By Greg Urbanoski

Riderville

Craig Dickenson can come home again….Riders (finally) beat Calgary

Oct 26, 2021 | 10:09 AM

In a season that is unlike any previous, the Saskatchewan Riders stumbled into Calgary on a four game losing streak to the Stamps and as the Rolling Stones once sang were Winning Ugly in a 20-17 win.

The win put the Riders a game and a half over the Stamps in the battle for second place in the west. It was the first time Rider head coach Craig Dickenson had beaten his younger brother Dave and as Craig put it, he no longer has to sit at the little kids table at family functions anymore.

Of course it would not be Riderville without several controversies breaking out.

Craig Dickenson or Cody Fajardo have to learn time management on the field and Jason Maas and Cody Fajardo may have been seen to be animated on the sideline with each other, but both need to learn to show leadership to put the team above any petty emotional reaction.

The additions of Duke Williams and Shaq Evans helped somewhat with the offense, which could really use just experience along the offensive line. Fajardo was sacked four times and so far this season has been sacked 25 times, which lands the Riders in the fifth spot trailing Edmonton (26), BC (28), Hamilton (31), and Ottawa (41).

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When you have an inexperienced offensive line, the only way to improve is through experience and devising game plans to take pressure off the line by getting rid of the ball quickly. Quarterbacks I hated facing for the Riders are guys like Mike Kerrigan (Hamilton) or Ricky Ray (Edmonton/Toronto) who had such a quick release the only way to stop them was either send the Swiss Army after them or come up with defensive schemes that did not allow them time to figure out what was going on.

The Riders need to get the ball out quickly, but when your offensive line cannot give you time, by necessity you need a short passing game and a running game but if you do too much short passing or rushing, defenses can key in on what you are doing and stop you dead in your tracks.

Williams and Evans provided defenses with the what if scenario of having them break out and make big catches that move the ball downfield. The Riders have a not bad receiving corps, but when Evans and Jordan Williams-Lambert were out, Kyran Moore was the focus of opposing defenses and had a tough time contributing.

Moore is a good third option as receiver because of his speed and shiftiness; he does not have the size to make anyone sweat. Kian Schaffer-Baker is the next Jeff Fairholm/Ray Elgaard slotback with speed and physicality to break tackle, but he is a rookie and still has a lot to learn. Mitch Picton is a local kid but he needed a couple of years to add muscle to his upper body to take the hits the Calgary and Winnipeg defensive backs dish out. He has not shown speed, but if he can run patterns, he can be a good outlet prospect.

The biggest improvement in the Riders came in the defensive secondary. Jacob Dearborn, Jeremy Clark and Damon Web came in and provide the speed and consistent tackling the defense desperately needed. Also of note was Michael Pinckney at linebacker whose aggressive play may allow the Riders to shift Deion Lacey to outside linebacker where he is better suited.

The Riders have a bit of breathing room, but can’t get too comfortable because Montreal is on the dance card this Saturday. While Montreal traded for Trevor Harris to help solidify their quarterbacking, Matthew Shiltz has managed to game managed better than anyone since Matt Nicholls. Shiltz will probably pick up the ball again for Montreal until he stumbles and one way or another; expect to see Harris in the game.

Montreal has a good defense, but their Achilles tendon is their tendency taking penalties, kind of like the Riders. Montreal will try to throw their weight around since they are at home and they need to show their fans they are ready to clinch first and make a serious run for the playoffs, especially since after the Riders they then must face Montreal in a home and home series which sounds like a potential Grey Cup match up.

With Montreal having the home and home with Winnipeg, is this a trap weekend for Montreal? The Riders after this game have a home and home with the Edmonton Wasting Disease so that will likely put them over 500, but this game with Montreal is likely the final test for this team before the playoffs.

Expect this to be a tight defensive game and the Riders only way to move forward is to find a balance between what the offensive line can do well and where they need to improve. If the Rider win against Calgary helps to find some ways of making their weakness work for them, the Riders could handle the Montreal rush that racked up 10 sacks against Ottawa.

Ah, the Ottawa Dysfunctional Males….Monday morning they started the week off with a bang firing their only GM Marcel Desjardins. Desjardins until two years ago did a good job of helping to pick a competitive expansion team, getting to the Grey Cup in year two and winning, but then let his franchise quarterback Trevor Harris go free to E Town, along with Craig Ellingson and others. To no one’s surprise, Ottawa sank to the bottom of the eastern conference where they only escape being the league worst by beating Edmonton twice this year.

When I think about Desjardins, I am reminded that Desjardins claimed Kevin Glenn in the expansion draft, and then cut him loose when he got Henry Burris. I wonder if Desjardins thought he was just smarter than everyone else just because he one of the best drafts ever for an expansion team.

What made me smile was the thought that Chris Jones, currently the defensive coordinator in Toronto, has his contract expire at the end of this season. Jones was GM in Riderville when he tore down and rebuilt the team with I presume a record 150 people in training camp his first year.

Jones may have been helped quite a bit by John Murphy and even Jeremy O’Day in building the team as Jones behaved more like a kid with a science project to determine if someone who is a wide receiver can play defensive end. Ottawa may need that kind of thinking, but Ottawa will have to watch to ensure that Jones does not also become coach and defensive coordinator because as soon as a better offer comes along, off he goes.

Desjardins was the architect of his own misfortune. Moving on from Trevor Harris was not a bad idea, but when you don’t have a viable option, and then yeah, maybe not everyone had their thinking caps in Ottawa.

That raises an interesting question in Riderville about why the Riders have been unable to land a decent offensive tackle, but we have no problem loading up on receivers and/or defensive backs. The answer is competent offensive linemen are worth their weight in gold and the Riders are not the only teams looking for offensive linemen.

Part of the problem with the Riders is this line has no experience playing together and unfortunately the only way to get that experience is to play together. There is a relatively good chance the Riders offensive line will be better at the end of the regular season than they are now.

At least that is what I am clinging to at this point.

The Riders win over Calgary combined with BC imploding against Winnipeg means the best case possibility I saw of the Riders going east and maybe getting in the Grey Cup that way is not meant to be.

The Riders will likely have to play Calgary and with news that five to eight Stampeder players are not vaccinated and cannot travel for the playoffs and Grey Cup makes the prospect of a Calgary Saskatchewan semi-final less cringe-worthy than it seemed last week.

If Calgary comes here, they will get beat, the question is… will the Riders have enough to beat Winnipeg? If the Riders can unleash a bit of a consistent running game and Fajardo and Maas can agree on a sensible approach to Winnipeg, then anything can happen.

Remember 1989? The 16-2 Edmonton Eskimos, with the best regular season record in CFL history, hosted the 9-9 Saskatchewan Roughriders who were getting their injured players back at the right time and the Riders were physical in winning the western final and then the Grey Cup.

To beat Winnipeg you will have to be physical. When it gets cold, to be able to run consistently on the other team has the effect of crushing their spirit, much like the Bombers have done against the Riders. The Riders have to be equally as physical and disciplined, something their league leading penalty totals would appear to indicate they have not yet mastered this.

But in these next four games, the Riders go up against two quality teams in Montreal and Hamilton, then a two game jaunt with the Edmonton Chronic Wasters. If the Riders do win it all, then Craig Dickenson is coach of the century.

So this week Calgary goes to Ottawa and while it will be interesting if anyone feels motivated as a result of the dismissal of Desjardins, Ottawa has done not bad considering the Regina Thunder has more talent than they do. For Calgary, this is the last road game where they can bring their unvaccinated players, who doesn’t go on the road from here on it may be responsible for the Stampeders not making it to at least the western final

In Calgary I guess they would call it the Red and White scrimmage. Calgary should win this one 25-18 and I admit my natural empathy is probably spotting Ottawa too many points, but they can’t be this bad can they?

Hamilton goes visit the Edmonton Chronic Wasters who apparently have a jump on the rest of the league for training camp to see if what talent will be back next year. Edmonton is probably the biggest disappointment surprise because on paper their talent should have them at the top of the league.

Coming off a bye week, they should have a bit more on the ball with continuity on offense, but Taylor Cornelius (I find it interesting his parents named him Taylor, who was the name of Charlton Heston’s character on Planet of the Apes, while Cornelius is of course the smart chimp on Planet of the Apes). Maybe Cornelius should coach the Chronic Wasters.

Hamilton for their part is coming off a thumping of Ottawa and probably thinks the team Ottawa beat twice should be another easy target. Ottawa has already given up 41 quarterback sacks to lead the league while Hamilton has given up 31 sacks and Edmonton with 26.

Maybe the bye week helps, but honestly, from what I have seen from Edmonton, it is a mystery why Brock Sutherland and Jamie Elizondo still have jobs. I guess the season is not over yet. Hamilton wins this one 24-17.

BC goes to Toronto and if Toronto needed a bounce back game from their choke against Montreal, BC coming off a 45-0 shut down by the Winnipeg Major Crimes Unit is the perfect patsy. BC ranks third in the CFL with 28 sacks given up and if Michael Reilly manages to get through this season unscathed, he should thank whatever Santeria priestesses the Lions have on the payroll.

The Lions are neutered and I suspect their performance against Winnipeg has given the Eastern Conference confidence there will be no western cross over team. Toronto has some quarterback issues and the way Chris Jones’ defense choked against Montreal brought back memories of other chokes by Rider defenses, but Toronto has more cohesion and talent. The Argos win this 24-22.

Finally we have the Riders against Montreal. It’s Saturday night and if you are a guy, St. Catherine’s Street is heaven on earth. So will the Riders but can they put temptation behind them until after the game?

That’s a maybe because where these two teams are evenly matched is in their ability to take stupid penalties. The arrival of Shaq Evans and Duke Williams will help extend the Rider offense, but Montreal is coming off a 10 sack game against Ottawa two weeks ago and the Rider offensive line may be somewhat better than Ottawa’s.

So let’s say Montreal wins 23-22 because if the Riders beat up Shiltz, who has had some success against us in the past, then Trevor Harris comes in and he is auditioning for a spot next year. As Cyndi Lauper once said, Money Changes Everything.