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For Whom Does the Bell Toll This Weekend

Jul 24, 2015 | 4:32 PM

Another action packed week in the city that rhymes with fun as the Riders prepare to meet the Hamilton Tiger-Cats to try to stop a four game losing streak.

The Riders dumped Taj Smith, but in a sneaky way so he wouldn’t be arrested for violation of his probation, added Ryan Smith who apparently is recovered from his concussion, added Matthew Norzil, an injury prone Canadian receiver cut by Toronto in training camp, and Alex Suber, injury prone Winnipeg Blue Bomber.

Some of this is due to injuries, some of this is just fig leaf covering as the bigger question is when do the Riders make a coaching change?

That is an interesting question with a 0-4 club and you have to wonder how long the board of directors will let things ride as they are if there are no more wins coming in. There is a stadium to fill in two years and this board should remember they lose a million dollars by not hosting a playoff game. If the Riders fall out of contention before they hit their bye week (the seventh game of the season) then one has to wonder how do they keep the financial bottom line from turning a nice shade of red?

Leave it up to Winnipeg, the most wretched place on earth, to provide us with a distraction. The Winnipeg media, more known for their locust impersonations on any free buffet within sight, decided that Paul La Police will be the next coach of the Saskatchewan Roughriders. That sparked a response from Rod Pedersen, voice of the Riders, talking about garbage reporting.

Rod draws part of his pay from the Riders, so he is the voice of the Riders in more than one respect. But, in a simple world, what to do about the Riders is not so simple. Firing just the coach may not address a deeper problem with the club.

The inability of Rider Head Coach Cory Chamblin to adapt to the new reality in the CFL undermines his argument about being a great head coach. A head coach gets great assistants who can teach the fundamentals to the players. Since the defense of choice now is the zone defense, we need speedy players who can react quickly to the ball once it is in the air.

The defensive line usually gets pressure, but is going through growing pains. Canadian Rory Connop is at one defensive tackle position and well, he does take up a blocker. The Riders hardly blitz and they are somewhat uneven when it comes to tackling. A good coach or teacher can help the younger inexperienced players while providing some plans and direction to the experienced players.

Chamblin has a tendency to throw players under the bus. Danny Barrett on the other hand never threw a player under the bus. Pedersen is upset with fans swinging from one extreme to another, but I think most people would be happy with if a player screwed up, deal with it.

What I will be most interested in seeing on Sunday is whether or not it looks like Chamblin has lost the dressing room. That means the players have tuned him out and if he continues to make questionable decisions, that will be a matter of time before it happens.

The return of Ryan Smith is good news because I enjoy watching him, but it doesn’t help the defense. If the defense cannot respond on Sunday, then the Riders are closer to signing Paul La Police and perhaps also Mike Benevides to take over the defense. It’s ironic that last year the offense was the problem, but this year having the proper back up in place has not affected the offense.

The defense lacks a scheme, an idea of a scheme, and seemingly no idea of how to play together. The players have to be invested in all sides because the time count violations because players don’t know when they are supposed to be on the field means somebody is not reading the playbook.

Here’s an idea of how to use Tino Sunseri. Why not have him responsible for making sure the right personnel are on the field for each play? If Keith Price is in town, let him chart the plays, but let’s make sure the players know they are also part of the problem. They are also 0-4.

So here is this week in the CFL.

Friday night is a double header with Calgary going to Ottawa in the early game then Toronto at BC for the later one.

Calgary is coming off a two game winning streak with a fractured offensive line which makes the Rider whining about injuries sound like a petulant four year old whining for ice cream. Ottawa is coming off a two game spanking by the Edmonton Eskimos, although the second game was somewhat closer than the first. When I did my formula, the result came up a 23-23 tie, but I am going to give it to Ottawa by one point because the game is in Ottawa, there may be water in the air, and Calgary has passed the heroic phase with their offensive line and people will be able to plan against them better.

Toronto is surprising me with how well they are playing and coming off the break and a narrow loss to Calgary, I see no reason why they cannot go into BC and beat BC coming off a two game sweep of Saskatchewan. The Lions did have Lulay run for over 100 yards, and while the Argos have a questionable defense, so too do the Lions and if the Riders can play pitch and catch, then the Argos with better talent should be able to beat the time change jinx and beat an over confident BC 28-25.

On Saturday Winnipeg goes to Edmonton and this is like Blubonic Plague going to visit the Ebola Bats. Nothing good will come from this game, you may turn into a pillar of salt witnessing such hoodlum antics but Edmonton is at home against a Bomber team that may have peaked with the first game of the season. Winnipeg will go down28-23 to Edmonton.

On Sunday is the main event as Kent Austin brings the Tiger-Cats into town. This is a must win for the Riders, but for the Cats, who dropped a surprising game to Montreal last week, it is also a statement game. To go back into the stadium where they lost the 2013 Grey Cup, nothing will make them happier than to hammer a couple of more nails into the Riders coffin. The Riders will be perky offensively, but until they can show me they can stop somebody, go with Hamilton 31 at 25 Saskatchewan.