The Saskatchewan Roughriders came crashing back to reality with an earth-shattering KABOOM on the MacMahon Stadium turf Saturday night. They were beaten 40-20 by the Calgary Stampeders in a game where frankly the final score flattered the green and white. It would have been a lot uglier had James Patrick not intercepted two passes in the endzone. Believe it or not, this loss doesn't disturb me. Yes, it was ugly, very ugly, but its perhaps something this football team needed.
I am not saying they were getting too high on themselves or that they were too cocky, but a loss like this always humbles you. It makes you take a close look at thing and it should make you respond. I'm sure a bad habit or two had developed. Its time now to find out what is wrong and how to make the adjustments.
That being said, there were questions from this game.
I have a great deal of respect for Ken Miller and think he's a great head coach, however Miller may have had his worst game as a coach in his two and a bit years at the helm.
--Why did he keep his starters in the game when the final result was academic? This was only magnified by the fact it appeared as if the team had thrown in the towel when it did not gamble on a 3rd and two play electing instead to kick a field goal.
--How much longer will Dominique Dorsey fail to dazzle us with good returns? Late in the game Weston Dressler was back with Dorsey on punts. The off-season signing of Dorsey has so far been a bust. This needs to change
--The offensive line had arguably its worst performance of the season as Darian Durant was pressured all night long. As Weston Dressler said after the game, its tough for a quarterback to do his thing when he has guys in his face all night long. This is true. At least two of DD's interceptions can be traced back to the fact he didn't have the necessary time. That being said, Durant did not perform well either.
The loss did provide one thing though and that was some solid laughs. As I have said on this forum and on the air many times before, I love the passion that Rider fans have. It is unequalled, however there are a small fraction of fans that either A) need to have their card revoked or B) not be allowed to have any form of communication with any other human being for 24 hours after a game). Did you catch the CKRM phone-in show last night? OH MY GOD!! I don't know if i was the Pilsner talking or some of these morons actually believe what they were trying to tell Michael Ball and John Lynch. One fan went as far as saying Darian Durant was garbage and that we should have kept either Kerry Joseph or Steven Jyles who put up 40 points. HUH? REALLY? Ballsy and Frenzy must have just looked at one another in disbelief. Its always an entertaining hour after a Rider loss. Fans usually love wins too, but find something to pick at, but its after losses when the wingnuts come out to play.
In closing, I'm not overly concerned over what happened. Teams are going to have games like this. As I said, this will ground them somewhat and get them focussed for Hamilton on Saturday. You can be disappointed and mad and whatever you want to be, but I will just say this. You could be a fan of the Eskimos! That team has disaster written all over it after last nite's effort in Winnipeg. I don't know how much longer Richie Hall will be the head coach. The only thing is if Hall is gassed, they will need to find two coaches--one for Richie's head coaching gig and the other as defensive co-ordinator. We all know Richie isn't to blame and that the architect of this "masterpiece" is one Mr. Danny Macioccia. If the Eskies brass are doing the right thing, they will ask Macioccia to leave. That might happen at the end of the season, but sadly, I think Richie will fall on the sword first.
That is all!
7 comments:
I hear what you are saying, but peel away the layers and you won't like what you see.
This team was fortunate to beat Montreal, they were in my mind fortunate to beat Edmonton and now this.
I'm not big nor have I ever been big on Etch's unorthodox schemes. They are too easy to figure out.
There doesn't need to be a complete overhaul, but a good old fashioned tune-up is needed. Hopefully Hamilton provides that.
Miller took a huge gamble by keeping Durant in the game. He got beat up all night and should have been yanked in the 4th for Dinwiddie. We also should have seen Charles and Foord taking some reps and basically get the "B" team in there.
perry
There is nothing special about our special teams! WTF is Daley doing or not doing.
Jason
Better to have a "stinker" earlier in the season, than in game 18 or the playoffs
I listened to the RM Post-game show last night. They seriously need someone to screen their calls. Why and how they allow some of these idiots on the air is beyond me. It was entertaining though.
The Calgary guy that started in on Carm was too funny.
Tyler
No need to screen callers. I have listened to the CKRM post-game for many years despite the predictable nature of the caller's comments following a loss. While there are well considered critiques by most, there is always one or two clowns who say something off-the-wall and it is not always the case that they are inebriated. Good for a laugh, as was Micheal Ball's story about the note being given to him by some cowardly nincompoop via one of the servers at the 4 Seasons before he went on the air.
KJ
Dorsey=MISTAKE!
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