Monday Morning Sentimonies: War Of Attrition

Riders 29 – RedBlacks 16

In a very un-Rider-like move, the Green and White seized opportunity on Saturday. With a chance to move into 2^nd place and all but bury the Elks, I, like many, expected the Riders to needlessly overcomplicate things and lose. Instead they won in fairly convincing fashion. This despite enduring even more injuries leaving us with a starting offense that would be questionable by pre-season standards.

In the 4^th quarter there were maybe 4 people starting on offense that we actually intended to be starting. I can assure even the back-up plans did not contemplate a possibility where Alford, Duncan-Busby, Hunchak and Hudon were not only playing significant snaps but being relied upon to contribute offensively. But such was the world we found ourselves in with all the injuries. Bane sadly blew his knee out just as he was starting to show reliable hands and again. Armstead got hurt. Baker and Emilus were briefly out. Thank god they were able to finish the game because next on the depth chart may have been seeing if Micah could play RB or whether Jorgen Hus could run routes. It did not help that out first half offense seemed to rely exclusively on Harris having his receivers run murder routes across the middle.

But credit, where credit is due. They dug deep and got it done. Duncan-Busby stepped up and contributed a lot of yards. Johnson continues to be a valuable receiver. And my man Bertrand-Hudon (aka french Szarka) stepped up and helped seal things in the 4^th. The seas parted on that TD and the only question was whether he would run out of gas before the goal line. Offense settle for FGs too many times but in a game where it was clear the defense had things handled, they did not turn the ball over, they put together drives to keep the D rested and they put up close to 30 points. Again this was an offense featuring more players who should be one our practice roster or unemployed on their couches than actual starters.

It had been a while so it was nice to see the return of a defense that can make a difference. They are the reason we won. 3 interceptions, 2 sacks and just 3 points allowed through the first 3 quarters. The garbage time TD the RedBlacks scored with 2 mins to go really masks how dominant the D was and how ineffective Ottawa’s offense was. It had been a while since we had seen them dominate like that. To the untrained eye you might have even thought you saw Lokombo make a play. I assure you that purely by accident. A) he should have made that pick but B) he was very much in the right place purely by accident and just as surprised as the rest of us when the ball arrived.

It was another well rounded team effort with special teams also doing their job. Lauther was perfect. Alford chipped in a massive return. Kick cover unit was strong.

We very much needed this win and the team stepped up and delivered. The way our depth is stepping up this season is almost unbelievable. Amazingly after taking 2 months off from this whole winning thing, we now find ourselves in a position to host a playoff game. This is a dramatic turn of events because just 2 weeks ago we were all doing our best Jim Mora impersonation: “Playoffs? I just hope we can win a game.”

The way the injuries are mounting though is definitely concerning. We finally got some bodies back in Lanier and Brammer and evidently we are in a 1 for 1 trade system as it appears to have cost us Bane and Armstead. As long as Emilus and Baker are okay then we should be able to survive but we already had to sign Hunchak off the couch and if you think there are any Canadian WRs left out there who are even as good as Hunchak I have some bad news for you. We are one injury away from my phone ringing to see what I am up to next weekend.

For now though, I am definitely going to savour this second win in a row. One more all but locks us into the playoffs. For those of you that have forgotten what that is, they actually do let the good teams keep playing after the end of the regular season.

Other random thoughts:

-        In a game where everyone was getting hurt I’m still shocked that Miles Brown did not somehow inadvertently injure Masoli.

-        I fully support Ben Majors embracing this expectation that he entertain us when he talks on the mic. My only suggestion this week would have been that one that final play with all the ejections he should have started by apologizing for taking for long to only come away with 2 penalties with 6 seconds left.

-        Baldonado is quietly becoming a pretty reliable contributor on the D-line.

Riders vs. RedBlacks: No Ties

Now that we’ve got that pesky “can’t win after Labour Day” thing off our backs it time to tackle the next challenge… winning at home. You see dedicated fans like you and I have not witnessed a home victory after Labour Day since 2021. That is a lot of bad football, often in the not greatest weather to endure just to see us lose, while getting gouged at the concessions. Can’t imagine why attendance has slipped.

Our chance to get back to winning at Mosaic comes in the form of the 8-5-1 RedBlacks. You might remember them from our last encounter when the command centre famously intervened when no one wanted them to and forced an outcome no one liked. The RedBlacks started the season strong but are 1-3 in their past 4.  Jeremiah Masoli gets the start and there’s no way that the announcers don’t beat the “Masoli’s first game in Saskatchewan since Marino” angle to death.

Just on that… Lord I hope Miles Brown doesn’t inadvertently end up injury Masoli like seemingly every other QB he faces. Collaros was on him but Dru Brown and Streveler he was a victim of circumstance. Miles Brown is nothing like Marino (I mean he may also have a black girlfriend but that hardly seems like a relevant detail to anyone not named Craig) but if something happens, no matter how innocent, we will never hear the end of it. Maybe put Brown at safety just to be safe. I imagine he will not be any less impactful than Lokombo there.

Let’s start on offense. We are getting out first glimmer of good news on the “every starting OL we have is on the 6 game front”. Looks like Brammer will be back. There will be one focus in this on both sides. Armstead can say all the right things in the media but I don’t believe for a second that he doesn’t want to run it down Ottawa’s throat and give the DX crotch chop to Dyce (hoping he resists the urge to do the second, or is at least subtle about it). Conversely Ottawa will clearly want to shut him down. Regardless, until I see any kind of evidence that is does not work, keep feeding that man the ball. I don’t expect another 200 out of him but I would like to see 20 more touches. With so much focus on him, there will be opportunities for big plays with play action. Baker and Johnson have been our best receivers of late so lean on them. I also think this is a game where you could fake the hand off and do a short dump to Bane quite effectively. Keys are maintain a balanced attack and don’t turn the ball over. Ottawa lost Pickett for the year which is a big blow.

Defensively we get out best player back in Milligan (thank you eight-pound, six-ounce, newborn infant Jesus, who doesn't even know a word yet—little infant, so cuddly but still omnipotent.) Looks like we will get Lanier back as well which will be a big addition up front. As mentioned, Jeremiah Masoli starts. He’s not as turnover prone as Brown and not as generally bad at anything but running as Crum. He’s a veteran who stays calm and can get the ball to his playmakers. But this is not a very good Ottawa offense overall. 3^rd last in points, 7^th in rushing most giveaways of any team in the CFL. They have dangerous receivers in Hardy, Rhymes and now a returning Pimpleton. Unlike Calgary our DBs can’t rely on the WRs just dropping everything. They are going to need to make some plays. I also expect that with all the hype around Armstead that Ottawa’s new RB Laborn will want to show why they deemed Armstead expendable. I like our chances of limiting the run. But we’re going to be allowing pass yards. The key will be holding them to FGs instead of TDs and forcing a couple turnovers.

One other thing that could play a factor in this is discipline. Ottawa is the most penalized team in the league. After a penalty-filled start to the year we have settled to about middle of the pack in that regard. I could see emotions running hot in this one on both sides. Whichever side can avoid the costly penalties that come from losing your cool will get a big advantage.

There’s two ways of looking at this… we only beat a really bad Calgary team by one score so we are in trouble with mildly competent competition. Or… the Calgary game was just the first step in an upward swing. I honestly don’t know where I land on that one. I don’t think we are a bad team. But I’m also under no illusions that we don’t have some glaring weaknesses.

I think this is an evenly matched team that I am tilting in our favour for 3 reasons. 1) Trevor Harris the best QB in this matchup. 2) We are playing at home. 3) Probably should have just said 2 reasons. I apparently don’t have a 3^rd. Just another example of the high standard or literary and journalistic skill you’ve come to expect in this space. 

It’s gonna take some ridiculous 4^th quarter come from behind drama but I think we win

Riders by a late 4^th Q Harris TD. 

Given that I picked us to lose last week I was very tempted to do the same this week just to be safe. So if we lose you can probably blame me… you know in addition to most likely blaming the refs again.

 

 

Monday Morning Sentimonies: Is This Real?

Riders 37 – Stamps 28

In the moments following the Riders' win on Friday, all I could think about was Corey Grant.

Now there are only 2 possible reactions to that statement: Who is Corey Grant? And Why in the hell are you thinking about Corey Grant? Bear with me. I’m slowly embracing the desire to tell rambling stories that is growing as I embrace my old man-ness. Corey Grant was essentially Mitch Picton of the early 2000s. Reliable role player but far from a star. More to the point of my story… in one particular game in 2008 he scored a TD and in one of the most honest post game interviews ever he said ““The coach is like, ‘Act like you’ve been there,’ but I haven’t been there before. It had been a while, so I didn’t know what to do.’’ 

And that’s how that very random anecdote relates to Friday’s win. Much like Corey Grant, it had been so long since we won, I didn’t know what to do. We hadn’t won a game since July. We hadn’t won a game after Labour Day since 2021. It has been a long damn time! This was a much needed win. To be honest I still don’t really believe we won. To be honest I spent most of the second half assuming we’d find a way to blow it. 

Offense was the driving force in the one. Well specifically, Ryquell Armstead was a one man wrecking crew. Over 200 yards in his debut. Most dominate rushing performance I’ve seen since Kory Sheets. For once we didn’t overthink things. I said before the game Calgary has the worst run D in the league and Armstead needs 20 touches min. Thankfully Mueller either reads this blog or is smart enough on his own to not overcomplicate something so obvious. Also major props to our patchwork O-line. Armstead was impressive but they were giving him major room to operate. Week in week out Edwin Harrison is proving to be one of the best coaching hires in years. Baker and Johnson led the way for the receivers. Finally our QB was blessed with guys actually making catches for him. Harris was smart with the ball (minus that one he threw directly at Calgary's DB). Biggest factor was scoring majors. Far to often over the past 3 seasons we have had to settle for FGs. Harris delivered 4 TD drives. 

Defense did OK and against a lowly team like the Stamps that proved to be enough. We played pretty solid for 3 quarters then visibly took our foot off the gas in the 4^th nursing a lead. Would have preferred they didn’t do that an make the end so damn nerve-wracking but beggars can’t be choosers.  Keep in mind we were missing Milligan, Carney and Lanier. Arguably 3 of our top 5 defenders. We should get Lanier and Milligan back next week so things may be looking up. I won’t lie when we gave up a 69 yard TD on a 1 yard plunge I all but gave up hope but that turned out to be the only thing we really allowed in the first half. To be fair a lot of our defensive success was based on Calgary being awful and not being able to throw accurately or catch those rare perfectly thrown balls. Given that we only get Calgary once more over the final 4 games we may need to find a new strategy on D but for this week, it worked. 

Look, I will say this very clearly, any team that goes shotgun on 3^rd and 1 particularly with the game on the line deserves to lose. I still think Hamilton should be stripped of their win over Toronto for pure short yardage incompetence in this regard. 

After months of playing well sporadically in some phases but not all, we finally put it all together. We had a run game AND a pass game working. We played defense. Special teams made plays. We found ways to win, not lose. 

Now the massive caveat is that Calgary is visibly the WORST team in the CFL so all this win really means is that we are less awful than the worst. If we want to return to the playoffs we need to establish ourselves as less awful than at least 2 other teams. So enjoy this win because if you last since July you damn well deserve it. But hold off on thinking all our problems are over just yet. One week at a time. 

Other random thoughts:

-        With top special teams ace Milligan missing I noticed both Kosi Oneyka and Jaxon Ford step up and make plays.

-        Can someone tell me what it is that Nelson Lokombo does for this team? At least Dalke hit people. I am going to start calling Lokombo pregnancy scare because all he ever is is late.

-        I know its very illegal but as someone who grew up when it was still allowed/encouraged that Emilus crack back was a hell of a hit! Hell put him at safety… you know Chris Jones woulda tried.

Riders vs. Stampeders: Who Is The Worst?

Hope you enjoyed the bye week. A chance for fans and players alike to relax, unwind and not dread losing yet again. That was nice. But now its back to reality and to be perfectly honest, reality kinda sucks right now. Fortunately we get to play a team whose reality also sucks. After this game one team’s reality will suck a little less and the other’s will suck a whole lot more. Or maybe we tie and just wallow in misery together. Have I sufficiently hyped this game for you? TSN should hire me to do their promo videos. 

Do you know the last time the Riders won a game that occurred after Labour Day? West Semi 2021. Do you know the last time the Riders won a regular season game that occurred after Labour Day? November 13, 2021. We are 0 for our last 14. Fall seems to do to us what the playoffs do to the Leafs or Cowboys.

We need to go 3-2 minimum over the final 5 to be in the playoff conversation. If we can’t beat lowly Calgary that ain’t happening, simple as that. This is a must win game, otherwise you might well just start planning for 2025. This is a very winnable as I will shortly detail the very long list of reasons that Calgary is terrible. BUT, my confidence in our ability to seize this opportunity has gone from “Skeptical hope” to “Hello darkness my old friend”. Somehow we managed to come out of the bye week in worse shape than we went into it. No injured players are ready to come back yet. Carney is now out. And we let the best player on the team attend to family matters. 

Side note: I do think it is awesome that the Riders let Milligan prioritize his family. Its those kind of actions that actually demonstrate the family culture Mace is building is more than just words. This helps build our reputation as a franchise that does right by its players. But still, selfishly it sucks and players should damn well know that prime “knock up your lady" season is late March through August. Then you baby stuff can be an offseason endeavour.

So long story short our offensive and defensive lines look like what you’d field in the 4^th quarter of a preseason game and the only thing keeping our crappy pass coverage from complete ruin is off doing stuff that brings joy and meaning to his life, thus likely sacrificing the joy and meaning for us fans. 

But let’s take a pause from wallowing in our misery to point out the misery of our opponent. They suck… and I as Rider fan I feel very qualified to make assessments on levels sucktitude. Second least points scored, 2^nd most points allowed, most giveaways, least takeaways, second most penalties, have not won since first week of August. They (like us) are close to circling the drain and Craig Dickenson is almost ready to book the bowling alley. 

Let’s start on offense. I’ll make this real simple. The Stamps have the worst, THE WORST, run defense in the CFL. If Armstead does not get 20 carries then we should all get to slap Mueller once. I don’t really understand why their run D is so bad. They have a good front 7 featuring top end guys like Awe, Judge, Rose, Howsare and Vaughters. But they can’t stop the run and they can’t generate sacks. Now our practice roster O-line will give them ample opportunity to rebound but just pound Armstead all day. Just tell him every time he gets a first down we’ll send a picture of it to Bob Dyce. They have the 3^rd best pass D and when passing you gotta watch out for Demario Houston. But as long a Harris is patient and doesn’t force anything he should be able to put up points. I think you need to lean on Baker at this point. Be nice if Bane showed up for once to stick it to his old team but I’m not counting on that. 

Defense could be a struggle. With Micah, Brown and Cox I think there is enough talent on the D-line that Baldonado won’t be a liability. But given that our pass coverage sucks at the best of times, going from team MOP Rolan Milligan to Amari Henderson, is like trading a Lamborghini for a tricycle.  This will be an interesting matchup as Calgary’s primary weakness is passing the ball and our primary weakness is stopping the pass. It’s the stoppable force vs. the movable object. I honestly expect Maier to slice and dice us until the redzone then stall and settle for a million FGs. We need to generate some turnovers. Calgary doles them out with reckless abandon and we need to capitalize on that. 

I was iffy on this game from the start but at one point was leaning towards a win. If we could have got like 1 or 2 bodies back, a Lanier or a Brammer or something, I think it would have been huge. Instead we lost 2 more starters. Calgary is very beatable team and I think we should beat them.

But maybe its my burgeoning (I purposely used that word to make myself sound smarter) old man cynicism. Maybe it’s the lack of a fall win since 2021. But I just have a really bad feeling about this. It will be close, we will have lead, but we find a way to be slightly more awful than the Stamps.

Stamps by a FG.

Monday Morning Sentimonies: Are We Better?

There was much rejoicing in Rider Nation when Craig Dickenson was shown the door and replaced by Corey Mace. After two seasons that ended in absolute misery there was hope on the horizon. And the early results were extremely positive. But after not winning a game in two calendar months (also known as pulling a Dickenson here in Saskatchewan) its fair to ask, are we actually on the road recovery or are we still stuck in an endless cycle of misery? 

Side note: Being a Rider fan in general is a commitment to an endless cycle of misery. Just follow the team history through 1956, 1972, 1976, most of the 80s and 90s, 2004 and 2009. Better yet, don't go back and remember those. For today I’m focused solely on the recent history. 

To give a clearer indication on whether we have progressed under Mace let’s look at the the statistical numbers between 2023 and 2024:

 

After 13 games	2023	2024	Difference
Wins	6	5.5	-0.5
Avg Margin of Defeat	18.7	5.9	+12.8
Points For	275	333	+58
TDs	25	33	+8
Pass yds	3479	3671	+192
Rush Yds	1084	1023	-61
Sacks Allowed	39	24	-15
Points Allowed	389	330	-59
Yds Allowed	4642	4552	-90
Sacks	27	31	+4
Turnover Ratio	-7	14	+21
Penalties yds	839	852	+13

 

A few observations: 

In terms of winning we are about the same. But the average margin of defeat shows we are a much more competitive team. Last year when we lost, we tended to get embarrassed. Like finding out at the exact moment your pants fall down that you forgot to wear underwear type of embarrassed. This year we are hanging with every team we play. 

Offense is showing improvement. I would argue that’s more to do with QB play than OC at this point. Turns out having capable QBs like Harris and Patterson improves your offensive firepower over Dolegala and Fine. Most telling for me is that we are scoring more TDs. Those had almost become an extinct species in previous years. The other big thing is sacks being way down. When you put that in context of having almost every starter on the 6 game and playing basically a new combination every week that is amazing. I know improved QB play helps the line but don’t tell me coaching doesn’t impact things. OL Coach Edwin Harrison may be one of our best offseason additions. The one negative is there that has been no improvement in our run game. 

I was most surprised by the defense. Obviously I expected turnovers and sack to be up but given our complete inability to stop the pass I was a bit surprised to see we are allowing less yards. I must have successfully repressed how bad last season was. To really understand our D you have to break it down. D-line gives you reason for a ton of hope. Micah is playing like man half his age. Cox and Carney are stepping up. Also remember that our best lineman in Lanier remains our as do Albright and Dabire (who are important rotation guys). Linebackers are steady and solid. They quietly take care of business for the most part. Secondary is where the concern is Milligan is playing at an MOP level. Sayles is a reliable starter more often than not. The rest of that secondary is a liability more often than not. And you can’t even blame the issues on injury… these are our anticipated starters. There is no miracle cure sitting on the IR waiting to heal up and save the day. 

On the whole, I hope this breakdown helps alleviate a bit of the doom and gloom. Don’t get me wrong, losing still sucks and we need to start seeing some improvement. But we are definitely better than last year even if the standings don’t reflect it. There are many valid criticisms of Mace at this point but he does have this team trending in a positive direction.  

Monday Morning Sentimonies: Same Old

Riders 21 – Bombers 26

Someone asked me yesterday what was more frustrating: last year when we were clearly a bad team and got blown out? Or this year when we are competitive in every single game but couldn’t win a game if you gave us the ball, the lead and 30 seconds on the clock? I honestly don’t know the answer but am almost leaning to this year. At least last year we knew we were just letting things burn to the ground before blowing it up in the offseason. This year… we are the equivalent having a nice sports car but it has a manual transmission and we are watching our teenage nephew struggle to have any clue how to get it into gear. 

Honestly we played better than expected. We didn’t embarrass ourselves or give up 50. We tried really hard to embarrass ourselves, managing to give up a blocked punt and INT within the first 5 minutes but we recovered. We were competitive… but still lost. But really, at no point in that game did it feel like we the aggressor. Yet again we just played chase. 

I’m not going to do a full breakdown but here are a few of my thoughts on the game:

-        I know he’s still learning and will grow into a solid OC over time, but after a hot start, the shine is starting to come off Marc Mueller a bit. He can coordinate a pass game but the run seems to be an afterthought. Week after week Frankie Hickson is our most reliable player on the field. Week after week he gets an insanely low number of carries. Just 9 total despite averaging 5 yards per carry. He touched the ball just once in the 3^rd quarter and 5 times total in the second half. I don’t know if you saw what he did in the 4^th when we actually fed him the ball, but maybe we could use a little more of that.

-        Also find Mueller gets too cute sometimes. I don’t mind the design on that shovel pass to Baker. I absolutely hate the timing of that call.

-        The stat line will show that the O-line gave up zero sacks and to be honest anything above utter embarrassment with the quality of the players we were starting is a win (so hats off to our OL coach who is earning every dime he makes this season), but the reality is that Harris bailed them out with quick throws. Sometime he made his decisions so quickly that he made the wrong read, but the lack of sacks are more a product of Harris than the OL. The Winnipeg pass rush was disruptive.

-        Defense followed the same script as last week. Start hot with a sack from Cox and then disappear. For the longest time I felt I was watching the same play on loop. We would stunt our D-line and Collaros would effortlessly throw over them to a wide open Olivera for a easy first down. Given that we’ve seen that play a million times you’d think we’d be prepared by maybe having someone spy him but we looked dumbfounded for half the game every time they ran it.

-        If you believe Miles Brown is a dirty player then you clearly aren’t watching the actual plays. In a plunge situation, Brown got low and attacked the point where 9 time out of 10 Streveler would be. He did his job. On top of that the O-lineman blocked him and took him down. So unless Brown suddenly develops the ability to defy gravity, momentum and the 300 pound man taking him to the ground, how was he supposed to end up anywhere but where he did. His arm hit above the knee. Last week’s hit on Collaros was a bad one and he was rightly flagged and fined. But this one?

-        Even Brady Olivera (noted for his strong pro-Rider bias) did not think it was a dirty play. Unfortunate? Yes. You never want to see players get hurt. But dirty? Not a chance.

-    Our games are coming down to 2-3 plays. Early in the season, we were making those plays. But over the past 2 months, when we absolutely need to a play, whether its on offense or defense, we just can't.

We mercifully get a bye week now and then Calgary in 2 weeks. This is it, this is the season. If can’t get our lives figured out over a bye week and against the only team in our division that is struggling like us then we are not winning another game this season. It’s the sad reality. It’s now or never. 

I’ll end on a bit of a lighter note, since we could use it amid this misery...

During the game as I again watched the continuing trend of Harris hitting receivers in the hands only to have them drop it, I tweeted a picture of out the famous Giselle Bundchen quote “My husband cannot throw the ball and catch the ball at the same time” and said “Trevor Harris’ wife”. The picture I tweeted had Giselle’s picture and attributed the quote to her by name. Some of you got my humour. But people (not a person but multiple people) legitimately thought it was a quote from Mrs. Harris and questioned why I would post that. It was getting to the point where I envisioned Mrs. Harris having to hold a press conference to clarify that she never said that. All because people think the stuff some idiot in a robe posts on twitter is anything more than poor attempts at humour. It almost turned into a Luca Congi’s girlfriend level incident.

Riders vs. Bombers: Banjo Bowl 2024

I’ll cut right to the chase… we’re screwed. There’s many reason’s I could point to. Where would you like to start?

Historically we suck at the Banjo Bowl. We don’t just lose, we get beat like we owe the Bombers money. We have one solitary win in the last 8 Banjo Bowls (Zach Collaros is the last Rider QB to win in Winnipeg). The average score in those games was 36-15. If you look at just the last 4 seasons, we have never held the Bombers under 30 (we allowed 50 each of the last 2 years) and only once score more than 10 points. Amazingly the most points we scored came in the year everyone got deathly ill on game day. That was our best performance.

Compound an abysmal history with the fact that we haven’t won in close to 2 calendar months.

Compound all that with having to field what might be the worst O-line I’ve seen us field in years (and the bar is pretty low there as O-line play has struggled in recent years). Our starting OL struggles with the noise in the Winnipeg. What hope do you think a line consisting of 3 guys who have no business starting will manage?

We are going to lose this one, plain and simple. I do think Mace will have this team better prepared for this game than Dickenson ever did. I do think Trevor Harris will eclipse the 6 points Dolegala put up last year. But we couldn’t beat them at home in a game where real starting O-lineman played most of the game. Take away Godber, Fry and our current best receiver in Meyers and you think the outcome of the game will change in the rematch?

Rather than my normal analysis, here’s somethings I would like to see that would at least give us a chance at keeping the score from getting to embarrassing levels.

-        Run the ball. Receivers can’t catch and we are on our 721^st o-line combination of the season. Let Hickson do his thing early and often.

-        For god sake let this be the game where Ford replaces Lokombo. I’m not even convinced Ford is anything special yet but I’m pretty sure he’s good enough to make some impact in pass defense. Any impact in the pass game would immediately place his 400 tiers above Lokombo who couldn’t break up a pass is if accidently stumbled directly into exact right spot.

-        I agree with the Brown penalty and fine. I’m glad they didn’t cave to pressure and needlessly suspend him. I find ironic that Collaros spent his time in Saskatchewan pretending to be heathy despite being medically a mess but as soon as he gets to Winnipeg he switches to pretending he's dying despite being fine. Anyway, I'm petty and want to see Micah Johnson hit him cleanly a few times for good measure.

Next week is the bye week. We will absorb this impending beatdown take a week off. Hopefully get a couple heathy bodies back and regroup for the final part of the season. By then it will be 2 months since we won so if we don’t show life in Week 16 against a struggling Calgary team, then we’re officially done.

 

Bombers by 18.

Tuesday Morning Sentimonies: Labour Day Letdown

Riders 33 – Bombers 35

Winning on Labour Day is not hard. Bad coaches have won on Labour Day. Bad QBs have won on Labour Day. Bad teams have won on Labour Day. But Corey Mace and crew managed to fail. Coach summed it up correctly in the post game presser “I thought that game sucked”. It sucked big time. The last second drama will gloss over just how not in that one we were. We were essentially chasing the whole game, when we should have been taking the play to them. Not sure what hurts more, losing on Labour Day or my head the morning after losing on Labour Day?

Everyone shares in the blame in this one. Of all people, Mario Alford screwed us (that’s a new one). Defense let a terrible offense hang 28 points on them and could not get stops when they needed them. Offense went dead for most of the 2^nd and 3^rd quarter. Receivers continue to catch the ball like they think its covered in herpes. We aren’t a good enough team to overcome all the difficulties we seem to inflict on ourselves.

I was actually pretty happy with the offense overall. We put up 3 TDs on a very stingy defense. 33 points scored should be enough to win you a game. This was done behind an O-line that you can’t even call patchwork because that would be an upgrade. Zerr, Tate and Johnson were not intended to be seeing the field this season. Though Micah did so damn good I might just go get a nameless 57 jersey as an homage. The biggest issue with our O is that the supposed “good” receivers we have who are been paid decent money are not our best. Emilus is half good, half bad and it’s a roll of the dice which one you get on any given play. Bane is below even at Emilus levels right now. Meanwhile Johnson and Meyers (who we are paying league minimum) are setting the standard on the field. After laying an egg last week, Harris did his job. His only issue was that he quit working 3 mins into the second quarter and woke back up halfway through the fourth. 

Defense did not do their job. Its becoming painfully obvious that we have a MOP calibre DB in Milligan, a guy who is more good than bad in Sayles, and the rest of our secondary is more useless than a lifeguard at an Olympic swimming event. We can’t stop the pass. I pray Jaxon Ford is healthy soon because the only time I ever notice Lokombo is when he’s late getting to a play over the middle. He adds no value back there and opposing teams are exploiting it. D-line used up their one good play on the first drive and then managed to have next to no impact for the rest of the game. Micah being pulled to O likely impacted that but still. That was about the lowest calibre O-lines we are going to get. I will give the D credit for only allowing 6 points after halftime but realistically the game was over at half. 

We suck. We have not won since July 13. When our winless streak inevitable gets extended next week in the Banjo Bowl that will 2 calendar months without a win. That some Dickenson level terribleness. If we can't even win on Labour Day then I'm gonna need Wisers to sponsor me to afford the rest of the painful season.  

Other random thoughts:

-        I get the idea of having the fans sing the anthem but they screwed up by not having someone say the first 2 words and then hold the mic up. The fans are more than willing to sing but just assuming they will all start unprompted was a bad call.