Go East young Riders, Go East!

The Riders will unveil Duke Williams, the former Edmonton Elks receiver who has come back fro the NFL. Williams was brought in to address what Rider QB Cody Fajardo said was a lack of Rider receivers who can make the 50/50 catches when the QB can throw deep and the receiver has the size or the ability to battle the defensive back for the ball.

The problem is that Williams will not help the Riders address their biggest problem, the offensive tackle positions. With Brendan LaBatte sitting out this year, and maybe retiring, the Riders have three Canadians on the interior who while young, seem to be holding it toether there. The tackle position which deals with the defensive ends who are pass rush pros is another situation.

Fajardo has been unable to have the time he needs to make reads so he is forced to resort to short passing game to get the ball out before he gets hit. Defensive coordinators are not idiots so with a look at the Riders depth chart they will throw the kitchen sink of defensive stunt formations at the Rider offense hoping to confuse them and keep them bottled up.

Fajardo has been vocal about his receiving corps and yet he also apologized, recognizing it looked like he was throwing his receiving corps under the bus when a number of misses on the offensive passing game are also due to Fajardo misfiring.

I wasn’t that hot and bothered about Fajardo throwing his receivers under the bus because he recognized his mistake and apologized for it. People make mistakes all the time, it is how they respond to those mistakes that indicates whether or not they are going to grow from them.

The biggest mistakes by the Riders are the number of penalties they are taking and how they are hurting this relatively inexperienced team.

A lot the penalities are stupid selfish penalties retaliating after some wrong has been done to them. The problem is the retaliation penalties pretty well get called all the time and the Riders wallowing in their penalties is indicative of a team culture that is relatively immature and thinking selfishly and not of the team.

There was a development this week in the CFL which will have a major impact on the Rider season and where they are positioned in the playoffs.

The Edmonton Chronic Wasters traded their QB Trevor Harris to Montreal in exchange for a defensive lineman. Harris has had some good moments for Edmonton, but while Harris is great between the 20 yard lines, it is in the red zone that his lack of production did him in with particular emphasis on the two Chronic Waster losses to the Ottawa Dysfunctional Males.

Montreal lost their QB Vernon Adams with a wrist injury that may keep him out for the rest of the season. Toronto is currently leading the east with Montreal in second, but Hamilton is in third and Montreal with this trade are looking to show their fans they are in it to win it.

Edmonton is going with an XFL refugee Taylor Cornelius and again, the last Cornelius I heard about was a bright chimp scientist on Planet of the Apes. While the chimp led Edmonton to a spirited effort against Winnipeg, it still fell short and the stories of Edmonton locker room dysfunction and the question of whether Harris himself is vaccinated makes one think the Edmonton culture is not team first, but me first. Which is not untypical behavior for the Chronic Wasters.

So if Edmonton is tanking the rest of the season, that also includes two games with the Riders who at 5-4, and likely to be 5-5 with the loss to Calgary coming up on Saturday, then the Riders pick up two wins to get them to 500 and that raises the question of an eastern crossover.

As the Riders currently stand, they are not capable of beating Winnipeg or Calgary because both teams have pyschologically established their dominance over the Riders. Cody Fajardo will not be able to take the next step to be a championship QB unless he can figure out how to beat Calgary, whom he has never beat, and Winnipeg, who have beaten him like the family mulethe last four games.

With Hamilton faltering in the Eastern standings, there is now an opportunity for the Riders to cross over to the east, take on presumably Montreal with wither Matthew Shiltz or Trevor Harris in control. I kind of prefer that match up.

So if BC finishes third, they will go into Calgary and lose which sets up an amazingly physical western final. The Riders go into Toronto to face their former head coach Chris Jones who is now in control of the Toronto odefense and pretty well hired everyone on the Rider coaching staff and knows how they think.

That would be a fascinating eastern final to watch and maybe, just maybe, the Riders get through that. Meanwhile, if the west final is as physical as I think it will be in the minus 20 temperatures, either Calgary or Winnipeg will emerge battered and perhaps vulnerable.

That’s the best case scenario for the Riders making the Grey Cup. Hamilton slipping down the standings kind of makes this story book season of their winning the Grey Cup at home look more like a Canadian Horror Story so that may explain how Hamilton got the 2023 Grey Cup because with all of the COVID restrictions, you’ll have a better Grey Cup party in Ituna than Hamilton this year.

What will likely happen is the Riders finish third and lose the western Semi Final in Calgary, just because I cannot conceive of a universe where BC is consistent enough to run the table and take third place. In that case, the Riders are one and done because while people like to point out it is diffcult to be swept by teams, the Riders have been swept already by Winnipeg and to soe extent by calgary.

With Trevor Harris being traded to Montreal, it is now obvious the Chronic Wasters are tanking and Montreal is going all in for the playoffs and trying to avoid slipping into third and maybe losing out on a cross over playoff berth. So here we go…

Toronto at Montreal – This one will be interesting because of the trade for Harris although how much of the offense he can digest prior to kick off Friday is up for debate. I suspect Schiltz will start and Harris if necessary will come off the bench. Chris Jones has a pretty good record of dealing with Harris but I suspect this will have playoff like intensity with Montreal coming out 24-23

Ottawa at Hamilton – I am thinking of the scene in Game of Throne when Cersei Lancaster was forced to march naked as fundamentalists thundered “Shame” and I reflect this might be a good way to say goodbye to Marcel Desjardins if I was an Ottawa Dysfunctional Male. Hamilton keeps its grip on third place alive, but now they have to seriously wonder if they will miss the playoffs if the west provides a cross over- Hamilton 24-18.

BC at Winnipeg – Michael Reilly must be trying to remember what it is like to have an offensive line. That won’t help him this week as the Lions visit Dollarama Field and after the expected beating, Brady Oliveria will take what’s left of the Lions and help them find good homes after they get spayed and neutered. Don’t shop…adopt! Winnipeg 24-17.

Saskatchewan at Calgary – If you seriously think Duke Williams will help the Riders win, you have not been watching the offensive tackle play for the Riders which is where they need the help. I was impressed and depressed with how Calgary easily handled BC and now as Calgary hits their stride, the Riders best hopes of making the playoffs and maybe Grey Cup is to finish in fourth, then cross over and hope to hit some better weather. The Riders will make it close, but that only counts in horse shoes and hand grenades and apparently dancing as my compadre Jeff Armstrong points out. Calgary Winnipeg western final will be spectacularas Calgary wins this one 22-21 on another walk off field goal.

by Greg Urbanoski

Go East young Riders, Go East!

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