By Riderville

Riderville – September 11

Sep 13, 2011 | 8:13 AM

The Winnipeg Blue Bombers are nothing but front-runners. When you look at their schedule and who've they've beaten, when they come across a team that is determined, the Bombers will fold.

On the 10th anniversary of the September 11 attacks, Swaggerville folded like a cheap suit.

Once again for an away game, I watched it with some Rider players who did not make the trip out to Winnipeg, learning how the Riders put a 45-23 smackdown of the Bombers in the Banjo Bowl and a season sweep of the series.

On defense, the Riders put seven players on the line of scrimmage, leaving them the option of whether to blitz or to go back into coverage. Buck Pearce was confused by this, probably more so after the hit he took from safety Craig Butler, and bit into the trap the Riders defense laid out for him.

Hearing the defensive guys explain it, Winnipeg's offense consists of trying to either run the ball, or throw it up to their tall receivers. They have a hit or miss offense which leads the league in two and outs, and the Riders pass rush, which was once posted on the side of milk cartons to start the season, exposed a Winnipeg offensive line that, for Bomber fans, was truly offensive.

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Chris McKenzie, who had a pick six in the game, had three interceptions in practice this week, two of which went for touchdowns. The Rider defensve was in a play mode, which brought up an interesting question.

Did Ken Miller really change this all this around?

When Miller walked into his first meeting with the Rider players, he did some interesting things. The Riders have a saying…What do Riders do? They Ride. And Miller altered that by saying Riders Ride On, or in other words, moving past the experience of Greg Marshall.

Everyone has talked about how Greg Marshall lost the Rider locker room, by singling out players and trying to do things differently than what the players were used to. Marshall apparently even tried micro-managing Richie Hall's defense, telling Hall how the Riders were going to defend other teams, while leaving the offense in Doug Berry's hands and telling him to simplify it.

Marshall tried to bring in what was described to me as more of a college atmosphere to the team, as opposed to what professional players expected. Full contact practices were the order of the day, while the Riders now practice not quite so intently in full pads.

The players described Marshall and Berry as nice guys, but with Berry, they felt he had been left behind as far as a football philosophy was concerned. Wes Cates does not have to be run 20 times in a game, if Cates is used judiciously, he can average seven yards a carry at opportune moments.

Miller has posted on the bulletin board the logos for the 2011 Grey Cup. His first question to the players was what was happening in about 90 odd days. The players looked at each other and Miller told them the Grey Cup was taking place then.

He then told them he expects this team not only to be there but to also win it. As he told them this, Miller's eyes moistened up and the players I talked to said the feeling was electric.

This team expects to win, they expect to make it to the playoffs, they expect to make it to the Grey Cup and they expect to win.

The difference between Marshall and Miller, and we saw this on the field in the Banjo Bowl, was confidence. Miller threw a challenge flag on a fumble by a Winnipeg receiver that the assistant coaches upstairs had no idea if it was valid or not. But Miller listened to his players and won the challenge and the turnover.

“That's the difference right there,” one Rider said to me. “Marshall wouldn't have moved on that, but Coach Miller listens to the players. He knows the tradition of this locker room, he knows what it takes for Riders to win and he trusts us. We are more confident and we are jelling more because of him.”

While the reappearance of Andy Fantuz may not have paid off in eye-popping stats, Fantuz back on the field means the number one opposing defensive back has to watch Fantuz, the second watches Dressler, and Getzlaf gets to pick the pocket of defensive backs less talented than he is. Consider the two catches for touchdowns as a case in point.

The Riders have moved away from running Wes Cates for the first two plays of a game to rolling Durant out and allowing him to stretch the defense and find a receiver or taking off. Giving Durant playcalling authority on the field has placed more responsibility on his shoulders and seeing his stats for the last two games with seven touchdowns to one interception is pretty impressive.

The Rider offensive line may be the unsung stars of the last couple of games, keeping Winnipeg and their defensive line off of Durant, although the Bombers are apparently incensed about a missed holding call on Dan Goodspeed. But apparently as long as you have your hands on the front of the defensive player, you can get away with that. Hold on to the side or back of a player's jersey and you get called.

While the Bombers may want to blame the refs for their defeat, strange considering it was Andre Proulx, the scourge of Saskatchewan, who was reffing that game, it doesn't change the fact the Riders came from behind and totally dominated the Bombers for the last three quarters.

On the defensive side, Jerrell Freeman was an animal at linebacker along with Butler at safety. Freeman's interception and then lateral to T. George lead to one of the great sideline collisions of the season. The Riders are still a work in progress as they work out the best combination of players on both sides of the ball to defeat their opponents.

So the Riders face Toronto Saturday at 2 p.m. The players want payback for this game, admitting they played lousy but still nearly won. Toronto is one of the teams in the Riders way to the playoffs, so if they beat Toronto, and maybe Calgary does us a favor and beats BC, then the Lions and Riders would be tied for third and the Lions come to Mosaic Stadium the following Saturday for a crucial match-up.

I would expect the Riders to beat Toronto. I don't know if Calgary would do us a favor, but it was interesting that the players hoped Calgary would lose because they feel they can catch Calgary.

And that confidence, once you hear the Riders talk about the changes the last two weeks, is pretty scary. It is not an in your face deal like Swaggerville of the Bombers, it is a feeling this team has that they will turn it around this half of the season and fully expect to contend and win the Grey Cup.

And if that happens, 2011 may just go down as one of the wackiest and wonderful seasons in Rider history. Only to be topped off by the Riders beating Winnipeg in the Grey Cup. But hey, let's first beat Toronto.