Well, That Was Completely Expected

The Riders' latest lopsided loss has rousted me from my slumber. The Riders laid an egg on turkey day, losing 17-1 to the hometown Edmonton Eskimos. That is correct, we scored a single rouge. At this pace, next game we will score -1 points. Is that even possible? I'm sure we will find a way... Allow me to add a little rage to the previous article.

QB
OK, Ryan Dinwiddie looked horrible behind our ancient o-line. Why is Cole Bergquist on our team if we refuse to play him? The coaches should be ashamed of themselves for even dressing Darian Durant for this game. He is the future of the franchise and risking his career in a meaningless game (come on, you know it was) was inexcusable. Durant has regressed this year, but I still believe he has the qualities to win a Grey Cup given an o-line and a good quarterback coach.

RB
The Montreal Allouettes who are the league's model franchise got rid of their perpetual all-star running back Avon Cobourne last year. Western powerhouse Calgary has benched their all-time leading rusher and perpetual all-star running back Joffrey Reynolds this season. Yet the Riders keep trotting out Wes Cates year after year. This man has lost so many steps he has had ladders installed in his house. Like Francis has mentioned on many occasions, running backs are a dime a dozen. Montreal knows it, Calgary knows it. Why don't we know it? Give Brandon West a look when he gets healthy, please. Get rid of Hugh Charles if you are never going to use him.

WR/SB
Hill has looked alright. I have to disagree with Coach Gord and insist that Cary Koch is awesome. He catches the ball when it is thrown to him. That is what you want your receivers to do. Getzlaf is overrated but decent. Fantuz will be fine with a training camp under his belt. I feel bad for Dressler because he's our only playmaker and we can't consistently get him the ball. Put the ball in his hands! Time's up for Clermont.

O-Line
Gotta blow it up. 3 oldies, who are very old. Chris Best's picture is in the dictionary under "pedestrian" and Marc Parenteau is a centre who can't snap the ball. He should be at guard, but Jeremy O'Day had the good sense to retire last year.

D-Line
Gotta blow it up. Brent Hawkins might never be healthy, so let's not talk about him please! Our defensive ends are castoffs from other teams and our tackles are old and mediocre, respectively. This unit and the o-line are the core of the team's problems. The game is won and lost in the trenches and this is where we consistently get dominated. As Ron Lancaster showed us 30 years ago, these are difficult and time-consuming pieces to replace. However this can pay huge dividends years down the road. We have to tear off this bloody bandage now before it festers even more.

Linebackers
Barrin Simpson has had a down year. Is it because he's 34? Maybe. Jerrell Freeman is fantastic. Sean Lucas should not be playing. I watched him a bit in isolation and he is not even hustling to the ball. He hasn't made a play in about 3 seasons. James Patrick, the league's best safety is playing linebacker!? That's the dumbest thing I've seen since Jason Clermont playing wide receiver. Oh wait, that was this year too. Good thing we got rid of that bum, Tad Kornegay who's starting for the league's best team.

DBs
This is actually the strength of the team. Rookie Craig Butler has shown flashes of competence, and newcomer Tristan Jackson has played well on defence and special teams. Sophomore starter Chris McKenzie had had two pick sixes and is a physical presence despite his size. Veteran Lance Frazier had not made a lot of plays, but has not been burned a lot either. With most DBs, no news is good news. Our secondary has been hampered by the fact that that most quarterbacks can sit in the pocket versus our pass rush and have about 15 Mississippis followed by another 12 steamboats.

It's a mess folks. The word is that Regina will be hosting the Grey Cup in 2013. The natural reaction would be for the home team to set themselves up for a playoff run. I feel as if that would be a mistake. Rebuilding a team takes more than a year or two. Successful franchises are always moving forward, and always upgrading their talent. The Riders have been treading water for two seasons and are now fully understanding the consequences.