Riderville Report

If you are a relatively smart QB, you will know about the switch and if you can keep vertical for four seconds, you will be able to see our DBs back off the receivers and then you can hit the receiver with passes that you can continue to throw until either the Riders sack you (not likely), or they adjust their defense (which hasn't really happened).

If we keep our defensive backs in man coverage all the time, jamming the receivers off the line, eventually something will break down, but the Riders don't seem to have the players who can be physical, as evidenced by our lack of interceptions. Our defense is designed to cover up our weaknesses so instead of a quick strike on a busted man to man coverage, the opposition can just march the ball down the field.

I thought Luc Mullinder would have been traded and he finally was this week as the Riders looked to make what they hope were real changes to spark both offense and defense. The arrival of Dallas Baker was to send a message to the receiving corps to up their games, and trading away Mullinder was intended to put Shomari Williams, our number one draft pick a year ago, into the spotlight.

To his credit, Shomari played hard and even picked up a sack. The next few changes will likely come in the secondary as people like Chris McKenzie or even Sean Lucas need to be replaced by people who can either cover or be physical when they cover.

Hugh Charles has improved from his initial start to provide the Riders with a weapon, but I have a couple of quick observations. When Durant was intercepted on the 117 yard touchdown return, Charles effort in stopping the return was in marked contrast with Weston Dressler who was on the opposite side of the field.

As I mentioned earlier, Hill saw the number of receivers come into camp and upped his game. Dressler continues to be a gamer, and Jame Robinson seemed to come around and offer a bit of speed at the receiving spot.

The play by Charles and West to an extent makes one wonder where Wes Cates fits in upon his return. Cate's lower body injury has me wondering if he has lost a step, then perhaps he may be released by the September 1 deadline for releasing veterans without being on the hook for their whole salary.

People are talking about this team being as bad as the 1999 Riders who went 3-15. I sat through that season and that team was just bad. This team has much more talent but what it lacks is a spark, motivation, inspiration, discipline and mental focus.

Chris Best took a roughing penalty after a Rider convert which allowed Calgary to march on a shortened field to salt the game away after the Riders pulled to within 10. While Best is to commended for standing up for a team mate, you have to wonder if he was thinking about the bigger picture and how a team as emotionally and mentally fragile as the Riders could ill afford to give other teams gifts like the great field position Calgary had.

That incident kind of crystalized for me the state of the Rider team at this moment. They have lost sight of the big picture and are playing for themselves, but not in a positive way. The entertainment of watching Charles do back flips brings back to mind Nik Lewis of the Stampeders making a giant first down sign after he caught a minor pass in years back when we were beating Calgary. It was the wrong thing at the wrong time.

If the players are more concerned about themselves and how they look instead of the overall team, then the implosion will continue. But that points to a bigger problem of who is responsible?

We have an organization where the GM seems to be handcuffed by the vice president of football operations, who chose the coach, who has no words for what has happened on the field. This structure was decided on by the president and ceo of the Riders.

I remember the 11 year playoff drought. I remember the bottom falling out of the team in 1999 and the growing pains of the Shivers/Barrett era. What is happening on the field now is bringing those memories back and I know how this movie ends. We miss the playoffs with a team that could be a credible third place or even second place finisherwith a bit of luck.

But the 2011 Saskatchewan Roughriders have that deer in the headlights look and three wins is starting to sound pretty optimistic. The feeling here is the season is a write off and people are upset when they look east and see Montreal not lose a beat after winning two Grey Cups while we lose two Grey Cups and are playing to avoid ending up in the Grey Cup for a third year.

I would advise Rider fans to consider the rest of this year as one long training camp. The NFL cuts should be coming in two weeks and that is when we find out if our GM can find some help to build for the future, or if Mike Kelly actually had it right when he took over the Blue Bombers two years ago and said Tman's scouting system looked like something written on the back of napkins.

The worst thing about all of this is the fans care about this team. They just want to know if the team feels the same way.

by Riderville

Riderville Report

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