DAYTONA HOMES MONDAY MORNING GOALIE

The first of Sunday’s tailgaters. My buddy Fuji (#74) and the gang..

10 MONDAY LEFTOVERS:

1 – There are millions of fans in the Rider Nation and therefore there are a million different opinions following Sunday’s 24-19 loss to the Edmonton Eskimos – the Riders’ fourth defeat in a row.  With the Riders up 13-4 at halftime, I thought the table was being set for an upset but the 95-yard kickoff return touchdown by Edmonton’s Kendial Lawrence on the first play of the third quarter was the TSN Turning Point.  (Does TSN still do that?).

For whatever reason the Riders weren’t ready to start the second half and that completely let the air out of their tires.  Upon watching the replay of the game, Lawrence was only touched once on that return, and it was by Rider safety Tyron Brackenridge.  “Folks are still eating their hotdogs and sucking back beers and can’t believe that just happened,” stammered TSN colour commentator Matt Dunigan on the broadcast.  “A lot of them are still down in the concession area!”

Dunigan’s commentary over two weekend CFL broadcasts was pure gold.

2 – You had to be impressed by the play and the poise of Kerry Joseph, despite the loss.  The 41-year old threw for 213 yards with two touchdowns and two picks in his first start since 2012.  Rider GM Brendan Taman said before the game, “Everybody around here thinks Kerry gives us the best chance to win” and he certainly did that.  He wasn’t on the field for the kick return touchdown which really turned the tide in the game.

“I thought Kerry was awesome,” Rider coach Corey Chamblin said in his postgame news conference. “I couldn’t ask too much out of him.  I thought he had to have help around him and he got it.  He gives us a chance.  When you look in his eyes, there was always a look that we could win it.  That’s what you want.”

Offensive coordinator George Cortez’s playcalling won’t be questioned this week as they passed 36 times and rushed the ball on 19 occasions.  Running back Will Ford rushed for just 27 yards on nine carries and was attacked each and every time he got a touch.  There may have been some rust there as he hasn’t been used regularly in over a month.  It remains to be seen if he’ll be the workhorse down the stretch since Anthony Allen was a late scratch due to back spasms.

3 – Like I said, there are a million different opinions on the Riders right now.  One of the guys in the photo above, my buddy Yoda (in the black shirt), figures the Riders won’t win another game the rest of the way.  He said it with a smile on his face so it was tough to argue and maybe he’ll be right?  The fact is nobody knows how this 2014 campaign is going to turn out.  However whether it’s Durant or Joseph pulling the trigger, I think this team still has a chance to win it all.  But they need to get back to being the scrappy team we came to love in the first half.  Sunday’s effort was a step in the right direction.

4 – The comments in the Mosaic Place Recap on this blog are purely entertaining.  Are these people loony or just into the sauce?  One guy was calling for the firing of Rider President Jim Hopson.  That’s interesting since he’ll be retiring in just a few months.  Again, the 24 hours after a loss are always when people are the most heated.  Unfortunately the nutjobs detract from the reasoned commenters.  Which ones should you listen to when they’re all anonymous?

5 – So the 13-2 Calgary Stampeders are next for the Riders as the two West Division foes will collide at McMahon Stadium Friday night in a 7:30 kickoff.  With first-place clinched for another year by the Stamps, you have to wonder if coach John Hufnagel will rest some guys.  With second place out of reach for the Riders, you have to wonder about their approach as well.  The game will likely be used as another tune up for the playoffs and we now know the Riders will be going on the road in the 2014 postseason.  All that remains is whether or not it’s through the West or through the East.

It’s interesting to note that the Stampeders have had the good fortune of beating Edmonton twice (without Mike Reilly), the Bombers once (without Drew Willy) and will face Saskatchewan twice without having to face Darian Durant.  Don’t forget that whenever the Stampeders have won the Grey Cup over the past 20 years, they haven’t had to face Saskatchewan in the playoffs.

It will be interesting to see what happens between now and November 30.

6 – The Regina Thunder’s season is over.  They fell 20-17 at home to the Calgary Colts Saturday night to end their quest of repeating as CJFL champions.  Congrats on a fine season however.

7 – What a disastrous season for the U of R Rams.  They’ve been close, but not quite good enough in too many games this season and currently sit at 1-5 following Saturday’s 33-32 loss at UBC.  A late rouge was the difference.  The Rams aren’t mathematically eliminated from the playoffs yet but need to sweep their two remaining home games.  Perhaps Saturday’s game will be known more for the technical difficulties Scruffy had trying to get the broadcast on 620 CKRM.  He ended up calling the game over his cell phone.  Marco Ricci was there for the colour commentary but wasn’t used.  He went all that way for nothing.  What a shame.

8 – The Regina Pats open a brand new week sitting fourth in the WHL East at 5-5-1.  They were routed 5-1 in Calgary on Sunday completing their weekend road trip at 1-2-0.  They played three games in three nights in Kootenay, Lethbridge and Calgary.  That’s an insane schedule and were likely out of gas by Sunday’s stop in the Saddledome.  And on Tuesday they host the Portland Winterhawks where I’ll be hosting a bunch of Roughriders plus the Tony Roma’s staff in the Molson Box.  The Pats are paying for their lax early schedule now.

9 – Leave it to a guy from Wilcox, SK to do in the Arizona Coyotes.  Wilcox’s Jaeden Schwartz netted his first NHL hattrick and added an assist as well his St. Louis Blues routed the Coyotes 6-1 Saturday night at Gila Riva Arena to end the Coyotes’ season-opening homestand.  Other than that, it wasn’t a real exciting weekend in the NHL, from what I saw.

10 – Catch Houston at Pittsburgh on Monday Night Football tonight at the Press Box Sports Bar.  You can get a full rib dinner (which is excellent) for just $9.99 plus you’ll have a chance to win a Texans or Steelers jersey.  Kickoff is 6:30 pm.

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Here are the postgame comments of 26-year Roughrider radio analyst Carm Carteri on 620 CKRM.

“A lot of people didn’t give the Roughriders a lot of hope against an Edmonton team that was fighting to host the Western Semifinal in Edmonton.  We all hoped that Kerry Joseph could give this offense a little bit of hope and he did.  He threw two touchdown passes and I thought moved the ball pretty well.  Were there some plays he wished he could have back?  Of course.  But this was a game that the Riders needed to show their fans that they’d fight to the end and they did that.

“I think there’s a glimmer of hope for this football team with Kerry Joseph.  Not for next year, it’s for next week which will be in Calgary and then again back here November 8 against Edmonton.  The Riders had a good game plan in here today.  They allowed Kerry to throw the ball downfield and I was impressed with a lot of his passes.  The problem is you start the third quarter and you allow a 95-yard kickoff return.”

I pointed out that Joseph wasn’t on the field for that meltdown.

“That’s the big thing for this football team!” Carm continued.  “Plays like that hurt this team.  Not the lack of offense or their quarterback.  Is there room for improvement?  Of course there is.  Is there a glimmer of hope for this team?  Yes there is because this was a pretty good football game and it never really got away from this Rider football team until late in the fourth quarter on that Mike Reilly run. But there were other factors in this game that led to this defeat, not the play of Kerry Joseph.  So I do see some positive signs.”

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Roughrider General Manager Brendan Taman joined us on CKRM’s pregame show as he always does weekly and discussed the lack of production with back-up quarterbacks Tino Sunseri and Seth Doege since Durant’s absence.  Keep in mind this interview aired before Sunday’s game.

“You know it’s frustrating because when you look at Tino, when he’s started games, he hasn’t been very good,” Taman said.  “When he’s come off the bench he’s been excellent.  How that gets translated to when he starts, I have no idea.  From my chair, when he has the ability to show it, he does at times but he hasn’t been consistent.  And Seth didn’t really shine when he had a chance.

“When you have young quarterbacks it can go either way.  I know people out there look at Bo-Levi Mitchell or Jonathan Crompton (and their early success) but this is a team game.  I think we need guys around the quarterback to make plays on both sides of the ball.  Our defense needs to take away the ball or get a stop and our receivers need to make a catch or the quarterback needs to throw the ball accurately.

“It’s disappointing to me because I really thought that one or both would be okay and we wouldn’t have to get to this with Kerry but we are and that’s where it’s at and we have to move on.”

Despite the losses, the time has flown by since Darian Durant’s injury at Winnipeg on September 7 and we’re already at the stage where Durant will be on the roster for Friday’s game at Calgary.

“When you do this show you get some inside information and he’s actually been throwing in the locker room to be honest with you,” Taman reported.  “So you’re gonna see him develop a little bit more as the weeks go on and from talking to him Friday, we’re right on course with a lot of what we’ve been saying all along.  I know a lot of people are out there waiting to see what’s going to happen with him but I foresee him playing in the last game of the year.  I really do if everything keeps going the way it’s going.”

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IN CASE YOU MISSED IT: WEEK 7 IN THE NFL

If it seems as if NFL records are broken or tied every week this season, well, that’s because they are.

And not just by Peyton Manning.

Yes, Manning generated the most talked-about mark Sunday, topping Brett Favre’s old record of 508 career touchdown passes by getting to 510 with four in Denver’s 42-17 victory over San Francisco at night – and, according to receiver Demaryius Thomas, even orchestrating the way some Broncos teammates teasingly played keep-away with the football caught for No. 509 by Thomas.

Manning, making all of those neck operations seem like a distant memory, actually added to another record of his, too: It was his 33rd game with four passing TDs.

Earlier Sunday, Green Bay’s Aaron Rodgers had his fourth game in a row with zero interceptions and at least three TD tosses, tying Tom Brady for the longest such run. Seattle’s Russell Wilson became the first player in NFL history with 300 yards passing and 100 yards running in the same game.

And showing that running backs still can matter in the modern game, DeMarco Murray helped Dallas improve to 6-1 by gaining 128 yards on 26 carries, making him the first player to run for at least 100 yards in each of a season’s first seven games.

In case you missed it, here are the other top topics after the NFL season’s seventh Sunday:

BOLD FISHER: Holding onto a two-point lead, facing fourth-and-3 at their 18 with about 3 minutes left, the Rams lined up in punt formation, of course. But coach Jeff Fisher had punter Johnny Hekker throw a pass – and the bold call resulted in an 18-yard completion for a first down and a chance to run out the clock in a 28-26 victory over Seattle. Earlier, the Rams got a 90-yard punt return for a touchdown from Stedman Bailey, when Tavon Austin, their usual returner, lured most of Seattle’s coverage unit by pretending to be tracking the ball near the opposite sideline.

FOCUS ON OFFICIALS: With all the penalties being called, officials are getting plenty of attention – and a couple of players were ejected Sunday after making contact with a guy in stripes. Panthers linebacker Luke Kuechly left a loss to Green Bay, and Colts linebacker Erik Walden was kicked out of a victory against Cincinnati. Saints coach Sean Payton made clear how he felt after his team was whistled for a dozen penalties in its 24-23 loss at Detroit: “I wasn’t happy with how that game was officiated.”

SAINTS’ ROAD WOES: The Saints are unbeaten at home so far but simply can’t win on the road: They’ve dropped seven regular-season games in a row away from New Orleans – including four in 2014 – after blowing a 13-point lead in the last four minutes at Detroit. Saints quarterback Drew Brees, whose late interception set up the Lions’ final score, said: “The worst feeling in professional sports is when you feel like you let your team down.” The Bears, meanwhile, have the opposite problem: They can’t win at home. A 27-14 loss to Miami left Chicago with an 0-3 record at Soldier Field, where shouting could be heard coming from the locker room before reporters were allowed in.

AILING ATLANTA: The Falcons are reeling. They have lost four games in a row – and five of six – and each by at least 10 points. A 29-7 defeat at Baltimore on Sunday was also the fourth consecutive time Atlanta scored fewer points than the game before, going from 56 to 28 to 20 to 13 to seven.

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We’ll break Sunday’s game down on the SportsCage’s Rider Monday at 4:00 pm.  Mike Abou-Mechrek and I will chair the affair and we’ll be joined by football maven John Lynch and blogger CFL Joe from Ottawa.

Don’t forget the Regina Pats are home to the Portland Winterhawks Tuesday at 7 pm on 620 CKRM.  We’ll see you there!

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HAVE A GREAT WEEK
RP
@sportscage