Dan Plaster
Hi Rider fans! It’s sure nice to have the green and white back after a hectic, but successful 10 day excursion through Ottawa and Winnipeg. The 4-and-2 Riders welcome the 1-5 Montreal Alouettes in front of a packed house tonight at Mosaic Stadium.
It was almost a year ago to the day that the Anthony Calvillo led Montreal Alouettes paid a visit to Saskatchewan. The Riders walked away with the 24-21 win in what would be Calvillo’s final CFL game. Montreal would finish the season 8-10 and in third spot in the East Division. It’s a completely different story to begin 2014, as the Troy Smith era has started with a thud and because of this, he was placed on the six-game injured list this week. Also absent from the Alouette roster, Chad Johnson. The former NFL star won’t be on the Taylor Field turf at Mosaic Stadium as he was put on the one game injury list this week.
It’s tough to find anything redeeming offensively for Montreal because of the weak quarterback play. There is potential in the offence, as S.J. Green, Duron Carter and Canadian Dave Stala lead a strong receiving core along with an all-Canadian offensive line with the likes of Josh Bourke and Jeff Perrett.
Defensively, this is an all-American group of starters (except for safety Marc-Olivier Brouillette) with a great group of linebackers:
– Chip Cox is still one of the top linebackers in the game, he is tied for the team lead in tackles with 30 and a whopping 21 of those being defensive stops (tackles before 1st down yardage was gained).
– 4th year MLB, Bear Woods is back in the line-up. His replacement during his injury stint, Aaron Lavarius filled his spot well (he will be playing defensive end tonight) with 19 tackles and 3 sacks. The average yardage gained before tackle was just 5.57 yards.
– Kyries Hebert is tied with corner Geoff Tisdale for the team in tackles with 25 after the first six games of the season.
– An offensive highlight is Brandon Whittiker, he is third in the CFL in rushing yards per game with 63 yards per game and is responsible for 30% of their yards from scrimmage, that makes him tops in the CFL.
It has been a tough start to the season for Montreal and it will get tougher:
– They are the only team in the CFL without a come from behind win.
– With a record of 1-and-3 at home, its a big hole to dig out of with just five games left at Percival Molson Memorial Stadium.
– They are averaging just 3.9 yards on first down.
– They have yet to have a rusher or receiver eclipse 100 yards in a game this season.
The Green and White are coming off a masterpiece road win in Winnipeg last week. The stellar defense was led by John Chick’s defensive player of the week performance of three sacks and five tackles. While offensively they went with an efficient smashmouth game plan, picking up 186 yards on the ground and not a single turnover.
The front seven will have to continue their stellar play as the injury bug has hit the secondary. Weldon Brown will miss this week. Woodny Turenne will play halfback and Macho Harris will take over from Brown at linebacker. CFL veteran, Carlo Thomas is off the injured list and will play in his first game of the season in the backfield.
The one take away from practice this week was the numerous defensive packages the Riders laid out. This is the luxury the club has with the solid rotation of linebackers and the emergence of Canadian defensive lineman David Lee. Throw in the fantastic early season performance of Mark LeGree and this will continue to give opponents fits.
A few Green and White tid bits:
– Rob Bagg’s 123 yards receiving in Ottawa is the highest receiving output this season and the only time a Rider pass catcher surpassed the century mark.
– Three different Rider running backs (Anthony Allen, Will Ford and Jerome Messam) have topped 100 yards.
– This is Chris Getzlaf’s 100th career CFL game.
– The Riders are the number one rushing team in the CFL but the 6th ranked passing team.
– The offensive line is the tops in the CFL in the amount of holding calls against, but give up a sack once every 13.7 drop backs (13 given up in total, 2nd in the CFL).
– Most of the yardage accumulated through the air is picked up, well, through the air. The Riders have the lowest YAC yards in the league with 425.
– The offence is fantastic on first down, with a second best 7 yards gained per first down attempt and a league high 8 yards passing on first down.
– When the Riders score, they score quickly. They have the 2nd lowest time of possession per game.
– Mark LeGree leads the CFL in interceptions with three.
– One last note, with all of the hand wringing over fumbles early in the season, the Riders are third in the league in fewest times fumbled with 6 (but have lost 5).
One last quick note. Montreal Alouette head coach, Tom Higgins has challenged a league high six times, overturning just one decision. Corey Chamblin has challenged five times, overturning two calls (he is 0-2 on pass interference challenges).
Five things I will be watching tonight:
1. Alouette law firm of Brink, Marsh and Crompton – This will be interesting on who we see and how much we will see of any of these three Montreal quarterbacks. With Troy Smith now on the six game injured list, Alex Brink will get the nod, but Alouette coaches have said there will be a rotation of pivots. That makes it challenging on the Rider defence on as far as which QB to prepare for.
2. All-Canadian O-Line – The fantastic Rider defensive line will be facing a banged up and all-Canadian Montreal offensive line. If the standout play of the seven man Rider rotation continues, it won’t matter who plays quarterback for the Alouettes, they will have a very long game.
3. Two Headed Monster – With the emergence of Jerome Messam (first Canadian Rider running back to gain 100 yards in a game for a long time. Still trying to figure out who the last was…that will be a story for another time) along with Will Ford, the Green and White have two completely different options carrying the football. Messam is the bruiser with quick feet and is the better blocker, while Ford is elusive, faster and can catch the ball out of the backfield. So if the passing game struggles in any bit, its nice to have that big offensive line and great running backs to pound the rock.
4. Backfield injuries – Weldon Brown has been doing solid work again at the linebacker position, but is banged up today. Macho Harris will drop down and veteran Woodney Turenne will take his spot. Carlos Thomas replaces Brown on the roster. It is a unique luxury to have two veteran defensive backs in Turenne and Thomas to go in the rotation, but it is the first time this season that they will see regular playing time. They will have their hands full with this Alouette group of receivers.
5. In Durant We Trust – Darian Durant has been very efficient during this Rider three game winning streak, but we all know he wants to get that aerial strike flying. We would all like to see a majestic 25-30 for 325 yard game with 3 TD passes, but what has made Durant an elite quarterback is when he isn’t on, he is capable of leading the team in other ways and grinding out wins. When these games happen and the trollers on social media start saying he’s no good, get rid of him and all the other discord they heap on one of the top QB’s in the CFL, look deeper folks. You will see that you do have something special here and it will not be long before those same trollers are you pining for the days of seeing him lead the team to victory.
For the best Rider coverage, keep tabs on riderville.com, and tune in Tuesday nights for Rider Rewind andThursday nights for Countdown to game day. Also, follow me on twitter @dan_plaster. See you in the stands.
