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Ugly Win Gives Riders Sole Possession of First Place

Aug 19, 2013 | 9:28 AM

It was not pretty by any stretch of the imagination and you could have safely mowed the lawn, walked the dog, read the paper and barbecued some burgers and not have missed anything worth seeing until the last two minutes, but the Saskatchewan Roughriders won in spite of themselves 24-21 over the Montreal Alouettes.

The game should not have been that close. Montreal lost Anthony Calvillio with a concussion in the first half, Brandon London with a concussion, a starting offensive lineman with another injury and their long snapper with what looked like a separated shoulder.

The Riders responded with Jock Sanders fumbling a couple of times a football that looked like it went through a local KFC before it hit the field, Darian Durant fumbled a couple of times and the offensive line looked like it was practising for bullfights with all the matador blocking it appeared to be doing against Montreal.

One of Durant’s fumbles lead to a 54 yard touchdown return by Montreal with two and a half minutes left in the game and giving Montreal a 21-14 lead. Then Durant made up for his amazingly poor play by hitting Taj Smith for a 65 yard touchdown before Weston Dressler took over from Sanders on the kick return team, ran a punt back to set the Riders up in position for 36 yard field goal by Chris Milo into the wind to win the game.

The Riders did not get off lightly in the injury department as well. Leading the way was receiver Rob Bagg whose knee gave out on a blocking assignment. Bagg’s tears as he walked off the field paid testament to the fact he had faced three previous surgeries to his ACL and while the results would likely not be known until Tuesday, unless he gets lucky and just has a muscle tear, his season and perhaps his career as a football player was over.

Bagg’s injury in the first half seemed to hit the Riders in the head. Weston Dressler, who jammed his shoulder after making a spectacular 21 yard catch in the first quarter, was not much of a factor for the rest of the game until setting up the game winning field goal in the fourth. Kory Sheets did not get 100 yards in this game, a tribute to Montreal playing great defense and also a comment on how poor Saskatchewan’s offensive line played and Sheets himself had fumble and a couple of easily caught drops to go along with the clown parade that was the Rider offense.

Not every game is going to be a blowout and not every game will feature overwhelming performances from players. To the Rider credit, they overcame the worst of themselves to get a win and some much needed breathing room in first place. Good teams find a way to win games they shouldn’t.

But with that being said, the Riders continued their collection of stupid penalties led by Diamond Ferri who doesn’t understand that just because you are playing your former team, you don’t have to mug them to get your point across. The Riders also showed they can pass deep on, which is a concern after watching Sunday night’s Edmonton Toronto game where Edmonton QB Mike Reilly passed for 511 yards.

Against the Eskimos, the Riders should not be counting on too many stupid Edmonton coaching mistakes because the Eskimos can go deep and if the Rider offense is not in sync, then the Riders will lose a game they should have no business in losing. If the Riders persist in taking stupid penalties, then that will give the Eskimos hope, something that team does not need.

If I was the Eskimos, I would be feeling better about my team and quarterback and thinking the Riders are due to be upset. Montreal showed how closing up the gaps can help shut down Sheets, who regressed in his pass catching ability. The Riders will have to rejigger their receiving corps, probably even more if they keep Weston Dressler out, which means relying on Geroy Simon among others to pick up the slack.

There are a few options for the Riders, including Jock Sanders taking Bagg’s spot. The Riders dress more Canadians than other teams, so replacing Bagg with an American is not out of the question. However, the Riders could also throw in Eron Riley or Jordan Sisco, who has disappeared from the roster for a while for no apparent reason. Scott McHenry, who played in Baggs spot last year is another option, but considering the Riders awful blocking the last couple of games, may have to remain at either tight end or fullback to help handle the workload of blocking.

Wins by the Riders means the province is in an up week, feeling good about itself and their team. But this week the ugly Rider win and the injury situation will force the Riders to juggle a few things around and try to scheme their way out of what can be realistically called a two game lull where they are fortunate to be only 1-1.

So after 4-0 in my picks last week, let’s see how this week might unravel in the CFL.

On Thursday BC goes to Montreal and that will be an interesting game. A lot will depend on whether Montreal has Calvillio back as quarterback, although their back-up didn’t do too badly. Montreal’s defense was pretty good, but it was also hit by injuries as well. BC on the other hand unveiled a nifty third uniform and looked solid in knocking off Calgary. Teams used to be scared going into Montreal to play, but I can’t see BC losing this one. Pick BC to win.

On Friday night is the game of the week when Calgary goes to Toronto. Calgary appeared to suffer a bit of an emotional hangover after beating us and then going into BC and losing there. Toronto and quarterback Ricky Ray is on a roll and Calgary is losing receiver Nik Lewis with a broken ankle. Toronto is playing better than Calgary and will win this one.

On Saturday Winnipeg takes its travelling circus into Guelph to play the Hamilton Tiger-cats. Winnipeg had its problems with Hamilton last week, including a touchdown return called back because of two penalties. Being unable to decide on a starting quarterback led to the firing of offensive coordinator Gary Crowton to be replaced by former Rider coach Marcel Bellefeille. Hamilton has a chance to climb to the 500 level with a win against Winnipeg. I say they do it.

The final game and the one which is causing me some problem is Saskatchewan at Edmonton. On paper it should be a no-brainer. The Riders are 6-1 while Edmonton is 1-6. But after watching Mike Reilly throw for 511 yards and seeing how weak we are against the pass, if Edmonton gets unhooked, they could easily pull off the upset.

The Riders need to get back into sync, but a lot depends on people who may or may not be going on the injured list for this game. The Riders also have to get a handle on their offensive line and get better blocking for Darian Durant. Durant has to show better ball security and Sheets has to learn to catch the ball. I’d make the Riders a slight one point favorite just because they appear too much in flux right now and it is not clear how they will get beyond it. I’d say they play crappy and win yet again.

This might not be a bad thing because if things unfold as they should, they will then be four points ahead of Calgary.