Riders vs. Bombers: Home Sweet Home

Saturday we celebrate 150 years of Canada and the opening of new Mosaic Stadium. I haven’t been this excited for a game in a long, long time (likely due to the fact that we haven’t been competitive in a long, long time but I digress). The preseason game gave us a teaser but I cannot wait to hear how loud our new stadium will be when it is filled to the brim with a jacked up crowd. It’s going to be electric. Between the atmosphere, the holiday weekend and the crazy 50/50 jackpot, this is one game where the exorbitant booze prices might not be a deterrent to mass consumption.

On to the game itself…

Not to be melodramatic but if we are to have any hope this season, these next 2 homes games are critical. We have ravenous confines of our new stadium, an eclectic crowd and a Bomber team that I think is outside the top tier teams and a Ti-Cat that is so injured I’m not sure they’ll be able to field a roster next week. After these games we get @ Calgary, 2 game set with BC and @ Edmonton. So if we don’t do something over the next 2 games then our playoff chances will quickly be on par with those of the Memphis Mad Dogs.

Offensively, the Bombers remind me a lot of us. Solid OL, good group of receivers, mediocre QB. The main difference is that their OC actually uses his RB and isn’t likely to ask Dominique Davis to randomly throw a pass.  If I’m Paul LaPolice my game plan would have 3 things on it: 1) Run Andrew Harris behind that strong OL. 2) Throw the ball to Andrew Harris on swing passes and such. 3) Test or questionable secondary with deep throw once our LBs are cheating up. So it goes without saying that stopping Harris is priority #1. He is the motor that keeps that offense churning. I see this as problematic though because we will be relying on a very mediocre defensive front to keep a good Winnipeg OL from getting hands on our LBs. Lots of pressure on our LBs in this game, especially since our only good one is questionable for the game. I don’t care who he’s replaced with, the Rider LBs featuring not-Muamba don’t scare anyone. In the secondary the 2 receivers that worry me the most are Darvin Adams and Clarence Denmark. Sure Dressler will get his yards in but those 2 are the big play potential guys. I’m clearly not the biggest supporter of our secondary but quite frankly if they aren’t up the challenge of stopping Matt Nichols then there is no hope when we face the top tier QBs.

As for our offense priority #1 is protecting the football.  It’s well document that the bulk of Winnipeg’s success last season was due to the crazy amount of turnovers they forced. Take those away and all they really are is a team that gives up a lot of yards and kicks a lot of field goals. If we control the ball, we have a chance. If there was ever a QB suited to take on the famous Richie Hall bend but don’t break defense its Kevin Glenn. Let him dink and dunk behind that line taking whatever they give. The big key will be coming away with majors instead of FGs when we get the chance. I think we need to get Duron involved early even if it’s a screen or a punt return let’s funnel his energy in a positive direction early.  Obviously Roosevelt is the safety blanket but every receiver is going to need to be involved given the patient long drives we’ll need to string together. Some semblance of a run game would help keep what I think will be a very good Winnipeg front 4 slowed down a bit (but I realize there’s little point wishing for that… even though I would be running at Sam Hurl all night long until he proves he belongs in the starting lineup).

Maybe its Rider Pride in my veins… ok its definitely that and not logic but despite the challenges facing the team I do think they will step up and deliver a win to christen the stadium. It will be deafening, it will be electric and I think that will breathe enough life into the Riders to overcome their defense and offensive coordinator. In true Rider fashion we will do things the hard way and there will be way to much drama for my liking. But in the end…

Riders by a Duron Carter TD

Start warming up those vocal chords.

Monday Morning Sentimonies: Same Old Story

Riders 14 – Alouettes 16

You can tell by the return of curse words echoing through my house, that football season is upon us once again. It’s a good thing my neighbours know me otherwise on most game days they might surmise a domestic is going on at my house and call the cops. Alas, the only ones getting beaten we the Riders (well I mean technically that’s a very good thing that no one else was getting beaten but that doesn’t make for quite the same calibre of segue).

Since the season opening loss on Thursday I have heard many people focusing on the positive things from the game. Yes our O-line looked pretty good, yes Nic Demksi had himself a game (save for that one boneheaded decision), yes our special teams coverage looked good. God bless all you optimists but honestly, screw all that. We lost, again, and losing sucks. Not only did we lose but we lost a very winnable game against a bottom tier team that didn’t play particularly well. It’s not like our schedule is going to get any easier.

I think what bugs me the most about the loss is that the loss was due in large part to a lot of the same dumb coaching mistakes that plagued us last season. The big 4 for me: Coaching errors, a refusal to run; overuse of the 3 man rush and McDoo’s complete and utter idiocy when it comes to randomly inserting the back-up QB:

Errors  – Kevin Glenn plunged for a first down with 28 seconds left in the game. We did not run another play until calling a timeout with 8 seconds left. I don’t want to go full Glen Suitor on you here but we should have ran a minimum of 1 play in that time (possibly 2). The abysmal clock management cost us a few precious yards closer to the endzone and an easier kick. I am not absolving Crapigna of wrongdoing. That was a very makeable kick and I bet 9 times out of 10 he makes it. But it was well within our power to make life easier for him and our coaches dropped the ball (I guess in a show of solidarity with Duron).

Refusal to run – Pop quiz, how many carries did Marshall get in the first half? 2… 2!!! It still amazes me how one dimensional McAdoo makes our offense… particularly when we have a good O-line and a power runner. Marshall had a 7 yard per carry average and we ran him just twice in the first quarter… against a defense fielding a rookie MLB to boot. Old man Glenn had more rushing attempts in the first quarter.

3 Man Rush – Here’s a wrestling analogy for the fans among you. Every time we run the 3 man rush it reminds me of Ric Flair climbing to the top rope. The only thing that ever happened when he climbed the rope was he got knocked off. The infamous words of JR ring in my head every time only 3 defenders rush “Oh that never works!”

Back-Up QB – So in the McAdoo school of offensive strategery, it makes sense to keep the big tall athletic back-up QB on the sideline while a borderline senior citizen runs the sneak but he absolutely must be inserted when your starter has driven the field is in scoring position. Rather than have the guy who is known for touch passes and who is in a rhythm throw a touch pass, let’s randomly bring a guy cold off the bench to do it. In what universe does that sound like a good idea?!? I am starting a petition that every time McAdoo randomly inserts a the back-up QB for a non-sneak play a season ticket holder gets to kick him in the nuts.

Look I know the players have some responsibility in this there were too many drops, way too many penalties and countless more mistakes. But if our coaches keep making such glaring and frequent errors then it won’t matter how few mistakes the players make. We simply do not have a talented enough roster to overcome our own coaches’ self inflicted wounds.

Did I mention I the losing?

Riders vs. Alouettes: Season Opener

In a curious schedule quirk, the CFL is opting to open the 2017 season with a match-up of 2 of the worst teams from last season (I assume the writers at TSN will come up with something more enticing for the promos). But what this match-up lacks in quality teams, it makes up for in intriguing story lines… mainly Durant vs. his old team. It’s also Kevin Glenn vs. his old team but you can literally say that about 95% of our schedule.

For comparison sake I went back and looked at our opening day roster from 2016 to see if I feel better or worse about where we 1 year later. Downgrade at QB. Certainly receivers are better. OL is improved. D-line is comparable (possibly stronger inside). Linebackers are far worse (outside of MLB). The secondary is actually way better… though that is more an indictment on the utter garbage we fielded last year than an endorsement of what we have now (the middle of our secondary was Buddy Jackson, Kevin Francis and Brandon McDonald, shudder). So overall, yes we are better than last year. Still I’m not entering this game with any shred of confidence.

Darian Durant looked really good in the preseason, our secondary did not. I know it’s only preseason but it can’t be completely discounted. Durant may say that this game isn’t about getting revenge on the Riders but that’s only because it’s really about giving a giant FU to Chris Jones (and possibly a few crotch chops for good meaure). Durant plays well with a chip on his shoulder so we have good reason for concern… especially when you look at who are manning some of our most important cover spots: Sam Williams, Chris Lyles Erick Dargan and Jeff Hecht. The only people that line-up strikes fear into is Rider fans.

Offensively I actually like how we stack up. Noel Thorpe always fields very strong defenses (and probably would have a lot more rings if they had found a offense for him post-Calvillo) but I don’t think he has near the talent on the roster he is used to. Certainly they are very strong up front with Bowman and Knapton. But the lack of Bear Woods in the middle of that D is a huge loss for that unit, one that they will look to fill with a rookie. The secondary doesn’t look much better than ours. With Ryan Phillips hurt, Jonathan Mincy and Tyree Hollins are the only notable names out there. The natural tendency would be to turn Duron loose on a questionable secondary but I would resist that somewhat. My first priority would be to pound Cameron Marshall at the heart of that D to test the new MLB (though I know that running is generally against the morals of McAdoo). That will open up some big holes for Carter and Roosevelt. I would also look often to Grant and Holley as you can bet the other 2 will be keyed on. Our offense should have a productive day.

That brings us to the defense. If you could assure me that all plays would go in the direction of Jefferson, Muamba, Rodgers or Gainey, I would feel great about the match-up. But since its highly likely the other 8 defenders will become involved at some point I feel not so great. The addition of Jovon Johnson is huge in my opinion. That will hopefully bring some stability to that side of the coverage. The offensive game plan against the Riders remains the same as it was last year: throw until they prove they can stop you (which usually we can’t). Durant will look to air it out and we need to counter somehow. The best way we can if by getting pressure on him. If he has time, he will pick us apart. We need that ball out quick and its on the D-line to make that happen. I would also bring the blitz more than usual. For all of his strengths, Durant was never the greatest at the hot route so let’s force him into some bad decisions.

This is certainly a winnable game (Montreal is a bottom tier team) but we historically play awful in Montreal. Its almost as if there were some kind of night time distractions that detracted the teams readiness (but Montreal wouldn’t have anything like that conveniently lined up in large quantity up on one street would they?). Our best chance at winning this game is an offensive shoot-out and in a battle of which defense is more likely to get a stop, I’m certainly not taking us until we prove we can defend the pass.

The game will be close but ultimately it will be a disappointing start to the season.

Als by 7

Official Predictions 2017

Twas the day before the start of a new season

And Rider fans were nervous, and with good reason.

We’ve got a fancy new stadium to take in the game

But have reason to fear our performance will still be lame.

So tell us Prophet, give us words that are witty

Give us reason to believe we won’t be so… you know.

So listen up dear reader as I share my predictions through rhymes

On what to expect in 2017… other than more fines

Its year 2 of the rebuild, but you really wouldn’t know

Jones is back but with pretty much a whole new team in tow

Gone Foster, Gone Cox. It’s such a drag

Hell, gone pretty much everyone not named Rob Bagg

The biggest news by far is gone #4

Some will say that means gone any chance to score

But it’s not all been bad news, so let’s not all freak out

Just don’t look at the new beer prices. That might make you pout.

The offense all rests on Kevin Glenn’s arm.

Can the old man do? Third time is a charm.

His O-line has been beef up and he’s got weapons galore

Roosevelt, Grant and Carter… there’s no way we don’t score.

Roosevelt will lead in catches and Carter TDs

We just hope that Duron doesn’t also lead in penalties

KG will do fine but allow me to be curt

At some point mid-season, he will end up hurt

It will only be a couple games but those won’t be much fun

It will be made worse because McAdoo will still refuse to run

Overall our offense will not be top tier

But it will certainly be better than the hot mess last year

Defense has some big adds like Jefferson and Muamba

Those 2 alone make me want to dance a samba (sorry it was a really poor decision to try and rhyme Muamba)

Our interior DL is not flashy but will do

Newsome and Leonard won’t (I really hate those 2)

By midseason there will be a new starting D-end

And that’s when our sack total will go on the mend.

Muamba gives us some really run stopping ability

But our OLBs leave a huge pass coverage liability

We struggled last year with a stud like Otha Foster

And we no longer have anything close to him on our roster

In the secondary, we have good reason to fear

Early in the season they will look as bad as last year

By about week 6, we’ll have tried 8 different DBs

But will finally find a combo that won’t allow so many TDs

The D will struggle early but down the stretch will giv’er

At least that’s what I hope for the sake of my liver.

We will be more competitive but still start the season rocky

Let’s be honest, we have no reason to be cocky.

We will struggle out the gate. 2 and 4, oh the dread!

There will be deafening cries for Jones’ head

The wins may be ugly but they will start to come
A big labour day win will make us not so glum

There will be another skid while Glenn recovers

Williams will assume the #2 spot beating out all others

At the end of it all we will have 7 wins (most within our own walls)

But good enough to cross over because the East still sucks balls

But that my friends is where it will end

We’ll lose the east-semi (mainly because we can’t defend)

So there you have it my official prophecy

Some might call my thoughts heresy

But if you don’t like this version or my claims

Could be worse, I had an alternate view where it all goes down in flames (like really super bad... let's all hope the version I posted is closer to reality)

CFL Pick Em

This isn't really a blog thing but in case any of my readers are interested, I'm running a CFL Pick Em confidence pool. It's $20 to enter and there are prizes for most points over the whole season as well in throughout the season.

If anyone is interested in taking part just let me know and I'll get you all the details.

Monday Morning Sentimonies: Burn the tape and get to the cuts

Riders 10 - Lions 42

I don't want to dwell on that monstrosity of a game anymore than I to. Even the most die hard of fans found that hard to watch and even harder to find a silver lining in it, other than maybe that we are glad that football games don't have 5 quarters. Its only preseason so let's not completely overreact. But still there are concerns heading into the season. I think the Lions are one the teams to beat this season and at this point it looks like we are showing up the West Division gun fight with a banana. Still its only preseason so let's not completely panic just yet.

I was going to do a section entitled "The Good" on the game but honestly, the only good was Tull looking like a beast. Even Antigha did fairly well. It renews some of my lost hope in a our non Jefferson Defensive ends. But I mean that was it for good. Our defense was scary bad. Our offense what utterly useless and those few times they weren't, penalties negated the play. We had 250 yards of offense and 150 yards of penalties. At one point we had as many turnovers as first downs. It's the type of game where you burn the tape and take a good stiff drink (or multiple as I did) and forget it ever happened. The highlights for me are the plays where Elimimian absolutely destroyed Stroshak and the play where Brandon Bridge took a helmet to the groin while hurdling a defender in a selfless attempt to make a rare positive play... only to have it all for naught due to penalty. I don't like see our players get knocked around but in a game as awful as that, any play that entertains me is a positive.

Onto the easiest part of any coach's job... the cuts (and honestly, after Friday it wasn't a very difficult job).

Only 3 releases surprised me:  Jarriel King (because he was our primary import depth and potentially a starting guard), Dillon Grondin (because he was about the only true MLB type we had to back-up Muamba) and Mark Roberts (because he has a good camp and was a projected starter). There is a chance that Roberts and Butler may be brought back when healthy so have to wait and see there. The rest should come as no shock. Maybe Bryan Bennett but he made one good pass over 2 games so all the good practice in the world means diddly. I was very happy we kept Williams. I like what I have seen from him. I was sad to see Milhouse go... but that isn't really for football reasons.

There were some names I was surprised to see make the team. There was the Juniors Thebaud and Philogene, didn't see them cracking the roster. There was Mike Dubuisson... who I didn't see cracking any roster. I was also surprised that we kept all 4 of Newsome, Leonard, Tull and Antigha. At some point 1 or 2 of them will have to go (please be Leonard, please be Leonard). 

So roster-wise where does that leave us? Receivers look real strong (something we knew all along). I like Marshall at RB. Assuming LaBatte and St John heal up I like our starting 5 as well as the OL depth we've assembled behind them. D-line is a question mark outside of Jefferson. There is potential on the inside as well as the other edge with Tull/Antigha but I want to see proof not potential. LBs will be fine... with the exception of the cover LB spot, which scares me. Williams looked awful and I really don't see a name on the roster that instills confidence at this point. Secondary is a big concern. We are certainly in a better spot than last year but unfortunately given that last year was an utter embarrassment early on in the secondary, while "only somewhat terrible" is technically an improvement, it is still a concern. I will add on a more positive note that our Canadian depth is better than last year. With the exception of Muamba, I see a viable back-up at every starting Cdn spot. 

I won't lie and say am confident about the upcoming season but I do feel better than last season and we somehow salvaged 5 wins out of that mess (along with a couple games we really should have won). So let's see what this team can bring when the bullets start flying for real.

 

2017 Canadian Fantasy Football Guide

Just in time for the last minute drafters, here is my 3rd annual Canadian Fantasy Football Guide. 

Visit http://www.lulu.com/shop/tyler-karwandy/canadian-fantasy-football-guide-2017/ebook/product-23225501.html to get your copy and get the edge you need to win your draft.