Nothing is as it Seems in CFL Week Two

Mace promised a team that would play with controlled chaos, which resulted in the Riders leading the league in penalties after two games. The flip side to this is the work done by coach J.C. Sherritt as the run defense coordinator managing to make James Butler look more like a car valet on his last legs, and a defense which is tackling, not just falling in front of opposing players.

I like going to practices because watching a football practice is like being in church. You can see by how the players practice and what they do and maybe how it translates into game day situations. The Riders defense practices a lot of knocking the ball out of their opponents’ hands, especially quarterbacks, and the biggest difference is this year the defense is opportunistic and the offense, with Trevor Harris, is cashing in on those opportunities.

Harris broke his kneecap last year and while there were those in Rider Nation who gushed over Jake Dolegala and his ability to throw deep, you can see the difference between the two. Harris can move the team down the field while Dolegala hits maybe one in three or four deep passes.

My only concern about Harris is, and bear with me while I betray my age, he reminds me of former Hamilton quarterback Mike Kerrigan who when he got into a rhythm was almost impossible to stop. The stats bear this out because I do believe Harris has the best completion percentage of a quarterback in CFL history.

Harris has established a good relationship with Jerrith Stearns and Shawn Bane Jr. and the amazing Ajou Ajou, a draft pick who was recruited by Clemson, but didn’t stick there because of presumably not enough experience playing.

The only problem, and I am not sure it is a problem just yet is the running game. A.J. Ouellette was the big-ticket item for the Riders in free agency but with an average of 36 yards a game rushing which will lead him to a 641-yard season. Part of this is probably due to the inconsistent run blocking when Ouellette takes the ball and gets hammered in the backfield because the offensive line apparently cannot get anyone blocked.

It is not an entirely lost cause because Ouellette does catch the ball well and even better, blocks to provide Harris with the time to make a throw. Considering the Rider quarterbacks were little more than pinatas last year, this represents progress in Rider Nation.

Clint Ratkovich is the other power back who is an all-purpose type and maybe a change of pace, but the Riders have lost offensive lineman Philip Blake to a quad injury which considering his age may take longer to come back from. The Riders have amassed several Canadian offensive linemen who will now have to step forward and show they are ready for prime time which means the running game will still be a work in progress until October, but if Ouellette can at least block and help keep Harris vertical, the Riders will be able to be competitive.

I am not worried about the passing game, the defense seems to be doing well against the run and the gamble the Riders took by bringing extra defensive linemen to deal with the southern Ontario heat and humidity seemed to work, but they could have used another receiver or offensive lineman.

The Riders did play around with their defensive secondary by starting Marcus Sayles and his only being in town for a week showed up in the number of blown coverages that allowed Bo Levi Mitchell to hit deep passes. In addition to Sayles, the Riders moved Bo Lokombo to safety and Lokombo, while he is in his third year, missed an entire year with a knee injury and his inexperience showed.

The problem is the only way to address that inexperience is to put him on the field and hope his athletic talent keeps him afloat until he can recognize the different stunts opposing offenses are going to try on him. I’m off to practice on Thursday

to see how the defensive backfield is shaping up, but with Josh Bell as the defensive coordinator for the passing game, and with Sayles being a vet who is serviceable, I think another week of film work may help him in getting the hang of what the Riders are trying to do with the passing game.

As far as Hamilton is concerned, receiver Tim White is in desperate need of a sports psychologist. He dropped one sure touchdown pass and in the last minute had a pass bounce off his chest into the arms of a Rider defensive back, allowing the Riders to score 10 points for the win in the last minute.

Bo Levi Mitchell took advantage of the Riders shuffling in the defensive backfield and had a good game, but once you understand how it was made possible with new players in and out of position, I’m not sure he will be able to repeat his performance.

Hamilton’s running game, prominent in their loss against Calgary, did not exist against the Riders but neither did the Riders running game against Hamilton.

Looking ahead to Sunday’s game, Hamilton will again be going deep, looking to create mismatches and Mitchell will attempt to give White some confidence by throwing to him often. White is suffering from what many golfers will relate to, the yips, where he is unable to consistently catch the ball like he did the last two years.

This is a psychological and confidence issue and while Mitchell said he will go back to White; I wonder if White does what many golfers will do when they get the yips and bear down too much and, in that process, drop more balls.

The other thing to keep an eye on is how well the Riders are doing their half-time adjustments. Marc Mueller, the offensive coordinator, reminds me more and more of his grandfather, Ron Lancaster, in how he sets up opposing defenses for mismatches throughout the game.

There were a lot of questions about Mueller as an offensive coordinator because he had been replaced by Dave Dickenson in Calgary last year, but let’s just agree that Dave Dickenson is a jerk and leave it at that. Mueller, along with Josh Bell and Sherritt are future CFL head coaches and the Riders had better hope to win a Grey Cup or two before these three move on to other teams.

The Riders could have easily lost their first two games but showed resilience in the face of adversity to pull off wins on the road, the first time in team history they won two road games to start the season.

I’m not booking any parade routes yet for the Riders, but they are a more fun and interesting team to watch this year, although the proof will come after Labor Day where the Riders have lost seven in a row last year and the year before.

The Riders believe and they are listening to Mace, and they have a bye week coming up after this game. It is difficult to win back-to-back games against the same opponent, but once you peel back the layers, you must think the Riders will win their home opener 31-23.

Watching the Bombers against the Ottawa two tones, sorry, Redblacks, the thought I had went back to 1977 when the 1976 Riders made their last real effort for the Grey Cup with Ron Lancaster as quarterback. The 76 Riders were a veteran team reaching the end of a 10-year run of success and then new Rider coach Jim Eddy kept everyone together but forgot when veteran teams get old, they get old fast.

The Bombers miss Brady Olivera with a knee injury they have injuries elsewhere and while they are a veteran team, they look old. The Bombers are trying to operate on muscle memory to pull off wins and while they are still a formidable opponent, a younger, hungrier team, even with questionable coaching moves, will male things difficult for them.

Olivera not being in the lineup is forcing Winnipeg to go with Johnny Augustine who is a great physical specimen but has not set the world ablaze. Winnipeg’s offensive line is a work in progress and has not matched the physicality they had in previous years when they imposed their will on their opponents.

I picked Ottawa because teams coming off a bye, especially in the first week, win more often than they lose. Dru Brown showed leadership and while he too is a work in progress, he is obviously the future of Ottawa football (sorry Jeremiah Masoli).

You can argue, and I would not disagree that Ottawa had the element of surprise and Winnipeg may have gone into this game overconfident in their ability to bounce back. There was a lot of talk of how seldom Winnipeg has lost two games

in a row in the last five years, but that was then and when you have an aging team showing signs of breaking down due to age and infirmities, those old cliches don’t really mean anything.

Olivera is not likely to be back this week which sucks for Winnipeg because they are playing the wildly inconsistent BC Lions who came off a close win over Calgary 26-17. BC got clobbered against Toronto in week one giving up six sacks, but while many underestimated how good Toronto would be because of the losses of coaches and players, Toronto has done a great job of developing depth.

It is foolish to judge a team too much after two games, and with BC getting clobbered by a good team and not really blowing away Calgary, one is never sure of which BC team is going to show up on Friday night in Winnipeg.

The key to this game will be how well BC’s offensive line handles the remnants of Winnipeg’s defense and how well Winnipeg can move the ball against the BC defense with no running game to speak of.

This should be a close game because Winnipeg has a lot of question marks and I’m not sure until Olivera returns if they will have any answers. I have no use for the Bombers since they stiffed Bomber fan James Kennedy who paid for a bunch of First Nations lanyards last year for them in hopes of getting his residential school jersey signed but the Bombers took the lanyards without signing the jerseys, which showed a culture of entitlement seeping into the Bomber organization.

BC needs to make a statement for their fans since they are hosting the Grey Cup this season. They had a sellout for the first game because of the 50 Cent concert, but a lot of those fans left after the concert.

The only thing that will bring them back is some sign the Lions are serious Grey Cup contenders and what better place to show those dreams may be real than winning in the magical Princess Auto Stadium, home of the team who have lost the Grey Cup more than any other team.

This should be a fascinating if flawed game to watch, but I think BC wins this game 26-23 because they need to make a statement. The Bombers need to make a statement of their own, but I think 0-3 speaks volumes.

Ottawa goes to Montreal, who like Saskatchewan opened their season with two road wins, including the season opener in Winnipeg because the Canadian Mafia did not want to allow Montreal to raise their Grey Cup banner at home against the team who snatched victory from the aging mall walkers on the Bomber team.

Montreal played a competent game against the Edmonton Elk, winning 23-20 due to the Montreal defense having its way with McLeod Bethel Thompson. While Montreal’s defense is Grey Cup caliber, their offense under Cody Fajardo does just enough to win.

Since both teams beat Winnipeg, it won’t be easy to make much difference between them and maybe the weather, hot, will determine the winner of this game. This makes player personnel movement the deciding factor. The team that is most effective in rotating their players through to keep them from wilting in the fourth quarter should pull off the game.

If you look at it in those terms, Montreal appears to have more proven depth than Ottawa, although Ottawa has more youth on its side. Ottawa though has not played much together with this current lineup while Montreal has the advantage of veteran consistency and familiarity.

If Ottawa wins, they are in better shape than Montreal, but I am picking Montreal to win what will be a grueling game 23-20 because Montreal has not blown anyone away and the weather in Montreal will be such that heat stroke and dehydration will be the determining factor and Montreal is better able to handle it with their veteran savvy.

Edmonton comes off two home losses with the image of a team that is almost, but not quite ready, to make a statement. Part of this is due to Chris Jones and his endless training camps of bringing players in and then discarding them. Jones is desperately trying to save his job at the end of this season and goes on the road to Toronto to try to jumpstart his season.

Toronto is coming off a bye and with Cameron Dukes showing well and the Argos ridding themselves of Shawn Oakman, who when he wants to play is very good, but he cannot sustain interest for long, are showing that even with quarterback Chad Kelly on the nine game suspended list, they have enough depth to compensate for players who on the field or off are screw ups.

Edmonton has been competitive in their games but has been unable to avoid shooting themselves in the foot. Thompson returns to Toronto where he won one Grey Cup game and he will want to show well, but I am more impressed with Toronto’s depth and very impressed with Argo Head Coach Ryan Dinwiddie who has been able to manage his way through the distractions.

Toronto makes another statement with a 30-20 win over an Edmonton team that is game, but now must be viewed as cursed with Chris Jones at the helm.

by Greg Urbanoski

Nothing is as it Seems in CFL Week Two

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