Monday Morning Sentimonies: Embarrassing

Riders 0 - Bombers 31

Not sure how that could have gone worse short of Chris Jones getting caught making anti-semitic comments on camera. Look, I expected the Riders to lose on Saturday. It was a short week. We were banged up and missing guys. And the Bombers (who are no slouches) needed it way more than us. So the fact that we lost was not surprising. The fact that we showed absolutely no fight, effort, or knowledge of which direction the endzone was did surprise me. It was so bad that I can only assume Chris Jones spent his post game speech channeling his inner hockey coach from Letterkenny and knocking garbage cans around while yelling "F&$*$^*# Embarrassing!"

Now let me preface my comments on the game with the following. The loss sucked but this is not Armageddon (save us Bruce Willis). We still have the second most wins in the CFL. We still are 1 win away from a home playoff game. We are still heading to the playoffs. I know that standard practice in Riderville is bounce wildly from planning the parade route to sharpening our pitchforks and calling for everyone including maintenance staff to be fired but let's all just breathe a bit.

Ok, with that out of the way let's detail how craptacular that game was.

Zach Collaros must have contracted the severe case of the sucks that Nichols had on his last trip to Winnipeg because man he was awful. I get that he actually made some good throws only for the receivers to screw things up but he was awful. Maybe he needs glasses or maybe the last hit to his head caused colour blindness but he seems oblivious to opposing DBs. He wasn't the only one sucking. Kyran Moore had a brutal game. Marcus Thigpen played like he wanted to be anywhere but there. He actively avoided contact and his pass blocking was really just gentle touches as he backed out of harms way. Holley was awful. Shaw is inconsistent. What you saw was an offense that is not very good to begin with missing their best 2 receivers and using a patchwork O-line. It's been so long since we found the endzone that the last time we did the Argos were still in the playoff hunt; Cleveland beer fridges were still locked; Capital Point was still on schedule; shall I go on? We don't need much from out O but we do need something. Saturday they weren't even up to those low standards. If only we employed someone whose sole job it was to ensure our team produces offensive points? Oh wait, we do. I hope he's paid by the TD.

With the exception of that long Adams TD I thought the defense actually did pretty well in the beginning given how their O was actively working against them. Eventually they did succumb to the general lack of effort of the whole team but given the injuries they faced and the fact that they had overcome not just their opponents but also their own offense I'd say they did alright (that's the closest I'll come to a compliment)

This is the kind of game that you let sink in just long enough to humble you and then burn the tape and move on to the next challenge. As I said, the loss is not as doom and gloom as some would lead you to believe. For me, the bigger concern are the injuries to Bladek and Brooks. Both of which sound serious. Suddenly that trade for Blake becomes so much more important.

Would love to see Jones channel his inner Belichek and say "We're on to Calgary"

Other Random thoughts:
- Brandon Bridge is more awkward than a sex talk with your parents. I'm also sick of hearing about his athleticism. He runs like a baby deer learning to walk and accomplishes nothing in the process. How is that "athleticism" worth gushing about?

- Alexandre Gagne is a good special teamer.

- I'll end on a lighter note. I learned something amazing last week and anyone who follows me on Twitter will know what I'm talking about . The twitter world seemed blown away by this so I'll share it with anyone who might have missed it.

Gainer is an anagram of Regina.

I know... Mind Blown!