(fortunately, we won't have to find out)
Well, that was a relief. The Saskatchewan Roughriders fought back from a slow start and recaptured some of the earlier-season magic in defeating the Edmonton Eskimos 31-23. The result eliminated the Eskimos from the playoffs and sets up a showdown with the BC Lions in next week's Western Semi-Final at Mosaic Stadium. Edmonton started strongly in this one. The Riders defence was full of new faces. Fans needed a lineup card to figure out who was who. Among the newbies were Byron Bullock, Cory Huclack, Rodrigue Wright, and Ryan Lucas. All of them saw significant playing time and none of them disgraced themselves. Bullock took a bad roughing the passer penalty, but made up for it with a forced fumble later in the game. The Riders fed Ricky Ray a diet of non-stop blitzes in the first half and Ray feasted on them. He repeatedly hit Fred Stamps who took advantage of the single coverage and the Eskimos were able to march the ball up and down the field. Add in the traditional Riders porous run defence, and Edmonton was staked to an 11 point lead.
Then something strange happened, the Riders made an (gasp!) adjustment? The offence started clicking. They hit Wes Cates with a pass downfield (more gasps!). They started using wide receiver screens to slow down the Eskimos pass rush (where has this been for the last 2 months?). The defence stopped blitzing Ray because it obviously was not working and started dropping more men into coverage. The defensive line even generated a little pressure! Who are these guys? The Riders scored touchdowns on three consecutive drives to take the wind out of Edmonton's sails, and although Daniel Porter put up some impressive rushing numbers, we contained Ray and Stamps in the second half. Defensive end Montez Murphy played his best game as a Rider with 5 tackles and a sack, and looked genuinely motivated against his old squad. Tad Kornegay played a monster game and reminded us of how much of an impact player he can be back at his linebacker position.
The Roughriders finish the season 10-8 which would have to considered a mild disappointment, especially after the 5-2 start. However, there is a mood of cautious optimism in Riderville with the playoffs approaching. The key is not looking past a dangerous Lions team to the Calgary game. Take care of business at home. If we can pressure Lulay, and utilize all of our weapons on offence versus BC, we'll be fine. Stay tuned, we will breakdown the first round of the CFL playoffs in an upcoming post.
Then something strange happened, the Riders made an (gasp!) adjustment? The offence started clicking. They hit Wes Cates with a pass downfield (more gasps!). They started using wide receiver screens to slow down the Eskimos pass rush (where has this been for the last 2 months?). The defence stopped blitzing Ray because it obviously was not working and started dropping more men into coverage. The defensive line even generated a little pressure! Who are these guys? The Riders scored touchdowns on three consecutive drives to take the wind out of Edmonton's sails, and although Daniel Porter put up some impressive rushing numbers, we contained Ray and Stamps in the second half. Defensive end Montez Murphy played his best game as a Rider with 5 tackles and a sack, and looked genuinely motivated against his old squad. Tad Kornegay played a monster game and reminded us of how much of an impact player he can be back at his linebacker position.
The Roughriders finish the season 10-8 which would have to considered a mild disappointment, especially after the 5-2 start. However, there is a mood of cautious optimism in Riderville with the playoffs approaching. The key is not looking past a dangerous Lions team to the Calgary game. Take care of business at home. If we can pressure Lulay, and utilize all of our weapons on offence versus BC, we'll be fine. Stay tuned, we will breakdown the first round of the CFL playoffs in an upcoming post.
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