Calgary is the Better Team for Now

The Riders were looking to make team history by being the first to go 9-1 and felt they had improved their level of play following their first loss to the Stampeders 24-10 earlier in the season at Mosaic Stadium.

The level of disappointment in the loss was probably compounded by how the team was physically handled by the Stampeders offensive and defensive lines in the second half. The loss to the Stampeders showed the Riders are not going to be handed the Grey Cup and has opened a major challenge they were probably not expecting to face this season.

Last year the Riders went to the western final in Winnipeg and were blitzed by the Bombers. The focus of this season was to address those areas the Bombers exposed, improve overall and physically beat the Bombers the way the Bombers had been beating the Riders.

The Riders and the Bombers have not yet met, and the Riders so far have met every challenge thrown their way except for Calgary. Calgary finished out of the playoffs last season and replaced a bunch of assistant coaches and put together a Stampeder defense with 12 new starters and is physically dominating.

The win Saturday places Dave Dickenson as the leading candidate for coach of the year and blows the theory of a two year rebuild out the window. The new approach of the Stampeder coaches also played a major role in their win as they exploited holes in the Riders lineup and out-schemed the Riders offensive and defensive units.

The Riders were built for finally beating the Bombers and whether that formula will work will be tested in the next two weeks. Whether that will be enough to beat the Stampeders is an open question.

The Riders were not helped when Marcus Sayles was too sick to play at game time and then Nelson Lokombo injured his foot and was put into a walking cast. Jaxon Ford went into the safety position and Kerfail Exume went out on the corner.

The Stampeders exploited those lineup changes, but they also ran their running game at the Riders, picking up speed in the second half as the Riders seemed to have no answers on how to stop Calgary or its pass rush.

In the fan blogsphere the feeling before the Calgary game was the Riders would avenge their loss and continue their march through the rest of the CFL to claim the Grey Cup. Afterwards the reaction was all was lost.

On the Morning Big Blue Bomber fan site, the feeling a week ago was hope someone would beat the Riders in the Grey Cup. Now with the Bomber win and Rider loss, Bomber fans are dreaming of a sweep and a shot of hosting the western semi final since they did the Riders one better and lost three games to the Stampeders.

This week Calgary is ranked above the Riders, and this is probably a good thing for the franchise. For the Riders to face up after shutting a team out of the end zone touchdown wise for two games that they did not have the magic keys to shutting out all teams was a humbling and much needed experience.

However, if Calgary is the front runner, how did they lose twice to Ottawa and once to Montreal with McLeod Bethel Thompson? Calgary may have to also contend to injuries, and I think it would be fair to say depth is a problem for all teams in the CFL.

Ottawa has some talent, but the interesting thing is Ottawa has some running and mobility at quarterback. This seems to give Calgary some problems and it will be interesting to see how Calgary and Edmonton handle each other for their Labor Day and rematch tilts.

I think Calgary can be beaten by a team with a quarterback who can also run which keeps their defense honest by not teeing up to rush the passer. The Riders problem is Trevor Harris at 39 is not mobile enough, but he has a quick release.

The Riders also have a problem in tipping their hands with putting players on the field who are solely used in running situations, thus tipping off the defense what is coming. The Riders managed to confuse Vernon Adams Jr. in the second quarter but did not respond to how Calgary adjusted their offense and got more production.

There are two ways of looking at this. The first is Rider offensive coordinator Marc Mueller is somewhat predictable in his use of players and formations and teams are taking advantage of that. The other is this is a necessary learning experience and the only to tell if the lesson is learned is the next game.

I will go with the second but would suggest the first is a definite factor. The Riders may have picked up some valuable teaching points to ponder, but they don’t have time to think too much about that.

The Stony Mountain Blue Bombers are coming to town and their toothless trolls will be announcing their presence with authority as they seek to undermine the Rider fans fragile confidence.

The Bombers come into town riding a three-game winning streak, but again, look at who they beat. Three teams from the east where the quality of play has dropped from last season and with a real possibility of a cross over from the west, its bigger news when a western team loses to the east.

The Bombers are bringing back Dalton Schoen at receiver as they look to relive previous glory years, especially the last three that gave the Bombers the record for most Grey Cup losses in history. The Bombers also signed former Rider receiver Kyrie Moore to try to stretch their receiving corps.

Moore is coming off an ACL injury so hold the beer until we see how the surgeon performed on his injury. Schoen is also coming off a major injury and whether he will be the Messiah the Bombers dream, well, a man has got to dream, eh?

The Bombers will likely take a page out of Calgary’s book and try to run at the Riders every chance they get with Brady Olivera. This is something Bomber fans have been screeching for since the start of the season, but a lot of this depends on the play of the offensive line.

The problem with this is if Winnipeg focuses on the running game, out of necessity because their passing game only scares incontinent patients forced to watch this spectacle with no access to restroom facilities, then you can tee up on their running game.

It will be interesting to see how comes in for this game, which will be another playoff style intensity because Rider fans will not really believe in this team unless they can beat the Bombers, ideally three times but most definitely for the Labor Day game.

The Riders will be facing a team who will present a somewhat similar challenge to the Stampeders, except the Bombers have a quarterback who wanders around like a senior patient who has escaped from his room and can’t figure out where to go next.

The Bomber fans have earned a reputation for being insufferable and begs the question, were Rider fans this obnoxious? Perhaps at times between 2007-2013 and especially 2013, but the Bomber trolls, much like their organization, don’t seem to realize how entitled they have acted.

Everyone gets hit. It’s how you respond after getting hit that matters.

Riders win 27-24.

Toronto goes to Hamilton, and I must admit there is a demon inside of me that wants to nominate and vote for Nick Arbuckle as the most outstanding player nominee from the east. The flying circus that was Toronto’s win over BC demonstrated the problems in Toronto were not the fault of Arbuckle and the Argos defense can handle a high-octane quarterback like Nathan Rourke.

If Argo Head Coach Ryan Dinwiddie can continue to cobble a rebuilding effort that gets the Argos into the playoffs, the coach of the year candidates will be Dickinson and Dinwiddie. After watching the Toronto win over BC and rewatching it, Toronto exploited a non-existent BC defensive secondary, but the trick is being able to sustain that momentum.

Hamilton is coming off a bye week and this is their Grey Cup, at least until they get into the actual game. Hamilton has to show it has a better team than it showed against the Riders, but I think about Hamilton’s defensive secondary, and it gives me a moment’s pause.

It is not implausible that Toronto wins this game and if it does, it throws the Eastern conference race up in the air. I think Hamilton has a (barely) better pass defense than BC and I have no idea if Toronto is going to stick to their new running back.

Hamilton wins this 31-28

Finally, we have Edmonton going to Calgary and Edmonton is feeling good about itself after beating some eastern teams. Cody Fajardo has focused on how much further Tre Ford must develop as a quarterback to lead a team.

Calgary is probably booking tickets for the Grey Cup and beating Edmonton would be another systematic blow against a western opponent.

There is no doubt Calgary can easily put more pressure on the Riders, but there tends to be a letdown after a big victory like the Stamps had against the Riders. This could be mitigated by the emotional intensity of the return of Mark Kiliam to where he coached the special teams for the Stampeders.

Fajardo may be the type of quarterback who can nullify the rush of the Stampeders by rolling out and stretching the defense while also running the ball when needed. The Rider fan in me would be pleased with an Edmonton win, but the realist says the Stampeders have enough talent and intensity to survive whatever threat the Elk will throw at them.

Calgary wins this one 26-24.

by Greg Urbanoski

Calgary is the Better Team for Now

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