By Riderville

Riderville Report

Jul 4, 2011 | 1:02 PM

The sound you heard this weekend was not hail pelting Taylor Field but of a giant balloon being punctured as the Edmonton Eskimos embarrassed the Saskatchewan Roughriders 42-28 to start the 2011 season.

If you believe in omens, then maybe the hail/thunderstorm that delayed the start of the game was an indication of things to come. But overall, John Eubanks and Darian Durant share custody of this debacle and their lack of performance was just the tip of the iceberg.

Offense: Last week against BC Durant looked rusty and this week he continued that trend with throwing some interceptions that beggared belief. You could argue the receivers didn't help much and a rookie receiving corps didn't have the same finesse as the Canadian Air Force, but Durant has fallen into the habit of looking at his primary receiver and on those throws to the wide side of the field, even I as a former linebacker was licking my lips hoping he would make those attempts so I might have a chance to pick them off.

Wes Cates ran well, but with the Riders playing from behind the Riders went away from the running game and there was really no way to evaluate the running game.

With the receiving game, Weston Dressler had a great game, but he was put into positions on catches that would leave him open to potential season ending injury. Ernie Wheelwright was injured, Terrence Nunn played OK but made some mistakes in routes that might have opened up some interception opportunities for Edmonton. Jason Clermont played well, when he was included, but he also got burned on some pass blocking assignments. Jordon Sisco was a non factor in this game and makes you wonder if the Riders Canadian Air Force days are over.

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The offensive line played relatively well, doing run blocking and pass blocking. The pressure on Durant came when Edmonton's defensive secondary put pressure on the Rider receivers or confused him enough that he held onto the ball too long and allowed the pass protection to break down.

Defense – The defensive line was a mixed story. Keith Shologan and Dario Romero played OK but I was kind of disappointed with Romero's lack of penetration. The defensive end positions were non-existent and the lack of a pass rush allowed Ricky Ray to pick apart the Rider secondary. This has got to be a major concern as the Riders face off against Montreal next week and a 0-2 start is extremely likely.

Linebacker saw Barrin Simpson make a lot of tackles and be active including a sack, but I think it's the defensive scheme that did not bring any pressure from the outside linebacker spots. The Riders suffered from Jerell Freeman being absent from the lineup but perhaps he will be back in for the Montreal game.

The less said about the defensive secondary the better. John Eubanks got the starting job at cornerback because he played with the Calgary Stampeders and had experience. But his perfromance Sunday was perhaps an indication of why he was let go by Calgary. Eubanks was burned so often you thought it was a Denny's breakfast special going on out on the field. The most nauseating thing was seeing former Rider receiver Adarius Bowman use his size over Eubanks much like Jamal Richardson used his size over Omar Morgan in last year's Grey Cup.

The Riders will make some changes in personnel in the defensive secondary for the next game, but the question is whether its the personnel or Richie Hall's defensive schemes which are to blame for the poor performance.

The relative good news was the special teams, especially Eddie Johnson kicking field goals. Johnson did both kicking and punting extremely well, but Stu Foord was not that impressive on returns and Tristian Jackson was a non-entity at defensive cornerback and at returns.

Overall, the Riders seemed to think they could just hang around for most of the game and turn it on in the fourth quarter as they have in the last few years. But now the rest of the league has seemed to have caught up with the Riders and if the Riders don't respond by coming out strong from the start, they will be lucky to finish with a 7-11 record this year.