Monday Morning Sentimonies: Road Kill

Riders 15 - Lions 30

About the time Crezdon Butler bounced off the goal posts we should have realized it was not going to be our night. Actually about the time we saw we had to play on the road (against a western team to boot) we should have realized it was not going to be our night. Yet again this team's complete and utter inability to play like anything but crap on the road was on full display. The result was a predicable and painful to watch loss. At this point it seems that our best odds of making the playoffs are by relocating to the East division. 

There's probably not enough words or time for me to fully describe how brutal our offense was. In 3 road games (excluding garbage time), our offense has produced a total of 2 TDs. I'm not going to bother wading into the whole QB controversy thing but based on the our season so far I would leave Glenn at home next road trip. He plays great at home, but on the road evidently the travel schedules messes with his Matlock time and he shows up to the game useless. His eyes apparently could not see more than 6 yards down field as that's as far as he attempted passes... even on 2nd and 10. Now by no means am I putting our offensive issues all on Glenn. It would help if our receivers could catch the ball and maintain possession. It would help if we had better protection. It would also help if our offensive game plan wasn't devised by a 4 year old on a etch a sketch. Glenn was getting killed in the pocket. Everyone could see that. Should we run the ball to ease the pressure? Nope. Should we stretch the defense by throwing it up to our playmakers? Nope. Should we move Glenn's launch point by rolling him out away from pressure? Nope. The best offensive plan is keeping him stationary and attempting the same passes that didn't work all night. Genius. 

Since the QB controversy is already raging in this province. Allow me to address Bridge... he threw up a couple hail mary's in garbage time that panned out. Had BC's defense not been nursing a 30 point lead he doesn't score that easy. Though to his credit, Bridge seemed to be the only guy to think that maybe toss it up to Duron was a good play.  Glenn is the guy until Banjo Bowl... if the playoffs are a pipe dream by then, then play Bridge and return Glenn to his annual place on the trading block.

The defense was weird to me. They were softer than 3 ply toilet paper (allowing 500 yards and an embarrassing 200+ rushing yards). I mean they couldn't stop anything. But as if in homage to Richie Hall to mostly kept the Lions out of endzone (when they weren't bouncing off goal posts). Did they play good? No but with all the field goals they forced they would have given us a chance if we had a competent offense. I don't like the fact that we made a porous BC O-line look like an impenetrable wall. Instead of attacking one of their few weak points we were content to rush 3 maybe 4 if we were lucky. Those rare times we dialed up the pressure I swear our players were doing a Scott Gordon homage and running directly at opposing blockers rather than towards a gap. 

The end result is something that probably hurts us to admit but at this point we are unquestionably the 5th best team in the West. Playoffs require us to be at least the 4th best team  and we have a long way to go before that is a possibility.

Other random thoughts:
- Christion Jones showed a little bit of spark on his few returns. 

- Butler (an NFL vet) had much to adjust to in coming to the CFL, count "goal post in different place" among those lessons

- Part of me did enjoy Kevin Glenn calling out TSN for talking about a QB controversy. The other part of me wanted him to shut up and quit smiling until he did something productive.  

- Rob Bagg looked like Getzlaf out there. Dropping the routine passes and snagging one he probably should not have. 

- At first the illegal kickoff call confused me but then I read up on it (you should try that as an alternative to outrage). To get possession the player who knocks the ball out must have his feet in bounds. Roosevelt was in the air and did not land in bounds, therefore no possession.

- Van Gylswyk will probably be looking to Tonya Harding Crapigna after getting next to no actual kicking attempts in that game after waiting all this time for a chance.