Play on the Edge, Fall Off the Cliff

Considering the Rider offense was more like a pop gun. The team did not do itself any favors by A) Not hanging onto the ball; B) taking stupid penalties; C) Making stupid coaching decisions like doing an obvious fake 62 yard field and then failing to execute it with four minutes left in the game but, it could be argued that Durant has carried this team as far as it could go and since the Riders are 1-10, might as well blow the whole thing up.

Ah, but here is the bug in the ointment.

The Riders have three home games left in the season, and let’s say a month and half in the regular season, then likely a dead zone for the playoffs, then whatever Christmas rush as people scramble to buy gifts to commemorate on of the stupidest 1-10 teams, but not necessarily the worst, in Rider history.

Everyone has their own story, but the amount of bitching over what the Riders are doing wrong overlooks the progress they seem to have made after stumbling early in the season. Of course whenever the Riders seem to be making progress, they then promptly shoot themselves in the foot with a stupid penalty or coaching decision that derails any chance at becoming a 2-9 team.

By my count, the Riders could and should be a 5-6 team at this point. The two games in Edmonton they screwed up and the two games against Winnipeg which were there for the taking have resulted in most casual fans tuning out and turning to the NFL or other forms of football, CIS, NCAA, high school or flag, to get their fix. This is going to result in sales dropping for the Rider juggernaut and really puts pressure to explain the extended training camp schedule, the fines being paid for basic flouting of the rules, the releases of players who have more sacks than the current team combined.

At times you want to give the benefit of the doubt to Jones because surely he could not have been this inept all along. The question has to be asked is if Ed Hervey in Edmonton was more of a factor than Jones wanted to admit in accounting for the team success.

Jones is a defensive coach and the theory is with a strong enough defense, it would be good enough to cover for a lack of offensive ineptitude.

However Jones has constructed a defense that over halfway through his first season has no defensive line pressure and recycled defensive backs who rank second in the league in illegal contact penalties.

Last year Cory Chamblin was hammered as Rider defensive coordinator for taking over a defense after booting out Richie Hall (who seems to have done very well in Winnipeg) and having a defensive backfield that led the league in illegal contact penalties. Jones, who Chamblin wanted to emulate, is so far following in Chamblin’s footsteps in constructing a defense that can’t rush and can’t stay disciplined when covering other receivers. Apparently now the Riders are second in illegal contact penalties.

Maybe that is what Jones meant by living on the edge?

The problem is the 30 scouts the Riders have apparently hired have yet to turn up any NFL draft picks, while the defense is tackling better, it still lets up an inopportune big play now and then and the offense has no offensive line.

While Chris Jones has modelled his career after Don Matthews, let’s review what Matthews did in Saskatchewan. Matthews never won a Grey Cup, something he did in Toronto, BC, Baltimore and Montreal. Matthews played on the edge in Saskatchewan, resulting in some Western Semi-Final losses capped by the sight of Dave Ridgway slipping on the frozen turf of Commonwealth Stadium because Matthew wasn’t too bright getting Ridgway’s approached cleared off during a time out, oh wait, he blew all his time outs so Ridgway had no time to clear his approach.

Does the lack of time management sound familiar?

So I hope that Jones can learn from his mistakes, and judging from the extra hiring he has done – maybe he is learning to spread the workload. The Riders just signed Mike Davis to be manager of football administration, which I assume would be answering the phone from the American coaches since Davis was formerly involved with the Indoor Football League, whatever that is, and may give us an insight into the latest Rider science project.

He joins Scott Annand who took a year of absence from teaching in the Maritimes, when he wasn’t coaching at Mount Allison or St. Mary’s and is apparently running the Canadian scouting scheme of things. The Riders have them down as quality control, but in terms of job description, no one is allowed to know in case they get a bit of a competitive advantage.

So if Don Matthews is any example, Jones will likely serve out his contract, unless he wins and the Riders throw more money at him. Considering what the Riders are paying out now, they have invested too much to back out with a knee jerk firing.

The hope is, and that maybe what I am clinging to in a best case scenario, Jones learns from his mistakes, actually finds some guys and more importantly, gives them time to work together. It is no secret the Riders have played better the last three weeks because they have not turned over a quarter of their roster.

by Riderville

Play on the Edge, Fall Off the Cliff

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