Once Upon a Time in Riderville

BC had dumped Elimimian and receiver Manny Arceneaux after signing quarterback Mike Reilly to a $700 K a year contract. The amount of money to Reilly under the current salary cap has resulted in BC shedding players like Elimimian and Arceneaux in order to keep under the cap.

So while the Riders climbed to 3-3, BC fell to 1-6 and no doubt as they head into their bye week, they can remind themselves of the 2012 Lions who had also imploded to a 1-6 start before getting their act together and winning the Grey Cup. The problem is unlike that version of the Lions; this year’s version has a bunch of players who appear disinterested in either rushing the quarterback or protecting their own quarterback.

The interesting thing is the Riders could easily be a 5-1 team if they had a couple of breaks against Hamilton and Ottawa and accepting their loss against Calgary was truly deserved. Now the Riders head into the middle third of their schedule and they could actually make some hay, or perhaps end up in fourth place and a cross over depending on how they handle the better teams.

Cynics may say the Riders have only beaten two of the worst teams in the CFL, but then again Edmonton has beaten BC twice and Toronto once along with Montreal – who also beat them. What now comes up for the Riders are games against Hamilton (who are without their starting quarterback Jeremiah Masoli and for Thursday’s game, linebacker Simoni Lawrence as well; Montreal Alouettes for home and away games; Ottawa at home and Winnipeg for Labour Day and the Banjo Bowl.

Hamilton without Masoli and Lawrence would seem to be vulnerable for a loss. Montreal may now be the cream of the East, but the Riders have split the series in the past and with Montreal playing better, the Riders cannot take beating Montreal as a given. Ottawa after getting out to a 2-0 start that included a 44-41 win over the Riders have come to earth look vulnerable to get beaten. Winnipeg has been the class of the league, but they just suffered their first loss to a Hamilton club playing without Masoli for most of the game and the Riders have been known to dominate in the Labour Day game and be competitive in the Banjo Bowl.

So ideally the Riders go 5-1 in this stretch with a loss in Winnipeg being most likely. A 4-2 record also may be in the cards if you accept the Riders splitting their games with Montreal. That would put them at 8-4 or 7-5 and with injuries in Hamilton and Ottawa; a cross-over spot seems promising.

The Riders passed the test of not losing to teams below them in the standings. The question is how competitive the Riders will be against teams higher than them in the standings. So if you get really ambitious, looking at the final third would have the Riders finishing with a 4-2 or 3-3 record and the Riders would finish with a 12-6 or 10-8 record.

That should get them into the playoffs, but there are a number of questions to be answered along the way.

1) Why was defensive line coach Mike Scheper let go this past week? With the cap on number of coaches and money to be paid, it is not as easy as it was to replace coaches. Scheper was passionate, but maybe a bit too much old school for the players and letting him go was a question of trying to maintain or build team chemistry without the distractions of a coach whom the players may have been tuning out. While no one can question the success Charleston Hughes has enjoyed this year, the Riders were probably looking for more from Micah Johnson who the Riders made the highest paid defensive player in the CFL and so far has had…uh, no sacks?

2) What do the Riders do when and if Zach Collaros comes off the six game injury list? The play of Cory Fajardo has been pretty good and Fajardo’s ability to run, make reads and throw deep has helped the Rider offense remove the stench that hung around them last year. With Fajardo being consistent and healthy, the Riders will have to look at whether or not inserting Collaros in the lineup is necessary or whether it would damage the cohesion the offense has enjoyed with Fajardo. The other part of the question is what would the Riders say or do if say, Hamilton approached them and asked about Collaros availability to either start or back up Dane Evans, the new Hamilton starting quarterback now that Jeremiah Masoli is out for the season. I suspect Hamilton will want to see first how Evans handles the responsibilities of starting. Collaros contract was said to be front loaded, so the financial cost to Hamilton might not be as bad as they thought and if Collaros is comfortable taking a backup role, he would be less exposed to hits and would be a good insurance policy in case Evans falters. The Riders might be able to spring a draft pick for Collaros from Hamilton, perhaps one that Hamilton picked up from Montreal in the Manziel trade.

3) At the end of August, the NFL will be making their final cuts and there is a good possibility some former Riders will be among those who might be making their way back to the CFL. Sam Eguavoen and Jordan Williams-Lambert could be among those coming back to Riderville on pro-rated contracts. Now the emergence of the Rider receiving corps and its ability to make plays might make Williams-Lambert unnecessary, but as CFL fans have noted so far this season, no one is immune from injury bugs and these players might be timely replacements.

4) The Riders kicking game has been an interesting experience. The injury to place kicker Brent Lauther has not provided consistency to the Riders kicking game and has placed a premium on touchdowns as opposed to settling for field goals. Saskatchewan punting has been a mixed bag of results with Jon Ryan sometimes managing to tilt the field with long punts, but at times outkicking the coverage and allowing for major returns. The Riders field goal kicking teams have also suffered from coverage breakdowns allowing for return touchdowns. If the lack of performance from the interior of the defensive line has resulted in the replacement of the defensive line coach, would a similar change result with a change in special teams’ coordination?

So as we start the middle third of the schedule, this week and welcome August, there are some games that are extremely interesting and important in the race to the playoffs.

First up on Thursday the Bombers travel to Toronto complete their two week southern Ontario jaunt. The Bombers lost to Hamilton despite Hamilton losing Masoli to an injury as they went to Hamilton and expecting Hamilton to respond like uh, Ottawa, Toronto and BC. Fortunately for the July Grey Cup champion Bombers, they get another shot at Toronto and a chance to get even fatter and sassier on top of the western conference.

Toronto for their part is trying to get some traction after getting blanked by Edmonton. Toronto manages to pick up a lot of garbage time yards; the problem is a coherent offensive and defensive philosophy while facing the pressure of winning to try to cultivate an interested fan base. The Masoli injury may have sparked hope in Ottawa and Montreal, but those teams, unlike Toronto, have actually won games this year. For Toronto, an Act of God may not be enough to help them beat Winnipeg and they should lose 33-14.

The second part of the Thursday has Hamilton going to Saskatchewan for an interesting matchup. Hamilton will be without Simoni Lawrence at linebacker who is serving the second game of his two game suspensions for the cheap shot that knocked Zach Collaros out in the first game of the season and Masoli who went down with an ACL injury against Winnipeg.

Hamilton’s win over the July Grey Cup Champion Bombers came as a result of turnovers forced by Hamilton’s defense and special teams, but Hamilton’s offense did not score any touchdowns after Masoli staked the Cats to a 14-0 lead. Hamilton players sounded confident about Evans ability to lead the Cats and unlike say, Jon Jennings or James Franklin, Evans apparently has good work habits and maybe his increased reps with the first team offense will enhance his comfort level and provide better results.

Then again, maybe Hamilton was prepared to face Winnipeg and now may be thinking it may take a bit longer to develop a comfort level for Evans to perform consistently and score touchdowns. Hamilton has a better offensive line than BC and more weapons, but without their offensive and defensive quarterbacks, Hamilton will be operating at less than full capacity.

For the Riders, this is an opportunity to avenge the opening week loss to Hamilton, and more importantly, enhance their playoff positioning in the west or for the cross over position in the east. The problem for the Riders is that this is a short week, but unlike the last time they had a short week, they are not coming off a four-hour game with a rain delay.

Hamilton will be a good test for the Riders but the Rider defense held BC to just 37 plays, which works out to 9 plays per quarter, so fatigue should not be a factor. For that reason, the Riders will beat Hamilton 30-24.

Ottawa goes to Montreal and this will be a fascinating game to watch. Montreal has gotten rid of the albatross known as Kavis Reed as potential owners seem to be getting closer to making an offer for the club and the team is now on a three game winning streak.

Montreal’s defense has been consistent this season and their offense seems to have gotten traction with running back William Stansback and quarterback Vernon Adams Jr. Adams has been showing that while he is not a technically perfect quarterback, all he seems to do is win and Montreal seems to have responded.

Ottawa is coming off a 17-16 loss to Calgary that was made possible by a brain fart by Ottawa Head Coach Rick Campbell. Jennings has been adequate, but not exactly a world beater and Ottawa may or not see Dominque Davis back in the lineup. However even Davis in the lineup is no guarantee of victory as when he has been good, he has been very good, but when he isn’t, no big deal.

For Montreal the injury to Masoli now opens the door for Montreal to now become the best team in the east. Knocking off Ottawa would put some distance between them and a division rival and position them for a serious run at Hamilton. For that reason, Montreal would seem to have a pretty good incentive to win this game and it should be a close 27-24 win over Ottawa.

Finally, we have an early glimpse into the Battle of Alberta as the feckless Edmonton Eskimos visit Calgary. Edmonton is coming off a narrow 26-0 win over Toronto. Calgary played down to the level of the Ottawa Redblacks for a 17-16 win made possible by Ottawa giving up a safety that was the margin of victory.

Edmonton’s defense has been pretty solid while their offense is temperamental depending on what bio-rhythm schedule Edmonton quarterback Trevor Harris is in. Calgary has been doing exceptionally well since Bo Levi Mitchell picked up a shoulder injury and Nick Arbuckle has provided good quarterbacking at a fraction of the cost of Arbuckle.

The problem is Calgary has an offensive line that is second in sacks being allowed behind only BC. Calgary’s run of success is likely due to run out at some point although Edmonton Head Coach Jason Maas should not be underestimated for his own particular version of brain farts.

That being said, Calgary’s defense might pose a good challenge for the Eskimo rhythm passing game and that will lead to a narrow Edmonton 25-22 win

by Greg Urbanoski

Once Upon a Time in Riderville

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