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Riders 12 -17
People
in Saskatchewan better start eating Cheerios for breakfast because apparently
that’s the only place you are going to find an O.
I’ve
been relatively level headed during this losing streak so far (especially by my
standards) but yesterday’s disgraceful performance was enough to break my calm
exterior and get me in a full out rage for the first time this season. Prophet
Jr. is even starting to pick up on the “slam your first down in anger” move. It’s
just frustrating to watch. What makes it even more frustrating is that despite
how bad we’ve played over the past month we’ve had the chance to win every
single game. If we could just turn the dial from “suck” to “mediocrity” we
wouldn’t have this losing streak. Yet here we are.
I
should preface this by saying yet again the D played well. Sure Prince Miller
is a terrible tackler and sure Dwight Anderson managed to hug a receiver
forward for more yards and sure they made other mistakes. But this unit is
ravaged by injuries, on the field way too much and more than pulling their weight
in spite of it all. They allowed one freaking TD for Pete sake!!! (p.s. who’s
Pete?). For all the talk of these rookie QBs embarrassing us it’s not really
been the D’s fault for the most part. Could they be better? Of course but I
would say they are more than pulling their weight.
Our
offense is an outright joke! And it starts at the top. George Cortez, consider
our brief summer bromance over! It’s not me, it’s you. I mean I kinda at least
like the prospect of scoring when it comes to my bromances. For a well renowned
offensive genius he is sure calling a like an idiot. Fact our O-line is
struggling. Fact Durant is not playing great ball right now. So instead of
trying to help them out he repeatedly puts them both in a position to fail by
completely phasing the RB out of the game. Great idea! Let’s make it easier for
defense to pin their ears back and harass Durant and the line. We ran once in
the second half… once! Part of that seemed to be that Garrett’s shitty blocking
got his ass stapled to the bench but again… if the guy sucks at pass blocking
why don’t we call a play that involves him doing something other than pass
blocking??!?! Newsflash, yes Kory Sheets is amazing but he isn’t the only one
in the province who is able to run. This isn’t rocket science, defenses do not
have to respect anything our RB does (no runs, no dumps) so is it any wonder
why our receivers are having a hard time getting open? Or that our QB is facing
relentless pressure? It’s just stupid!!! It didn’t work the last 3 times, what
makes you think it will work now??? Change what you are doing, put people in a position
to succeed rather than hanging their weaknesses out for everyone to see. Players
need to improve their play across the board but until the playcalling changes I
don’t see things getting better anytime soon.
Speaking
of play calling (cue long held deep seeded rant). The handoff 5 yards deep when
all you need is a yard is the dumbest call in Canadian football!!!!! Just absolutely
retarded. I hate it. All you need to do is fall forward for 1 yard, why make it
5 times harder by increasing the distance you need to go. If you aren’t running
the plunge at least pull it on a bootleg and give yourself some options. Stupid!!
We
were told that this roster was rebuilt to avoid slumps like last year and to
fight through adversity yet here we are again. Déjà vu. Coaches need to look in
the mirror because they aren’t earning their paycheques right now. My optimism
is sliding. Do you really think that we will fare any better on a short week against
a far superior BC team? I don’t.
Pass
the rye. This could get ugly.
Other
random thoughts
- Duron
Carter is good. Some damn nice catches made by him.
- I
have to eat a bit of crow and admit Geroy has been better than I expected.
- Didn’t
notice but did Tyler get hurt or pulled for performance reasons? Just saw
Watman at guard and Heenan at tackle.
- Penalties
masked what was actually a decent day returning by Jackson. Still think Sanders
should be back in but given how thin we are getting on defense I assume having
Jackson there as an emergency fill in factors into the decision.
- While
it probably would have been picked anyway, what the hell was Taj Smith was doing
in the area of that last pass in the endzone? Clearly a wrong route that drew
in an unneeded extra DB.
4 comments:
I am puzzled why the Riders continue to look for the long ball which gives the D more time to pummel Durant. No QB draws, no screen passes, no hot passes, no running plays except on 1st down and virtually no more crossing patterns. What gives?
I was watching our left corner on one play. He was off the receiver 7 yards until just before the ball was snapped. At the snap he was running back another 5 yards. Of course the receiver ran an out and caught the ball for a quick 10 yard gain.
Watch the opponents DB's they are at the line ready to challenge our receivers and can run with them
Is this a planned strategy,poor play calling or are our DB's afraid of getting beat long?
Do you think it all play calling? Maybe Durant's football IQ isn't very high, he doesn't use his legs at all anymore, sometimes ya gotta make things happen. All I know is that Calgary and BC are far far ahead of the Riders. Since Sheets went down the on has been horrible, I sure hope that our offence isn't that reliant on one guy, if it is we got real big problems. Where the hell is Dreslermthis season? Riders will be lucky to get 10 wins. I think Chamblains I not there father quote earlier about the retreads that got arrested shows he is not in control of this team. They don't seem to be upset about there current fate either.
I didn't like Durants interview on TSN where he said he can't play great all the time that shows me he lacks character
Anon 1 - Richie traditionally plays soft by design. Overall its hard to argue with his results but I agree there are times where press is needed. I thoughts that's why we signed more physical DBs
Anon 2 - Durant's IQ was fine when we were 8-1 and his TD/INT ratio was off the charts. I don't think he's the second coming of Doug Flutie and his game has its flaws but he's our best chance to win. Nobody has more TD passed than him this season. I wonder if the lack of mobility is a lingering injury from his early foot issue.
We have just given up even on the idea of running since Sheets went down and its killing us.
I caught that Durant quote, I don't think it was him admitting lack of effort but rather just being honest about not always playing his best despite trying. You can question a lot about Durant but his heart is one I won't.
Excellent post!
I, too, feel the slump falls on Cortez. My only hope is that the coaches are sacrificing mid-season offensive performance in order to not show all the cards before the games really count. I am feeling less concerned about the losing streak largely because the Defense has been reasonably stellar throughout it despite injuries (as you rightfully highlight), and entirely disagree with anyone who claims that any other team is superior to the Riders. I don't see an obvious weakness in the Rider roster. Durant is fine. Fans who expect more don't understand how a lot of what the QB accomplishes depends on others doing their jobs and what schemes are called. Contrary to much of Rider Nation, I am feeling more confident about a better performance in the coming month. In the end, it's about November. Still, expect a huge difference in the offensive output against the Lions on Friday. Get your Pride going, the tide will turn!
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