REGINA -- The Calgary Stampeders won a second-place showdown at a sold-out Mosaic Stadium Saturday night, knocking off Saskatchewan 22-18 to improve to 3-2 and drop the Riders to 1-4.
The Stamps led 3-0 after the first quarter, 13-8 at halftime and 19-15 going into the fourth quarter. Darian Durant and Weston Dressler scored the Rider touchdowns as the club dropped to 0-3 on home field. Henry Burris scored the lone Stamps TD while Rene Parades kicked four field goals for the winners.
POSTGAME QUOTES FROM RIDER HEAD COACH GREG MARSHALL
- I just think Calgary did a little better job of taking advantage of opportunities whether it was field position or moving the sticks. We missed some tackles and dropped some passes. We missed a block where we could have had more yardage. I liked our effort, they worked together and supported one another. We just couldn’t make that one play to get over that hump. We caught a break on Weston’s touchdown and I thought we’d see some momentum but we couldn’t get going after that.
- Eddie had a great night and the frustration of the night really, probably, was typified when he boomed it down the middle. We thought we’d get it over their heads but we didn’t get a point. That typified our night. We fought all night uphill and just couldn’t get over the hump.
- That play before the half hurt us. We can’t make that mistake. Those three points they got were big in the grand scheme of things. I almost called a time out there but I trusted our offense to get the play off.
- Wes was never gonna play. I played coy I guess. If I can hide a guy, I’m gonna do it. Hugh Charles did some good things. He was impatient at times but he did a good job in the protection. We could’ve used Wes as a receiver a little better if he was in there but overall Hugh did a good job.
- I think we played well the past two weeks but unfortunately we’re 1-1. We need to play better in certain areas. I like they way they worked and competed and we’ll be better. I know people are frustrated but no more than us. It’s a long season and I stress that a lot. We can’t panic. I see us getting better.
**The 1-4 Riders visit the 0-5 BC Lions Friday night at Empire Field in Vancouver.
Don't forget to phone in your comments to the Sports Cage After Hours Hotline at 546-CAGE. The best calls will be aired on the Sports Cage on our next show on Tuesday.
99 comments:
Ho hum. Berry standing by all 4 of his plays from the playbook. Losing the chess match with Chris Jones. Why does every play look the same? Geezus, its soooo boring. Calgary is now reading the mail. Not too difficult when there's only 4 plays to defend.
Its official. The Riders suck. No, I'm not off the bandwagon. I'm a fan and I'm jusr stating fact.
This team has discipline problems.
Boatloads of penalties.
Berry has coaching problems. Stubbornly keeping Darian in the pocket AGAIN.
No answer, no imagination. Boring. Predictable. Clueless. Same play calling as last year. Boring.
Same ol. Same ol.
Please give us an OC with half a brain. He holds that big sheet of plays, but really, calls maybe what, 6 of em?
Not once did he move the pocket for Darian. What a lousy excuse for a coach. Has no idea how to put players in a position to make plays
1-4.
Awesome. Lets give Berry a big fat raise and sign him for another 10 years.
Brutal. Just brutal.
Taman may now turn his eyes to the off-season. #1 project? Selecting a new offensive coordinator. Christ Berry, when it's not working change it up. Yikes.
I haven't seen a more poorly coached Rider team since the 90's. The receivers aren't helping, but Doug Berry has no idea what he's doing. They have absolutely no idea how to convert a 2nd down over 7 yards, but we continue to call plays that leave us in 2nd and long.
That punt definitely hit Taylor on the last punt and 6 Riders just stood around it and took a no yards anyways. How does not one of them just go for it?
None of the receivers besides Dressler can do anything. Charles dances too much, and West looked awesome on punt return, but despite what Marshall said never touched the ball on offense.
I don't know what to say, the only positive is that the Bears signed Roy Williams so may be boosted the chance that Fantuz gets cut and comes back to save this abomination.
Defense played very well. They played to far off recievers but also prevented the pump fake longball.
Offense - Durant sat in the pocket ala the first 3 games - WHY??? Durant did not run - WHY???
Give 3 points to Calgary at end of half - why are we still not getting plays off: unacceptable
Claremont dropped a TD pass and Getzlaf killed drive with a drop. Hill NEVER gets open.
We have a LOT of work to do but overall encouraging - at least we didn't totally stink! We will be mediocre but at this point I will take it
If you can't run 35 seconds off the clock 2 games in a row you really only belong in last place.
Marshall and his geriatric staff are not championship pedigree.
And its sickening how the media is telling Marshall what a great game his team played.
Same pathetic excuses for 5 weeks now.
But WAIT. Its a long season. Wohoo. Yeah, long season of losing.
Bottom line this team and coaches are not very good.
Not able to make enough plays to win.
What the hell is Carteri talkin about?
You gotta be proud of your defence?
They're coming together?
You gotta be kiddin me?
We're gonna fight fight fight on Eskimos...oops, sorry, wrong blog.
Hey, while I'm here, anyone notice Edmontons at 5-0?
Battle of the basement next week against BC.
Great hit on the Cgy receiver near the end of the game, how did he hold onto that ball for the 1st down?
Yeah, we're 1-4.
Powerhouse.
Watch out rest of the CFL.
We got an offence coordinator that' will bore you to death.
We got a defence that will give you anything you want.
We got a head coach with every sad sack excuse in the book.
And we got a GM that will take any reject you wanna give us.
Getzlaf hurts us more than helps us. Catch the damn ball.
Well, one thng that was huge to the riders losing this game?? DROPING PASSES!! Clermont was in the endzone, it was right where it had to be and you guessed it he drops it. That's 7 lost points that would've put us up by a field goal. Well the basement dwellers of the west face off next week, hopefully we clean up our act.
Hey coach Marshall. What game were you watchin?
Hugh gave you the biggest plays from scrimmage.
Wake up.
Wait its a long season right?
We're a good team.
Blah blah blah.
BERRY SUCKS! I have been saying this for years. The only play DD runs we get a td. Berry insists on keeping him in the pocket with lousy results.
Riderfan from Wpg.
Our time management is terrible. Before the half we couldn't even kill off 35 seconds. Last 3 minutes we looked uninterested. I think Berry is a major problem. Kenny Miller as OC would turn tings around I guarentee
Lets call a spade a spade - Getzlaf is a great 3rd or 4th receiver nothing more. Claremont cries he wants to get in the game more and he drops a TD pass in the 4th quarter.
It is bad enough Berry is killing Durant with his pocket passing formations, but when DD does deliver the ball they don't catch it (2 dropped for Getzlaff, 1 Nunn, 1 Claremont, Hill - 1 I believe). Dressler is amazing thank goodness!!!
I'll donate to Berry's airfare out of Regina.
Booooooo
Pathetic and embarrassing.
Fell apart at the end of the 1st half, Clermont drops a TD pass...that's it. It really was that close.
I agree with some of the above posters and their criticism of not moving Durant in the pocket and letting him run. Perhaps the Stamps D prevented that but it seemed like nothing but deep drops from Durant.
And that shotgun draw continues to be incredibly frustrating. When they run slight variations from that formation it seems to work...otherwise, incredibly predictable. This team isn't far from getting wins, however it seems like they are far from being contenders. They may make the playoffs thanks to a weak Western Division (for a change) and that's really all that matters. But they aren't instilling much confidence in anyone at this point.
Playing a winless team in the 0-5 Lions next week. Lions win and they're in a playoff position...only in the CFL.
What do Riders do? Ride! Now let's do it Saskatchewan!
As far as I'm concerned, you can cut Clermont and trade Getzlaf. They only leave us wanting more.
Maybe some of the rose colored glasses types will finally start to get it. After the euphoria of last weeks Grey Cup win..oops I mean defeat of Montreal's 2nd string QB the real Riders have returned. There are "NO" moral victories in losing. As loss is a loss!
O-line = putrid, what 4 or 5 sacks. Is Gauthier for real? He was beat all night like a rented mule. Ditto for Best
Defense = typical Ritchie Hall defense. Bend till you break. When we actually needed a stop we couldn't get one. Played 10 yds of the receivers all night.
Offense = C-, there was no imagination, no simple safety valve plays...bad all night
Receivers = simply brutal. Hill never makes any YAC yards, Nunn is overrated, Getzlaff is horrible and diito for Clermont. Terrible corps. Dressler is all we got..period
A close loss is a close loss and we are 1-4 where we should be.
I wonder how long they are going to fly the mantra "it's a long season" Based on what I've seen the Riders and their fans are going to have a long season!
Alf Shumway
Man do we miss Bagg and Fantuz!!!!!!!!!!
Play selection, play selection, play selection. Fire Berry.
The only thing that is going to turn this team around is a bus ticket in Doug Berry's name.
Veeseven
Coaching has nothing to do with being 1-4. The loss is squarely on the Players when they don't make primary tackles and the routine play.
Everything gets solved on Offense when they find 2 deep threat Receivers to flip the field. When that happens probably after the NFL cuts then Dressler and Getzlaf move to 3 and 4 in the Receiving core. Darian Durant also needs more protection, but he seriously needs to make and drop passes in with more touch, and not do the Michael Bishop torpedo approach on every single pass. Tonight Hugh Charles replaced Wes Cates as the number 1 Running Back.
Defense is fixed when they upgrade the D-Line and get a veteran presence in the secondary.
Basically the Riders are not a bad football team. They are C level team with some tweaking in the skill spots they'll be right back up there. I said at the beginning of the year the CFL goes in cycles. Teams are retooling and loading up the next wave of talent. 9 wins can get you first place, and 7 wins can get you third place. That's the story of the 2011 season.
Also I had someone from out of Province by way of the Maritimes attend with me tonight, and he was blown away by the atmosphere in the stadium. It was a good night for CFL football, just to bad they couldn't pull in a win.
Obama
Why oh why does the Regina media keep saying Darian this and Darian that and they never question what he's being asked to do? Why is Doug Berry off limits with the media?
The Riders have lost 8 of their last 10 regular seaon games, all with Doug Berry as their O/C. The previous D/O only had to loss 4 of his last 5 regular season games before being removed..
Let's go HUSKIES!!!!!
Oh, I long for the days of Paul Lapolice. Back when two point converts were a given. We can't get consecutive first downs let alone consecutive scoring plays. Yep, Doug Berry has done miracles.
Getz is brutal and cost us the game. Thank god we have a QB that would run through a brick wall for this team. Too bad we don't have the coaching and receivers to support him.
The resident experts, you know the guys that get paid to attend football games, namely Andrews, Rempel, Lynch, Carteri, Pedersen, Blair and Schultz who are an amazing 57/83 in their predictions are defending Doug Berry. I guess us folks that pay to see Rider games don't know anything.
Berry get the eff outta of town or let Durant using bloody legs already!
Thank, Signed All Of Rider Nation.
Marshall made his own bed when he kept Berry on staff. Didn't he see any tapes of last year? Oh right, he asked Darian. What was he supposed to say? So then Marshall asked Berry and he thought their relationship was okay. Duh, all bullies think it's just fine.
I feel bad for the players. The effort certainly seems to be there, right down to the end.
I feel bad for me, because I'm not being entertained nearly as well...or at least not to the level, that I (and I imagine others), have grown accustomed to these past four or so years.
I'm a die hard fan since 1980, and the scary part about tonights loss is I was totally indifferent. Didn't really care. Normally, I'd be cussing out the coaches or someone and I honest to god didn't really care one way or the other.
Durant is playing poorly simply put. He's a good QB who is playing poorly. We go as he goes and not a bit further. The question is why is he playing poorly? Last year he made a lot of things happen with his legs and this year very little. The problem seems to be compounding. We all know the loss of Fantuz and Bagg but shouldn't there be a plan he could work with? Short outs, short crossings, etc. Watching there sure seems to be some friction between he and Berry. Whatever the problem it has to get fixed one way or another.
The time is quickly coming where all the rhetoric has to be put aside and substantive changes made. If we go 1-5 or 2-5 in the next couple weeks, we are in deep crap. Continuing to say that we have the talent and coaching to win simply isn't true. The lack of talent is the big problem. Our last 18 games have been horrible, and we haven't been a good team at all. Bit by bit we didn't replace talent that left and it has caught up to us. The blame can be laid at a lot of people's feet but simply put; if there aren't major changes soon then everything will stay the same. Same isn't accepatable any more in these parts.
Yeh Obama; do you mean the Hugh Charles with the 4.4 yard average?
I am surprised that the comments are so negative. Its not like the Riders got blown out. However, I agreed with Obama above, the Riders are a C team with a few changes they could be a very good team. However, I stand by my negativity on Miller/ Taman being the guys to get this team better. The few changes needed are either trying out for the NFL, or are former Riders playing on other CFL teams. How much better with this team look: + Rey Williams, Stevie Baggs, Thigpen, Morley, January,Lapolice or Crandell. Except for the coaches, all of the above could have remained Riders, except for the judgement of Miller/Taman. Plus Riders are old, 7 yrs on avg older than the Esks. Again, Riders are not a bad team, and a few players (DE, WR, OL etc.) from beign a very good team. Unfortunatley those few players need to be standouts (almost last NFL cut types). and clearly, the overall talent trend is downward, while the Esks and Ti-Cats are trending upwards. Building around old players (Gauthier, Goodspeed, Romero) is short term thinking.
I'm getting a little sick of the excuses around here. Why aren't Taman and Hopson being held accountable for this? Or is it that they are from Sask and were in the Grey Cup (but didn't win it) last year that they do not deserve criticism? Bullshit, NOBODY is immune to criticism on this team. What, if your kids act up you do not criticize them for it? Same thing here, you still love them but you need to give them crap when they deserve it. And Berry, Hopson etc definitely deserve it, no matter how much they'd like you to think they don't.
And before you get all pissy at these comments, I am a regular season ticket holder who is a regular shopper at The Store.
Rex
Free Reggie Slack!
People! It's time to be realistic here.
A - our defence is playing very well. They managed to get pressure on Henry and keep him from racking up 40+ points.
B - our receivers are young and inexperienced due to Bagg's and Koch's injuries. We're playing with receivers who over the last 2 to 3 years were our 4th+ go to guys.
C - Eddie Johnson is amazing
Stay on the bandwagon, quit your complaining and get behind this team! Enough of all your trash talk.
The coaches are doing a great job with what we have right now. You put Bagg and Koch back into the line-up and we've got some major threats. It is what it is right now and we're going to have to kick, scratch and claw our way through this year.
Anybody who thinks they can ACTUALLY do a better job as a coach with the injuries we've got and the relatively "green" if you'll pardon my pun receivers is a complete idiot!
Does anyone remember the play calling of Austin and LaPolice that kept the defence off balance?
Does Berry remember anything?
I feel bad for the real football players like Dressler on this team.
I don't feel bad for the used up coaches on this team. All that wisdom doesn't add up to a hill of beans.
Crandell, Dickenson, K. Jones, Milanovich are the young minds that played the game, in the past decade. And their teams are thriving.
Our coaches haven't played in what 20-30 years? I think they call it, "the game has passed them by."
Hello, do you see a trend?
The Rider brass should be embarrassed that they are sucking millions of merchandise money out of their fan base and then putting a mickey mouse show on for entertainment.
There are a lot of things wrong with this team. Maybe too many high priced, over the hill coaches that can't get the players to play as a team. What's up with not being able to manage the last minute of quarters and all of the time count penalities? There are serious problems in Riderville.
Have one bb cover Westin deep, another db to cover him shallow, and a third db to cover him one on one. Getzlaff won't catch the other two receivers can't get open and if they do get the ball they fall down from a mean look. Clermont looks like the Joe from Pros vrs Joes. The offensive line seems to think their job is completed once initial contact is made and the running backs sometimes miss running to the defence and make some gains before finding the defence again. The qb looks confused and has taken to firing the ball to prevent interceptions. Two and outs seem to be a good drive; penalty aided two and outs are excellent drives. It has been a long season and the coach is predicting an even longer one.
I will buy Berry a bus ticket out of town(not worth a plane ticket). Nice shot gun draw on 2nd & 3 . DD is a good qb, just needs some recievers who can catch & use his feet. Time for Sisco? Cleremont I think is done?
STOP blaming the players!!! There is a chain of command and it starts with management and coaching. Geez. Do you folks really believe KJ won us the Cup in 2007? NO, it was Kent Austin COACHING the team around KJ and everyone bought in.
And how quickly does one forget the team of 2007. A brand new squad and a Grey Cup. Oh, and what about the Eskies of 2011? A brand new squad and a record of 5-0.
It's management, coaching and play making that can make a team. End of story.
What gets me is, and this is not just the Riders, but a lot of teams, CFL, NFL, NCAA, when faced with a mile and a half to go and just seconds to do it, like the Riders had last night with 84 yards to go and just 11 seconds to do it, threw a pair of short outs that had no chance of scoring. I'm not sure I understand the reasoning behind those plays.
Oh, and the NFL Network did not carry last night's game, despite previously announcing the would do so. I'm wondering if they've dropped all plans to carry CFL games with the NFL lockout now ended? They didn't even run CFL scores on their bottom of the screen scrawler. It's like, all of a sudden, the CFL doesn't exist anymore.
That really sucks!
The game last night was hardly a classic. Riders and Stamps both were equally unimpressive.
Repeating what others have said already, the Riders are thin on talent. There are few difference makers on both sides of the ball. The Rider management lacks the insight and resources to get the job done. The current regime appears to react to pressure of the fans more than anything else. I am not sure even a poor season will result in any changes in upper management personnel or structure.
It is difficult to stay interested in this current team.
Riders beat Montreal---all is good. Not many blog comments, haters can't say anything, 546-CAGE line is empty. Riders lose to Calgary--blow everything up!
Rider fans aren't the best fans there are, Rider fans (a large majority of them) are the biggest bunch of whiners and complainers there are. This is pure entertainment reading the comments section. I'm sure RF.com will bring me the expert analysis from someone whose biggest accomplishment in football is coaching RMF if they could get there.
Shawn
Blame Berry? How? We win that game if our two local products could catch a damn ball! The Riders ran A. Bowman out of town for less drops.
And ... anybody that argues for a dome after a night of football like that needs their head read!
Lets see, Clermont misses one catch, important as it was, and everyone is ready to run him out of town. Perhaps if he saw the ball a few times a season he might be able to catch it. Why is he playing WR instead of his natural SB?
This current team is not the same team that was in the Grey Cup last year. We are missing a lot of talent. The replacements are rookies and will make mistakes.
Why are the DB's so far off? Calgary's DB's are in our receivers back pocket. Oh right Richies prevent defense. For me that is the biggest reason we are losing games. Our defence is on the field too long. Another question, why is Tristan Jackson asked to return kicks and play corner. He seems to be a potentially very good corner. Let him play there and use a bench sitter to return kicks.
Finally, I do agree DD needs to move around the pocket.Plan some QB draws, etc to throw the DL off a bit.
Yer welcome
Oh Oh, the sky is falling, the sky is falling. Aliens are taking over our province! They're taking all our resources from us! Quick everyone, run & hide!
What a bunch of bi-polar manic depressent fans. Reading some of these comments makes me embarassed to be from Saskatchewan & a Rider season ticket holder.
Stating the obvious:
1) The Riders will not be in first place in 2011.
2) The Riders will not host a play-off game in 2011.
HOWEVER, should the later part of the season see the return of Fantuz with Gary Koch, we will have a chance to take out Calgary and Edmonton in the playoffs and get back to the Grey Cup.
Otherwise, I would look forward to 2012 with the return of Rob Bagg and the emergence of Jordan Sisco.
Toronto could have won this weekend, BC could have as well, we could have won. All three teams didn't and are the bottom feeders of the league. Like Matt Dominguez says; we're a 1-4 team. We aren't some team that's just a couple of players and a couple of breaks away from being championship calibre. We are old and long in the tooth. Reminds of the Winnipeg teams of a few years back.
..our defense played better but we are still at or near the botton in all defensive catagories. Hall style defense. Sad to see him back.
..Receivers//outside of Dressler, we got nothing that scares anyone.
..O-line gave up what? 4 or 5 sacks on Durant. Best and Gauthier were beat all game long. They appear too old and slow.
..as a Rider supporter for decades I could see this coming last year. The dreamers kept hanging their hat on two GC appearances. A few even now still think we have great talent, and I am sure there are some who think Shivers should come back. The sky isn't falling but also we're not winning. You don't play the game to lose. It almost seems that some are satisfied with a little four year run at respectability. Some think that is good enough. Truth be told our run is over and we're heading back to mediocrity (if we even get to .500). Until Hopson and the board recognize the management on this team will never do it (have never done it anywhere else) and get one real GM in here, we better get used to this. When you bring in the DC and OC who were run out of their last gigs to be our saviours your in trouble. Miller and Taman can't agree on a HC then your in trouble. This descent is all on management plain and simple.
Enjoyed the game despite the loss. Great plays, but especially the hit by Jackson against Bryant.
I just don't understand why Bery does not call plays where Durant roles out? Since we are lacking in clutch receivers why are we constantly stuck in 2nd and long?
Am I a bandwagon jumper to question the rational of offensive play calling??
My off-season would have started with firing Doug Blueberry, then prompting Marcus Crandall to OC. I would love to see Durant start tuning out these control freak.
BERRY SHOULD BE TARRED AND FEATHERED AND SENT OUT OF THIS PROVINCE. WHY THE HELL DO YOU THINK WINNIPEG GOT RID OF HIM ?
RIDERS WILL IMPROVE AFTER THEY MAKE SOME MUCH NEEDED CHANGES.
I laugh at the comments saying that Durant should've been rolling out. When Calgary's ends are playing contain is Durant supposed to roll right to them?
Calgary's game plan was to make Durant a pocket passer and have someone spy him so that he couldn't take off running in the middle. The offense stalled because either Durant couldn't make the accurate throw or the ones he did - the receivers dropped.
Let's just hope the Bears do right by Fantuz and let him go (after they signed 2 tall receivers with NFL experience) so he can return to the Riders and play football instead of now being a victim of NFL politics and end up being just a camp body.
Last year the hate was on for Jim Daley - this year the hate is on for Berry. Guess "fans" always need a whipping boy around here. They are not going to fire anyone mid season (just like they kept Daley all of last year). Firings mid season never worked (as anyone who was around in the 80's and 90's knows. So like it or not you are stuck with management and coaches we have until the end of the season when they will be reevaluated. As for bloggers who say we are old (the guy who called Best old at 27!) and that Edmonton is on average 7 years younger. That is likely true but if you look position by position we are young in alot of areas - it is just a few players that are bringing up the average - Geno, Simpson, Clermont, Gauthier, Goodspeed. And anyone who has played football before realize that o-lineman are in their prime in their low to mid thirties. We have some solid young o-lineman like Groh, Hutchins and Neufeld all of whom will be playing in the next couple of years. In the meantime our o-line is fine. As for the sudden love in for all things Edmonton and Crandell in particular - I would have liked him as OC but he jumped ship before we had even hired a HC so we could not promote him without the HC input. Berry was the best option left for us at the time. Next year maybe someone new will become available. I am not going to throw in the towel and it should always be the goal but reality is we were never going to stay in 1st or 2nd forever - no team does! Once in awhile you have to take a step back and reload - we have a solid nucleus and with a few tweaks we will make a run in November as long as we make the playoffs. Short term pain for long term gain. Relax.
In spite of Doug Berry's playcalling we still had a chance to win.
Kill that 35 seconds to end the half and Clermont makes that catch and everyone is happy.
Romby Bryant may well have won that game by not fumbling on that hellatious hit.
But that's grasping for straws. Change 2 plays every week and B.C. would be 5-0.
The one constant that needs to be changed is Doug Berry. Either he has to learn to take advantage of what he's got or leave town. We're in too big a hole to be remolding people to his liking.
Veeseven
Not a very good memory Woz; You are right about Jim Daley but many postings included Doug Berry. In addition, from about game three on, the people were advocating dumping Dominic Dorsey and Preachae Rodriguez. It took the Riders until game ten to do it but in the end, the people were right. Just like they are now.
BB
Our O-line gave up four or five sacks on Durant and that unacceptable...Best was brutal as was Gauthier regardless of their age. If your making Durant a pocket passer, the O-line has to be better.
What is it going to be before we realize that something has to give. Is it 1-8 or 2-9 before anything happens. If everything stays the same then everything stays the same. They say you win with defense yet ours is last in the league. Go figure. I loved to see a little energy from Jackson. We have to quit being such a soft defense and start to be beasts out there. If they make the play make them pay. Best play of the day.
With this group this is not going to be a year where we back into the playoffs, and perform miracles. The miracles will have to happen next off season.
Our punter was getting chants of MVP. What else needs to be said.
Sorry to my friends in the booth Roddy, I know you guys gotta defend the team, but they're bad right now, really bad. Let's face it, Calgary wasn't very good and they beat us at home.
And Doug Berry really should be let go.
Ij.
Oh boy where to start.
Calgary's plan was to make Durant a pocket passer. Any good offence can still roll out the pocket, but maybe our ends/tackles can't run. Calgary had a two man pass rush deep dropping backers and none of the fab five up front could leave the dliners and provide rollout protection?
Obama says on defence we need to shore up the d line and get a veteran presence in the backfield. Yet the other week people were calling for a certain linbackers # cause he couldn't run.... Which is it. Sure they played better today but I agree that 10 yards off the ball is always gonna kill ya. Kornegay went from a guy who could play almost any position to being cut?
Dressler is a #3 receiver, when we get a couple of deep threat NFL style receivers here..... Sorry to say but Dressler opens up the field for the other receivers.
Hugh Charles replaced Wes Cates as the number 1 running back... don't think so.
Clermont drops a pass and he goes from the guy everyone wants to see in a game to a bum. Out of position at WR. Anyone calling for Sisco now didn't see him in training camp.
How do other teams go with putting 2 or 3 young bucks on the O line and live with that? Gotta put some faith in the boys some time.
Calgary had a guy spying Durant and that stopped him from being able to roll out. Who was spying Henry when he scored the Stamps TD and we had a four man rush on him? Answer .... NOBODY.
Game thoughts...first the Good: Brandon West, J.Freeman, and Sean Lucas all played very well.
The Bad: Barrin Simpson & Luc Mullinder played poorly and slow. And the Ugly: its official the Terrance Nunn & Effrem Hill experiment needs to be over, these 2 guys aren't accomplishing a thing on the field. Give Sisco & James Robinson a try
Well it will be interesting to see what flavour of kool-aid John Lynch has to serve up this week/sarcasm off. No humidity to complain about this week and the Stamps sure missed Juwan Simpson. When I hear his voice on the radio I feel like Kramer listening to Mary Hart.
I blame Riderfan in Wpg. His negative attitude towards Berry and the Riders is what cost us this game.
Stay in Winnipeg if all you want to do is bash the team and the boys that we love.
I agree with Clay about Nunn, this guy has had his chances and should be cut. Hill is okay but not where he should be.
This game showed how much this offense misses Fantuz, Bagg, Koch and Wheelwright.
When you're missing 4 starters in the receiving corps ( and they hang onto balls by the way) tough to get your fire power going.
This is on the "great" Ken Miller. He got lucky in his short stint as HC and now everybody thinks he knows what he is doing. Not likely. Taman never should have been hired, Marshal never should have been hired(there was a reason for all those years of being a bridesmaid)Hall never should have been hired. The list goes on. Mr Hobson, do your job or the millions you get from Rider sales will come to a screeching halt, 80's and 90's all over.
To all those people who are upset at those people who are criticizing the team and say that we will be just fine, I've got just two words for you.
Prove it.
That's right. Let's see this team prove that you are right and that we will be fine. I'm sure that those who are critical will be very happy to be proven wrong and will eat crow all day. If the team wants to be respected and praised then lets see some wins to prove it. One win against Montreal does not cut it.
Stifler
I do not understand making Durant a pocket passer. His talent is his running. He is pathetic as a pocket passer. His mechanics are horrible. If you want a drop back QB then SIGN one. Miller and Berry need to go. The game has passed Miller by. Lets see if Taman has the connections he claims or is he the blowhard he appears to be.
Dave in the 403
I agree with the earlier post; lets git er done and not build a dome! To all of those who thought building a dome was a good idea you were short sighted and wrong. Four losses and counting has killed the dome talk. Now move on, renos still need to be done; upgrades need to happen especially on the east side. It is time to remodel Mosaic which will provide some excitement during these upcoming depression years.
Looks who's back
Back again
Richie's back
2nd and 10
Opponents smile
it's all been done
They pick up 20
as if it were 1
Look who's back
Back again
Richie's back
a certain 10
ESKIMOS RELEASE IMPORT RB WHITLOCK AND WR FISHER (TSN).
Eskimos who are 5 wins 0 losses, are releasing players, and Tillman will continue to tweak the evil empire.
What do the Riders do?
Maybe we are now the bottom feeders of the league and will start picking up piecies from the other teams just like for the past few years we have been filling out rosters for the rest of the league.
I hope next game Richie Hall tells his D Backs to maybe give a 15 yard cushion instead of a 10 yard. Gives the opponents some room for the short passes to keep their drives alive, hate to be aggressive against the receivers.
BB - I guess I did not want to state the obvious and I do remember the hate for Dorsey, PR and Berry as well. But reality is that once we decided on a head coach Berry was the best OC available since Crandell was gone, Dickinson and Milanovich were signed and there really were no other possibilities out there - so we are stuck with Berry for the year and we'll see who comes free next year. PR and Dorsey were gone mid season - players can and will be replaced in mid season or other times - if you read my blog I was saying you never will or should see coaches or management replace mid season.
I think if people were to take the time to count the number of seconds Darian has to throw they would find it is very good protection actually - DD admits that he is not making good decisions - against Montreal he did make good decisions - but the rest of the year he has had happy feet, is holding the ball too long and is not running when he should - I don't think it is Berry holding him back entirely - I think some of it is on DD not making the decision to roll out or to run. The o-line is giving him enough time but he is holding the ball too long. The other problem is he is still not comfortable with new receivers, is still looking for Andy but not seeing him, guys are dropping balls and not getting open. Lets try Robinson and bench Nunn. As for the defence - we held Henry to 198 yards and the Stamps to 22 points - that should be enough to win - this loss was on the offence not the defence.
with all due respect Woz,we are 1 and 4 and havent won a home game in 3 tries.I dont think "relax" is the right word.
I'm still glad we have Durant, he just needs to open the whole playbook and not hesitate when running.
I remeber the days when we had Joe Paopao, 747 Adams, Homer Jordan etc., where you just hoped they could keep a game close let alone have a chance to win it!
I agree with the previous posts concerning Calgary's defence prevented Durant from rolling out. Back when Bishop was here a few years ago we had success rolling out until we played Calgary and they crashed down on the right side continually to prevent the rollout.
When Calgary drops 2 linemen into coverage rolling out is not going to be successful anyway. The only way to prevent this from happening is ensure you are not constantly in passing yardage on second down.
Why weren't people concerned last week when Durant only had 177 yards passing?
It is official, our offense is awful and ultimately this has to fall on the OC. My prediction is he is fired at some point this season, the question is when?
My comments are simple. Agree with the above.
Stfiler +1. Durant looks bad as a pocket passer because the o-line is old and the receivers have no separation. They only get open with DD rolls out and buys time. Give DD Richardson and Terrence-Jeffers and he will look better throwing on time.
I would like to see Hugh Charles start again, Cates is better all around (blocking, recieving) but I like the speed of Charles, he is only going to get better with more playing time. Our recievers have to be better, Hill can't throw a block. What about Sisco for Clermont? Probably would not make a big difference?
Woz - o-line are in their prime in their low to mid 30's? Why did Alan Faneca get cut and then retire (in his 30's) and Jahri Evans and Jake Long are all-pros (in their 20's). But thats off topic. The point is, Riders talent is dwindling and getting old compared to the competition. Can you really say Riders young talent level is improving compared to the Esks, Ti-Cats, Stamps, and Bombers. Those teams have added a lot of young playmakers on both sides of the ball. Under Miller/ Taman the Riders add old players/ other teams retreads. Your forgetting the days when Tillman use to make the deals here, dealing Corey Holmes, Joseph, then Armstead and getting young players back. Big difference from what the mgt is doing now. We all can see it..unless you have the green blinders on 24/7.
How old is Barrin Simpson now? He didn't look dominant against the Stamps, was it an off game or is he now in a decline?
I find it very interesting that after the loss to Hamilton there was over 130 plus commments by Monday morning.
Now there are only 83 as of this posting. Either people have moved on to enjoy the summer or they are finding no point in commenting on what looks to be an average season.
Oh well we won the cup at 9-9 before...nothing wrong with average.
Anonymous - you bring up some good examples of o-lineman from the NFL - but I could also bring up some examples of guys who have played well into their 30's at a high level. Ever hear of Roger Aldag (CFL Allstar at 37 and one best lineman award at 35)? Bruce Matthews (made first team pro bowl from 1998 to 2000 between the ages of 37 and 39)? Fred Childress (allstar at age 35 and 36)? Chris Walby (CFL Allstar at 38 and won outstanding lineman at age 37)? Scott Flory (still an alstar every year and won best lineman in 2008 at age 32)? Gene Makowsky is a perennial allstar and was just a finalist for best o-lineman a couple of years ago and won the award in 2005 at the age of 32. Those are just some examples that I thought of but there are many more. The point is that there are good young lineman but there are also some very good lineman in their 30's who don't rely on just brute strength anymore but on intelligence of the game they picked up with experience. I will just have to disagree with you on Tillman versus Taman - Tillman inherited a team that was well stocked and yes did a couple of trades to get us over the top (which I am thankful for) - but the team has been in decline since 2008 because he was doped up, had very bad drafts and left nothing on the neg list for us. Similarly the nucleus he inherited in Edmonton were solid (remember they won something like 6 of their last 8 last year) - the guys he brought in this year include various retreads like Duval, Bowman and Donavon Alexander. Taman has also brought in some retreads - every GM does!! But he also brought in some good Canadians like Neufeld, Groh, Butler and Shomari and some good americans like Koch, West, Graham, Wheelright and Willis. He has alot of connections and stocked the Bombers with their current nucleus before he left in protest for them hiring Kelly. I will point out again that TILLMAN recommended us hiring Taman because of his experience and is well respected by football people. We are showing alot of improvement week to week in my eyes especially on defense - relax we will be fine.
Woz must be one of Hoppy's yes-men.
To the guy that said comments way down from the aftermath of Hamilton loss, he/she is correct. I haven't completely given up, but I've become indifferent to this season. Win or lose, I'll still be at every home game, but not into it anymore like the past couple years.
The biggest problem with the Riders offence is a guy named "DOUG BERRY !!!!!!!!!!
The sooner they get rid of him, the better off the whole team will be.
Keeping a roll out Q.B. in the pocket is one of the "DUMB--T" things I have ever seen.
Look @ the Montreal game where Durant rolled out of the pocket. A totally different Q.B.
Berry has to be let go, & let go "KNOW". I will start taking up a collection to buy him a bus ticket out of Regina. Anybodt want to kick in?
P.S.
Send B. Taman along with him.
Mr. B. Taman has made the excuse all along that he could not gget any quality players here due to the lockout in the N.F.L.
Gee, let me see know. Did other teams get quality players?
Know that I really think about it, they sure as "H--L" did.
Know the the N.F.L. is up & running again, I wonder what Taman's excueses will be know.
"SEND HIM & BERRY PACKING & DO IT RIGHT KNOW" !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
"USLESS" are two words that come to mind re both of them !!!!!!!!!
Am I a die hard Rider Fan? You bet I am, & have been since 1963, & always will be one.
I have oftern heard insanity defined as doing the same thing in the same way over and over again and expecting different results.
After Saturday night, I do not feel that it is unfair to apply this to Berry's play calling.
Meg in Regina
Ummmm....Dwight in Moose Jaw....useless is one word.
Moose Jaw is two.
Devo
You guys are ridiculous. If you want to cheer for a winner go buy an Als jersey. Seriously, do us the favor. There's a reason none of you are managing this team. Name one team in the CFL that's lost as many core Canadians to the NFL and injury. Go ahead, we're all ears! The defense was an issue last year, and no one is talking about the huge improvements there!
Go ahead guys, the Als are waiting!
The HUGE improvements on the D?? Say what! Couldn't stop the Stamps when they needed. A Hall led D can't stop 2nd and long for luv nor money. Just what D are you watching. Oh yeah make my jersey a Bomber one or an Eskimo one. It appears they have a GM and coach.
I'm all for Winnipeg Edmonton Grey Cup too. They are by far the two most exciting teams in the league this year by a mile.
Holy crap. Just because intelligent football fans start questioning the completely ridiculous things this team has been doing the past 5 games, now they're labeled as bandwagon jumpers, or not real fans? Being a fan means you care. Any idiot can sit in his seat and cheer blindly. A true fan shows the depth of their passion by offering both praise and criticism when they're warranted.
We love our Riders, and always will, but that doesn't mean we give them a free pass on any crap they try to pull on a week to week basis.
To the Woz(Lorne/Dwain/Kevin)
Tillman - 5 and 0
Taman/"Coach Miller" - 1 and 4
SEE YA WOULDN'T WANNA BE YA!!!!
100 comments (some repeats) of 30,000 fans in attendance represent one third of 1%.
Small sample survey results would agree that Berry needs to go.
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