10 THINGS I THINK I THINK

Photo: Riderville.com

1 – WEEK 2: Coming off a 27-19 win over Toronto in Friday’s home-opener, the Saskatchewan Roughriders are already in Ottawa for their Week 2 clash, Thursday against the RedBlacks (5:30 pm Sask Time, TSN, 620 CKRM Radio Network). Ottawa had a bye in Week 1 so this is their season-opener and Rider QB Zach Collaros says Saskatchewan will have to “match their intensity”.

2 – ODDS, FORECAST: For some reason the RedBlacks are favoured by 2.5-points and the weather prediction calls for a perfect night for football: sunshine and 22 degrees Celsius or 71 Fahrenheit.

3 – 1-0: The importance of the victory over Toronto last week can not be overstated. As defending Grey Cup champions, the Argonauts are presumably the best team in the CFL so for the Green & White to have had that good of a showing in Week 1, they should take a bow. Saskatchewan hadn’t won a season-opening game since 2014.

4 – JONES’ING: If anyone was surprised by the slick showing of the Riders last week, it wasn’t Head Coach & GM Chris Jones. “I told y’all before the season started that we’re a good football team and I still firmly believe that,” the Rider boss said this week. “If we stay healthy and keep people in the right mindset, we can play with anybody in the league. It’s just a matter of doing those things: we gotta keep people healthy, keep practicing ’em and keep grinding ’em and get better at the things we’re not good at.”

5 – MINDSET: Jones’ comments echo something I wrote in this space during training camp. The 2018 Saskatchewan Roughriders are good and they know it. Chris Jones’ biggest task this season may be to keep his troops humble and grounded on a weekly basis. So far, so good. But they’re a hungry bunch, led by vets such as Zach Collaros and Jerome Messam who are still chasing their first Grey Cup ring. The names and numbers may change but the goal remains the same.

6 – ANCIENT HISTORY: If last year’s CFL East Final – a loss in Toronto – was “old news” for the Riders going into the Toronto game, then the same should hold true for last season’s CFL Eastern Semifinal. The Riders trounced the RedBlacks 31-20 in a game where RB Marcus Thigpen ran for 169 yards and a TD and Ottawa QB Trevor Harris was picked off twice. Have the Riders moved on? Probably. Has Ottawa forgotten about it? Not likely.

7 – BACK TO NORMAL: Ahhh, the CFL. Duron Carter is front page news again (he’ll start at CB on Thursday), there’s another zany negotiation list story (the Eskimos have reportedly added Terrell Owens), and now there’s the crazy fan incident in Vancouver on Saturday, with lawyers becoming involved. The CFL is predictably unpredictable and that’s why Canadians remain fascinated with it.

*Oh, and they still hate Duron Carter in Ottawa for running over their coach Rick Campbell.

8 – STATS: Some numbers that jump out … Saskatchewan has the #1 overall defense after Week 1 (265 yards) and are #1 against the run (54 yards) … QB Zach Collaros has the #2 Passing Efficiency (109.3) behind BC’s Jon Jennings (131.1) … Saskatchewan is 1-0 when winning the turnover ratio (+1) … The Riders had the most rushing attempts in the CFL in Week 1 (27) and that’s from a team which was 9th in rushing last year.

9 – WORLD CUP: I’m proud to report I haven’t watched a second of the World Cup this past week and my life is none-the-worse for it. There’s a reason the CFL will always beat soccer in Canadian TV ratings: it’s a better product.

10 – SHREK LIVE: It was a treat to experience Shrek, The Musical at Globe Theatre. The show seemed a bit long, but not for the myriad of kids in attendance. They were spellbound. And people say there’s nothing to do in Regina! Hogwash.

Y’er welcome,
RP
@rodpedersen