Posts
Riders
39 – Argos 28
Life
has a cruel sense of humour. The Riders have started the season with 3
convincing wins, their offense is living up to the hype, turns out Kory Sheets
wasn’t lying about being out of shape last year, our defense is solid and our
special teams are noticeably fantastic. I should be happier than a drunk wanna-be cowboy
at Craven… but I can’t be. Life has tainted this otherwise fantastic moment.
Not much mind you but just enough to be annoying.
The
reasons I can’t be completely happy are of course concern over Durant’s health
and the fact that the damn 2012 Riders had to go a ruin 3 and 0 by losing 5
straight. Now I realize that the initial news on Durant is not terrible and
that this year’s 3-0 team is vastly different than last year… but still, Damn
you life!
Actually
I’m not nearly as down in the dumps as my opening monologue would indicate. And
really how could you be? The Riders went up against another formidable opponent
and emerged with a win. A recurring theme in this young season. And in another
recurring theme they found a new way to do it.
You’ve
got to be loving the summer of George, Cortez that is. Unlike in the past years
where we have had to endure the same offensive plan week in week out whether it
worked or not (often not), Cortez is not only attacking new things each week,
he is staying ahead of our opponents. Case in point, last week we used Getzlaf
and Dressler to attack the Stamps. Logically, the Argos came in keying on our
slots. So what do we do attack them with the wideouts. At this rate I’m
convinced that our Banjo Bowl offense will revolve primarily around Dan Clark somehow.
Durant and Smith are developing so deadly chemistry on those long balls (which
is perfect for when teams are cheating up to try…and I emphasize try… to stop
Sheets). Also, you just had to feel awesome for Rob Bagg that game. So deserving. Durant is just
on fire and calmly and robotically carving through defenses.
Of
course Durant has some massive help from some friends in the form of the
increasingly ridiculous Kory Sheets and the 5 outstanding men clearing the way
for him. Sheets is playing outstanding but you simply don’t get that much on
the ground without some solid play up front. As for Sheets, what I find most
impressive is that he is not rattling off massive runs. The odd one over 20 but
mostly his huge rushing totals are the product of consistently getting decent
yardage. Back to Cortez for a second… And I say this with an unblemished record
of staunch heterosexuality ... I love him and could kiss him.
Defensively,
the stats at the end of the day betray a solid defensive performance. Sure we
did give up over 400 yards passing but almost half of that was in the fourth
quarter when we (rightly for once) were mainly in prevent. As I said, Ray is a
great QB and made some plays but nowhere near enough. We managed to take one of
his favourite weapons in Kackert out of the picture for much of the game, making
him one dimensional. Coming into the game Ray had been sacked once… we pummelled
him for 5. What was great to see was us constantly pressuring and harassing
Ray. He’s an accurate, quick release kind of QB but it’s tough to play that
type of game under constant duress. With no real run game to take the pressure
off, it made life very hard for Ray. Great defensive plan and execution.
Aside
from the caveat around Durant’s health you have got to love pretty much
everything about the way this season has started. We’ve faced great offenses
and great defenses and handled them all with minimal stress. It’s a good time
to be green (unless we are talking about your skin, in which case you should probably
see a doctor).
Other
random thoughts:
- In
life, as in football, I would prefer not to see Willy make an appearance but
when all he has to do is hand off on every play to seal the win, it makes Willy
easier to handle.
- I
wonder how long it took them to realize that it was a replay of a passing play
that they were using to count players for the too many men penalty? The big
giveaway was I’m not sure of how many punt formations involve Ray taking the
snap.
- Ferri
may have crossed a line or two but that aside I love how for once we are the
team that is setting the bar in terms of physical play instead of getting bullied.
- Also
on Ferri, I’ll have to admit I have seriously undervalued his talent. Dude is
solid in all we ask him to do.
- We
are finally starting to see the benefit of Brackenridge at safety. Boom!
- Admittedly
that roughing the passer call on Khalif Mitchell was the result of the ref just
seeing him standing over Durant on the ground and assuming. Hard to blame him
