Another week is in the books and along with another sub-par performance by the Green and White with a 40-3 loss to the Stamps. How quickly Ken Miller goes from genius to the leader of the west's worst team.
Another week is in the books and along with another sub-par performance by the Green and White with a 40-3 loss to the Stamps. How quickly Ken Miller goes from genius to the leader of the west's worst team. All of Rider Nation, much like the play of Gang Green, is floundering and grasping for a way to stay positive.
By the Numbers! With Saturday's ugly performance, the Riders need to look deep inside themselves, conjure up any remaining courage, resiliency and pride and pay homage to the football gods if they hope to see post-season action. The Green and White find themselves, mathematically, still in a chase for playoff spot. However it is a long shot, here's how it shakes out; a combination of one Rider loss and one win by each of the Western foes knocks the Riders out of a West Division playoff spot. The East Division crossover battle is a little more complicated in that if the Riders and the TiCats are tied in the standings come Oct. 29, the contest between the two could be the decider. If so the Riders would need to beat the Tabbies by more than 30 points. This would put the Green and White into the crossover contention with one game remaining. Keep in mind the Riders need to win the next three games and Hamilton needs to lose the next three games to get into that scenario.
Catch a Wave! It appears the Riders three-game win streak was merely a swell created by the coaching change. That wave crashed ashore two games in a row with the Riders getting blown out of the water in back to back games. Football is a game of emotions! The squad that chooses to put everything on the line and play cohesively as a team with great heart and intensity will come out on top. Coaching can only take you so far, the responsibility is then on the players themselves to pull together as a unit and do the little things right.
Put Me in Coach! Two games in a row I have found myself looking for a quarterback change. Against the Stamps it should have happened as early as the second quarter. When Darian Durant struggles the entire offence struggles. Possibly a different look from a backup QB could turn the game around before it is out of reach. Edmonton tried it early in Friday night's contest against B.C. by pulling Ricky Ray in favour of Kerry Joseph. B.C. still won the game, but Joseph marched the ball and put some points on the board. I understand, Durant is our guy, the Riders have made that quite clear and I agree. I also realize there are other factors such as the play of the offensive line, but getting blown out and not scoring a major in two consecutive games tells me you have to shake it up.
The Riders have the talent, the coaching ability and the experience to win. It will be interesting to see how these last five weeks play out in the CFL.
Be Loud and Proud!
Odog
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