This team certainly was ready for Halloween. The defense is an apparition of what a defense should be and couldn't scare any qb. They make phantom tackles. The O line in this game were ghosts that the Stamps defense easily walked through. All but a few players were like zombies with little heart or soul. Oh yes they were all dressed as football players but few played like it.
The only treat Rider fans were given was that the game finally ended.
I seriously hope the riders think twice about who the gm. should be, all I have to say is, that the people who are in there now have NOT been able to fix this , even since they fired taman and chamblin. they need to pi ck best available candidate as soon as possible. I would love to see tillman back here, look what they've done in hamilton in 2 years ,, from bottom to top instantly.
Sorry but I think you are giving Tillman way too much credit. I will agree that I think to bring in Oday though would be a huge mistake. As I said before my choice would be Murphy or the super long shot Huf.
I like Dyce but I don't think he has it to turn this team around. Nothing but a complete cleaning of almost everyone associated with this mess will be successful. ST coach may be one of the very few exceptions. O line, Dline, Linebacker, halfbacks, OC,DC, all gone. President, Senor Vice President, Vice President, scouts, punt them to the curb also. They are all accountable for this mess so they should all pay the price. The stench of rot is so thick on this team that it has to cut to the very core or it could start to infect the new guys coming in.
The team is WORSE under O'Day and Dyce than it was with Taman and Chamblin.
They put up a stat today that the Riders have lost 7 games this year by 4 points or less. Well I counted them up.
Winnipeg 30-26, Toronto in OT, BC in OT, BC 27-24, Calgary 34-31, Toronto 30-26 - those 6 were Chamblin.
Ottawa 30-27 was Dyce, and that was 2 months ago! Since then they've been blow the f**k out week after week.
After the 46-20 massacre in Vancouver I go into the games every week with ZERO hope of winning. I know damn well that the team is nowhere near ready to play. I also know that the core of leadership in the room (Dressler, Chick, Bagg, Labatte) is strong.
The depth is not there, especially the Canadians, and the coaching is nowhere near there, especially on defense.
The one shining bright spot all year has been the special teams and even they (apart from the actual kicking) sucked cold hard wind today.
If ANYONE on the staff is retained from including O'Day on down then Reynolds has rocks in his head.
Well...in fairness, it is tough to compare the 1st and 2nd half of the season...the first half was based on a year of scouting and evaluation and built upon a HC and GM that continued through multiple seasons and despite some sub-par players and horrific coaching still played as a team hoping to make a run...Dyce and Oday took over a team realistically already dead in the water built by a tandum who did a very poor job of retaining Canadians and poorly evaluated several players, pissed players off and had pathetic strategies that are still there (ie 3 man front). We have seem some players that they parted with go on to do well elsewhere...and simply put we have seen some of the duds. Despite the end finally coming when the Riders fell to BC at the beginning of the month and not showing up in Hamilton they still took it to Edmonton...the team died its final breath on a player jumping out of the way. I don't know if he should have been cut. He definitely should have had a week off...a cut would have probably sent a message at least....and I don't care if you put a WR on D to fill in in the secondary...he should have had at least the week off...it killed the team and I would say any chance of Dyce staying on as HC. This team is not playing to win...they are playing for individual survival...and the result of that was shown today.
you can think it was better with close losses all you want...the team was incapable of winning and A LOT of that was based on direct in game coaching decisions as well as refusal to accept the new rules of the game and playing the softest zone coverage in the history of the game....they gave their DC a chance...they said lets see if this was CCs D or both of yours...the DL and LBs have been much better but the coverage schemes suck and they still do 3 on the line...question answered...Quick is a bust as a DC. You can't make a HC change mid season with the same assistants, attempt to change the philosophy of the team outside of camp and expect there not to be a a downhill slope...but at least he got a couple wins....the corner needed to be turned...to think that Dyce was in a good position to do that is totally unfair.
I can't say that I have seen a plethora from Dyce that I would say he is not capable of being a HC with his own staff on board but I have also not seen enough to keep him as HC. For me I would pass for 2 reasons:
As for the rest of the staff...I would keep Cory McDiarmid on as ST coach for sure....probably Jeremaine Copeland and perhaps Avon Cobourne. Jacques Chapdelaine would be entirely dependent on the HC. Let's for argument sake say they picked Lapo...I would keep him in a heartbeat because they could combine to do some amazing things. If it is a less experienced guy...perhaps not.
O'day....not sold on...but I don't like the guy based on history between myself and friends, so I am bias. I do like some of the things he has done...but I don't like the fact his only mentor was BT
In Dyce's defense though who knows how much authority he had to make any cuts or staff changes? Perhaps he had full control (which I doubt) and perhaps he was told this is what you have to deal with so make the best of it ( which I wouldn't be surprised was the case). Personally I wouldn't make him the HC but perhaps keep him as an assistant HC but that of course would depend on who they brought in as the HC and if he could work with Dyce. As far as Chappy goes it doesn't matter who is the HC Chappy needs to go. He shows some moments of being good but as soon as the other team gets the hang of what he is doing he doesn't turn around and switch things up, instead he just keeps plugging away with the same thing and of course little results. He makes no adjustments at half time to keep the other teams defenses off balance.
I will be straight up as I haven't made it a secret that I never wanted him here in the first place and I certainly don't want him sticking around. Like I said as soon as the final whistle blows I would announce the firing of all the before mentioned coaching staff. I would gut the team to its very core.
As far as being better or worse under Cory or Dyce I think that it isn't a fair comparison because when Cory was running it players were still trying and the Riders had a chance to make it to the post season with out help from other teams. They gave up on doing that about 3-4 weeks ago and started playing for their individual jobs. Not much Dyce can do to control that
I agree,, see if Eric wants to come back...
I know that there is a ton of baggage regarding him,, but in my opinion no one can effect pretty much immediate change that he has shown in the past,, and there isnt anyone else that I am aware of that is capable and/or will want to come here,, maybe not Eric either for that matter.
As an aside,, when Eric and Austin were running the show here there seemed to be a certain "positive thinking" encouraging mindset that came with that era,, which was the downfall of the Corey times of benching a player ofter a fumble.. and you can see it now , a "team" mindset of losing , playing tentatively , not wanting to mess up , and not wanting to lose, versus knowing they have the confidence of their coaching staff
Only one more week people............6 days.
Then the cutting begins.
All things depending on a lot of things (likely salary)...........I can see Brack staying around. He can play either WIL or Sam and Macho should be toast. Knox goes to middle means we need two LB'ers.
D. Allan played well on Saturday, #28. He is certainly not a HB or corner as the Riders tried him there. He looks to prefer the banging low and making tackles. He could use getting a step quicker to help his coverage. But at least he is a maybe.
Tristan deserves a shot at camp and can also be a dynamite return guy.
Mrshay, Mertile.......fair well!
We might need Woldu around because he showed he can play 2-3 positions on Sat. MacDougall......2 shoulder injuries in same year does not bode well to longeveity? Webster and Woldu could be the pieces there.
Why is Demski not starting in front of Haidara. With Getzy now out of the picture play Demski..............no brainer.
Good on Roosevelt and that other tall rookie. No dropped balls.
Smith is perhaps plateua'd................but he played decent for sure and the defense stayed on the field too long so his possession minutes weren't great. And Price looks okay too!!!!! Something to build on for sure.
D-line.............who tied one arm behind their backs...............who was so cruel. Maybe out interior nat'ls showed that poor that it was really 5 on 3 all game.
Allan RB looks like a warrior. He didn't want to quit going but you could see he took some licks. Need to see more of Houston. Anthony Allen will be back because we can't enter next season without a starting RB?
But I agree it was pretty lethargic.
Great points...my take:
1 - personally I am not sold on Knox or Doughty as MLB...Moth should be in camp to compete for a spot though for sure. If one of em sticks...great...both are capable of at minimum being depth IMO. Brown will be one of the LB, so if Brack sticks that is 2. I said it before...I think at Brack's salary and age he is in tough to make the squad when rebuilding. I see Knox going outside and Doughty competing with new blood in the middle.
2 - Brown to DB...maybe...he has played mostly SAM and done it well...the reason I question if Brack has a future....I don't see him displacing Brown. Brown is ideal at this spot. Perhaps they push Brack to WIL, but not if they want to get younger and cheaper at the position...and they have a few potentials on the roster for that right now.
TJ has been hands down the best DB on the team...he should be back. He has suffered at times because of some of the guys he has been playing around. I hope they get the skillset to go back to Man and if they do...TJ is a guy they want for another season or 2. Hollins can likely go in there. Mertile...I know people will hate this...he would be in my camp. He has been a crap tackler but a well above average coverage guy in Man. The entire team's tackling has been crap all year though...so I have a hard time hanging him out for that...a huge part of the tackling is coaching...there is no way proven player have all coincidentally regressed. Get a better set of defensive coaches and bring a tackling guru into camp...not saying he make the team, but I bring him in to compete. Green and Harris...gone
3 - perhaps he is not picking up the plays...perhaps he is still a really bad blocker...some guys take a few seasons...he is doing well in his role...more will be expected next season.
4 - Yup...it is one spot that they had superb depth at camp...some of the guys cut were more than capable of making the roster...impressive. That evaluation along with how well the group has done is a big reason I say try to keep Jeremaine Copeland on...he has been great.
5 - I've said before I like Smith....love his energy and mobility...I also wasn't sold on him. I think Price could be for real. First snap he was looking beyond the rush...something Smith never has done. I am hoping Price gets the start this week...he deserves it. Either way...great depth going into camp IMO.
6 - Yeah...they suffered with the Rooks in. The second half of the season they have been pretty solid...all of them. Imaging if they had a secondary so that the QB did not always have a wide open dump pass or guys who could takle so that they couldn't hit 3 yarders to see who misses.
7 - I liked the ne guy...till he went down so early...he has potential. Allen whiffs a lot of blocks...need more competition at camp for 16.
8 - I will add OL...way way way more from them than I expected this season. Watman needs to stay at C. Nice to not see rainbows every snap.
Sorry but I just have not seen anything from Mertile that would not have him packing his bags. Mertile, Macho, Green ... gone, gone and gone.
Its the hair Doo'ss