Gametime: Sunday August 19th, 7:00 PM EST
Weather: N/A
Saskatchewan 4th in West (3-3). 2-3 in last five games. Last Game: 28-20 Loss to Edmonton
BC 2nd in West (4-2) 3-2 in last 5 games. Last game: 18-9 Win vs Toronto
Well lost 3 straight and we are playing a hot BC team, not exactly great news but I suppose we have to fight adversity. I really don't know what to say for this game other than mistake free, pressure filled defense. Bc is by no means torching teams when winning but they are playing a solid brand of football which will be difficult to stop Thoughts and hopes?
A win and we maybe back in first place. We are far from out of it. Let's hope they have learned from 3 loses.
The Riders have not played "bad" the past 3 weeks. 2 horrid fourth quarters, and really, they played well against the Esks, they simply lost...turnovers have been the biggest difference. The first 3 weeks they distinctively won that battle, the last 3 weeks they distinctively lost that battle. The D has been lacking that 1 or 2 big plays...and interception or fumble. In the past 3 weeks the Riders D has come up with 1 turnover...the fumble by Taylor on the return...not really something that the Riders created per say, and not a turnover for the D...so really, 3 games without creating a turnover. Meanwhile the Riders have turned over 6...4 int, 2 fumbles...not horrid numbers, IF the D comes up with 1 or 2 along the way.
The other issue is getting a good combination in the place of Graham / McKenzie.
Options:
- Turenne should be back, so that should help. I can't recall if it was McKenzie and Turenne or McKenzie and Maze that played together, but they looked ok.
- Take Jackson off returns, put in secondary
- Make Butler full-time Safety and line Patrick up as a DB/CB.
- Bring in someone new.
Whatever they do, this needs to be addressed. This is killing their D. I feel that McKenzie tries to shadow Graham a bit when they play together, and he ends up getting burned deep. I questioned a lot if McKenzie was the actual problem because it was an issue last year as well, however, when Graham was out Mckenzie actually looked really really good. Also, as Graham showed, he can not stay with a quick guy when he does a slant or cross (Williams).
It is tough to know if the coaches would still drop the secondary into a prevent D with a lead, because they blew the opportunity to test that in the 4th last week. Fix up that CB spot, and I believe the rest will fall into place...The O plays a lot more relaxed when they have confidence in the D.
I agree with your thinking on this, Depop, but to win I think the Riders will have to play a near-perfect game and turn around some of their tendencies of late. I'm not a soothsayer or anything, but I just don't have a good feeling about this one. I wish I didn't feel that way. Either way I'm still pulling for a Rider win
How come we all can see Graham sucks, yet he stays on the roster? It's been called by us for over 2 yrs, do the players coaches not want to fix this glaring problem! Stuptified!
I think I heard one or more of the coaches say he has the ability to be an all-star if he keeps working hard at it. But then I have the ability to be Superman if someone just sends me some Kryptonite, or a miracle breaks out for me.
Anyway that a Rider Mod can put a sticky on each Offical Gameday thread for the week (like they do for Big Dave's CFL picking game)
I’m glad Graham got the golden handshake. It’s not nice for a guy to lose his job, but if he can’t get the job done, let someone else do it!!