One Player Can Make a Difference

The occasional breakdown in the defensive secondary leading to long receptions and touchdowns also fits into the injury category since the Riders are missing Tevaughn Campbell (likely back either next week or the week after against Montreal) and Rolan Milligan (out for the season).

What got me thinking about other factors was the news the Riders traded for Brent Lauther, bringing him back to the Riders after letting him walk last season. Lauther did not have an easy season here in Riderville last season and his departure was a change of scenery move that resulted in Lauther dramatically improving his field goal percentage in Ottawa.

Apparently, Lauther worked on his approach to the ball which begs the question why didn’t anyone think of that last season? There are consultants for field goal kickers, I recall former Montreal kicker Don Sweet did this a few years ago and the U of R Rams have sent kickers to a camp in Arizona to work on their skills.

The thing that got me thinking was even though the Riders have Dawson Hodge, who replaced Alan Hale as kicker and is so far perfect in his field goals and convert attempts. He has not tried a field goal past 33 yards which might be problematic in the playoffs – if the Riders make it in.

Lauther said he wanted to retire a Rider and he wasn’t out for the Thursday walkthrough because having been traded, he needs to close out stuff in Ottawa. While Lauther’s ability to kick long field goals and his improved success rate makes him an asset, there is another intangible that maybe gets to the heart of the Riders inconsistency.

Before July 18, 2026, the Riders had a record of 4-1 and were in first place. After July 18 the Riders record is 4-5.

The injuries to Samuel Emilus and Kian Schaffer-Baker were a factor, but Jayden Dalke lost his life along with another driver in an accident outside of Regina as Dalke was returning from a bye week. Dalke was a captain on special teams and was also working as linebacker in blitzing situations.

You don’t get voted captain if you haven’t shown leadership abilities, so Dalke was a presence in the locker room. The interesting thing is how young people responded to the sudden death of a teammate under murky circumstances.

There is always the tendency to tough it out, compartmentalize the event and try to carry on. If Dalke was a captain, he would have to be vocal providing direction to teammates. If he did both on special teams and defense, having his voice gone and no one apparently stepping up results in gaps in communications that result in long completions and touchdowns against you.

Bringing Lauther back might provide that leadership that has been lacking. Lauther had a tough season last year, but he had his back covered by the Rider players and coaches who believed in him.

On defense it appears Campbell will be back in a game or so and that will help with the defensive coverage. In an interesting move, the Riders will have both AJ Ouellette and Quali Conley on the roster.

Whether that means the Riders are going to run the ball a lot or if Conley is going to be returning kicks since James Letcher is out for this game. Daniel Wiebe is starting at receiver so there should be more speed and quickness out there.

The main battle for this game will be between the Calgary defensive line and Rider offensive line. If the Riders can keep Harris upright, the Calgary defensive secondary can be exploited.

The schedule may say this is a regular season game, but this is playoff football. Calgary loses and they are reduced to chasing Winnipeg and the Riders clinch a playoff spot. Calgary won twice against Ottawa to get back into the playoff race, but let’s be honest, who hasn’t beaten Ottawa this year?

If the Stampeders can get pressure, they should win. If they don’t, the Riders are able to fight the way out of their funk and get back to playing the way they did before the team lost Dalke.

I would have picked Calgary but from seeing the practices and the walk through, I am going to say the Rider players are aware of what is at stake, and they must up their level of play.

Riders win a nailbiter 31-30.

Hamilton is at Ottawa and while Ottawa shreds players and tries to rebuild on the go, Hamilton has been getting an extended look at quarterback Harrison Frost who has stepped into the vacant Bo Levi Mitchell seat and is learning on the job.

Hamilton lost a close one to Edmonton in overtime 37-35 mostly due to stupid play calling by Scott Milanovich. Ottawa lost a reasonably close game to Calgary but again showed a flair for self-destruction that must be seen to be believed.

I sat through several 2-14 seasons, the odd 3-15 season, and losing is no fun for fans, especially with beer at $20. While I am a Rider owner and fan, I also want to see fans in every building in the CFL and if you lose all the time, there is really no incentive to keep showing up unless you really like the people you sit with.

Ottawa is going to be scrappy as they try to avoid the perfect imperfect season by going 0-18, which I believe the Detroit Lions have done. I hope they do it, Hamilton managed to beat the Riders to go 1-17, but Ottawa already had their two shots at the Riders.

Hamilton has a better supporting cast than Ottawa. Hamilton wins this one 31-27.

BC at Toronto will be one of the most fascinating games of the week. Everyone is playing roster games this time of the year with both teams in contention for top spot in their respective divisions.

BC will be the favorite for the Grey Cup from TSN because Nathan Rourke can play sandlot football with the best of them. Chad Kelly is another of those players, even if Toronto is trying to shade whether Kelly will start or not.

BC is getting a reputation as a junk punching team, not just from Montreal but others as well. They may need to be groin punchers when it comes to Toronto with their vastly improved defensive line.

I am not sold on either teams secondary, which should make this a bit of a shoot-out. With my uncertainty on the effectiveness of the Argos secondary, which will improve with an improved pass rush, I will go with BC and a 30-28 win over the Argos but remember this.

I don’t think the Argos have lost at home this year.

Finally, we have the Bombers traveling to Montreal to sample some cheese, drink some whine and try to stay alive for the cross-over spot. The Bombers are without Zach Collaros who may have reached the end of the road with his various head and neck injuries,

Dru Brown is running the show for the Bombers, and he has his moments, but then again, he throws an interception at the most inopportune times. The Bombers are a team in transition, and it all depends on if they can resolve their quarterback and assistant coach issues.

Montreal would like to win again to probably clinch first in the east. They are coming off a bye week, will be rested and ready. The Bombers need their friends in the stripes to gift them a few rough play penalties to stay competitive.

They won’t get all of them. Montreal wins 31-28.

by Greg Urbanoski

One Player Can Make a Difference

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