Well... Part of me thinks we may turn things around but the team where facing doesn't give me much hope, Calvillo is fresh of a record breaking game last week while we are...well you know the story.
Montreal by 20
Something tells me we can cover the 12.5 pt spread. any closer…that depends on how cohesive we are on all three teams. Someone has to have a stellar game. Someone please step up!!
I would have to think odds are against them, even if they were on a roll. Montreal is a tough place to win...well...unless you are Montreal...lol. Now, because they should, by all accounts, lose this game, they will likely end up winning...none the less I will say Montreal by lucky 13
I see Eddie Russ is dressed though. I am excited to see him in action. Pre-season is a tough place to make a good judgement, but he looked really good. I think he has potential, but having your first action against AC is a heck of a way to get innitiated!
Yeah…I was going to say 8, but 13 just seemed right somehow lol
I for some unknown reason have some positive feeling growing in my gut though…weird
Thoughts on the game...ha...figures...one of the most unlikely games to walk away with a W of the year...lol
Well done boys...
- The team seemed to have hunger and passion tonight...more than the last game anyways...it was great to see.
- The reffing was suspect on a few occasions, but it seemed to go both ways for the most part at least. Seems there must have been a playclock issue for a bit there????
- REALLY glad that the helmet mic did not come back to haunt! That was rough.
- Got a bit chippy...does Anderson have a grudge from his days as a Stamp?
- a few too many no-yards penalties...easy fix.
- The D-line played better...has Murphy lost a job? It was still not great, but they pushed the pocket some, so that is awesome. I liked that they changed the formation a bit and spread the line in different ways, and I liked that they brought pressure with the linebackers a bit more.
- I thought it was the least effective game of the year for the O-line, but loved that Berry was rolling the pocket!
- Not too much rushing, but very effective rushing (other than the late fumble...lol), and a good mixing of play calling.
- DD did not force much, he used his legs, he trusted his receivers, and I think the receivers earned a PILE of trust in return. He looked calm and confident, and looked off receivers against a good D.
I was disappointed the Riders could not lay the hammer down in the second half and put it away. That being said, the dead speaker pretty much killed a promising drive.
I hope AC is okay, but they seemed to have him a bit rattled and figured...who knows, but I still think they would have won. It seemed like the Riders O relaxed a bit to much once AC was out. I was happy to see AC on the sideline in the second half...looks like he should be okay...waiting to hear what was up with all of that.
OH...what a weird finish to the game! I agreed with the no PI call...the INT was just funny... horrid fumble! why why why!
Wow I just want to say boy was I wrong! Sorry Riders 
You guys did great! I think I meant to say Riders by 3, stupid auto correcnt... 8) anyways great game, I don't know if Marshall tried a speech but the players really rallied around him, great game, wierd finish! Goin to next weeks game, SIKED
How was that interception in the end zone, whistled down?? Right in front of the ref!! A bunch of bad calls as usual.
Because the ref thought it hit the ground, and in all honesty, I can not blame him for that. It was a really strange
bounce back that pretty much anyone would assume hit the ground at full speed. I am sure he was focused on the contact for assessment more so than looking at the ball to ensure that it did not bounce off someones foot, then straight up.
Besides that, I think he tripped over the Als player and his knees touched the ground, so that would count as downed. If a receiver gets pushed while running with the ball and falls over they can not get up an keep going, same thing here. You do not have to be on the ground AND touched at the same time to be downed.
Good game Riders. Big improvement on all fronts. Where were these guys the first 3 games of the season? The OC and DC have done an about face and did the things they should have been doing all along. Mainly the offensive scheme allowed and was schemed to allow Darian to run - what a difference when he rolls out rather than sitting in the pocket. The defense was agressive and played tight coverage - not a typical RH defense. Kudos to all for turning it around - keep it up against Calgary next week.
A couple other things I wanted to add were that the D looked a lot better with the offense giving them a break from constant play. Also the tackling was looking a pile better. Freeman was a beast out there, and Tristan looked great (not that he ever really looked bad thus far). Nick Graham had another solid outing. The Als went right after rookie Eddie Russ in his limited action and he held his own.
About time, always said Durant was a running QB not a pocket QB, and the coaches need to realize this fact let Durant do what he does best! I missed the game, but I tip my hat to all the players, GO Riders Go!!
Hey hey.....WOW. If I bet my house on the game.........I would have been sleeping under a tree last night.
Yes, effort and passion were evident. Lots of guys flying around, especially Jerrell and Lucas.
Yes, Montez has lost his job. A week ago I felt that Luc was as effective, and maybe under different circumstances would just play balls out, and yesterday he did. Luc came out this week speaking to the media and commanding a better effort and he delivered.
Tackling was great. They swarmed. This reminded me of the Etch defense and guys never quiting.
Depop, I was quite impressed with O-line. Montreal is a tough defense and Darian had time. And when he had to run they had some lanes developed allowing D to escape. How about Neufeld #53 playing pseudo fullback. On a few early plays we had 7 down lineman and Neufeld in the backfield.
No dropped balls, that is how it has to continue.
Now the negative:
Too many no yards, 3 x 15 yards.
Facemask penalties. But the refs missed two obvious one's on the Al's and the Riders have yet to play in a game where they've had the refs going there way?
Ball security. Hugh Charles got away with one. I still like him as he's polar opposite of Cates and if we can use them both it will cause problems for defense.
Can you say.......Henry..............Henry................Henry...............Henry.
Riders deserved the win last night, no doubt about it. for what it is worth, the Als did not have their regular O Line with Bourke out and McCullen in (McCullen’s 1st game in the CFL).
And the ref’s missed a couple of penalties against the Riders as well.
Nevertheless, end result was in your favour and rightfully so.
All is well in Riderville again. I didnt watch the whole game in depth, but what I did notice was that Durant ran alot more than what he has been in the past three games. The offensive line showed up to play. Defensively, putting out Calvillo was huge and they looked like they did the past few seasons. TSN was blaming the play call for the run in the last 43 seconds of the game and the fumble, but the reality is they still needed to kill that extra three seconds some how and Hugh Charles is getting paid decent money to run the football. He has had fumble issues for as long as he has been a Rider. The only thing I blame the coaches for is not using Cates to run the ball (unless he was hurt).
Great intensity from the Riders. It might be a little bit too early to say but I think the Riders from the past five seasons might be back. These next 3 games (Calgary, BC, Calgary) will go a long way in establishing where the Riders will finish this season. I am expecting the Eskimos to hit a 4 game losing streak around week five to tighten up the West again.
Running the ball was not the issue so much as how it was run. It was essentially a dive across the middle. it should have been a 3/5 4/6 hole run (sweepesk). Chalk it up to a good learning experience. I am confident it will not be repeated.
I was pleased with how they played, even though they almost gave it all away in the last minute. They held Calvillo to 10 points in the first half (though he left with around 6 minutes left) and the only points they allowed to McPherson were prevent defense points in the final few minutes. I was more impressed with Willis than I was with Mullinder at DE, although some of that may be due to the fact that he was facing a rookie on the OL. Freeman was probably the best player on the defense, and it was also good to see Patrick playing well.
Offensively it was nice to see Berry finally roll Durant out and have him run with his legs, which is what gave him the most success last year. It is a little concerning that it took game 4 for them to figure this out, but it's better late than never.
I don't think anyone can claim the Riders only won because Calvillo got hurt as well, as they were leading when the injury happened.
Yeah, I just hope they keep DD mobile. This seemed to flip flop last season as well, and was a contributing factor to the skid they went on. Now, granted, he was playing injured in that time, but still. I know they like to keep him in the pocket because he is less likely to get injured and he is the star, but he is not a star in the pocket, so as long as he is comfortable running I say you make roiling a major part of the game. Yeah, he might get hurt, but I am sure he is like most athletes...that he would rather go down playing to his potential than go unscathed and lose.
There is a long list of players who where similar...need to be in motion.
Even though I'm a Ticat fan, I'm following your new Head Coach, Greg Marshall, very closely. I'm really hoping that his new job is successful. It's too bad that it took so many years for him to get an offer of a HC job. Ticat HC Marcel Bellefeuille is probably happy that Marshall is no longer with Hamilton, since it made things uncomfortable for him on the sidelines, knowing that Marshall was looking over his shoulder constantly! Marshall could easily have taken Bellefeuille's spot at a moment's notice if GM Obie decided to do that, and Bellefeuille knew it. Has anyone noticed that Bellefeuille's new coordinators are relative rookies these days? Is that a coincidence? I think Bellefeuille is breathing a bit easier this season! 8)
It's unfortunate that the season seemed to start off on the wrong foot for the Riders, but I think you guys have figured some things out and seem to be headed in the right direction. If the Riders can beat Montreal on their own home turf, then you would think that the skies the limit!! It's great to see the players rallying around Greg Marshall. He definitely deserves that! :thup:
I don’t want to troll, but I venture to disagree here. If Calvillo isn’t injured, the Als probably win that game. It’s highly unlikely that you would have been able to keep him off the scoreboard for the remainder of the game or limit his effectiveness the way you were able to do with McPherson, who’s barely seen any starting time as an Alouette.
Despite our awful special teams play, relentless parade of stupid penalties, blown coverages on defense, and absence of our starting QB, we still only lost by a field goal. I’m pretty sure that Anthony would have accounted for at least 4 more points if he hadn’t been injured.
All that said, I do want to give full credit to the Riders for the win, because counterfactuals don’t amount to a hill of beans. 
Calvillo did get injured and the Riders did win the game in a hostile environment, with inspired play in all three phases of the game. That’s indisputable, and worthy of congratulations.