Monday Morning Sentimonies: It Blows

Riders 12 – Stampeders 27

Ever get the feeling that the football gods are against you? I mean, I’ve not sure I’ve seen any clearer sign that they are not on our side than that gust of wind that arose in perfect timing to snuff out Montreal’s punt and give Winnipeg the chance to win that game. I have never seen anything like that. 

That gust of wind sucked any energy out of anyone in the province, both fans and players. I honestly think that if Winnipeg had been pounding Montreal at half, we would have played a lot better. We would have had the chance to mentally prepare. But up until the wind gave us the metaphorical DX crotch chop, we all thought we might be playing for 1^st. I guarantee the players were living and dying on the TSN feed like us fans were. To go from “holy crap we are playing for first” to “this game is meaningless” in a matter of 10 seconds of game time had to impact things. Should we have been more ready? Sure. Do I understand why we played with all the enthusiasm of me when I went to work hungover in my 20s? Yes. 

The game was essentially a preseason game. We got some reps for our back-ups. We emerged healthy, mission accomplished.

While the regular season ended with a whimper I think we should take a minute to appreciate our success. We are coming off 2 years of missing the playoffs. Realistically I was hoping for 3^rd place. How we got there is a bit ridiculous but 2^nd place in a rookie head coach’s first year here is an accomplishment. Home playoff games should be the standard (you know if you exclude the 80s, 90s and most of the early 2000s) and that was met. 

A few individual accomplishments I would like to highlight:

-        Trevor freakin’ Harris. If you prorate his stats  over a full 18 games season, Harris was on pace for 4800 yards and 30 TDs. His completion % was second among starters. The old man did good.

-        Speaking of laudable old men… Micah freakin’ Johnson. He did not miss a game, even had to fill in along the OL and notched 6 sacks (his most as a Rider).

-        I know Milligan rightly gets the hype but Canadian AJ Allen led the CFL in special teams tackles and filled in admirably in spot duty on defense.

-        Everything to do with the OL from coaching to players it was a absolute joy to not bemoan the peewee quality of our OL in a year where based on all the injuries we likely should have expected to. 

But the job is only just beginning. The real season starts now all the aforementioned stats and accomplishments won’t matter if we are one and done in the playoffs. Rest your voices Rider Nation, we gotta be ready to bring it on Saturday.

Riders vs. Stampeders: All or Nothing

Saturday will either be the biggest regular season game in Saskatchewan many years… or a meaningless game where everyone involved from the players to the refs to the fans can’t wait for it to be over. There is no in between. Our fate rests in the hands of our olds friends Jason Maas and Cody Fajardo, who we never said anything bad about ever and always wished them nothing but the best. 

The overwhelming odds favour Winnipeg winning and rendering our game as useless as a poopy flavoured lolly pop. But we could not have asked for a better set up given the circumstances of Montreal not caring. The game is in Montreal (a tough road place to play). Montreal has a bye next week so they will be playing most of their starters at least for a bit so they don’t get rusty from too much time off. Even their back-up QB is good enough to win games. The odds may be low but they are far from zero. All aboard the Alouette bandwagon. Let’s all hope for what the French call “le Fajardon”. 

As for our game, I will have largely the same outlook regardless of whether we care or not. Calgary is not very good and the only thing between them and a merciful end to their season is a cold road game. They are going to display all the care and effort of a Marshawn Lynch press conference. If its for first place we should stomp them mercilessly. If it’s a glorified preseason game, we should still beat them. This is a Calgary team that did not win on the road at all even when they were trying. They have not won since August… a sure sign that Craig Dickenson has more influence than we expected. 

Offensively the surest path to victory is to run them into the ground. They don’t care and don’t want to be there. How much effort do you think they will be putting in by the 10^th or 15^th or 20^th run of the day? They were the worst run stopping team even when they were trying. I know Armstead deserves a ton of credit for his 200 yard performance against them but an important factor may have been that they just suck at run stopping.  Running will suck what little life they have out of them. Whether its Harris or Patterson quick passes should be there as well. Calgary allows the most offensive yards. As long as we are patient and don’t turn the ball over, the extended drives will be there. 

Defensively, I honestly don’t know what Calgary will be doing at QB. Schiltz is out and he’s about the only guy who would give me mild concern. Tommy Stevens can only score on 1 yard plunges that go for a million yards. Bonner was deemed worse than Maier and Maier well he clearly knows he’s done in Calgary so how much is he gonna try even if they do play him? Also, given how well him “trying” has gone is that even an issue? The game plan fits Mace’s philosophy perfectly: stop the run is priority 1, force them to throw and create turnovers.

I could see this being a game where Alford finds the endzone. All it takes is one guy to get lazy in his lanes on kick coverage.

We obviously can’t bench everyone if Winnipeg ends up winning. I would expected limited playing time for Harris. Guys like Lanier and Milligan likely rest. And guys coming back from injury like Carney either don’t play or play on a very limited basis. That said, I can see Milligan wanting to put an exclamation point on his MOP resume and this is a game where he could put up some stats. One INT, 2 knockdowns and 2 special team tackles would be about perfect. 

If by some miracle Montreal does us a favour then I hope to see the Riders absolutely bury the Stamps, like they did the Lions last game. If it’s a nothing game I still hope they look to end the regular season on high and enter the post season on an up note. 

If it matters, Riders by 20

In the more likely scenario that it doesn’t matter, Riders by a Shae Patterson rushing TD

Monday Morning Sentimonies: Bye Week Musings

The Riders were kind enough to schedule their final bye week (of the regular season) around my plans so I was able to spend it on wellness retreat in Las Vegas. In terms of financial and physical wellness the retreat was lacking but it more than made up for it in terms of mental wellness. 

But now its back to reality and back to Rider football. If we are being honest, I’m sure most of us expected to the final game of the year between Calgary and us to be meaningless. I mean, there may have been a point in time where we thought it may have determined our playoff status but the more Calgary football you watch, the more it becomes painfully obvious this is a team going through the motions as they slowly plod towards massive offseason changes. But suddenly that game has potential to have massive implications. I’ll have full analysis of the game itself Friday but for now, here are some random musings:

 

-        Boy the Riders’ front office must be hoping for a Montreal win. I can’t imagine how empty the stands will be if it ends up being a cold evening game featuring 2 teams who just don’t care.

-        Knowing the Riders’ marketing team they will try and come up with something innovative to attract fans to the stadium… but it will just be something like a fridge magnet featuring the 2022 schedule.

-        BC has sure gotten themselves into a QB mess. If we were not relevant in the playoffs I would be throwing my full support behind VA winning a Grey Cup just for the pure chaos of how BC would handle the offseason.

-        As a noted Bo Levi Mitchell hater and someone who has spent the last 2.5 years saying that Bo is done and can’t physically do it anymore, I gotta give him full props for what he has done this season. He’s playing his best football in years.

-        That said a QB of a non-playoff team cannot be the East nominee for MOP. Team nominee sure but there is nothing outstanding about missing the playoffs in a league where two thirds of the league gets in. Its possible to applaud Bo for his great season and still maintain that he can’t be MOP. These are not mutually exclusive concepts.

-        The funny thing is that is the command centre hadn’t intervened to force a tie in the Riders/RedBlacks game, Hamilton would still have a chance to make the playoffs this week.

-        Truthfully I think Hamilton is a better team than Ottawa.

-        In a testament to how weird this season has been, currently the teams who are 2^nd and 4^th in scoring will miss the playoffs.

-        I don’t believe in conspiracy theories but in the off chance things are rigged its definitely in the league’s interest to intervene in favour of the Als this weekend… just saying.  

Monday Morning Sentimonies: Taking Take Of Business

Riders 39 – Lions 8

I can’t remember a meaningful game that was that stress free in a long, long time.  Not only did the Riders take care of business, they mercilessly stomped the Lions. Basically from the moment the ball bounced 17 times and then directly in the hands of AJ Allen, BC’s chances of victory were on par with my sexy Andre Proulx halloween costume being a hit at work. As someone who over the years has seen the Riders blow many opportunities like this (or at least take years off my life in the effort) I’m still in a bit of disbelief.   

Defense came out firing. Six turnovers and almost a seventh on that Williams INT that was overturned. What I definitely noticed is that we were hitting angry. We went out there looking to impose our will on the Lions and did. BC was just never really able to get anything going. They managed one score in an entire game of football. This is an offense featuring Stanback, Hollins, Hatcher, McInnis and the supposed saviour of the CFL, Rourke. What I find most impressive about the defensive performance is that it was not the big name guys making the plays. It was the depth guys. Colonel Sanders had a sack. CJ Avery had a pick and 2 special teams tackles. AJ Allen got a TD (good things happen when you hustle to the ball). Somehow Lokombo recorded a useful stat. 

BC was clearly not having a good day but they compounded their issues with some very questionable decision making. For example, on 3^rd and 2 in the redzone they lined up in shotgun and proceeded to hand off to the fullback. Every time a team fails to convert because they stupidly lined up in shotgun in short yardage, an angel gets its wings. Also, to not put Vernon Adams in the game at any point with a home playoff game on the line is insanity. Rourke clearly did not have it in this one. Its fine, good players have bad days (or months in Rourke’s case). But to have a QB with a winning record sitting on the bench and not even give him a series to see if he can ignite the offense. That’s worse decision making than the person who bid 1499 in the Price is Right contest.

For the record I thought the onside kick attempt to start the second half was a good call. It was just executed horrendously and much like the Allen TD did in the first half it snuffed out any life that was left in the Lions. 

Offensively, its about time we start putting some respect on Trevor Harris’ name. No turnovers, 83% completion, 2 TDs. Yes there were yet again many more FGs settled for than we’d like but given that we were totally dominating the Lions there was no need to be more aggressive. Had he not been injured I think Harris would be squarely in the MOP discussion. Since returning from injury he is completing 72% of his passes, averaging 297 yards per game and has thrown multiple TDs in all but 2 games. With due credit to the O-line in front of him, Ouelette had a good return. I’m still convinced that hip is ticking time bomb that will need surgery the second the season ends but he ran hard and chewed up yards. Receivers were a real team effort with pretty much every chipping in important catches at some point. I almost hate to jinx it by mentioning it but we are seeing good Emilus a lot more consistently now.

So we now have a home playoff game locked down. I find it funny how it seems like its been so long since we’d hade one. It’s been 3 years. For those of you who may be newer to cheering for the Riders, there was literally a period in my lifetime where we went decades (plural) without one and that was just the way it was. It’s amazing how much expectations have been raised that 2 seasons without a home playoff game is suddenly cause for panic. Fittingly the 2 men we honoured at halftime were instrumental in raising those expectations.

But as awesome as is it to lock down a home playoff game, we aren’t done yet. Thanks to Bombers choking against the Argos, first place is still possible, not probable but possible. And just like that we are all massive Alouette fans and take back all the bad things we ever said about Fajardo, Maas and Maccioccia. It’s a testament to how weird this CFL season has been (even by CFL standards) that a team that did not win a game for 2 calendar months could finish in first. Go Als! 

Other random thoughts:

-        Roy Shivers was clearly cold and counting the seconds until he could return to a heated room. That said, when Roy says something he means it. So that simple line “Its good to be back” was heartfelt and very meaningful.

-        For the record I did not like the call to attempt a 53 yarder. Lauther proved me wrong… but 53 yards was his range going that way, not 53.5.

Riders vs. Lions: Homeward Bound

If you are wondering, yes today’s title was really just a poorly veiled excuse to mention beloved 1993 classic movie Homeward Bound: The Incredible Journey. But if you love terrible segues then brother, hold on because the Riders’ INCREDIBLE JOURNEY this season might lead them BOUND for a HOME playoff game. 

If you were to go back in time and tell people in Week 4 of the season that the season would end with the Riders and Lions competing for a home playoff game no one would be surprised. But they would never believe the path the teams took to get there. Very similar paths in that both started hot, decided to become religiously opposed to winning for a long period of time but seemed to have stabilized things of late. Things could not be simpler for the Riders, win and you guarantee a home playoff game and get to finish the season with a bye followed by a meaningless scrimmage against an amateur football team (you can’t consider the Stamps a professional franchise at this point). Lose and you leave your fate in the hands of others and most likely finish 3rd. 

I’ll be honest, of all the teams in the CFL, BC is the one I understand the least. They should be really good. Yes its taking some time for Rourke to re-adjust to the CFL but they should be a top end team. Some times they look like a top end team… but other times they look like an orange version of Calgary. They could stomp us by 30. They could stink out the joint and lose by 30 and pretty much any outcome in between and none would be surprising based on how their season has gone. 

Since TSN/the CFL is insistent on cramming Nathan Rourke down our throat, let’s start with our defense. Look, I am all for hyping your stars and Rourke is a star to be hyped. But its got so exaggerated that Rourke could take a dump on the field and proceed to slip in his own dookie and the announcers would still somehow spin it as evidence of his greatness. 

I think Rourke has all the talent in the world but this season is proving that he is human and readjusting to the CFL takes time even for the best. BC is 6^th in points scored, 7^th in offensive yards, Rourke is last among starters in completion % and has just 4 TDs to 7 INTs. Its been a struggle. The issues start much before Rourke though. Their OL gives flashbacks to the Riders OL in 2022 and 2023. Rourke has been sacked 18 times despite only playing half a season. That’s where we need to attack. We need to dominate the line of scrimmage and should be able to. Disrupting a player as good as Rourke is the key to limiting him. Based on the last time we played, it might also be a good idea to cover McInnis. 

Offensively we are starting to get healthy Ouelette will start. Picton adds some nice Canadian depth back and most importantly we are getting some OL back. Godber is still a week or 2 away but we do get Fry and Brammer back. That’s good because what scares me most about that BC D is the front 4. Robertson, sack leader Teuhema, Banks, Covington and Betts. But beyond that line they are a very average defense. 5^th in points allowed, 6^th in yards allowed. The key with them is patience. They allow the highest completion % to opposing QBs of any team (73.8%) but the second least plays of 30+ yards. They won’t give you huge chunks but you can move the ball on them. Assuming our OL can keep him upright, Harris is very qualified to take advantage of that. I think this is a game where Ouelette can be very effective in the short pass game. Keeping him involved will keep the D-line honest and open space for Baker, Emilus and Johnson. We can’t see the errant throws we saw in Edmonton. This will be a closely contested match and winning the turnover battle and owning the line a scrimmage are the keys to coming out ahead. 

Some people will try and sell you on the emotional boost of having Durant and Shivers in the stadium. Its about damn time we honour Shivers and I maintain that Durant is second only to Ronnie in terms of the best QBs to ever play in Saskatchewan. For fans like me, there will be an emotional boost. I would honestly pay money for halftime to just be Roy with an open mic. But emotional boost for the players… pure BS. Remember the game after Lancaster died, or the final game at old Mosaic, or the game after Reed died? We lost every single one of the despite the supposed “emotional boost”. That will not be a factor in the outcome. 

This is a matchup between two teams that have shown that at their best there are contenders and at their worst they make you wish for temporary blindness. A win for either side is equally possible. I think the Riders should win but my deeply engrained pessimism is shining through. I just have a feeling the Riders won’t do things the easy way (if its any consolation I picked them to lose 2 of the last 3 as well so my pessimism may be beneficial). 

BC by a Stanback 4^th Q TD.

Monday Morning Sentimonies: Playoffs?

Riders 28 – Elks 24 

You’ll forgive me if I’m still in disbelief. Decades of cheering for the Riders tends to breed a healthy level of pessimism. Generally being a Rider fans is just one crushing defeat after another until you just wish Flanders was dead. Not only did the situation we currently find ourselves in (heading back to the playoffs) require us not squandering an opportunity, it also required the Command Centre getting things right AND acting to the benefit of the Riders. I’m not going to say the odds on all these things happening simultaneously were low but the CFL wouldn't suspend a player for betting on that because its so unlikely its not technically gambling, just a donation. 

Now don’t get me wrong. We tried hard to squander this opportunity. Harris threw some very ill-advised passes. Mace still seems oblivious to the basics of clock management.  Pass coverage was as porous as ever. But despite those issues we have found our way back to being a team that finds ways to win… as opposed to that whole 2 month period where we found ways to lose. 

Credit to the defense. They are far from perfect but they stepped up and did their job. After the embarrassment of the last match-up you could tell run stopping was priority #1 and they delivered allowing just 30 total yards. Yes the biproduct of that was a less impactful pass rush (which further leaves our questionable pass coverage out to dry) but it was the right strategy. Edmonton wins when they rush well. Take that away and they struggle. We did that and it worked. The reason it worked is because we forced turnovers. Milligan added to his MOP resume. Auclair was in the right place at the right time. Even Henderson made a play at a key point with a nice punch out. CJ Reavis was a welcome addition back.  

Offensively it was like a 3am booty call. Maybe not the prettiest thing but it got the job done. O-line visibly struggled. Harris was uncharacteristically careless with his passes. But after a season of watching receivers drop perfectly thrown balls on the turf we are finally seeing receivers step up and make plays for their QB. Big time receptions from Baker, Emilus and Johnson. Busby also keeps quietly doing what’s asked of him. I don’t think Trevor Harris is getting the recognition he deserves. In 6 of his 10 starts he has thrown for over 300 yards. Multiple passing TDs in 7 of his starts. 3^rd in the CFL in completion % among starters. Only 1 team has scored more points than us. This with a patchwork O-line and an ever-changing cast of receivers. It might not always be pretty but Harris has been the leader this team needs on and off the field. 

There is a lot more I could rant and rage on in that game but it really doesn’t matter, we found a way to win and punched our ticket back to the elusive post season. We also set up a monster game on Saturday. Win and we host a home playoff game. Yes somehow in a matter of couple weeks we have gone from “will be ever win again” to “chance at a home playoff game” a true testament to how bad the West division is this year.

But I will once again be reverting to my pessimism. It all seems to good to be true. If we just win the next game then our remaining schedule is: bye, meaningless game against what’s left of the Stamps and then home playoff game. So I’ve convinced myself we’ll find a way to screw this up. The good news is I had that same feeling heading into the Edmonton game so… you’re welcome I guess

Riders vs. Elks: Scotchtoberfest

Welcome to October, a month that traditionally has been a dreadful period of going through the motions waiting for the season to mercifully end. To steal a Jeff Foxworthy line, its been kinda like opening a present from your grandma. You’re not sure what you are going to get but you are pretty sure you won’t like it. But in a stunning turn of events we have not only rediscovered winning, but find ourselves still in the playoff discussion. In previous years the only time the Riders were spoken of in relation to playoffs was when opposing coaches said “I hope we play the Riders in October as that will drastically improve our playoff chances.”

Saturday we travel to Edmonton to face the 5-10 Elks. Not to bring up old wounds but the last time we saw the Elks they were mercilessly running us into the ground on route to their first win. They are fresh off getting embarrassed by Winnipeg in back to back weeks and hoping a visit from the Riders will cure their losing ways. A few things about that last game. One, despite getting run all over it was a 1 point game going into the 4^th and we did not have Trevor Harris or Anthony Lanier. Two, that game has to be an anomaly. We gave 276 rushing yards. That is 23% of ALL the rush yards we’ve given up this entire season. In every other game we are averaging 66 yards allowed. 

Edmonton is a really interesting team. Looking at the stats alone, you might think this is a top team in the West: most offensive points, most TDs, #2 in net yards, QB with the best TD to INT ratio. Yet they have just 5 wins and are on the brink of missing the playoffs. Its almost impossible to miss the playoffs in a 9 team league scoring as many points as they have. Now their defense is not good and their special teams has been a liability but still… 

I think it’s a mistake to start Bethel-Thompson in this one. Not because I think he’s bad (again best TD to INT ratio, second most TDs next to Bo…  who might also miss the playoffs, go figure) but you look at how the Elks beat us last time. We were so focused on stopping Ford from running that we let anyone not named Ford have free reign of the field. Would you not want to recreate that success? Its obvious in this one that we need to stop the run. Adding Lanier will help as will not having to worry about Bethel-Thompson running. That does unfortunately leave the passing attack, where we happen to be extremely vulnerable. We do get Reavis back which will be a boost. MBT is a good QB and he has talented receivers around him. We are going to give up yards. Gotta hold them to FGs and try and get some turnovers. Need the front 4 to create some havoc up front and force MBT into mistakes. 

Offensively, we will once again try to find 12 healthy offensive bodies and 4 more to cover the guys that will inevitably end up hurt in this one. The good news is that Edmonton’s defense is not playing very well. 7^th in points allowed, most total yards allowed, most pass yards allowed. In their winning streak they managed to balance that off with a ton of takeaways but when those dry up it’s a struggle. Enter Trevor Harris and an offense that turns the ball over less than anyone in the CFL. Hickson should be angry after sitting a couple weeks and looking to prove himself. Let the man run. Yes, Harris is a good passer and yes, the Elks are somehow much worse at stopping the pass than we are, but we need some semblance of balance in our attack. Once again going to need Baker to step up lead the way. Be nice if Emilus did the same. I can see both Sterns and Duncan-Busby putting up decent yards as Baker and Emilus should draw the most attention. Last week our offense stalled lots and settled for too many FGs. That worked at home against a bad Ottawa offense. On the road against a pretty good Elks offense we need TDs when we get the chance. Key will be starting hot. If we get a lead it will be easy for the Elks to start to give up as they see the season slip away. 

A win buries Edmonton’s playoff chances and depending on how Friday goes may officially secure ours. Win the next 2 and we host a playoff game, its that simple. My long engrained Rider pessimism is seeping in. That sounds way too simple and we never do things the easy way around here. On paper, we should win. But on the road against a desperate team that can score points… I don’t feel great. I expected at least one bump on the road down the stretch and this seems like the most likely time.

Elks by a Geno Lewis TD.