ROCK CREEK WESTERN SEMIFINAL PREVIEW
SASKATCHEWAN (10-8) at EDMONTON (12-6)
3:30 pm Sask time, Sunday, Commonwealth Stadium
TSN, 620 CKRM Rider Network, ESPN2
RIDERS: Road 4-5, Vs West 5-5
ESKS: Home 7-2, Vs West 6-5
RIDERS OFFENSE: RUSH 3RD, PASS 9TH, OVERALL 6TH
QB Kerry Joseph makes his seventh playoff start (48.3%, 606 yds, 4 TDs, 5 INTs) … WR Rob Bagg is the Riders’ leading receiver (803 yds, 3 TDs) … RB Anthony Allen was 2nd in CFL rushing (930 yds, 5 TDs) … Riders are 5th in points scored and 5th in fewest sacks allowed
ESKS OFFENSE: RUSH 2ND, PASS 3RD, OVERALL 1ST
QB Matt Nichols makes his first playoff start (62.3%, 1014 yds, 4 TDs, 5 INTs) … SB Adarius Bowman is the CFL’s leading receiver (1456 yds, 6 TDs) … RB John White is 4th in CFL rushing (852 yds, 2 TDs) … Esks are 2nd in points scored and 4th in sacks allowed
RIDERS DEFENSE: RUSH 7TH, PASS 5TH, OVERALL 8TH
DE John Chick is #1 in CFL sacks (15) … DBs Mark Legree and Tristan lead the club in INT (4) … LB Brian Peters is their tackles leader (78) … Riders are #1 in sacks and 6th in points allowed
ESKS DEFENSE: RUSH 2ND, PASS 1ST, OVERALL 1ST
DE Odell Willis is #2 in CFL sacks (13) … LB Dexter McCoil leads the club in tackles (67) and leads the CFL in INT (6) … Esks are #2 in sacks and 1st in points allowed
RIDERS SPEC TEAMS: K Chris Milo is 71.4% on FGs (8th in the CFL) … P Josh Bartel has a 43.5 yard punting average (7th) … Tristan Jackson leads the CFL in KR yards and Weston Dressler leads the club in PR yards … Brian Peters is the ST tackles leader (20)
ESKS SPEC TEAMS: K/P Hugh O’Neill is 76.9% on FGs (6th) with a punting average of 44.4 (5th) … Kendial Lawrence leads the club in KR and PR yards … LB Deon Lacy leads the league in ST tackles (29)
INTANGIBLES: The Riders are +8 in turnover ratio (2nd best) while the Eskimos are +1 (6th) … The Riders are #3 in fewest penalties while the Eskimos are 8th … The Eskimos won the season series 2-1 … The referee is Andre Proulx … The forecast calls for flurries and a high of minus-9 degrees Celsius (15 degrees Fahrenheit) … Edmonton is favoured by 5.5-points.
31-4 Edmonton
With Proulx as ref we are screwed.
69-0 Saskatchewan.
It can be argued that having the game take place in Edmonton rather than Regina is a blessing for the Riders and their fans.
The weather is Regina tomorrow is going to be brutal with very high wind speeds. In Edmonton, the weather will be a bit warmer and the players won't have to face brutal winds. Had the game been in Regina, the number of fans sitting in the stands would be sparse because of the wind chill.
Can anyone help out with this? … Depth chart on Riderville.com shows the "46-man" roster for this game. My count has 48 players listed, including Kicker, Punter, and Long-snapper. I don't get it – since when is 46=48???
Proulx will make that we get lots of "pen-ALLLL-tees" callled against us.
Some of the players are listed twice. Peters, Dressler,Miller, Jackson.
Reilly can barely walk down the hall. Even if Esks beat Riders (doubt it), he likely won't play at Calgary vs BoLevi Mitchell next week either and that is guaranteed loss !
Proulx is the most consistent ref in the CFL now. Not sure why you all hard on him so bad. He wasn't great in his earlier days but has improved greatly.
What's the scoop on Keith Toston, is he injured or back in the doghouse?
BB
Andre ! Andre ! Andre Proulx !
KJ has 3 games to go out on top, let it all hang out! Leading the Riders to repeat as Grey Cup Champions!
All aboard as this Train is about to leave the station! Just win baby and let the bodies hit the floor.
Rider Nation 5 for 5 starts today.
Fear the Riders and its Nation as we walk among you! Loud n Proud !
Rider season ends today to a much better Eskimo team. Edmonton is better in almost every position on the field and this game will not even be close, IMO the real Grey Cup will be next weekend featuring the 2 best teams in the CFL
ESPN’s Chris Berman predicts Montreal and “the defending champs” Saskatchewan as victorious today.
“Proulx is the most consistent ref in the CFL now.”
I have to agree, however he doesn’t have any control over the other 6 blind mice out there.
Go Eskies. Go
Go Ridies go
try your best, and have fun!
Leon
One thing for sure .. good thing we did not have to travel east to play Montreal!
I think when you look at the problems this football team has had, you can clearly see that all fingers point to the DC. With all the talent we are supposed to have had, how can this possibly be the 8th rated defence in the League. Worse than the RedBlacks??
The 8th rated defence and 6th rated offence against a team rated #1 in both areas, seriously! This team clearly needs to look at it's defensive and special teams coordinators. The Riders season barring a miracle is over today. Sad*