Ron Lancaster would have been proud of Riders’ final drive

The Riders were set up beatifully to meet a team they had not faced in over a year in the Eskimos, but the Riders came out flat in the first half and Edmonton took a 17-7 lead helped out by a fumble recovery on the Rider one yard line. Then the Riders for the third time this season experienced a game delay as power apparently went out at Commonwealth Stadium at halftime and the even though it was just a 10 minute or so delay, the Riders put the time to good use.

The second half saw the Riders move the ball consistently along the ground and Fajardo hit Kyran Moore for 10 catches for 159 yards while Shaq Evans had six catches for 174 yards. While those two receivers were clicking for moving the ball, Naaman Roosevelt had 5 catches for 58 yards including some crucial second down conversions while Manny Arceneaux, who replaced a health scratch Jordan Williams-Lambert because Arceneaux is a better blocker, came up with some crucial downfield blocks on runs by William Powell but even better, a five yard touchdown reception.

The worry heading into this game was how Trevor Harris would respond after spending time on the injury list. Harris is a rhythm quarterback and once he gets into a groove, he is hard to stop and Harris started the game throwing the ball deep to show he was back in game shape and gearing up for the playoffs.

Harris seemed to have been helped by the Riders playing as if after seeing Winnipeg beat Calgary, all they had to do was show up in Edmonton and the game would be theirs. For a young team that seems to be realizing their potential, it was an invaluable learning experience for them to find out that every team will be taking their best shot at them now and they will have to respond with their best if they hope to win.

For a team with championship ambitions, it was a great learning experience and contrasting this with how the Riders played in their loss against Calgary a few weeks ago, a definite sign they can learn from their mistakes. There will be no easy outs from here to the Grey Cup, so the Riders might as well learn to expect to fight for their wins and not take anyone lightly.

The precision of the Rider final drive with Fajardo at the controls brought back memories of how Ron Lancaster would move the Riders down the field with little time remaining and get them into position to win. Fajardo, who signed a contract extension this past week to cement his status as the face of the franchise, demonstrated why he deserved the extension with the drive that was not just methodical, but also served to run the time off the clock beautifully to not give the Eskimos any room to come back after they had just tied the game.

The confidence the team gained from coming back in that game may prove to be invaluable as we head into November and the playoffs. If the Riders take first, they will only be a game away from the Grey Cup, and even better, get some time to get healthy and tinker with their lineup and get bodies back on the roster.

The Riders march to first was helped as mentioned by Winnipeg beating Calgary on Friday night 29-28 which seemed to show Collaros has some football left and hopefully is in a better spot in regards to his tendency to take head shots. Collaros has not played since the third play of the season opener and showed a bit of rust with being a bit slow to slide on runs, but he demonstrated an ability to still be able to scramble and hit receivers with a forward pass, unlike Streveler.

Collaros was helped by Calgary dropping at least two potential interceptions, but those seemed to be the result of quarterback and receiver not being on the same page, perhaps not surprising considering Collaros has been in Winnipeg camp for a couple of weeks and has been cramming studying the Winnipeg playbook.

So if there is a repeat of Calgary and Winnipeg in the playoffs, the question is if Collaros can do it again or perhaps more appropriately, can Winnipeg win in Calgary? Winnipeg has a 3-6 road record while Calgary is 7-2 at home. If Winnipeg is forced to go on the road to try to get to the Grey Cup, Winnipeg has only beaten Edmonton, Ottawa and BC on the road, all teams with losing records, which should be a warning sign for Bomber fans.

Collaros does have the advantage of experience over Streveler and the ability to make more than one read on a play. In time and with the right coaching, maybe Streveler can get there, but Streveler was wearing a boot at the Bomber game Friday and even with a bye week before the Bombers open the playoffs, maybe the best Streveler can do physically is run the short yardage team while Collaros handles the other stuff.

Another interesting thing about Winnipeg is where did Willie Jefferson go? Jefferson, former Rider defensive lineman, had been a force using his size to break up offenses around the league, but for the last few weeks has been silenced. Either teams are planning better for Jefferson and not giving him an opportunity to shine or he has simply run out of gas or interest in this season.

For Calgary this was a game they should have won, but when you have a kick conversion attempt returned for two points against you, maybe the Stampeders thought all they had to do was show up and smack the Bombers around and they would fold like the Bombers annual July Grey Cup parade preparations.

It seems to be tenet of faith in Calgary that no team beats the Stampeders, the Stampeders tend to beat themselves, which is incredibly arrogant. It is this sense of entitlement which will cost the Stampeders again this season, sometime in the playoffs or who knows, maybe BC beats Calgary on Saturday and forces the Stampeders into third spot and on the road where they are so far 4-4, a step above the Bombers road record, but just barely.

Calgary is a curious team this year that weathered the loss of Bo Levi Mitchell at quarterback quite well, and also the many injuries and player moves that affect winning teams to once again field a competitive team. However they are prone to the occasional brain fart that has them making strange decisions that cost them games and at this point, has left them in second place in the west.

There were two other games that were played this past weekend thatg were more like glorified exhibition games – Hamilton beat Montreal 38-26 in a likely preview of the Eastern Final as Montreal sat Vernon Adams Jr. in the second half to keep him out of harms’ way before the playoffs. Hamilton right now is on automatic pilot to set records for the most successful regular season in team history with Dane Evans at the controls instead of Jeremiah Masoli.

What makes Hamilton a tough out, but perhaps also a flawed one in the playoffs is the reliance on a receiving corps that may not get the same results in colder weather. If Hamilton is forced to rely on its ground game, which is entirely possible if weather is a factor in the eastern final or especially the Grey Cup. I see Maleek Irons was Hamilton’s leading rusher in that game and Tyrell Sutton did see some action, but seeing Hamilton rack up 379 yards passing by Evans, they can afford to go without a ground game until it is needed.

While many in Montreal would have liked to have seen Montreal send a message to Hamilton before the playoffs, coming out of this game which would change nothing in the standings was the more important thing for Montreal. Adams saw enough work to keep relatively sharp and Montreal’s back-ups saw enough action to have them prepped in case they are needed in a couple of weeks.

The Hamilton-Montreal game was at least competitive, which stood in contrast to Ottawa-Toronto which Toronto won 39-9. Both teams are evaluating the quarterbacks they currently have in camp to determine which, if any, come back next season. This was an opportunity for Toronto to see back up Michael O’ Connor, a Canadian QB, throw a touchdown pass and move the team in a game situation.

While both teams have question marks around their quarterback positions, Toronto also is likely grappling with question marks around their coaching staff. Cory Chamblin’s return to the CFL three years ago as a defensive coordinator was a success as Toronto won the Grey Cup, but his first year as head coach brought back memories of his last season as the Rider head coach as the team floundered after losing Darian Durant to injury.

The question facing GM Michael Clemons is if the Argos are positioned to not just find, but develop a winning quarterback. McLeod Bethel Thompson, the seemingly perennial back-up who will likely lead the league in touchdown passes this year, maybe older than what the armchair GMs might like in a quarterback, but he has the ability to move the team and the question is whether the team has the coaching to help him and the talent around him to make it all work.

The early exhibition season continues this week on Friday when Montreal goes to Ottawa. Montreal will use this game to give Adams some work before shutting him down and trying to keep him from any potential injury before the eastern semi-final. Montreal may try to keep their game plans pretty vanilla to avoid tipping Edmonton as to how the eastern semi-final will unfold.

Ottawa for their part will have to ask themselves the question as to whether or not their recent run of success in making the Grey Cup and actually winning it once was either a fluke or whether they will do better if they actually get an offensive coordinator who is not shoehorned into the job after losing their initial choice a few weeks before the season starts.

Ottawa rolled the dice on letting Trevor Harris walk in free agency, along with William Powell at running back and Greg Ellingson at receiver before the season started. A 2-0 start had people thinking that maybe Ottawa knew what they were doing, but the way Ottawa handled then offensive coordinator Jamie Elizondo who bolted the team after being refused permission to interview elsewhere, showed Ottawa was pretty delusional.

For Ottawa, this will be another exhibition game to evaluate players but one wonders how the Ottawa fan base will respond to a team that is not winning, nor very interesting. Ottawa has tried to position itself as a team best able to handle the diminished attention span of millenial fans with a variety of bells and whistles, but it is hard to keep people engaged when your product is boring or even worse – losing.

For Montreal this season under Khari Jones has been a welcome change from how things were run under Kavis Reed, and the question is while Montreal has surprised in the standings, is it ready to make a move in the playoffs? This game is a good tune-up for them as Montreal should win this one 28-21.

On Saturday Edmonton comes to Saskatchewan to wrap up its home and home series and the Eskimos should be happy that Trevor Harris has come off his injury able to throw the ball deep. But a healthy Harris papers over the fact outside of their defensive line, the Eskimos are just a cut above the Toronto and Ottawa’s of the world.

The Eskimos did provide the Riders with all they could handle last week and the Riders probably appreciate more so now that winning the west, never mind winning the Grey Cup, will be harder than anyone suspected. Edmonton got to see Harris throw the ball well and now will likely park him sooner rather than later to save him for the playoffs.

That should make it for a competitive first half but if Edmonton sits Harris in the second half, the Riders will likely pour it on until they have a firm grasp on the lead and first place, then put in their back-ups. I suspect another relatively close game as the Riders clinch first with a 24-21 win over the Eskimos.

We then have Toronto go to Hamilton for another regular season exhibition game and while the Argos are happy with getting their quarterbacks work against Ottawa, they will have to contend with a Hamilton team looking to see team records while also getting in one last bit of game action before the eastern final.

Hamilton should keep their starters in for the first half, and I suspect because Hamilton does not like Toronto much, maybe keep them in for the third quarter to ensure Toronto has their spirit beaten out of them and then do a victory lap around Tim Horton’s Field in the fourth quarter. Hamilton will be looking to avoid unnecessary injury while Toronto will be looking to see who shows they want to be playing professional football next year. Hamilton takes this one 31-20.

Finally Calgary goes to BC and even if the Riders win earlier in the day to clinch first place, Calgary still has something to play for in this game. If Calgary loses, they will finish third and have to go to Winnipeg for the western semi-final.

No one wants to go to Winnipeg in November, not even Winter. BC will be looking to show they are improving under first year coach DeVone Claybrooks and want to end their year on a competitive note. Calgary wins this one 26-23 under the assumption that even if BC makes this competitive, without Mike Reilly at quarterback for BC, they are not in the same rowboat as Calgary is right now.

by Greg Urbanoski

Ron Lancaster would have been proud of Riders’ final drive

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