Open Season

Edmonton lost Canadian quarterback Tre Ford to a shoulder injury and Nick Arbuckle’s lack of progress in establishing him as anything more than a back up led to the relatively easy decision by Edmonton to trade Arbuckle to Ottawa, helping Arbuckle on his way to becoming this generation’s Kevin Glenn.

Calgary seemed to prove its worth coming off the bye and will not be an easy out for teams. Calgary seems to have a running game going and Bo Levi Mitchell seems to be hitting his receivers and establishing chemistry.

Edmonton is probably as bad as people think they will be and you have to give kudos to the Edmonton management for free admission to kids under 12 in an effort to fill the empty seats. Meanwhile the Riders played a physical game against Ottawa and eventually pulled away due to timely running game for a 28-13 win.

What made this meh game somewhat memorable came near the end when Rider defensive end Garrett Marino went low on QB Jeremiah Masoli, taking him out for 10-12 weeks. Marino was suspended for four games, pending appeal, two for the hit/WWF style preening he did afterwards; plus a game for making racial comments about Masoli, and a game for a “reckless” tackle on an Ottawa offensive lineman who may or may not have injured Rider defensive lineman Pete Robertson on a prior play.

I didn’t see the play that injured Masoli and they didn’t replay it in the stadium. I did see the spectacle of the Ottawa bench emptying and Marino showboating as he was being ejected. In seeing the replays later on, the tackle was low, but it was the showboating that was the cherry on top of the Rider penalty parade. Masoli had not done anything during the game and while Masoli is able to move the ball between the 30 yard lines, he has trouble getting touchdowns.

Ottawa also gave up early on their running game which is strange, but with the absence of Masoli, it may have saved Paul La Police his job for this year, but it also may have made things easier for him. Arbuckle is one of the strangest enigmas in the CFL the last few years, having gone from a back up to Bo Levi Mitchell, to an initial trade to Ottawa which fell through when no new contract could be reached, then a stop in Toronto where Arbuckle lost his job to McLeod Bethel Thompson, and finally to Edmonton where Chris Jones never met a quarterback he could not screw up.

Now Arbuckle is back in Ottawa where he has a coach who at least is sympathetic and has an offense Arbuckle should be relatively successful in.

I would expect Ottawa to concentrate more on being a ball control offense with their running game. The Riders will be missing Robertson and Marino and it will be interesting to see how they adjust their defensive line. The Riders may have now become more of a running team to take pressure off of QB Cody Fajardo and a relatively inexperienced offensive line.

While Rider head coach Craig Dickenson expressed his disappointment in the stupid penalties taken by his team, I would offer a theory the Riders penalty fest may not be just a case of lack of discipline, but perhaps a response to what the team needed to do to get past Winnipeg.

The last two seasons the Riders have run into Winnipeg in the western final and has been unable to finish the deal. Part of it may be due to Winnipeg’s physical domination of the Riders and the Riders this year felt they needed to be aggressive on their offensive line and in pursuing the other team’s quarterbacks.

While the Riders lead the league in penalties, the team has managed to reduce the number of penalties over the last few games, but the hit on Masoli has painted a bullseye on the Riders that will not go away this season. That may not matter too much to the players who feel they need to be more physical to match Winnipeg. If they feel they are talented enough to overcome any number of penalties, then the Riders should not be surprised at what happens the rest of the season.

Meanwhile the game of the season resulted in Winnipeg proving that if you want to be the best, you have to beat the best. BC had gotten off to a 3-0 start but against Winnipeg the Lions discovered the Bombers are better defensively than say, the Elk, Argos and Redblacks. The game was a good measuring stick for BC to discover where they need to improve and become more efficient. For Winnipeg, it was an opportunity to play up to the level of an opponent.

The Bombers have done no more than necessary in beating their previous opponents, creating an image of a team that may be easier to beat. Winnipeg still has a problem running the ball, something that may be alleviated when they trade back for Andrew Harris in a couple of months. The dismissal of Khari Jones as head coach of Montreal was apparently due to the players not listening to the coaches wanting to reduce the number if not the incidence of penalties in a situation which may resonate with many in Riderville. Montreal GM Danny Maciocatook over and also dismissed Baron Miles as defensive coordinator with Noel Thorpe taking over.

The big question as Montreal deals with players who think they are more important than the team is what Montreal does with QB Vernon Adams Jr., who appears to have lost his job to Trevor Harris. Expect to see a trade between Montreal and Edmonton soon with Adams goes to Edmonton to be reunited with Chris Jones. Harris is perhaps more even keeled than Adams, but Harris also suffers from not being as efficient from the 30-yard line to the end zone as opposed to between the 30 yard lines.

So what effect the coaching change has on Montreal will become apparent this week when Edmonton comes to town. Edmonton has Taylor Cornelius starting at QB this week which may not help the Elk. Edmonton has allowed 15 quarterback sacks this season, second work to the Riders while only making nine sacks.

ontreal by comparison has allowed 14 sacks while making 13 sacks of their own. Montreal will be able to run on Edmonton, assuming Montreal has a running attack to call of its own. Edmonton might be able to launch a bit of a passing game, but it is highly unlikely as Thorpe puts into place a new system that could be better in forcing turnovers.

Montreal wins this one 31-17. The game of the week takes place on Friday when Calgary goes to Winnipeg to try to knock Winnipeg off its first place pedestal. Calgary is averaging 403 yards in total offense a game while Winnipeg is averaging 330 yards per game. Calgary has allowed just four sacks so far this season while getting nine sacks from its defense. Winnipeg has allowed eight sacks while picking up nine sacks of their own. Winnipeg’s defense has picked up 18 pass knockdowns compared to Calgary’s 11 pass knock downs.

Calgary has thrown two interceptions while picking up seven interceptions of their own while Winnipeg has thrown three interceptions while their defense has eight interceptions. Calgary has a better running game averaging 91.5 yards a game while Winnipeg allows just 66.4 yards per game – although those low numbers may arise from other teams needing to pass more to catch up to Winnipeg.

Winnipeg has the more experienced defense in previous meetings, there has been a relatively closely battle between these teams. This will be no exception and it will be closer than the BC Winnipeg game just because Calgary has more and better continuity than BC does at this point. However, close only counts in horse shoes and hand grenades. Winnipeg wins this one 28-14.

Ottawa goes to Hamilton in the first game in the post Masoli era and it will be an interesting matchup of winless teams. Looking at stats is kind of pointless because Ottawa’s offensive production came with Masoli at the helm and now Arbuckle will likely be working with a reduced playbook Hamilton for its part is suffering from a poor offensive line where it has given up 13 sacks while their defense has only come up with six sacks.

Ottawa has a more well rounded offense including its running game and this may be the winning factor against Hamilton.

Ottawa wins their first 27-24. Then we have Touchdown Atlantic which raises the question – will there ever be a 10th team in the CFL? The Riders face the Argos and the Riders will be showing up with a defensive line down two members. The defensive line and linebackers have been front and centre of an aggressive defense, which has been helped out by players being on pitch counts.

The Riders depth will be tested in this game but the Riders have enough defensive linemen to mount a reasonable attack. When it come to the offense, the Riders unveiling a two headed running attack with 131 yards rushing per game. Toronto gives up 85 yards rushing per game while picking up 93.3 yards rushing per game.

The Riders have given up just 58 yards per game rushing. The Riders now have a game plan that mixes in the running and the passing and the increased use of the running game takes pressure off the passing game. The balanced attack also has a measure of nastiness which tends to get under the skin of opponents.

Toronto is not sure exactly what it has but two blowout losses have not helped to inspire much confidence. The Riders, even with their player suspensions and injuries, are still a more rounded team than the Argos.

The Riders win this 33-13.

Fun With Flags

Duke Williams Scoring TD

Lauther Hitting Field Goal

Dancers and Drummers Before Game

Teagan Littlechief Singing National Anthem

by Greg Urbanoski

Open Season

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