Rider Beat

This is a column I am gonna try to do at least once a week....just to give my insight on whats going on in Riderville and my two cents as well......

Lets recap last weeks big big big win..

Though I didn't catch the game live...due to being on the train coming back from Seattle I was regulated to texts from T freds and my buddy Gov.....so that blew....but props to .5 and Govind for keeping me updated...So I finally watched the game last night and had this analysis of the game....

Our D was unreal....8 sacks and 3 picks...wow......It was incredible to watch the line push Montreal back and Calvillo pretty much from the outset had no confidence in his O-line. Its time to start giving Richie Hall credit...year in and year out he puts a incredible defense on the field...He might have been the biggest re-signing in the off season in my opinion..

Also...Chunky Adams and Kitwana Jones had monster games......Eddie Davis was lights out with 10 tackles, and INT and a sack.....he gets the game ball...

Boreham looked great on kick offs and our special teams looked very organized and confident....Congi was spot on kicking 3 pointers...

The offense wasn't gelling but that is expected in the first few weeks of the season. KJ played ok and made some smart decisions....he was making things happen on broken plays...he really looked a lot like the KJ we saw and feared in Ottawa.

The key to the victory was turnovers.....we never turned the ball over once.

This is not the same roughrider team that we are used to seeing under Danny Barrett and Roy Shivers....you can just see it on the field.....we are organized, confident, and are running an entirely different offense. We will have a home playoff game with Austin as our bench boss, you heard it here first....I have no doubt in my mind...

Also notable....the riders are the first team to walk into Molson Stadium and win in a home opener since the argos did it in 1996. It was also only the 2nd time the riders have won in Montreal since they came back into the league. They have actually taken the last two from the als dating back to late last season when Congi a last second field goal to win in Regina....


This week......Stamps vs. Riders

The stamps came off a lob sided win at home against Hamilton. Hamilton continues to be a horrible team....Jason Mass looked awful....The only bright spot for Hamilton was Tommy Chang...he came in late in the 4th and looked great...I look forward to seeing more of him....he reminded me of Doug Flutie a lot....small, mobile and a rocket arm.....

This should be the first real test to see what this ball club is like. Both teams will be fighting for a home playoff game this year...Burris looked good in week one but he has always been known to shine in games that are not big in nature.....This is a big game.....He is hated in Sask and Mosaic will be extremely Hostile Sunday.....

Calgary has lethal receivers with Copeland, Lewis, etc......but so do the riders boasting Flick, Fantuz, Matt D, and Armstead....these are probably the best sets of receivers in the CFL.

Defense again will decide this game.....The riders need to move the ball better on the ground Sunday. Doing this will open up the pass game...Based on week 1, the riders have the better of the 2 defenses so look for their bend and don't break system to continue......

I like the riders in this game by a dozen

Riders 32
Stamps 20