Dan Plaster
“The trouble with travelling back later on is that you can never repeat the same experiences.” – Michael Palin
Hi there Rider fans, sorry to start with the usual journalistic trope by starting with a quote, but this bit of knowledge by Michael Palin of Monty Python fame sums up how the Riders look at this season. This season was never about repeating last year’s success, that’s impossible. To win the franchise’s 4th championship, with that group and at home, will never be repeated in the near future. What the Riders want to do is win the Grey Cup this year with this unique group of players and on a different path. For the Green and White to make it back-to-back Grey Cup champions it will be yet another unique journey through the playoffs.
It begins tonight with a game that all of a sudden has more meaning than it did 24 hours ago. The B.C. Lions losing at home to the Calgary Stampeders means that with a Rider win tonight, it will be a birth in the Western Semi-Final, and a fourth meeting with tonight’s opponent, the Edmonton Eskimos. This is , may be a more ideal path, mainly because of travel.
To head out East means ridiculous travel and planning. The Riders would want to leave Friday night and have a whole day of prep out East before the playoff game, but there very few flights and open seats to book the whole team to their scheduled destination. So what would happen is there could be two or three different flights which is messy, and to book a charter at a moment’s notice out of Regina is also very tough. This doesn’t even take into account how well the top Eastern teams are playing and the dreaded early kickoff.
It will be a great test for the Riders tonight against the Eskimos. The Green and Gold have taken the first two games this season, and did it with dominant defensive performances. First a 24-0 mauling September 26th at Commonwealth Stadium and a 24-19 win at Mosaic Stadium on October 19th where the Eskimos only gave up 54 yards on the ground. To simplify things and say if the Riders score 25 points tonight that they will win may sound dumb, but considering the trend and how well the Green and White defence can play, it may be just that simple.
There will be the big task of winning, but there are also some very interesting battles and goals that are underlying themes to the game:
– The sack race. You know Odell Willis wants to catch John Chick for the sack title. He trails the Riders all-star defensive end by just two sacks (15-13), and will be pinning his ears back and getting after Kerry Joseph. Also, don’t forget Ricky Foley and Tearrius George; they have 12 sacks apiece and are a great game away from the sack title.
– Anthony Allen is just 151 yards away from 1000 (in just 13 games).
– Rob Bagg is 80 yards away from eclipsing his best year receiving (807 yards in 2009). This is remarkable considering what the Queens grad has had to go through the last three seasons.
– Riders ending a five game losing streak and head into the playoffs with a victory.
The majority of these are individual successes, but to achieve those, the rest of the team needs to play well, it all goes hand-in-hand.
Of the CFL’s top-10 statistical categories, we may see five leaders tonight:
-Receiving yards, Adarius Bowman (1456)
-Interceptions, Dexter McCoil (6t)
-John Chick, sacks (15)
-Deon Lacy, special teams tackles (27)
-Tristan Jackson, total special teams yards (1510)
I have said this before this season, but Edmonton’s remarkable turnaround can be attributed to one person, head coach Chris Jones. The long-time defensive guru is in his first year has a head coach and under his tutelage, the Esks have rode the best defence in the CFL and gone from 4-14 a year ago to a possible 13-5 season and a home playoff date in the Western Semi-Final. He has gained the trust of his veteran players like Mike Reilly, Odell Willis, Fred Stamps and Almondo Sewell while adding dynamic rookies in running back John White and linebacker Dexter McCoil.
Now Odell Willis may have received the Eskimos nomination as their top defensive player, but he is a pass rush specialist. McCoil and Sewell is the key to this defence, without them, Edmonton would be nowhere near the best defensive unit in the CFL. McCoil is there nominee as rookie of the year and had one heck of a year with his 62 tackles, six interceptions, six knock downs while also adding 11 tackles on special teams. With his 45 tackles and nine sacks Sewell may have had the better year on the defensive line than Willis.
Offensively, we will not see Mike Reilly and John White in the line-up. Reilly is banged up and even his status for next week’s Western Semi-Final is in question and John White will hit the bench for precautionary reasons. We will see Matt Nicholls for the first time. This is the Eastern Washington’s fifth career start and is looking for his first win as a starter.
Eskimos fast facts:
– Won a league high four times (4-3) when losing the turnover battle.
– Fred Stamps is nine catches from 500 career receptions and one score away from 50 touchdowns.
– Chris Jones is 2-9 on coaches challenges and 0-5 on DPI challenges
– Tonight is Almondo Sewell’s 50th career CFL game
– Currently, Adarius Bowman and the Bombers Clarence Denmark are the only CFL receivers with 1000 yards. If Duron Carter picks up 13 yards today, this will be the first time since 1980 that less there will be less than four players hitting the 1000 yard mark. (1980 – Tom Scott, Bob Gaddis and Mike Holmes in a 16 game schedule).
The Riders handed out their individual player awards this week, and the one that could be added is an unsung hero award. This would be tough, but there are three that stick out:
– Tristan Jackson has had an unreal year with his 1510 return yards along with his 45 tackles, four interceptions and six knockdowns at the corner position.
– Dan Clark has had to play four different offensive line positions this season. He has spent time at tight end (catching his 2nd career touchdown), left and right guard as well as centre
– Terrell Maze is the Riders best defensive back, tough to gauge how great he could be statistically because teams don’t throw at him. He does have a team high nine knock downs and an interception for a score.
All of these players have contributed big-time to the Riders this season, but you can also throw rookies Derek Walker and Dylan Ainsworth in the mix.
This will be an interesting game; Kerry Joseph is making his third straight start and has progressed nicely since a few weeks ago against Edmonton. The next thing he has to reduce is the interceptions. The three picks in Calgary two weeks ago were tough, and Joseph himself accepted all of the blame. This is a sign of a quarterback of high character and you know this has eaten at him the last two weeks.
One last thing before the keys to the game, remember the first bye week of the season after the Riders lost their second in a row at home to the B.C. Lions? Well, they came back and went on a seven game winning streak. This is a great omen so let’s hope they can repeat this.
Riders Fast Facts:
-They are 2nd in the CFL in Red Zone offence with touchdowns on 22 of their 34 entries.
-With a win, Kerry Joseph would bring his home record up to the .500 mark (currently 28-29)
-Anthony Allen is responsible for 20% of the Riders offence in just 12 games (1093 total yards)
-Only Brian Peters and Tyron Brackenridge have registered tackles in all 17 games
-This will be the first time since 2009 that the Riders will not have a 1000 yard receiver.
-Ricky Foley is playing in his 150th career CFL game and needs one more sack for a career high 13
-John Chick and Tearrius George also have career highs in sacks
What to watch:
1. The Rider rushing game and Anthony Allen’s quest for 1000 yards along the ground this season
2. Who will win the sack title: John Chick or Odell Willis (or Tearrius George and Ricky Foley)
3. Kerry Joseph continuing to progress and pick up his first victory of the season.
4. The Riders are starting to get healthy for the first time this season and let’s hope it continues today and have a full unit heading into the playoffs.
5. The overall attitude of the team. This is a veteran club and has been waiting for the playoffs to start since clinching the post season birth over a month ago. The playoff attitude must begin tonight.
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.
