Riders put in sloppy effort on and off the field in loss to Toronto

The Riders decided to see fan versions of the Blizzard jersey to fans for $200 and give away the game worn jerseys at the end of the game. They should have used the jerseys for putting players in the witness protection program judging from the brain cramps that plagued the Riders during the game.

The promotion was lazy and poorly thought out and matched the effort shown by the Riders on the field. The Riders offense carried them to wins their first two games but with AJ Ouellette out, the Riders went more to their passing game.

Toronto running back Sam Hicks started the game off with a 60 yard plus run, Janarion Grant had a 100 yard touchdown on a punt return and Chad Kelly may be sloppy himself, but he is the engine in the Argo offense.

To be fair to the Riders, there were injuries before and during the game in the defensive secondary. They also suffered brain farts when it came to sending Samuel Emilus back to return punts after James Letcher went out with an injury.

First off, with the Rider and CFL injury history, you do not subject your star players to any more risk than what they would face on a regular play. Second, the injuries do not explain the missed tackles on the Rider defense, the abysmal blocking on the offensive line, or the dropped passes. Yes, the Riders had not lost a regular season or playoff game since last October, so maybe they started believing their own hype.

The BC Lions fired their special team’s coordinator Cory McDiamarid following their loss to Calgary and the Riders may or not look at the same route if their special teams don’t improve. The Riders catch a bit of a break this week as they go to Ottawa for a Friday night game against the Redblacks and then they go off on their second bye week of the season.

It was an entertaining and intriguing week in the CFL with Montreal apparently not taking Ottawa seriously and barely escaping with a 37-35 win. Ottawa traded away their starting quarterback Dru Brown from last season to Winnipeg for a bag of magical beans, where he had emerged as a back up to Zack Collaros and the rest of the team played as if the Riot Act was read to the players.

As previously mentioned, the Lions moved to Kelowna for two weeks and in their first game hosted Calgary and lost 41-33. The Lions have a receiving crew made up of traffic pylons and due to five players apparently taking home 23 percent of the salary cap, the Lions don’t have much spare change to bring in injury replacements.

Nathan Rourke may be the best quarterback in the CFL right now, but if he has no supporting case around him, he is just another pretty face getting hammered to the turf.

The loss dropped BC to 0-3 and Calgary improved to 1-2. BC this weekend hosts Edmonton in Kelowna with Edmonton currently 3-0, what many thought BC’s record would be at this time. While the Lions fans remember 2011 when the Lions got off to an awful start, only to rally in the second half of the season and win the Grey Cup, the 2026 Lions better start winning soon, or they risk watching the rest of the league pass them by in the standings.

Edmonton moved into first place with a 23-18 win over the Bombers. The Bombers should have been put to sleep in this game, but the lack of a killer instinct for the Elk will likely come around to bite them in the butts sometime this season.

The Elk used a great running game led by Justin Rankin who picked up his third 100-yard game. The Elk used their defense to shut down the Bomber running game and Winnipeg despite being excited about Brown coming back, look like a team whose best years are behind them.

Whether Edmonton can sustain their improvement is best known to coach Mark Killiam but at least the Elk are giving their fans, past and present, an excuse to come back to the park.

So this week we have a four game slate with a game a day running from Thursday to Sunday starting with Toronto at Calgary on Thursday night.

The Argos were a question mark following the departure of two-time Grey Cup winning coach Ryan Dinwiddie to Ottawa to become the GM Head Coach there. Maybe the grass was greener in the national capital but after Dinwiddie threatened to cut players following their first loss to the Riders last year, I suspect the locker room tuned him out.

The Argos game against the Riders demonstrated an offense not afraid to go deep and by using so many weapons effectively, reminded me a bit of the old run and shoot offense. The Argos cashed in on their opportunities and while Kelly threw some interceptions, he demonstrated an ability to escape that bodes well for the Argos for the rest of the season.

The Argos probably have the best receiving corps in the league and take their 2-1 record into Calgary with a 1-2 record. While Toronto looks to move the ball via the pass, Calgary does better with their running game and their defensive tackles to create havoc on the line of scrimmage.

Toronto has more weapons than Calgary and will make a big statement by beating them 35-33

The Riders go to Ottawa Friday looking to rebound from their Toronto debacle. The Riders have a bye week after this game and have injury questions to answer, like do they bring people back for this game or give them another two weeks to heal up.

If Ottawa gave Montreal a fright, they could do the same to the Riders as they try to rally around their quarterback Jake Maier, who was a backup in Saskatchewan last season. Other former Riders on Ottawa include linebacker AJ Allen, linebacker CJ Reavis and kicker Brent Lauther who surprisingly is perfect on field goal attempts this year.

The temperature in the Ottawa locker room is going up and unless fans see an improvement, attendance will likely plummet until Ottawa shows it is for real and not a mirage. Look for another shootout with the Riders somehow pulling off a 35-30 win.

Edmonton goes to Kelowna on Saturday to play the Lions and the Lions are looking at the standings with a wee bit of panic. They need to start winning before they lose contact with the teams ahead of them but the Lions do not have much viable depth on their roster.

Edmonton feels good after beating the Bombers, but who doesn’t feel good after beating the Bombers, and look to put pressure on the Lions by beating them and putting them four games out of first place. Look for the Elk to pass since BC has no pass defense and Edmonton will win this game 37-26 and who knows, maybe get to bring a basket of apples home with them.

On Sunday the Bombers go to Hamilton where the Bombers will again attempt to show people they are a Cup contender despite losing to Edmonton. Collaros goes back to the team he once quarterbacked and was moderately successful, but not a Grey Cup champ in Hamilton.

Bo Levie Mitchell is trying to sell Hamilton on being Cup contenders but despite the media being strangely excited by Hamilton, they still tend to choke when given the opportunity.

These teams know each other well and it will be a tight game, but Hamilton is a more rounded team than the Bombers and Hamilton will win 31-26

There were a lot of empty seats raising the question of how is the CFL surviving?

Kian Schaffer-Baker gets a first down!

Rider Touchdown!

Tommy Stevens scores for the Riders!

Daniel Wiebe nabs his first CFL touchdown!

by Greg Urbanoski

Riders put in sloppy effort on and off the field in loss to Toronto

What's Trending