Part of the disjointed nature of the Rider offense may be due to the return from the injury list of various players – last week it was Samuel Emilus, this week it will be Kian Schaffer-Baker and with Shawn Bane Jr. running back punts, the Riders will have a decidedly different looking offense heading into the playoffs.
When the Rider receiving corps got hit with injuries, the team was fortunate enough to have depth to get off to a pretty good start, but the nature of the receiving corps was at that point a possession type offense. There was not enough film on a lot of the back up receivers now stepping up to a starting position that the Riders could come up with plays to exploit defenses figuring the Riders had no receivers worth worrying about.
Now with the Canadian receivers coming back, the Riders can play with the ratio and their offense now has enough speed to force opposing defenses to play more zone since man-to-man coverage would result in blown coverages and more Rider touchdowns.
The Riders have realized a productive running game, but with the speed they are getting back, the offense is having to change gears from a ball control offense to a quick strike offense which should open more holes for the running game.
In the meantime, the Riders must deal with their tendency to overlook opponents or play down to their level. The Riders now could run their offense in several ways, but they are coming up with a problem in adjusting from the ball control offense to the quick strike offense.
The Riders were also the victims of quick whistles by arguably one of the most incompetent officiating crews. The first came on a two point convert effort by AJ Ouellette who was ruled short by the officials, however, when they work the Stony Mountain games the Bombers can somehow stretch time and space enough to allow their running back or back up quarterback to score, an opportunity given to no other teams.
The most blatant miss came on a fumble recovery by Godfrey Onyeka for a touchdown that was whistled down when the ball when into the air. Normally you would wait to see what would come out of the play, but this crew apparently did not want to give the Riders defense any credit for anything other than penalties.
It was the sort of game where Trevor Harris threw two seemingly identical interceptions on the same drive, and you must wonder if the results would have any different if say Joe Robustelli was in the lineup. While some wags speculated maybe Harris was hurt or confused, I heard an interesting stat that this season is the most football Harris has played in three years, having played in just five games two years ago and 13 last year.
I think Harris is getting used to having his old receivers return and what they can offer the offense and it is hard moving from plays which worked earlier this season to new plays which better use the receivers’ talents.
What the Riders offense is working towards is a more tempo offense with a minimum of huddling to exploit defensive secondaries with speedy receivers and also use their running game to put games away. The Riders know their slow starts will cost them, especially in the playoffs if they can recall last year’s western final, so the importance of getting off to a quick start and more importantly keeping the pressure on the opposing team will be the team focus this last month of the regular season.
The Riders will be going to Ottawa who are coming off a 26-18 loss to Stony Mountain where they were embarrassed by backup quarterback Chris Streveler completing the lowest possible number of passes possible for the Bomber win.
Ottawa is not eliminated yet, so they are desperate for a win to stay alive in the convoluted hunt for a playoff spot. While they are desperate for a win, they are also unloading talent by trading Lorenzo Mauldin IV to Calgary for apparently some Flames tickets. Mauldin is a decent lineman, but he has been a presence after being asked to lose weight coming into camp and then was put into schemes where he was not sure what he was doing.
The CFL trading deadline is coming up and Ottawa seems to be unloading talent which no longer fits into whatever vision the club is developing for this year. Bob Dyce will likely be let go at the end of the season for not getting the team back into the playoffs and Ottawa players are being spotlighted as potential trade bait for contending teams.
So, either Ottawa will rise to the challenge of their current situation, or they will roll over. The Riders got a gift with Calgary losing last week, preserving their two-game lead atop of the western conference and learned they cannot take any team for granted, no matter what their record is.
The Riders should be giving their fans a look at the possibilities their offense has for the last third of the season with the returning wounded coming back onto the field. The Riders will clinch a home playoff game with a 29-24 win.
Speaking of Calgary, the trade for Mauldin is intended to fill gaps in their defensive line which has been decimated by injuries. Calgary lost to Montreal and the Stamps did not do much on defense, which was the key to their quick start out of the gate.
The Stamps do need the defensive help because they are off to BC to face the Lions who put away the Argos and have positioned themselves nicely to finish anywhere from second to fourth and a cross over playoff spot in the east depending on the results of the next month.
The Stamps and Lions are tied in the standings with eight wins apiece, but the Lions have played one more game and a win would throw then clear over the Stamps into second place in the west. If Calgary is going to mount any sort of charge for first, they need to start putting distance between themselves and the Lions and Bombers.
The Lions have been on a bit of a roll with a crucial caveat. The Lions offense can move at will against most defenses, but the Lions defense can be as bad as the offense is good. This will be the second time Rourke and Vernon Adams Jr. will face each other on the field and Adams needs to raise his game and hopefully raise his team along with him.
It all comes down to which Adams shows up – good Vernon or bad Vernon. For the heck of it, I am going to say good Vernon is going to show up and Calgary picks up a 28-27 win.
Another playoff intensity game will be the Hamilton at Toronto game where the Tiger Cats are trying to restart their team after being spanked 40-3 by the Blue Bombers. Toronto is trying to stave off a western cross over following their 27-22 loss to BC.
Nick Arbuckle returned to the Argos off the injury list and continued to show why he has managed to keep the Argos competitive this year and is my choice for eastern division most outstanding player. I don’t see Chad Kelly coming off the injury list this year and Arbuckle will be getting more weapons off the injury and US tryout swings to make things interesting for the next few weeks.
The Argos are on the cusp of being eliminated and when you are the defending Grey Cup Champions, that is not the way you want to go. While the Argos are getting some weapons back, they are also facing a Hamilton team facing the question of whether they are a paper tiger or a real contender.
The return of Davis Alexander makes Montreal the team to beat in the east because Hamilton does well in beating teams with worse records than them, but they have problems with teams with winning records.
Sorry Toronto, your record is 5-10. Hamilton will win an exciting game 30-28.