Well that was not pretty but it is a win. A costly win though. Losing Flick aint good no matter how you look at it. And Leron Mitchell never got a chance to show what he could do. Losing Crandell for 3 weeks could hurt more than both of the other guys. Jyles showed he aint got what it takes to run this O. And Durant is still a question mark. But we can get some answers about him next week against Hamilton. Thank the football gods for this schedule!! The perfect game for a raw QB to start. Hamilton has some talent but a major dropoff from facing B.C.'s front 4 so Durant should look much better next week.

As for our D. They played back on their heels for the first half again. What is up with that? But after halftime they came out and played aggressive, again. Our D-line was only half alive this game. Chick and Chunky were very good. Kitwana looked OK but never made an impact like the other 2, and Schultz was owned. We need these big guys to step up and kick some ass or it's gonna be a long season. LBs got killed by the crossing stuff again early but picked it up better late in the game. DBs with one exception played great all game. The exception was Burnt Morgan. Way too much backpedalling right off the snap and he just aint got the speed anymore to make up for that. Eddie played like he plays, 10 years younger than his birth certificate. Frazier was the stud this week with 2 picks and Johnson was solid. I likes that Johnson kid. And as for the safety I didn't notice him much at all and that's the way it should be. Our D is the best in the league and they have to be even better for the next couple of games while the O gets a chance to gel again.

Wes Cates deserves his own paragraph this week. He won this game. Once they tried to stretch his runs outside the D had to respect it and not stack the box against him. And that opened up running between the tackles which is what he does best. Power and elusiveness is his game and it was on display in the second half. And good hands out of the backfield. He stepped up when the rest of the O looked worn down and turned eveything around. Thanks you Wes.


And hey I can't end this without a shout out to Luca Congi. 4 for 4 on the night is great. Gotta love the kid.

Thanks for reading and if you want to comment go ahead.

Ok it's time for another pointless ramble about Riders football.

One game in and they picked up nicely from where they left off last year. The O looked good for the first game. A few mistakes but it was against Edmonton so they didn't hurt us. After another week of practice with Matt D. back in the lineup the O will be scary good this week. My prediction is another 30+ point performance. And another 250+ yard passing day for Marcus. This O will easily surpass last year's version.

The D looks OK so far. The line will eat whichever poor sap B.C. lines up at QB and spit out the bones. And that is the key, pressure from the big guys up front. Because our LBs need another game to get the coverage on the quick inside stuff together. They played better in the second half against Edmonton but the first half was bad. And our DBs weren't much better in that first half, back on their heels waiting for the receiver to come to them. I don't know what Miller and Hall said at halftime but it worked. The second half of that game was in your face aggressive D. And it worked well. There was one huge bright spot in the secondary though. Mr. James Johnson was incredible. Yes I really said that. I was not a big Johnson fan early in his Rider career but he has made me a believer. The Grey Cup was no fluke. The man is the real deal and I'm glad I was wrong.

So this week we play the Lions. And it will be another Rider victory. The Lions are a team on the downside of the curve and really should not be a challenge. So the Riders open 3-0 because Hamilton is the free space on the bingo card next week.

Anyway thanks for reading.