Dan Plaster
“When a thing is done, it’s done. Don’t look back. Look forward to your next objective.”
– George C. Marshall
General George C. Marshall was not a man of conjecture. The former U.S. Secretary of State, Secretary of Defence, World War II leader, and Chief of Staff of the United States Army was at the head of the largest army on earth. He saw a lot of highs and a lot of lows, and as you can see with his quote, he moved on whether an initiative was successful or not.
The Riders are in the latter of that category, and the inklings are there as we take a look at the depth chart last week against Edmonton and this week in Calgary. Nothing really changes in experience or age compared to last week, except that Stephen Houston (Indiana) and Marcus Davis (Virginia Tech) will play in their first ever CFL game and Jermarcus Hardrick returns to the lineup with Levy Adcock banged up.
The roster for each club is similar in games played (Riders with 41 and the Stampeders with 48) and the number of players with 5+ years of experience (Riders with 11, Stampeders with 14). Where the two teams diverge, they do so drastically in the number of inexperienced players on each roster where the Riders have 26 players in their first or second game and the Stampeders have 16. Calgary has the sweet spot of third and fourth year players that makes them roll, which to no one’s surprise are the bulk of their stars.
This is most on display on the Stampeder defence with only three starters with 5+ years of experience (Junior Turner, Keon Raymond, Brandon Smith). Whereas the Riders will start seven on defence that are either in their first or second season in the CFL.
So more time for the youth to strut their stuff for the Riders, but it’s also very important for this franchise that the veterans play well. When the veterans play well, it rubs off on the younger players and the ball will roll from there. It will also help those youngsters in next season’s training camp, whether it’s with the Riders or elsewhere.
Lets take a look at the positives for the Riders last week:
- The duo of Brett Smith and Keith Price had a passer rating (140.1 combined) greater than Eskimos starter Mike Reilly (119.3).
- The offence played very well as a group and made life difficult for an Eskimos defence that had their worst game since a 49-20 loss to Hamilton on August 21st. The Riders had 380 yards of total offence, which is their best since their win over Montreal in late September
- There were also solid games played by Keenan MacDougall, Tyler Crapigna, and Naaman Roosevelt.
As Darian Durant said on Inside the Pocket this week, never get fooled by the stats. He is the perfect example of a player that is rarely in the top five of any quarterback category; he just finds ways to win.
Some of the issues that have plagued the Riders this season hurt them again last week, the most glaring of which was the missed tackles. The difference of the game was five or six missed tackles. If the Riders made them in key situations, the game would have had a much more fortunate outcome.
The toughest factor in the Riders way to picking up their third win of the season; they have to play the perfect game to beat the defending Grey Cup champs. A perfect game in football is a rarity, let’s hope it happens in Calgary, Saturday afternoon.
Fast Facts:
– Depending on what Edmonton will get for attendance for their game Sunday, the Riders may lead the CFL in attendance this season. The Green and White finished with an average of 31,182 for their nine regular season games while the Eskimos currently sit at 31,580. If the Eskimos pull in less than 28,100, the Riders will finish tops in attendance.
– The Riders will lead the CFL in away game attendance averaging 27,135.
– The CFL average attendance is down 3,478 per game from last season. Though all of the games Toronto played away from the Rogers Centre affected that in both actual figures and home town momentum.
– Jeff Knox Jr. tackle watch:
– He needs five tackles to set a new Rider defensive tackle record held by three players (Jerrell Freeman in 2011, Barrin Simpson in 2010 and George White in 2000 – each had 115 in their respective season).
– Is currently sitting at 110 total tackles, which is 18 away from George White’s 2001 Rider record of 128. White also had 127 in 2000, Dave Albright had 118 in 1987 and Ron Goetz had 115 in 1994. I will say it again, Most Outstanding Rookie!
– Weston Dressler and Ryan Smith need 201 and 204 yards to reach 1,000 yards on the season.
– With Ricky Ray getting the start for the Argos on Friday night, that leaves the Stampeders Bo Levi Mitchell and the REDBLACKS Henry Burris as the only two QB’s to play every game this season.
Five to look for:
- Tackling. This was the most glaring sore spot for the Riders last week in their loss to the Eskimos. With the offensive weapons at the Stampeders disposal, the defensive group as a whole needs to buckle down.
- Stop Messam. The former Rider will get his first significant time in the Stampeder backfield since his trade to Calgary. You know he wants to stick it to his former teammates.
- Smith and Price. Keep it up kids! They played well as a tandem last week, but it’s a vastly different defence this week. The Stamps don’t blitz as often nor communicate well in the defensive backfield.
- Pressure on Mitchell. Pretty simple, make his life tough, but it will be difficult with a sturdy Stampeder offensive line
- AA. With Messam receiving number one reps all season, Anthony Allen had to sit back and watch. He played well last week against the top rush defence in the CFL, and Allen will need to be better this week against Calgary.
The Riders have you covered on and off the field. Keep checking with riderville.com, download the Rider app, or follow on any of the Riders social media platforms for all of your Green and White information.
There will be no Livestream of the 620 CKRM pre-game show this week, but make sure you tune into 620 CKRM and the entire Rider radio network as well as the Rider App to listen to Michael Ball and crew break down Saturday’s game. Michael will also have the post game show immediately following the game.
