Dan Plaster
Hi Rider Fans,
Welcome to week two! The rain has stopped and the sun is shining on Rider Nation!
This week the Saskatchewan Roughriders become road warriors. With no pre-season road game this year, this trip to visit the good ship Argonaut will be a new experience for some, but old hat for most of the team. The sun is shining and the players finally look forward to playing in perfect conditions.
Knocking off the Ti-Cats in week one in miserable conditions at Mosaic Stadium this past Sunday was a great experience, but after three straight games in soggy conditions, a clean, dry football will be a welcomed sight. I know the cliche says both teams play in the same conditions, but man, with the Green and White having one of the top QBs in the league, they would love to throw with something that doesn’t feel like a greased bowling ball.
A few fun facts about this match-up:
This is a match-up of head coaches with eerily similar resume’s the last couple of seasons:
– Corey Chamblin and Scott Milanovich took over their respective clubs for the 2012 season.
– Both coaches have helmed their team to Grey Cup wins (Milanovich 2012 and Chamblin 2013) in that time.
– They have equal 20-17 records in the regular season and are 2-2 against each other.
– The road team has won the last four straight games in this series
Other quick notes:
– Of Anthony Allen’s 27 carries for 158 yards rushing last week, 7 of his rushes were for 10+ yards
– With 67 yards through the air, Darian Durant will pass Dave Dickenson for 22nd on the all-time CFL passing yards list (Durant currently has 22,847, Dickenson finished with 22,913)
Milestones:
– Neal Hughes is playing in his 140th career CFL regular season game
– Paul Woldu is playing in his 100th career CFL regular season game
– Terrell Maze, Taj Smith, Xavier Fulton and Dwight Anderson have started in every one of their CFL games (Maze 30, Smith 32, Fulton 35, Anderson 113)
Three things I will be keeping an eye on:
1. Who will rotate in with the injury to Chris Getzlaf – With all-star slotback, Chris Getzlaf nursing an injury and second on the depth chart, it will be interesting to see the rotation of Canadians (or “nationals”) on the Rider offence. The packages all include the four Canadian offensive lineman and Rob Bagg. But look for the rotations of Scott McHenry in at slot/TE, and a lot of Neal Hughes as well. Also, Alex Anthony has been added to the 46 man list (replacing an injured Chaz Schilens) and is looking to see action in his 2nd CFL regular season game.
2. Attacking/Defending Ricky Ray – Watching Twitter after Toronto’s loss last week in Winnipeg, many said that Ray had a terrible game. Well, he had a QB rating of 109.9 good for third in the CFL last week, and he is still considered the top pivot in the CFL (though I would take Darian Durant right now). This Argo offensive line is a better unit than what the Riders faced last week, so 10 sacks is probably out of the question as Ray was sacked just once last week. This means lot of pressure will be put on the Rider defensive backfield. There will be a DB heavy package implemented more than usual as Sam Hurl plays the middle, with Weldon Brown and Macho Harris (rotating with Brian Peters) at the two outside linebacking positions. This will give a 7 DB package on the majority of passing downs.
3. As always…pound the rock – I will say this every week, when the Rider offence is able to successfully run the ball, they will win.
This will be a fun game as the Riders look to go 2-0 and come back next week to host the BC Lions in their first West Division game of the season next Saturday night.
Also, keep your eyes here on riderville.com. Every Tuesday this season you can catch up with Rider Rewind. This week I will look back at the weekend’s action with interviews and analysis from Geroy Simon.
