It’s a weird vibe across
the prairies this week. Some of that is probably due to the impending influx of
our neighbours to the East. A group that comes with high stink levels, low
tooth to mouth ratios and also leads to increase anxiety levels for barnyard
animals. But more to the point of my story, the vibe is very upbeat… almost
cocky. For a 1 and 8 team mired in a season with little to be happy about its
fairly uncharacteristic. But hey, this
is Labour Day.
The Riders win on Labour
Day. Its as much a part of our Saskatchewan culture as Pilsner, Telemiracle and
opposing daylight savings time. It’s been over a decade since the Riders last
lost a Labour Day Classic. For most people this is a long time, however for
Winnipeg fans who measure football achievements in decades as opposed to
seasons, this doesn’t seem all that long at all. We just win. We win regardless
of QB (having won with not only Joseph and Durant but also Butler, Crandell,
Bishop and Smith). We win regardless our record (having won by a large margin
in both 2011 and 2015 which were just dreadful years). We just win, the
province parties, the only real uncertainty is whether I keep my pants on
during the post-game celebrations.
That brings us to this
year’s edition of the Classic…
On the surface the Bombers
and their 4 game win streak vs the Riders and their… quite frankly I’ve stopped
counting the losses… would seem to favour the visitors. But let’s dig a bit
deeper on the Bombers and their recent run of success. The Bombers have 1 win
against a team with a winning record and 3 of their 5 wins have come against
teams fielding a back-up QB. I will admit that they are playing some good
football and that they are an improved team over previous years but we should
not be anointing them a rising force in the west. If we are being honest the
Bombers feature a mediocre offense that is offset by a defense that
creates an absurd number of turnovers (almost 5 per game over the past 4). They
have a league high 33 takeaways (11 more than the next closest) including 18
INTs. Their game plan is simple: conservative on offense. Harris is the top
rusher and they lean on him lots. They have the 2nd least passing
yards but they routinely get shorts fields and don’t make mistakes. They have
the 2nd highest completion % and the 2nd fewest INTs
(Nichols has 1). It’s a recipe that is working well for them. I’m not convinced
it’s a sustainable recipe but until someone proves otherwise, it’s the one they
will follow.
Other than blindly assume
that we will do everything awesome on Labour Day (a fair assumption some could
argue) here’s how we go about getting that elusive second win.
Defensively stopping the
run is priority #1. Unlike pretty much every other team, the Bombers are
committed to using their running back. He is the focal point of that offense.
That means our tackling needs to be sound and our D-line needs to keep the
O-line from getting to the second level on their blocks. Nichols is having success with high % passes and a deep
shot thrown in here and there. We need to take away those quick easy passes and
force him to hold the ball longer and throw further downfield. Nichols has
always struck me more as an adequate game manager but not the gunslinger who is
going to win a shootout. Turn up the pressure on him and cracks will begin to
show. I also would be in favour of somebody reenacting the famous Butler on Pierce hit from a few years ago... you know for nostalgia sake.
Offensively its pretty
simple. Control the ball. The Bombers have 87 points off turnovers this season.
That’s crazy… but simply controlling the ball takes away a key part of what
makes Winnipeg successful. That is of course easier said than done. Though with
the exception of that dreadful Hamilton debacle, Durant has not thrown a pick
in his remaining games. It starts up front. It really helps Durant make good
decisions and throws when he has more than .5 seconds to do so. Someone put
cleats on Matt Vonk’s shoes instead of roller-skates. I also assume that Fulton
will have a better outing now that the rust is off. Durant may also need to
help himself. I don’t mean that he has to rush for 80 yards but even rollouts
to buy time will help hide the inadequacies of our line. In true Richie Hall
tradition the Bombers have a bend but don’t break defense. #2 in yards given up
but also #2 in points allowed. Patience is paramount. Methodical drives even
when we get close to the redzone are needed. Obviously Roosevelt is the money
maker but if we key in on him too much then interceptions are a certainty.
Holley, Demski, Bagg, Chambers, Collins, Lawrence find ways to get them the
ball. We can’t get predictable (why not try running? no chance they game
planned for that based on our game film). If we control the ball and limit
turnovers then Winnipeg suddenly becomes a very beatable team.
Labour Day has brought us
some great memories and some moments I’m pretty sure were awesome but the
memories are clouded by whiskey. I will be in the stands jacked up for what
might be the last legitimately exciting game of the season. The rest of the
stands better be equally as jacked. Let’s make the final Classic at the old
Stadium a thunderous party and let’s give our team the boost they need to
pummel the figgin’ Bombers. On behalf of Rider fans everywhere: Please don't screw this up Chris Jones... its all we have.
Riders by 14
As a final note, it really
wouldn’t be Labour Day without me devoting part of this post to insulting the
residents of Winnipeg. Sometimes I feel like I should lay off them I mean it’s
been 26 years since they won a Cup. Since then every team in the CFL that
hasn’t folded and 1 that has folded have won the Cup. Most multiple times. They
haven’t made the playoffs in 5 of the last 6 seasons, a near statistical
impossibility in a 9 team league. Were it not for lax rules on interfamily
marriages and extra disposable income based on not spending anything on
personal hygiene they would have no joy in life whatsoever. So I will refrain from my usual jabs this time.. besides its not like they possess the 3rd grade education required to read this anyway
1 comment:
Wow what has our league come to ??
We cant blame the refs for the lose but those whole CFL season is getting defined by the challenge flag especially on PI calls.
The League better get there head out of ????
There was other issues to get correct other than challenge flags.
I have always said that the league should build a quarterback stable/camp down south to help improve the depth at that position.
One thing I would love the CFL to do is build a relationship with NCAA DIV 2
There is probably a ton of quality kids down there
Thats my rant for now
Back to The Riders I can see we have some quality players(rec) we do need a RB ASAP but our Def wow no improvement !!!!
Have a good week !!!!!
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