Here are the some things I will be watching for in tonight’s game:
SASKATCHEWAN- Rider kicking game- namely punting-- Riders had the lowest average in the leauge, can Boreham improve that part of the kicking game? I want to see how prepared the Riders are to play. Many times last year they werent prepared , and it showed on the scoreboard. It was one of DB’s weaknesses as a coach.
MONTREAL- Montreal started 7-0 last year, can they get off to that kind of a start again? The receiving corps doesnt look to be as good as it once was, a lot new faces there. Jim Popp it seems has a lot of credentials as a coach, but in his six games(including playoffs), he was 3-3. He has a lot of reponsibilities with the organization, can he juggle them all and still be effective as a head coach.
I'll be watching the Sask. RBs as that job is still open. It will be my first look (and most Rider fans) at Henri Childs. The performance of the o-lene will be part of that package.
And I want to see if "Chunky" Adams can fill in for Nate. As ET always says, "the guy is a character player with a great work ethic". Gotta pull for him!!
And the game within the game tonight will be Marcel Bellefeuille's offence vs. Richie Hall's defence.
Looking at how good Terrence Edwards was last night in a Blue & Gold uniform, I sure hopw the Als have a strong receiving core... Or else Edwards' layoff would definately look like a big mistake.
Well, first, it looks like Hall defence kicks Bellefeuille offence.
Just to get some perspective, I am not one of the Rider fans who wanted to run Marcel out of town on a rail…
I believe our defence will be the strength of the team again this year, and that was a tremendous start. Chunky played well, and Ron Robinson settled right in at half-back. Kitwana looked good filling in at rush end.
At corner, I am not even 100% sure who it was, but that is a compliment…
On offence, the job of RB comtinues to be wideopen.
Childs made a few big plays as a receiver, but a 2.6 yard rushing average simply will not cut it.
The qualifier though is the o-line which showed their inexperience and simply were inconsistant at pass protection, and non-existant in run blocking.
But when you lose the continuity and experience on the line we did, some time is needed.
However it makes it tough to grade Childs.
Meanwhile, why was Russell on the roster again?
Impress soon, or go away!!
All in all, good effort. I loved the D, and thought KJ played well.
I know some fans are already disappointed that Austin didn’t pull KJ at the half, but welcome to reality…
BIG mistake, letting Edwards go,… Popp must have strangled off the oxygen to his brain …probably by wearing too many hats that fit too tight, …Calvillo was looking for his old targets…and after finding none…threw it to the opposition…That’s not the Als team i remember…they better get their act together for next thurs. …cuz Glenn just loves to play them…even on his bad days… reflecting on our last game…i hope our d’ shows up as well…or we could get Anthonys’ game back on track …pretty quick
i was really impressed by Imoh, montreals RB. He's a little shiftty type that can make people miss. A few times, the riders had him pinned in a corner and he spun and juked his way for another 5 yards.
if our offense plays like that vs Calgary next week we will lose
kerry joseph was really shaky and if montreal had scored when they should have it'd have been about 24-16 Als win. joseph has got to get it together. some of his throws were brutal but he made it up with a few fancy running plays which we won't always get away with especially against the western teams
other points - AC is either washed up or Marcel has ruined the offense in Montreal. either way the conditions were bad, quarterbacks both played lousy, so you can't really tell much yet
Conji - good still reliable as ever i'm glad we kept him.
Riders defense was the only other good point of the game that I could tell but I believe Montreal's poor offense and play of AC made our D look better than it was. if we can shut down Calgary next week in similar fashion then i'll be impressed but i don't think this game states much
