*Edmonton vs Saskatchewan 1*
6/30/2008 12:48:12 AM

First game played, first loss notched…what now? Fans have different options as to how to deal with their favorite teams defeat than we do as players. The fan has the luxury of laying blame, calling for firings, even recommending who should be playing the position that they feel was costing the team the most dearly. Players don't have such luxuries, not team players anyways. In football the creed is simple, "one fail, all fail." It is one that we learned long ago once football was introduced to us, and it's one that holds true at this level as well. When we win, it won't be because of one player's heroics. Thus, in defeat it certainly can't be about one player's shortcomings. This is not a game in which every play can be executed to perfection each time that it is run. These aren't pylons that are lined up against us, and the Riders are a good team that has bought in to what they were successful doing last year. That being said, I felt that for the first three quarters, our defence played very physical and was flying around the field. Offensively, I we moved the ball at will for most of those 3 quarters, but at some points perhaps made life more difficult on ourselves than it should have been.

A couple of things are certain to me following this loss; Wes Cates may be the most underrated tailback in the league, while probably being the league's most complete at that position. Teams that attempt to go into Regina and beat the Riders with only field goals will feel very similar to the way we feel today. Offensively, we need to find 5 or 6 bread and butter plays that we love in the red zone and get extremely comfortable and proficient at them. And finally, James Johnson may be the most opportunistic cornerback that I've come across in quite some time.

Other things that I noticed from this week in the CFL:

• It takes a bunch of people, as well as a quick game scheme to stop Fred Perry from reaching Marcus Crandell.
• Jason Goss covers a lot of ground at safety.
• Keith Williams, hits hard enough to be Gerald Vaughn's size.
• Prefontaine will be a huge piece to this puzzle.
• B.C. doesn't look quite the same.
• Calgary's middle linebacker could pass for an offensive guard.
• Toronto's defence will continue to keep them in every game this year.
• Rotating two QB's as much as Toronto did can be risky business.
• Jamal Robertson is extremely versatile.
• Tre Smith is a play maker…period.
• Calvillo hasn't lost as much magic as you think.

Time for me to get back to work, Calgary will be here in a couple of days,rested and riding high.(c)

Kp8