THROWIN’ ELBOWS WITH BRENDAN MCGUIRE

1. RIDER O-LINE WOES: The Riders are not getting enough protection out of that import left tackle spot currently occupied by Andrew Lauderdale. The entire line was beaten like rented mules Saturday night in Montreal and that’s okay because the Alouette pass rush has made plenty of O-lines look like turn-styles this year. One has to wonder how on earth Cody Fajardo will ever use Duke Williams or Shaq Evans if they cannot somehow find a way to keep this guy upright for any period of time. The Riders might want to consider reaching out to Brendon LaBatte to see if perhaps he could give them some depth up the middle that could help out those tackles, somehow. I’m just sayin.

2. DEFENCE CARRYING ROUGHRIDERS:  This proves they are a team, after all. It will be fascinating to see if Fajardo can get his aerial assault going in time to bail Jason Shivers’ defensive unit out when they falter.

3. RIDERS HAVE PERFECT SCHEDULE TO RIDE INTO PLAYOFFS: They still have lots to play for and likely won’t get a meaningless game until the final weekend of the season. This should keep the green and white crisp while still offering a bye week style of game at the end where they can rest their starters. The Winnipeg Blue Bombers, meanwhile, have about another month to go before they can get excited about anything. Given that 58% of all first-place finishers in the CFL west since 1987 have failed to get into the Grey Cup, I would say the Riders are sitting pretty right about now.  

4. CFL OFFENCES ARE EMBARRASSING THE LEAGUE: This might be the worst season to watch a CFL offence in 20 years. I’d love to blame it all on COVID but not at week 14! Canadian rules are far superior to American rules but these lackluster offences aren’t showing it. This league is desperate for a hot-shot QB to come out of the woodwork and grab that torch. Fajardo might be that guy but right now looks like one of the best in a bad bunch.   

5. CFL COACHES ARE EMBARRASSING THE LEAGUE: Anyone else see the horrific clock mismanagement by Argo head coach Ryan Dinwiddie at the end of the Toronto-BC game just before the Rider game on Saturday? Poor guy couldn’t even count the seconds left before choosing to kneel down, rather than run the ball. It led to leaving just enough time on the clock for BC to get the ball back to kick the game-tying field goal, proving once again that football coaches are most certainly not geniuses.  

6. THIS WEEK I’M JEALOUS OF: Justin Dunk of 3 Down Nation. The Adam Schefter of Canada knows what CFL teams are going to do before they even know, themselves. See Edmonton Elks dumping of Trevor Harris. By the way, this Taylor Cornelius doesn’t look like anything special to me. Looks as if Jaime Elizondo fell in love with his guy from the Tampa Bay Vipers and they’re just now realizing how much better this league is than that one ever was. Get these garbage XFL quarterbacks out of here!

7. WHY THE DOUBLE-VAX POLICY AT CFL GAMES IS WORKING: Attendance is down but the whole point of this policy wasn’t so much to boost the business of sporting events but rather help slow the spread of COVID enough so we could continue to have these games. I would say it appears to be working. Does anyone honestly think we’d be better off NOT mandating people coming to these large gatherings to get double-vaccinated? If you think this pandemic is over, then you’re probably not paying very close attention.

8. HOW CFL TEAMS COULD BOOST STRUGGLING ATTENDANCE: Rather than give tickets away to people who don’t care about the CFL, why don’t the Argos, Alouettes and Lions surprise their season ticket holders with another set of season tickets?! Make the folks who are loyal to the brand and the league feel loved, again. They will feel motivated to bring their friends and sell them on our game, too.

9. I’M CHEERING FOR THE BRAVES TO WIN THE WORLD SERIES BECAUSE: I’ve always wanted Alex Anthopoulos to stick it up the rear-end of Blue Jay president Mark Shapiro and the people at ROGERS. And seeing how Edward Rogers is putting his own self-interests ahead of those who have bought stock in and supported his own company these days, that he never built, we’re beginning to learn that maybe, just maybe, he isn’t a rocket-scientist, either. 

10. TV PICK THIS WEEK: Not the Peyton and Eli Manning Monday Night Football broadcast. It is absolutely dreadful. I’ve tried watching it three times and never could last five minutes.

(Follow Brendan on Twitter at @brendanhowardmc)