Riders not yet in free fall

I have been fortunate to see Rourke play three times including his starting debut last year with BC. I still would not want to venture hard money on whether Rourke is the real thing but he entertaining to watch and that makes a world of difference for fans.

The fact that Rourke has affected Rider fans like this makes me think we are moving past wishful thinking into realizing that we are watching an incredible Canadian athletic success story.

This week may be a different story.

BC stepped on the gas and put pressure on the Riders from the opening kickoff and even though the Rider defense kept the team in the game and a change in quarterback showed how much Cody Fajardo has fallen back, it was not enough to get the Riders going against a BC defense that is better than advertised.

When it comes to judging the impact of injuries of star players on teams, it is difficult to say what BC Lion team will come out this week. Rourke’s injury is not the only one as BC has two members of their starting defensive secondary who are likely not playing on Friday.

The Riders were/are boring on offense and the change in quarterback seemed to indicate while the team supports their players, they will not be blindly supporting those players if they are not producing.

Fajardo is in the last year of his contract and depending on who you read, his contract is somewhere around the half million mark. There is no way that Fajardo is earning his money now, nor will he make that much next year.

What the Lions did to Fajardo was show all the weaknesses listed on Fajardo’s NFL draft preview. He has poor footwork and mechanics, gets flustered by a rush and either overthrows his receivers or into double coverage.

We are at game 10 of this season and it will not get better. The Riders have a three-game set against Winnipeg which makes my head hurt because of all the Bomber fans coming out of the closet like it was auditions for the next RuPaul show.

The Rider problems start with their offensive line, but what makes the weaknesses of the line play worse for fans is that the inability to hold a block is resulting in traumatic injury to Fajardo and probably nightmares of being chased by opposing linemen. A good offensive coordinator would adapt his system to match the abilities of his players and if the Riders need to run more or do short passes to cut down on the pressure, so be it.

I’m not sure the Riders are getting their money’s worse out of Jason Maas and even though his name is linked to Montreal as a possible future head coach, defensive coordinator Jason Shivers is the better head coaching candidate at this stage.

So, what if anything will change this week for the Riders?

Well, Nathan Rourke is out with a foot injury so the Riders will have to shoot themselves in the foot this week instead of relying on opposing quarterbacks. The Riders counter that with Duke Williams out along with Jamal Morrow.

The Riders do welcome back Shaq Evans and Kyran Moore from injuries, which will help, and Frankie Hickson will help in the running game, but if the offensive line does not block, that may not matter all that much.

Fajardo will start against BC, and this may be his last best chance at continuing his Rider career. While the problems with the offensive line are known, Fajardo has been rushing his passes, throwing into double coverage, and getting rid of the ball as soon as possible.

What is missing is making his reads of the opposing defense and the constant misfiring in the offense is putting the defense on the field longer than is healthy and the defense is being run out of the game because the offense cannot move the ball.

The Riders have talent, but their talented players also tend to get injured a lot and players like Evans may be on their last contracts if they cannot stay out of the injury room.

You may recall Evans was injured last year and when he came back, he was not the same player and even Fajardo did not throw to him in the western final. There is a whiff of desperation around the Riders as they looked like they were taking suggestions from Rider fan forums like getting Fajardo out and cutting Na’Ty Rogers, the former right tackle.

Mason Fine did OK in his relief of Fajardo, but I recall one previous benching of Andy Fantuz by Kent Austin in 2007. Fantuz was dropping balls and Austin benched him for a game to send him a signal that if the drops continued, Fantuz would be moving on.

The benching seemed to strike Fantuz the right way and he ended up as the outstanding Canadian of the 2007 Grey Cup. Fajardo must realize that his chances of getting a contract like he signed are slim to none, especially if the Riders do not make the playoffs as they play host to the Grey Cup.

It has been interesting listening to interviews with Rourke where he talked about working with a quarterback coach on his footwork and release of the ball. You do not hear Fajardo talk about stuff like this and you wonder if the football administration cap limiting spending on coaches has thwarted the Riders efforts to have a quarterback coach who can work with Fajardo on addressing his many issues.

While Fajardo is an engaging personality, he is also operating out of his comfort zone. His comments last year about his receivers rubbed many the wrong way because it seemed like he was throwing his receivers under the bus and those of us who watched Ron Lancaster never saw him throw teammates under the bus publicly.

Fajardo was handed a lucky break with Rourke being injured for this upcoming game. Fajardo can reclaim his confidence, but he must be systematic about it, and use all receivers and not panic. This could be easier said than done, but Fajardo cannot say he did not get a chance to try to redeem himself.

So, Calgary goes to Winnipeg this week hoping to capitalize on momentum from Montreal beating Winnipeg. Calgary has lost twice to Winnipeg, both times by close scores, and psychologically Calgary needs to think they can best Winnipeg.

Calgary will be starting Jake Maier instead of Bo Levi Mitchell. Mitchell has been trying to come back from his shoulder problems but a combination of those problems and many talented receivers moving on means Mitchell may be coming to the end of his days in Calgary.

A lot of teams are looking at how BC spent money on receivers while going with inexperienced quarterbacks and how that has paid off big time for them. The massive contracts that Mitchell and Mike Reilly got may be relics of the past as teams discover there may be other ways to win than with just an “elite” quarterback.

Calgary gets a boost with the return of Ka ’deem Carey at running back. Winnipeg will be short on receivers with Greg Ellingson not playing, but again, Winnipeg will be at home and coming back after an unexpected loss.

Maier has been throwing better than Mitchell but lacks Bo’s experience at this point. This could be the only thing keeping Calgary from a win because Richie Hall, defensive coordinator of the Bombers, will do everything to throw Maier off.

If Calgary drops this game and the series 3-0 to Winnipeg, then Calgary should be an easy out in the western semifinal. Winnipeg discovered their greatest enemies are complacency and injuries and the chance to win at home to set up the series with the Riders and the ultimate Bomber humiliation of Saskatchewan – winning a Grey Cup in Mosaic Stadium, comes one step closer.

Winnipeg makes several statements winning this game. They will do so by a 32-21 score.

Hamilton goes to Toronto in a battle of poseurs trying to prove they are football contenders. Toronto has lost Andrew Harris for the rest of the season with a torn pectoral muscle but other than against the Riders, Harris did not do much and I suspect Toronto is grateful for the salary cap relief.

Toronto’s problem is uninspired quarterbacking in McLeod Bethel Thompson who is only in command because he has a better grasp of the offense than anyone else. Toronto has a bit of a shaky offensive line, although for a Rider fan to call out anyone else’s offensive line is a bit of a reach.

Hamilton may have Matthew Shiltz running the offense since Dane Evans is proving himself to be the biggest miscalculation since Michael Bishop. Hamilton must be thinking they are in this no-win situation because it is doubtful that even if Jeremiah Masoli was still in Hamilton, they would not be contenders.

Hamilton had to move players who got headlines but not contributed like Brandon Banks. The replacements have not stepped up and therefore Toronto has a more rounded team than Hamilton and they should win this one 28-17.

Ottawa goes to Edmonton, and it has been more than 1,000 days since Edmonton last won a home football game. This should end Saturday night because Edmonton went into Ottawa and laid a licking on the Redblacks and proved conclusively that while Ottawa has arguably more talented team, they lack coaching at the head coaching level and offensive coordinator position, something that will not change until after the season.

Edmonton will win this one because Ottawa lacks the leadership to get their players through on offense. Paul La Police has made it clear he is best as an offensive coordinator but is overmatched handing head coaching duties.

Edmonton is not much better because Chris Jones has made the constant turnover of the roster nothing more than a joke. If you have good scouting, you do not have to airlift players in every week and Jones may discover the turnover will put players off when it comes to free agency.

Ottawa may crash and burn on Saturday night because Edmonton is trying to stay relevant to their fans as Ottawa is trying not to lose theirs. Someone will lose and that will be Ottawa by a 34-13 score.

Finally, the Riders and British Columbia will come together for a third time, and this should be the charm for the Riders. If the Riders do not want to be the fourth best football team in Regina, behind the University of Regina Rams, the Regina Thunder and Regina Riot, they will need to take advantage of the Rourke injury, unleash their defensive line-and see if Evans and Moore can still play.

If the Riders can master a ball control offense, and at this point they cannot master how to get more than one first down in a row, they can win this one.

I have more sympathy than faith in Cody Fajardo, but the way forward for him is to overcome his own failings as a quarterback and work on the things that make a quarterback good.

In the meantime, the defense had a major pressure relieved with Rourke being out and they now must answer if it is the quarterback or the system that is making BC great.

This game will come down to whether BC can believe it can carry on without Rourke or if the team not this week. Riders win this 28-24.