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Riders 27 - Ti-Cats 19
The good news is we won! The other good news is that unlike some sports, there are not points awarded for style or artistic merit... because that was an ugly, ugly win. But it was a win. Given the lack of those around these parts over the past few years we probably should be less picky about the ways in which we achieve victory. I rode a roller coaster of emotions during that game that was along the lines of yay, expletive, yay, expletive, stressed pacing of my living room, yay, expletive, we're not going to lose to expletive Hamilton are we?, expletive, massive sigh of relief, conflicting emotions that settled into happiness.
Offensively we started slow, played pretty good up until the Roosevelt TD... and then went to complete hell. Just god awful for the duration of that game. Zero first downs for the remaining 24 minutes of the game and the 6 drives we had netted us the following yards: -9, 0, 6, 8, 0, -6. For the mathematically challenged that works out to -1 net offensive yards over 24 minutes of game play. Bridge was about what you expect from a back-up. Took him a while to get into the game but when he did he threw the ball well. For how much people talk about his athleticism he is an awkward and ineffective scrambler but his arm was good.The bulk of my issue was with our idiotic play calling. From the comically inept Vernon Adams series (even the hotdog vendors know it will be a QB run), to running LaFrance 3 times while protecting the lead and trying to milk to clock, to not running once with the lead and 2:52 on the clock (we took a whole 16 seconds off the clock on that drive). With the exception of Carter, you can't really blame injuries. When the back-up plays that's when your OC needs to be at his best to build a game plan to play to his strengths. McAdoo choose instead to regress to his old habits.
The Night at the Roxbury celebration was pretty awesome. My favourite part was ROb Bagg's reluctant participation. Duron has now gotten Glenn to conga and Bagg to head bob... that's impressive.
Defense deserves huge credit for a very gutsy effort. Not only did they have to step up and bail out an offense that disappeared in the second half, they had to do it with a line-up that was duct taped together. When Radford showed up at safety, you knew things were getting dicey. But despite the adversity they battled through forced 5 turnovers, allowed 1 TD and were the primary reason we emerged with the win. Given how awful they were to start the year I never that I would be typing that but Jones is finally fielding a Defense befitting his reputation.
Our returners are cursed. Christion Jones, Demski, now Thigpen. Can't keep the good ones healthy... and yet I still don't see a scenario where Owens plays. Too bad because Thigpen was looking real good.
It may have been ugly but not all wins are going to be pretty or pummelings. Good teams overcome adversity and we did that on Friday. Sure it was against a bad team (I mean the only way that last play could have been worse is if they sent in the 3rd stringer to be QB) but a win is a win and winning is always a good thing (even if that 4th quarter took my blood pressure to dangerously high levels). Now we play the waiting game to see how serious our myriad of injuries are. With Calgary up next we're going to need all the healthy bodies we can get because if we play like this next week then we are screwed.
Other random thought:
- We found out why a 6'7 350 pound DT was available to sign with us mid-season... he's not very good. The few plays I saw him, TJ Barnes was doing a whole lot of nothing.
- Brandon Banks is one heck of a diver. Yeah that Hecht hit was a hair late but Banks played it up like he was up for an Emmy. That PI call was embarrassing. You'd think Rogers had shot poor Banks the way he flailed.
- I still can't get over what a stupid call that was by the Ti-Cats.
6 comments:
Your reaction to the offensive play-calling seems similar to mine. Especially the 2 throws inside the 3 min warning. Then on the next series a slow developing fake when the D is hard charging? If you wanted to mess up the D should have had Morris in the game too and faked to LeFrance then pitch it out.
I was nervous even at halftime due to the guys who were dropping. Imagine playing a smarter OC when Foster went out. No offense to Hecht but a team like Calgary would have just ran McDaniel to his side all day.
Have to agree. If Riders play like that against Stamps, they're done. Dont know how many are gone or for how long. Guess we'll find out later this week. Bouka & Brouilette signing will help a lot. Glenn needs to get back sooner than later. Have 2 games in short order vs Ottawa which should help now that they're down to 3rd string @ QB. Into 4th game of 11 straight to finish season so if keep getting knicked up, things could go south in a hurry.
Looks like an arms war out there. I like the Rider signings but so much for the idea that Jones has the inside track on his former players. Rumour has it that Grymes has signed with the Eskimos, joining Walker as 2 of the biggest catches out there. It really bothers me that fans automatically think players are true to one coach or another regardless. The Jones connection in my view was always overhyped. Players talk & liking a coach is a consideration but I think familiarity with teammates is as big of a consideration. Perhaps the Franklin talk will now subside as well. My feeling is one reason Adams is here is because Jones is smart enough to know he has no control of that situation & Eskimos will trade him prior to free agency & are going to demand a high price. If there is a bidding war, which I see likely, the Eskimos would ideally like to see him go East.
Gov - Yeah I would have targeted Hecht a lot more. He survived in that role all things considered but a better team would have exposed him a lot more as you say.
Rudi - With that kind of gibberish I think you are looking for a Blue Bomber fan blog
Anon - Yeah Calgary and then a quick turnaround to a road match up is tough. Need to emerge with at least one win out of the 2.
Anon 2 - The coach connection is one consideration but it definitely can be trumped by things like money. After spending on Foster and Knox I doubt we had the bank roll to offer Grymes a blank check that would have been needed to poach him. As for Franklin, I still think we make a strong effort but you are right Adams represents the contingency plan as we realize Franklin is no guarantee.
Keep in mind Grymes was in Edmonton before Jones so the loyalty was not what we would have thought. I think loyalty does count for some guys - Otha Foster and Jefferson are examples.
For what it's worth we've had free agents like Muamba and even Broullete yesterday who said they came cause they like what Jones is doing.
It's not unusual for players to say they came because they like what the coach is doing. What else would they say? I think money, especially in the CFL, speaks loud. Grymes, as you say, was a Hervey find but he's not there anymore & he didn't play for Maas or Sunderland so money probably won out.
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