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Will the Riders Squeal Like Pigs in the Banjo Bowl in Winnipeg

Sep 8, 2016 | 3:24 PM

Well the hysteria still continues here in the city that rhymes with fun, following the Labour Day Classic and Winnipeg’s 28-25 win over the forces of good.

Derek Holtom, former PA Herald sports reporter, now a political prisoner in Winnipeg, reports the Winnipeg Sun is speculating the Rider board of directors is looking to fire Rider GM and Head Coach Chris Jones in a year that started with promise and has become a comedy of errors.

I would submit, being somewhat closer to the situation than the Winnipeg Sun, the Rider board is concerned, but not willing to pull the trigger on Jones because they are still paying out Brendan Taman and Cory Chamblin and believe it or not the Riders have been getting steadiliy better over the last few weeks.

The difference has been subtle to be sure, but the Riders have stopped making the 10 roster moves a game average, some partly due to injury, others due to performance issues, and the continuity the roster has displayed while the players have learned to play together is being reflected in the Riders not being blown out by 30-40 points as was the case earlier this year.

The culprits for the loss as identified by fans are Andre Proulx (ref who called a questionable interference penalty); Tyler Crapigna (kicker who missed two field goals and a convert which in theory would have pushed Riders to a win); Darian Durant who threw two fourth quarter interceptions.

I would have to say while those three were a contributing factor, they weren’t the whole story.

Let’s start with Durant and I watched the game tape and on the first interception, the receiver didn’t look for the ball while on the second one, the receiver ran a deeper route than what Durant was expecting and he threw to a spot where the receiver should have been.

Durant also ran effectively, including a touchdown and a two point convert and in the second half showed the leadership that allowed him to claim the starting job in 2008. While Durant telegraphs his throws, and Marshall Hamilton, a former Rider/Tiger-Cat/Stampeder defensive back who I played high school ball against says playing against Durant is easy because he throws to spots and defensive backs can react to that, The Riders got back into the game because of Durant.

Crapigna missed two field goals and a contributing reason was the regular long snapper, Jorgen Hus, was not playing due to a wrist injury and the Riders had a long snapper in Dan MacDonald who only had one practice to work with Crapigna and his holder Josh Bartel.

While the snaps were clean, the timing was off and it could and should be argued that unit could have gotten its act together by heading off to a park after practice and doing snapping practice until everyone knew what to expect from the other. Heading into the Labour Day game, Crapigna had missed only two field goals all year, so unless you are holding onto a theory the Riders are cursed, having a new snapper with one practice seems the likliest explanation and unfortunate in its timing.

Proulx on the other hand is a more complicated issue. The interference call on Justin Cox on Winnipeg’s final drive eliminated an interception and put Winnipeg in a position to win. Jones was wondering why that play was called interference while a non-call happened on a similar play involving Rider wide receiver Caleb Halley.

My way of addressing that is to refer to a game Friday night involving the University of Regina Rams and University of Saskatchewan Huskies, and another game following the Rider-Bombe game involving the University of Texas and Notre Dame in an NCAA game.

The Uof S beat the Uof R 41-39 in a double overtime game that featured not one coaching challenge, even though the officiating was questionable at times as the UofS enjoyed their hometown advantage. The game had big plays and a flow that made it compelling viewing.  While one could argue about the calls, it was obvious the CIS was cracking down on anythign resembling head shots and the rules on pass interference seemed to be pretty clear.

The Texas-Notre Dame game featured up and down plays, big comebacks and no coaches challenges or video review. There were flows to each of the college games that were lacking in the CFL game where it seems to have descended to one play, then a break for a challenge or review, then another play, and so on.

The CFL, in an effort to rectify a blown call in an eastern final three years ago has responded in the wrong way by using video review and challenges and seemingly every play and by not providing a clear idea of what constitutes pass interference if tweets by guys like Nik Lewis provide any indication.

Leave video review to touchdowns and turnovers asndf strive to bring some consistency to the on-field product. For the rabid Rider fans looking to blame Proulx and his crew for the loss, well, the Riders inconsistency led to their ninth loss, not a blown call in the last minute.

So what will happen this week?

Montreal goes to BC and Montreal continues its self inflicted death spiral by announcing Kevin Glenn is no longer their starting quarterback and Raheem Cato is now number one. There have been calls for Montreal to replace Jim Popp and apparently there is local ownership looking to buy the Alouettes from Robert Wetenhall because Wetenhall is not willing to replace Popp.

All this combined with some really bad salary cap management by Montreal, who have released in stages several veterans it could no longer afford, and an offense which has struggled because the offensive coordinator (Anthony Calvillo) was not ready to step up in that capacity, and you have a team with a really good defense which has been betrayed by indifferent special teams and a toothless offense.

BC on the other hand has come off of a narrow beatdown of Toronto, but has a young quarterback who can throw, a back-up who would start on most other teams, a running attack and a young aggressive defense.

Montreal is travelling several time zones and while Montreal will be able to look past BC’s spectacular stripper community, it will not be able to make it back their body clocks rioting in protest. The players understand that Popp is not a good coach and is past his shelf life as a GM and while Montreal is within striking distance of a playoff spot, their GM/head coach has rolled over and died. Expect the rest of the team to follow suit – BC 26-21.

Then we have the Banjo Bowl on Saturday, which really works if Rider fans were to head to Winnipeg for this game and have enough time to make it back home for Monday. The Riders despite losing have improved in their last two games and with only Spencer Moore out of the lineup with a broken leg at this point, it appears the new strategy of having the guys play together and develop continuity may continue to pay dividends.

Winnipeg has had amazing turnover statistics but here is the question that has to be asked as a Bomber fan. You needed seven field goals to beat the Riders? There is no shame in having the Bomber defense continue its high standard of play, but there comes a point where the defense will stumble and the offense had better be able to carry its share of the load.

It’s been five games and the law of averages says it has to end sometime. The Riders surprise the Bombers and win 41-29 and Dan Dodge wears a Rider bikini top.

Calgary goes to Edmonton and while expectations were high for the first game, Calgary’s running attack and offensive prowess was too much for the Eskimos to handle. Now that the scene has shifted back to Edmonton, and the Eskimos are looking up at Winnipeg and are in a crossover position in the East, a sense of needing to win has suddenly struck the defending Grey Cup champions.

Except this game is being played at home, the Eskimos have had a tough time winning at home and Calgary is on a roll. If I am picking Winnipeg to lose because it cannot sustain its roll on defense, Calgary is in better position because all levels of its team are performing and no one is carrying another.

The chance to beat down Edmonton at home is just too much fun for Calgary to resist. And while Calgary is due for a letdown, it may happen this week, but I suspect it will come in the next three weeks – Calgary 30-25.

Finally we have Toronto hosting Hamilton and Ihave to admit I had a great first half picking Toronto over Hamilton in Labour Day, and then fell asleep since I worked at midnight and woke up to the news that Hamilton had rolled over Toronto in the second half.

Toronto seems to be taking on water in an increasing amount for whatever reason that eludes easy analysis, but more than likely defensive inconsistencies. Toronto got its receiving corps back and they showed up, but Toronto is a young team and they need to follow the Rider way and learn to play together, especially in their defensive backfield.

Hamilton despite its offensive explosion, still does not strike me as a team worth fearing and yet what its doing will likely be enough to beat Toronto 31-24 because Toronto has yet to figure out how to play better at home.