worst completion % on passes over 20 yards. If we can limit Powell and force Harris to go to his second/third reads then we should be able to keep the RedBlack offense in the funk it currently finds itself. Calling 3 sacks and 3 turnovers.

The reality is that at some point a let down game will happen. Despite our win streak we have not exactly been playing consistently good football and its highly unlikely we go undefeated the rest of the way. I think this one has some potential for a letdown but I think the home crowd will give the team a needed boost. Plus, this team believes in its ability to find ways to win. Even if its grinding out ugly ones. I expect our defense to continue their level of play and keep the score low. So it comes down to our Offense finding a way to get on the board (or at least not let the RedBlack D put up points). It will be a low scoring affair but in the end…

Riders by a Thigpen TD.

Side note: I will not be at the game (so cheer loud for me). I’m headed to Saskatoon for Metallica. You’ll be happy to know that the Riders are undefeated in home games I have not attended this year. You’re welcome.

Monday Morning Sentimonies: That’s Four!

Riders 32 – Bombers 27

Well that was uglier than the runner up at a Manitoba beauty pageant but in the end the Riders emerged from Winnipeg with their fourth win in a row and their first Banjo Bowl win since 2014. The win maintains the Riders’ position in second place and also secures the season series with the Bombers. It was exactly what we’ve come to expect from the 2018 Riders. Big plays on D, solid special teams and an offense that we are told exists but visual evidence would tend to indicate otherwise. It was a lot like Labour Day, majorly outplayed in the first half but kept in it by a couple big plays. Second half defense tightened up and offense did just enough.

I know you know me as a humble guy not prone to tooting his own horn (stop laughing, I’m trying to be serious here) but I need to give myself a Barry Horowitz style pat on the back (bonus points if you get that reference). Go back to my Labour Day post and you will see me cite 30 as the magic number for the Bombers. They can’t win when they don’t score 30 and they can’t win when they fail to hold their opponents under 30. Two weeks of the Riders topping 30 and the Bombers failing to and two wins for the Riders.  I also nailed the stat in this game preview that the Bombers struggle in tightly contested games… but whose counting? I am because I also suggested we should dress Jovon and Bagg for vet leadership. Toot, toot!

Let’s start with the defense because that’s the only reason that we aren’t drowning our sorrows to the southing sounds of the banjo… well aside from Matt Nichols taking his 2018 suck tour to hilarious new lows. The D turned in 3 sacks, 5 interceptions and really locked things down in the second half. Having Brooks back really helped lock down the run D and make Harris so invisible you’d swear he was playing for the Rider offense. Even when Streveler came in we managed to keep his legs from being a factor. Having Neufeld line up at tackle also really helped our D (another point I nailed in the game preview, sorry I swear I’ll stop soon). Jefferson had a monster game and a lot of that was due to lining up on Neufeld a lot. Purifoy had a big impact game. Big plays really covered up some not great play in the passing game. Marshall is getting beat a lot and not making the big plays to compensate. Nichols was in the redzone both times we got pick 6’s. If he decides to be even mildly competent in those plays (and not go full Nichols) the game could have ended very differently. But it didn’t and yet again the D was the driving force in a Rider win. I keep thinking the amount we rely on our D is not sustainable but they keep sustaining it so I guess roll with it.

Offense… well stop me if you’ve hard this one before. Essentially non-existent for the first half. Untimely turnover. Brett Lauther in the lead for offensive MVP. You know, the usual. Collaros is clearly by far our best QB but he did not have a good game (even before re-enacting the Butler/Pierce encounter of 2011). I like that he pushed the ball down the field but he’s been throwing into coverage he never should be and getting bailed out by receivers. I also think that the KO knock was his fault for not reading the blitz and getting the ball out. Hope he’s ok but multiple head injuries are not a good thing. Play calling is not helping him. I like the Tre Mason had a massive game but where was Thigpen? 2 offensive touches? Not good enough. And given that I (a rye enthusiast on my couch) could tell when we are running a hitch screen, it was only a matter of time before someone who does it for a living figured it out and jumped it (side note but the downside of young receivers is none had the sense to call the blitz or try to block Gaitor).  If you had told me that Brandon Bridge was going to play in this game and that we would be trailing when he entered I would have bet heavily against us. But to his credit he surprised me and a lot of others by doing alright. To be fair he only led one productive drive but it was a huge one and more importantly he did not do anything stupid (aka a Nichols impersonation). I really hope to not see much more of him but I will give him credit, he looked at lot more like the mildly competent back-up of 2017 and less like they useless profanity inducing QB from earlier this season. That’s as close as he’s getting to a compliment from me.

It was another ugly, gritty, too close for comfort win… but that last word is all that matters: WIN. We keep finding ways to win and that’s the sign of a team that can go places. Won’t get the luxury of playing Matt Nichols every week (or any week at this rate) but you can only play the hand that your dealt and the Riders keep turning their hands into winners. God it feels good to sweep the Bombers!

Other random thoughts:

-        There were a lot a of super week calls by the refs. That PI on Gainey was marginal (but turned out ok so I’ll take it J). That blocking downfield on Evans was even more marginal. And that’s just naming a few. Let them play!

-        I love how all the D players were doing Banjo celebrations.

-        Kick cover teams were excellent!

-        How many more wins before we induct that green shirt of Chris Jones into the Plaza of Honour?

Riders vs. Bombers: Banjo Bowl 2018

Saturday the Riders travel to East to for a rematch with the Bombers. It’s the annual Banjo Bowl, inspired by the infamous comments of Troy Westwood. I don’t have a lot of nice things to say about the Bombers or the province of Manitoba (other than their sports fans are very good at waiting patiently decades at a time) but Westwood’s banjo comments remains one of the most solid sports chirps I’ve heard.

This will be a game all about adjustments. The teams have now seen what each other has and the team that makes the better adjustments will come out ahead. Defensively that gives me great hope. Jones knows what he is doing and if you look closely we need to lock down 5 plays. Harris had runs of 38, 12, 11, and 25 plus a catch for 15 in the first half. That’s 100 yards right there. Lock those down and the complexion of the game changes dramatically. Offensively the adjustments we made in the second (i.e. do something and lean on Thiggy and Roosevelt) give me hope… not huge hope as it would be silly to put a ton of faith in our offense if you’ve watched any of our games but at this point I’ll take whatever small amounts of hope we can get.

I was shocked to see no trickery or shenanigans last week from the Bombers so I’m doubling down and saying that for sure this week they are going to throw something at us. They need a kick-start and lord knows just assuming Matt Nichols will eventually come out of his funk hasn’t been working for them. We gotta slow down Harris this week. Runs for 5-6 we can handle but those big long ones need to be eliminated. Evidence would say we need to get physical on him. He took a big shot in the second half shot that clearly affected him as his production was pedestrian and use limited after that. Sounds like Brooks is back this week which will be a huge boost to our front 4 and run protection. Secondary needs to stay disciplined. For as well as they played overall, there were still too many breakdowns. Marshall needs to find a bit better balance as a risk taker. Its got him 2 pick sixes and some knockdowns but also gotten him beat deep a lot. Sounds like both Foketi and Hardrick are out this week so Neufeld figures to be the tackle. Long time readers will know that Neufeld was squarely on my hatred list when he was here. Admittedly Winnipeg has gotten more out of him as a player then we ever did but Neufeld vs. either Hughes or Jefferson should be huge advantage for us. Keep the pressure on Nichols. If we get to him early the boos from his own fans will likely be more thunderous than the ones Rider fans gave him. Winnipeg has the second most turnovers. Expect that trend to continue… I’ll say 3 turnovers in this game.

Offensively we need to do something in the first half. We produced just 90 yards in the first half and had Matt Elam and Kyran Moore not bailed us out it could have been too little too late when our O finally woke up. As we learned last week Roosevelt and Thigpen are the wheels that turn our offense. With our offense being more useless than Grey Cup Parade map to Bomber fans in the first half, Roosevelt only had 2 receptions and Thigpen did not touch the ball offensively. I repeat DID NOT TOUCH THE BALL OFFENSIVELY. When we finally gave Thiggy the ball his first 3 touches went for 12, 9 and 18 yards respectively. Of his 7 offensive touches 4 went for double digit yards. I get that’s he’s not an every down back (particularly this week when he’ll be returning more) but you maybe think we need him involved before the second half?!? Collaros needs to eliminate the token INT he’s been throwing of late. I expect this game to be a lot closer so any mistake on either side will be magnified. Protect Collaros, protect the ball, lean on Thigpen/Roosevelt and keep Williams-Lambert involved. That’s our recipe for success.

Big opportunity here for the Riders. A win seals the season series with the Bombers and keeps us in the driver’s seat for a potential home playoff game. We have momentum on our side but make no mistake, this is a desperate Bomber team.  A 4^th straight loss keeps them near the basement in the west and puts them essentially 3 games back of us with only 6 games remaining. They have also already lost 4 of their 5 games against West teams. Not to mention losing a game this big in front of a home crowd would be super deflating. Expect them to come out swinging and be willing to throw everything trick they have at us.

Winnipeg is a touch place to win for us. We haven’t won their since 2014 and we had to sacrifice Durant in that win. A slow start like last week will kill us in a hostile (and generally unhygienic) environment. We have 2 games in Winnipeg left on our schedule and need to win at least one to secure the season series. When we play in October we will be on a very short week coming off a Monday game so this is likely our best chance. If it was me running the show I would be looking to swap Bagg for Stanford and Jovon for Blackmon in this one. I think a little veteran savvy would really help the team in a hostile place like Winnipeg. But Chris Jones is as likely to ask my opinion on roster decisions as he is to wear a nice pastel polo shirt with the top button undone.

Lots of stats I could quote but the one that stands out for me is the teams’ records in games decided by 1 score. Riders are 4-2. Bombers are 1-3. Winnipeg has also managed to lose 4 games where they led at half time. One team seems have that killer instinct and be able to grind out the close victories. Given that I see this being a close game, that favours the good guys…

Riders by a Lauther FG from 40+

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Tuesday Morning Sentimonies: Belated Labour Day Edition

Riders 31 – Loserpeg 23

Well in what has become a Labour Day tradition I awoke Monday to a pounding head and both my voice and pants were nowhere to be found. In what has become a tradition that likely care a bit more about, the Riders won yet again on Labour Day. It was their 3^rd straight win, 3^rd straight victory over a west opponent and shoots them right up into the mix for second in the west. It was admittedly an ugly win (unless we are using the Manitoba scale of rating in which case it would rank only behind cousin in attractiveness) but it was a win.

In the first half we were massively outplayed but 3 big plays kept us in it (pick, blocked FG, punt return). We were not playing great on either side of the ball but Winnipeg was unable to capitalize. In the second half we flipped the script a bit. Defense tightened up, allowing just 6 points. Offense finally managed to do something useful and strung some actual scoring drives together. I will tell you that if we only manage to play this well next week in Winnipeg it damn sure won’t be enough but on Sunday it was just enough.

Defense was made to look human for the first time in a while. Andrew Harris was ripping off monster runs with ease in the first half. I get that he is one of the best RBs in the League but I would have thought we would have focused a lot more on shutting down the run than we did. With Mic’hael Brooks out we curiously ran a lot of 3-man front especially on first down. I didn’t care for it. Harris did. Fortunately for us we were able to exploit a big Bomber weakness: Matt Nichols. Dude just is not playing very good football. Even if you take away that first pick (which was a tip ball) he still put up numbers that would have made you think he was playing for Steve McAdoo. Credit to our D-line for getting 3 sacks against a very good O-line (even though they clearly miss Hardrick). Certainly wasn’t their best outing but they got the turnovers, sacks and key stops needed. For the record Gainey was very lucky on that last INT. He was nowhere near in position as the D was too busy celebrating at midfield. Hell of a run and jump but it was a lucky play not skilled defense.

Early in the game I was ready to give up on our offense. Our offense also seemed ready to give up on the idea of moving the ball. It was not good. To their credit they came up with some legit scoring drives in the second half when we needed them. What really got things going is when they finally realized that Thigpen should be the focal point of the O. Use that man’s speed! The other thing we finally did was make a conscious effort to feed Roosevelt the ball. In a tight game there is no one’s hands we should be trusting more. Actually getting him more than a token couple catches a game was greatly needed. I love Kyran Moore. That Punt TD was awesome but even in the offense, he’s a guy I want to see a lot more of. If we can complement the size of our receivers with the speed of Moore and Thiggy good things will happen. I hate Josh Stanford. He consistently shows zero desire or ability to run north south after the catch. He’s always dancing sideways and costing us yards. Can’t tell me we lose anything inserting Bagg for him. I will say this, we trust our receivers. When that ball went up for Lambert late I thought it was an awful idea. Guess that’s why the rye drinking guy in a robe and beard does not call the plays.

It was the second consecutive “gutsy” win. Two weeks now, we haven’t played great and been outplayed at times but still found ways to win. That kind of perseverance will be needed down the stretch.

No matter how they come, I love me Labour Day wins.

Other random thoughts:

• When we have guys like Moore and Thiggy who have actual speed why on earth did we think running the sweep to Evans was a good idea?
• Seriously? No fly by on Labour Day?
• Nick Marshall is lucky we won. All the goodwill he has built up being out TD guy almost disappeared with his untimely big mouth. Shut the F up and get off the field.
• Loved seeing how jacked up all the new guys were during introductions. Mason was jawing across the field. Elam and Blackmon were up in Winnipeg’s face.
• I knew it was going to be a good day when they played “Experience Regina” over the PA system during pre-game. That needs to become a new tradition.

Riders vs. Bombers: Labour Day Classic 2018

It’s the most anticipated game on the regular season schedule. Even in bad years (not like we’ve had any of those in past few decades) a game with a boisterous sellout crowd. A time when an influx of visitors from the East (i.e. the only place in Canada where tooth to gum ratios hover around 1:1 and IQ levels count be counted on people’s hands) come to witness their team get pummeled in person. I’m talking of course about the Labour Day Classic!

Buckle in because this is going to be a long post. I of course must devote the first section to educating you on some facts about Manitoba. You know, so we can be more knowledgeable and gracious hosts to our visitors this weekend. Then I will get into my usual game preview. Now I pride myself on being an inclusive and non-judgmental person (stop laughing) so I decided that rather than writing out Manitoba facts as a I normally do, I would be mindful of the dreadfully low reading levels in Manitoba (and if I’m being honest pockets of Saskatchewan) and represent the facts graphically instead. Ooooh pretty pictures!

Alright with that out of the way, let’s get to the game.

With the exception of that unfortunate incident in 2016 (which we shall never speak of again), the Riders haven’t lost Labour Day in over a decade. Some of those games have been exciting. Some have featured such awe inducing QBs as Justin Goltz, Brett Smith and Michael Bishop. This one should be more of the former. We are riding a winning record and a 2 game win streak in the West. While the Bombers come in on a 2 game slide, they are still a talented team.

This will be a big test for our much beloved defense. The Bombers have the #1 scoring offense in the League and LaPolice’s playbook has more wrinkles than a naked senior citizen (how’s that for a disturbing mental image). They have one of the best O-lines and the #1 rushing attack powered by Andrew Harris. That said, they do have their shortcomings that we will need to exploit. First is Matt Nichols. I don’t know if he’s regressed or if the pre-season injury is still affecting him but the gunslinger that broke out last season is nowhere to be found this year. The Bombers are 6^th in passing yards and have the second fewest completions of 30+ yards. Also they can’t seem to protect the ball with 21 giveaways (3^rd most). Last season Nichols threw just 8 INTs over the whole season. This year? 7 already in just 7 games. It’s no secret that this offense revolves around Andrew Harris and that works when your QB can be counted on to keep the defense honest but lately that seems to be a struggle. Here’s some super obvious analysis for you: priority 1 is shutting down Harris.  Winnipeg has only won once when Harris fails to crack 100 yds and only lost once when he does crack 100. They are also 1-4 when Harris gets less than 18 touches. That means strong run D and tight coverage when Harris leaks out for a pass. You can bet LaPo will be throwing some wild stuff at us: Streveler passes on short yardage, reverses, WR throws. Secondary will need to stay disciplined. We likely won’t have the benefit of WRs dropping everything like we had in BC. With Winnipeg’s struggles to stretch the field we need to focus on taking away the short stuff. That O-line poses one of the biggest challenges our D-line will face but we hung 5 sacks on Calgary so I’d say they are up for the challenge. I’m setting the turnover line at 2.5 and taking the over.

The Winnipeg defense is a talent-laden group that is drastically underperforming. On the positive side they are among the league leaders in takeaways and sacks. On the negative side they are 6^th in points and total yards allowed and 7^th in passing yards allowed (something Bomber fans are ready to run Richie Hall out of town for. His famous bend but don’t break D has become a bend and then break defense). So it would seem the recipe for success is just don’t turn the ball over. Easier said than done of course. It goes without saying (even though I’m saying it, thus defeating the purpose of this preface) that we need to run the ball to slow down the aggressive pass rush. Hopefully having Thigpen back will add some needed speed to complement Mason’s power. In the pass game we need to establish some medium passes. Of late we seem to only have the quick screen or chuck it deep and pray in our toolbox (to be fair this is a positive step us we previously didn’t have the 2^nd one in the playbook). Winnipeg has the most INTs so unless we balance our passing attack, the deep shots could start proving fatal. It would be a nice time for a big game by Roosevelt who could be that reliable underneath presence we need to string long drives together. That will require Williams-Lambert and Evans making some plays to draw coverage away from him. I would also be in favour of using Kyran Moore’s speed a bit more. Both him and Thigpen could be deadly weapons in this game.

You can bet with an O’Shea team that special teams will play into this. We obviously have a returner with the ability to flip the field. While not nearly as consistent, Kevin Fogg also has that ability. I also fully expect a punt fake from O’Shea or a reversal or some trick on a return (I’m having flashbacks to the punt return TD in the last Banjo Bowl, shudder). Need some solid play on teams to ensure this is a phase we win.

The magic number in this game is 30. Not as in the almost 30 years its been since the Bombers won a Grey Cup. Seriously the last time the Bombers won the Cup MC Hammer and Vanilla Ice were the coolest thing in music, Kindergarten Cop was one of the top films (it’s not a tumor!) and people still though Bill Cosby was delightfully hilarious. No, by 30 I mean points on the board. Here’s your super interesting but probably useless tidbit of knowledge for the day. In games where the Bombers score 30 points they are 4-1, when they score under 30 they are 1-4. In games their opponents score 30 points they are 0-4, when they hold opponent under 30 they are 5-1. Now I won’t lie and say I’m banking on our offense to crack 30 but we have only allowed 30 points twice this season and just once at home.  

A quick start will be key. Score early, crank up the crowd noise and the pressure on Nichols and make them play chase. As much as I love dramatic game changing plays on Labour Day, I would be all for a super boring game where we grind out a victory. Unfortunately, I don’t see that happening. I expect some fireworks on both sides in this one. I see this as a game that will take a few years off my life expectancy. In the end though, I expect the Riders to win the Labour Day Classic. It’s what we do.

Riders by a Roosevelt TD

Monday Morning Sentimonies: Grinding It Out

Riders 24 - Lions 21

The Riders' win in BC on Saturday has been described with such terms as: narrow, barely, ugly, and boring among other negative things. But when you can show me where in the rules those kinds of wins cause you to earn less points in the standings than a convincing or pretty win then I will start caring. The bottom line is this, the Riders went on the road against a team that had yet to lose at home and found a way to win despite facing a fair bit of adversity. In the process they earned 2 crucial points in the West division standings where they are now just 2 points back of second place.

Yet again the story of the game was the defense. We are a team built to grind out wins on defense and that skill came in handy. They came up big every time we needed them. Give up a massive Rainey return, no problem force a FG. Offense disappears mid-game, no problem they allowed just 3 points in the second half. Untimely interception, force a 2 and out. 3rd down gamble with game on the line, stuffed with authority. My drink needed refilling... well that may be the only time they let me down on Saturday. 2 sacks, 3 turnovers and just one TD allowed (mainly because of a long PI call). It is honestly getting repetitive to sing the praises of our D every week but I will gladly do it week in and week out if they keep stepping up like this. They came up big when we needed them and had next to no support from offense while doing so.

Offense briefly gave us hope and then quickly devolved into the no-ffense we we've grow accustomed to. Much like me on a Saturday night, they seemed to blow their load way too early in the evening and have nothing left when it really mattered. Unlike me, the good news is that they were still able to provide a happy ending. After we scored in the second quarter I foolishly let myself believe that 3 offensive TDs were a possibility. I know, I know it was a pipe dream in retrospect. It was crazy to see how quickly we went from Collaros moving the ball at will while involving many different players to "please god just fall forward because you'd at least gain 3 yards then". Not sure why we got away from using Kyran Moore's speed which seemed to be effective early. Collaros' passing yards were overly inflated by receivers bailing him out on two long passes. Evans just willed that ball into his possession and Bailey made an unbelievable catch on a pass that never should have been thrown. At least the Evans pass was single coverage. That Bailey pass was into double coverage and at no point was he open. Look, I like that we have the confidence to stretch the field but reckless passes like that will catch up with us. As bad as they were, I will give them credit for that 4th quarter drive. We got the ball on our 13 yard line with 4 mins to go and managed to drive the ball to mid-field while killing 3 mins. No points but huge drive. I realize that's like congratulating your dog for pooping on the laminate instead of the carpet because its easier to clean up but hey, you take good news when you can get it.

Here's the thing for me... we won without a score on D or special teams. We won while giving up sacks and interceptions. Neither of which we have done thus far. Yeah it was ugly but I'm super happy we have a team with the toughness to grind out an ugly win because it damn sure won't be our last.

These last 2 weeks have been about as perfect as possible for the Riders. 3 West teams lost both last week and this week and we won twice. We have catapulted ourselves from the West cellar to in the mix for a home playoff game. Stock up on purell and hide your attractive barn animals because next up is Labour Day!!!!
 
Other random thoughts:
- Making Nick Marshall our short yardage QB has turned our scary awful short yardage group into fairly competent. Don't ever put Bridge back in there.

- Speaking of Marshall. I'm curious just how screwed his wrist is.

- One of the 2 sacks we gave up was a rare complete F-up by Labatte. The hole left was so huge I just naturally assumed it was Dan Clark's fault but the replay showed otherwise.

- Speaking of Labatte, dude is as tough as they come and I'm sure by this point his ankles are more pain killer than actual flesh.

- Nice to see Christion Jones get a couple big returns again.

- Alex Chevrier is quietly turning into quite the solid special teamer. When we drafted him Coach Jones said he was the fastest special teamer in the draft class. Turns out it was one of the few draft occasions where Jones was right. See, even a broken clock is right twice a day.




 

Riders vs. BC Lions: Keep It Rolling

Saturday the Riders travel to BC to face the 3-5 Lions. The Riders are riding high after taking down the previously undefeated Stamps. The Lions are in a rough patch, going 1-3 over their past 4 games.

What makes me confident about this game is also what worries me. On paper, this is a game that the Riders should win. This is also a game that has trap written all over it. After a big home win against the top team in the league it would be easy to get overconfident and go on the road and lay an egg against a far weaker team. This will be a big test of the players’ mental toughness and the coaching staff’s ability to keep the team focused.

BC is a weird team. They are led by the best coach in CFL history and have a talent laden roster but have been a bottom feeding team for the past year and a half. Some of that can be pinned on Jennings’ regression as a QB but they are still only 2-3 with Lulay back at the helm. Despite their record there are a number of reasons why this team should not be taken lightly. 1 - They are undefeated at home. All of their loses have come on the road. BC Place seems to give them a boost. 2 – They have beaten the Esks and Bombers already. 3 – Their schedule through the first 8 games has been as tough as they come. 6 of their 8 games have been against teams with a winning record. Wally has turned teams around before so it would be perilous to view this as an easy win.

Offensively we need to keep building on the progress we’ve made since Collaros returned. He has not been sacked since his return (a stat I found amazing) and he has not thrown a pick. I know people are throwing cold water on the Collaros train by pointing out that 270 passing yards and 1 solitary offensive TD last week are not that impressive but a) that was against the best defense in the CFL and b) we are a team that is built to win on D and Special Team so all we need is decent offensive play to win (as evidenced by last game). In order for our offense to keep rolling we need to stay committed to the run. For all my criticisms of McAdoo (of which there are many… many, many, many) we currently have the #2 rushing attack in the CFL. BC is #6 in defending the run (clearly missing Elimimian) so that’s where our attack needs to start. We also need to keep working the Williams-Lambert connection. We need a non-Roosevelt WR to be productive for our pass game to work and he is the man for the job. Lee and Rose are playmakers in the BC secondary but Orange and Peters don’t scare me. Spread the ball around and don’t turn the ball over. We need multiple TDs in this one not just a million FGs. Though the way our defense is playing I have a feeling 2 TDs on O will be enough.

Defensively priority #1 is stopping the run. Jeremiah Johnson is a very good RB and he will certainly be leaned on to help the BC O-line deal with our pass rush. I don’t think BC has ran the ball near enough this year… but then again you are probably sick of me complaining about a lack of running by now. I know Lulay is a good QB and he’s throwing to all-stars like Arceneaux and Burnham but if we shut down the run and make them one dimensional then I like our chances. BC’s O-line has not been great so I expect our D-line to be disruptive. BC has also turned the ball over 3^rd most in the league. We need to feast on that. I say it’s a 3 turnover minimum on Saturday.

Any game where you are facing Chris Rainey, special teams immediately become very important. He has the ability to change a game at any point. We need to contain him. Add in Christion Jones and you have a game with the top 2 returners in the League right now. If one of the 2 manages to score I think that team will win.

As much as logic would dictate the Riders continue to roll after just beating a much better team, logic is not something the Riders have ever been big on… particularly in the Chris Jones era. BC plays tough as home so I expect a tightly contested, low scoring game. BC has allowed just 17 points per game at home and that includes facing Edmonton and Winnipeg who have much more potent offenses than we do. I also expect a far more stressful and frustrating contest as BC will hold the lead at some point and we will need to claw our way back into things. The game will be closer than it should but a late turnover will swing momentum back our way and lead to a game winning FG by Lauther

Riders by 3