Riders May Need a Cross-Over to Make it to Grey Cup

The Riders have a rematch with Montreal on July 2 and in addition to the sudden offensive misfiring, the Riders will also have to contend with a lack of pass protection and a penchant to taking stupid penalties that has left them in fourth place in the west.

If the Riders cannot get their act together on pass protection and developing reliable receivers for Fajardo to hit, the Riders should thank their lucky stars Chris Jones has control of the Elks this year.

There is another issue from watching the game that is kind of nagging at me. Whether it is his targets going down with injury, Fajardo does not seem confident in moving the club. The fans nagging that Fajardo is not the championship quarterback the Riders need.

It is only three games into the season, but Rider Coach Craig Dickenson is right in calling the next game a ‘character’ game for the club. The difference between the Bombers and the Riders is the Bomber players have bought into what is needed to win games.

The Riders by comparison are a talented group of individuals who seem more preoccupied with working at their game film for NFL auditions. In retrospect, maybe that selfishness explains a lot and until the Riders buy into accomplishing more as a team than as individuals they will not be a factor in the western conference and the only way they will make the Grey Cup, unless they buy tickets, is going through the east.

Which makes the prospect of the Riders being the eastern conference team in the Grey Cup against say, the Winnipeg Blue Bombers, totally plausible.

In the rest of the western conference, Winnipeg won their rematch against Hamilton 26-12 and Winnipeg’s defense looks to be solid. Their offense may need some work and their running game is not on track, but it takes time to develop timing between new backs and an offensive line.

Also, the law of averages suggests it is just a matter of time before Winnipeg starts to suffer from injuries. When that happens, it will be interesting to see what happens, but until then, Winnipeg will continue to impose its will on the rest of the CFL.

Calgary moved to a 3-0 record with a 30-23 win over Edmonton. The Elk are getting better from their opening night disaster against the Lions, but Calgary seems to have Bo Levi Mitchell back in form with a cast of unfamiliars.

The results seem to be an improved team and the Stampeders who were seemingly off the radar to begin the season are now solidly in the mix as Grey Cup contenders.

The third undefeated team are the BC Lions who followed up their opening night demolition of Edmonton with a 44-3 thumping of Toronto. The Lions were coming off a bye week and quarterback Nathan Rourke set a record for yards passing by a Canadian in a football game.

Injuries may play a role in determining how far the Lions go and Bryan Burnham suffered a rib injury so the Lions may not be expected to score over 40 points again this week. The most disappointing thing is the attendance in BC after a great opening crowd for the season opener to see how it dropped off.

If the Lions can show they can play well away from home, the front running fans should start coming back because the Lions are an entertaining bunch.

Well, Lions fans will get their first look at how the team plays away from home when the Lions go to Ottawa on Thursday night.

Ottawa dropped two games to Winnipeg to start the season before getting a bye. Ottawa must be wondering what football gods it has offended after getting BC on its schedule following a twin dose of the defending champions.

Ottawa did not play bad against Winnipeg with new quarterback Jeremiah Masoli getting yardage but not touchdowns. Any injuries on the defensive side of the Lions would help Ottawa perhaps translate those yards into touchdowns.

On the defensive side of the ball, Ottawa did play well against Winnipeg, but BC has a more potent offense and perhaps more worrying for Ottawa, has a running game that survived an injury to James Butler.

BC blew away their opponents in their first two games but this is their first road game and things might be different from what CFL fans saw in those games.

Then again, BC has blown their opponents away while Ottawa is still in the close but no cigar category. Smoke them if you got them Ottawa, they should beat BC this week. If BC wins, then they are definitely in a contending category.

In a battle of losers, the Edmonton Elks go to Hamilton as both teams try to get their seasons on track after falling 0-3. While Edmonton made it close against Calgary, Hamilton just sucked against Winnipeg, begging the question of who will choke first in this early season edition of the Toilet Bowl.

Edmonton has been steadily improving, but their weakness is their running defense, which would be interesting if Hamilton had a running game.

Hamilton may be wondering if they chose the right quarterback, but again, the Tiger-Cats are loading up for next year when they host the Grey Cup, so they are going to take their lumps this year.

I had thought this is where Hamilton ends their losing streak, but with Edmonton getting better, this may be where Chris Jones shows Elk fans that he might actually know what he is doing. Edmonton wins their first of the year.

Montreal goes to Saskatchewan on July 2 and this is the character game for the Riders that may decide how their season is going to go.

A week of practice is going to help the Riders, but let’s be honest, you are playing a rookie at centre, you have a right tackle who was more or less a turnstile in the last game, you have your 1A receiver out for six to eight weeks and you have a running game that may or not be effective.

Montreal plays an effective defense which will take away the deep ball, although I am beginning to have my doubts Fajardo either has the arm to consistently throw it or the receivers who are experienced enough to adjust to it.

So for the Riders to win, they will have to patient and methodical in moving the ball down the field while on defense showing more discipline to keep from jumping offside.

Trevor Harris is a rhythm passer so the Riders will have to do what they can to disrupt his timing, but if the Riders make the field shorter because of penalties, then Harris’ job just got easier.

The Riders gave up eight sacks to Montreal last week and three interceptions. A week of practice may help, but let’s be realistic, the Riders will now be going through a rough patch as they try to figure out how to run an offense that will likely not keep their quarterback upright, open up holes for their running game and find receivers who can catch. Oh, and maybe find a punter who is consistent.

The Riders win a bit of a shootout 32-30. Then again, the Riders can lose 37-13 yet again and officially start the panic attack amongst Rider fans.

Winnipeg goes to Toronto on July 4 and for the Bombers the streak continues. Toronto’s 44-3 loss to BC makes it official that the east will continue to lag this year and Toronto is lucky not to be 0-2.

For Winnipeg this will be an opportunity to solidify their hold on first place. The Bombers need to win the games they should win to solidify their playoff aspirations and dreams of clinching the Grey Cup in Mosaic Stadium.

This is one of those games, even with Winnipeg’s offense lacking a running game and Andrew Harris now running in Argo Blue rather than Bomber blue. Toronto’s offense does not scare anyone and Winnipeg’s defense has enough talent and character to deal with whatever happens. If Toronto cannot score more than a field goal or six points in the first half, it won’t score in the second.

Winnipeg wins this one 31-13.

by Greg Urbanoski

Riders May Need a Cross-Over to Make it to Grey Cup

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