Dan Plaster
Hi Rider fans, it’s the beginning of what could be a historic end to the CFL regular season. A combination of great play and weird scheduling have got us to a position where the Green and White play five of their final six games against the two other West Division teams fighting for the top three spots. Everyone figured the Stampeders would be in first at this point of the season, but no one would have predicted that at 10-3 they wouldn’t have at least a two game lead on second and considerably more on third. As it currently stands, just two games separate the Stamps and third place Eskimos with the Riders sandwiched in between.
The scheduling had some hurdles to overcome this season. With the REDBLACKS and Ti-Cats homeless to begin the season and the scheduling demands of the Rogers Centre, it gave the CFL fits in the beginning of the season trying to put inter-divisional games early. They had to get the Labour Day rivalries and the rematches in stone, which left the rest of the divisional games on the back end. I don’t really know if it’s good or bad, but if the Riders face the Eskimos in the West Division semi-final, it would be four meetings in eight weeks.
Let’s get to this week’s game, the first of three regular season tilts between the Riders (9-3) and the Eskimos (8-4). Edmonton is in a bit of a downtrend right now as they have dropped three of their last four games including a road loss to a three-win Hamilton club last week. Meanwhile the Riders are looking to build off the come from behind win last week with their young quarterback. An outing against a very game REDBLACKS club that saw two very distinctive halves and a goofy overtime session.
It will be a huge crowd at Commonwealth Stadium, which has been a rare sight in Edmonton over the past few years. There have been times, including the season opener last year, that players openly said that it was hard playing at Commonwealth, not because of the crowd, but the lack of one. It was compared to playing in a library; so quiet with no atmosphere. So, it will be nice to see the green and yellow seats filled with both Eskimos and Rider fans alike.
The Esks are having the bounce back season of all bounce back seasons. They had just four wins a year ago, now, they have a shot at first spot and a potential 10 to 13 win season. They have done it through various methods, but it begins with Head Coach Chris Jones. He is a defensive whiz that the players love. He also holds them accountable, and that accountability was something that previously was greatly lacking in Edmonton.
The defence is something to behold in Edmonton, it’s the second best overall unit in the CFL and second against the pass, giving up just 224 yards per game. But, the two stats that stand out the most are:
– Their Red Zone defence. Of their opponents 30 entries into the Red Zone, the Eskimo defence has relinquished just 14 touchdowns for a CFL best 53% defensive Red Zone efficiency rate. They are also second in sacks and forced turnovers (Riders are first in both).
– They have forced the most two and outs in the league this season. The 100 two and outs is 13 more than their closest competitor, the BC Lions. In comparison, the Riders have forced 75.
We hear about their headline guys like Odell Willis, Rennie Curran and their high flying young secondary. The star of that defence is weak-side linebacker Dexter McCoil, 70% of his tackles are made before first down yardage is made and he has the lowest yards gained per tackle on the Eskimos at 4.5 yards (the next closest is Curran at 5.0).
Offensively the Eskimos are high risk, high reward. Their 33 offensive big plays (20+ yard rushes and 30+ yards passing) are the most in the CFL but they have also turned the ball over 28 times (22 of them either fumbles or interceptions). Adarius Bowman is the obvious key as he has 16 of the Eskimos 52 completions of 20+ yards. But, if there is a hitch, they complete only 46% of their second down and 8+ yards (the league average is 52%).
Couple of Eskimos fast facts:
– Odell Willis’s next sack will be the 60th in his CFL career.
– Third-string quarterback, Pat White is the third all-time passer in West Virginia Mountaineer history (behind Geno Smith and Marc Bulger).
– Fred Stamps needs eight yards to pass former Rider and Esks star Craig Ellis for 40th on the all-time CFL receiving yards list.
The Riders are currently a game ahead of their Grey Cup winning season a year ago. Like I have said in the past, this is a well-coached team where the young players have bought in to what the current vet players are saying and doing on the field.
Just how young is this current team that will hit the field tonight? Both the Eskimos and Riders will field 16 players that have less than 20 games experience. If you extend things further, the Riders will put out 11 players that have less than 10 games of CFL experience, Edmonton, just three. This Rider unit though, is learning how to win on the fly, and it shows with their five come-from-behind victories, including last week against the REDBLACKS.
The Green and White have traditionally had a tough time against the Eskimos, and this holds true for the previous ten meetings. Between 2011 and 2013, the Riders are 4-6 overall against Edmonton and 2-4 at Commonwealth Stadium. Injured quarterback, Darian Durant is 4-4 and the two remaining losses are split between Drew Willy and Ryan Dinwiddie.
It seems like a different hero each week for the Rider defence, and this week it was Tearrius George. His three sacks helped the Riders top the 50 sack plateau already this season, now combine that with the league leading 32 forced turnovers and you have the recipe for success for this defence. It is the fourth ranked unit (yards-wise) in the CFL and third lowest points per game given up.
Tino Sunseri is coming off the third best passing day by a Rider quarterback this season. Of his 260 yards passing, 218 of those came in second half crunch time where he also went 14-20 through the air. His main target was Weston Dressler, who had a season club high in yards receiving with 125.
Before we get to some fast (or not so fast) facts:
– The Riders love big time NCAA quarterbacks, all four have record-breaking, big school pedigree: Darian Durant is second all-time in passing yards at North Carolina (T.J. Yates is first), Tino Sunseri is third in all-time passing yards at Pitt (behind Alex Van Pelt and Dan Marino…I hear he was ok), Seth Doege was also third in all-time Texas Tech passing yards (behind two familiar names in Graham Harrell and Kliff Kingsbury) and finally Keith Price is second on the Washington Huskies passing list (behind Cody Pickett). The Eskimos, not so much; they have a NCAA Division-II starter in Mike Reilly (Central Washington) and NCAA Div 1-AA player in Matt Nichols (Eastern Washington). Their third stringer is a big school kid in Pat White. This really doesn’t mean a hill of beans, but one thing you do know, any of these Rider quarterback will not shy away from the big crowd and bright lights that crucial football games have.
– Weston Dressler’s 238 combined yards last week was the fourth most in the CFL this season. It was also one more yard than Tristan Jackson had in the Riders week six victory in Ottawa.
– Corey Chamblin is 4-3 all-time against the Eskimos.
– Andre Proulx will be the head referee tonight. The Riders over the last two seasons are 5-1 with him as the head ref.
Five things I will be watching tonight:
1. The Rider Special Teams: This is a team that has had its ups and downs. Yes, they have let up a pile of return touchdowns this season but this is the best returns unit in the CFL. They average 9.4 yards per punt return and Weston Dressler has two return TD’s this season. Tristan Jackson has also had some success with four returns of 30+ yards. Combine that with the two blocked field goals and Jackson’s missed field goal return for a touchdown, this is a definite strength of the Riders.
2. Eskimos Offensive Line: They are big, real big. They can run block for days but they don’t and that gets them into trouble. They have allowed 34 sacks this season, and if that trend continues, it will be a long night for quarterback Mike Reilly.
3. Riders Offensive line: They will have their hands full against a real strong Eskimo unit. The key is how the Riders will handle a great Canadian duo in Gregory Alexandre and Eddie Steele. If the Green and White want to pound the rock like they usually do, they will have to be able to handle these two players.
4. Adarius Bowman: He will get his catches but whoever gets the assignment to cover him, it will be a treat to watch the battle these two will have.
5. Tino Sunseri: If he keeps progressing like he has been over the last eight quarters, he should be fine. The next step in his progression will be to spread the ball around and continue to not make the big mistakes.
For the best Rider coverage, keep tabs on riderville.com, and tune in Tuesday nights for Rider Rewind and Thursday nights for Countdown to Game Day. Also, follow me on twitter @dan_plaster. See you in the stands.
