So Much for Magic, But Look at That Defense!

I don’t know what stage of grief you are at as a Rider fan, but I think I’m at acceptance.

The fairy tale of Kerry Joseph wrapping up his career by leading us to a fifth Grey Cup, ended in Edmonton in an 18-10 game that was flattering to both the Riders and the Eskimos.

If, a year ago, we were made a deal that we could have the 101st Grey Cup and win it, but fall short the next season, how many of us would have hesitated to make that deal? I would have, and I think many other Rider fans if they were in a position would have as well.

The problem came after the season when the Riders would have been on the hook for many more dollars than they were over the salary cap. With not knowing what the new contract would contain or allow, the Riders had to jettison players, including players like Kory Sheets and Weston Dressler who chose to try their luck in the NFL.

So the process of rebuilding in 2014 was an uneven one, and it could be argued the Rider coaching staff became victims of their belief in their own infallibility. Having coached and survived in the fishbowl that was Riderville 2013, they were secure in the knowledge that doing it their way led to one Grey Cup title and therefore they did not have to change.

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The Riders like their running game because it reduces wear and tear on their quarterback and they had an exceptional runner to begin with in Sheets. The common expression is with the US college system, there are thousands of running backs and with limited jobs in the NFL, and some diamonds in the rough would be available here.

Well, yes and no. The running backs that come up from the States have a question mark or two; otherwise they would be employed in the NFL. We got big backs but they had fumble issues, and that is where the fun started.

Benching a player for fumbling might have worked a bit with Jock Sanders last season, but this year the Riders decisions at running back stretched the effectiveness of that strategy. A revolving door of running backs doesn’t have the opportunity to get into synch with an offensive line and vice versa. A back who knows how the line blocks has an advantage but switch that up every game and you don’t have a consistent running game.

Then you have an 18 game schedule where the injury history of our offensive line is not exactly the best. In the expansion draft the Riders chose to protect their offensive linemen, but guys like Dan Clark and Cory Watman had a rough time this year handling both run assignments and pass blocking. Clark scores touchdowns on gadget plays, but he also got manhandled and got our quarterbacks killed at times.

The depth on the offensive line is not there, or is not being used to its fullest potential. That is the fault of the offensive line coach. Even players like Ben Heenan, who was our number one draft pick, fell off in their quality of play this past season. Yes, Heenan played a number of positions and yes, he is a free agent, but the way Edmonton manhandled the offensive line in the western semi-final showed that Saskatchewan does not have the best offensive line in the CFL.

Help may be around the corner in free agency when Brett Jones becomes available from Calgary. Jones is a former U of R Ram and hails from Weyburn and the opportunity to play with Brendan LaBatte while finishing off his engineering degree may be too good to pass up. Jones is a centre and that would open up Dominic Picard’s spot and if the Riders chose to trade him to say Ottawa, there may be a draft pick or two that could come of it.

Our receiving corps was pretty non-descript this season. Darian Durant’s injury played a role and so did the revolving door of receivers and even Weston Dressler did not overwhelm on his return. The Riders need a deep threat and the play of Chris Getzlaf, even though it is said he was injured quite a bit, is an area of concern.

As far as quarterback goes, I blame the coaches for what happened. Tino Sunseri is good coming off the bench, but has problems starting. Seth Doege just looked lost. The Riders brought in some quarterbacks at the tail end of the season, so maybe some familiarity with the team will help next season. But next season if the Riders have a big lead, pull Durant and let the kids play because we saw what happened this year when you put in quarterbacks with no experience in live game action.

The defense really has nothing to be ashamed of. They kept the Riders in the game Sunday, not giving up a touchdown, but they need a middle linebacker, something they knew they were lacking at the start of the season. A middle linebacker who can handle the run and break up passes would have gone a long way in getting turnovers to help the offense out.

There are a few tweaks needed on defense, but not like on offense. When it comes to special teams, a complete rebuild is needed.

A field goal kicker who hits 71 per cent of his kicks is not getting the job done. Coverage teams who give up a touchdown return once every three games or five games straight is not getting the job done. Injuries to Canadians who usually man special teams may explain some of it, but coaching or lack of it, explains the rest. If Chris Milo is not sent to a kicker’s school repeatedly this offseason, there should be an investigation.

Milo also lacks the ability to provide deep kick-offs and if the punter can’t do it, find a punter who can do kick offs.  Whether Josh Bartel is the answer at punter is open to debate, but it all depends on what he is being asked to do.

This is the problem with the Riders 2014 Edition. No one seemed to have an idea of what they were supposed to do; they had an idea of what they shouldn’t do. The Rider coaches were in no mood to share with the public, and they weren’t getting the message to the players. So blaming coaches and/or players is kind of a mug’s game, with the only evidence coming on game film to see if the players knew what they were doing.

I read an article where Bill Belichek and Josh McDaniels of the New England Patriots draw up an entirely new offensive game plan each week for their opponents. They keep from being predictable and they attack the perceived weaknesses of their opponents. The Riders lacked that adaptation, or they lacked the players to execute anything like that.

George Cortez has gotten a lot of flak for his approach this year but the only problem I can see is Cortez did not bring in a quarterback coach. Maybe the game has passed Cortez, or maybe he did not have the people capable of executing what the Riders had in mind.

Injuries and a lack of depth torpedoed those efforts, but I found it interesting with Sunseri that when he went in as a relief quarterback, he did better than when executing a game plan as a starter. That indicated Cortez was willing to adapt to game conditions, but in setting up a game, he was not being heard.

The Riders season ended when Durant went down. The team gambled that Durant would be durable enough to survive an 18 game season and kept him longer than what was prudent. By not exposing the back-up quarterbacks to significant game action, it is no surprise they fell apart when thrown into the fire, afraid to make a mistake.

If Durant had started, would the result have been different? If he was ready to go, I would argue yes, but the Saskatchewan Roughriders had a rough lesson in what happens when you put all your footballs into one equipment bag. When you lose the bag, nobody seemed to know how to play.

Let the rebuild begin.

If I was the Riders, take a week to lose that awful taste of defeat, review the season, management, coaches and players and do everything possible to ensure that next November, we are prepared to go to Winnipeg to win the 103rd Grey Cup.