8/17/2007 11:30:51 PM
It’s No Secret
In what was one of the best games of the year that I’ve seen and not played in, Calgary and B.C. played to a tie. This new development just amplifies the magnitude of our game tomorrow to me because a win would put us two points out of a first place tie with B.C. while a loss catapults keeps us tied with Calgary going into the labor day back to back matchup. The bye week seems to be coming at a good time for most teams, and I know it’s definitely coming right on time for us. From an injury standpoint we could certainly use the time to get some of our walking wounded healthy. In addition, if we can find a way to win tomorrow we would be riding momentum and feeling good about ourselves during our time off, and nothing can substitute for relaxed sleep.
Nothing comes easy in this league however, and no matter how well things line up in my mind the Riders aren’t going to just lay down. It’s no secret that they’re riding an impressive win streak and no doubt feeling good about the way they’ve been playing, as they should be. That being said, we need this game more than they do and it’s that hunger and urgency that I hope translates through our play tomorrow evening. Saskatchewan is a physical and athletic team who’s playing with a lot of confidence right now, and that physicality is precisely what needs to be matched in order for this game to play out in our favor.
Whichever team’s offensive and defensive lines can assert themselves early in the game; will set the tone for the rest of the day’s events. Defensively Saskatchewan’s front seven is its strength in my opinion and if our offensive line matches its level of physicality then success will be much easier to come by for the team as a whole. If they are able to impose their will, the running game will become a factor in the attack and we’ll be able to keep the multiple look Rider defence somewhat off balance. If not and we are forced to attack by air the whole time, it will allow that athletic front seven to come after Ricky all game long without any regard for the gaps or containment. Conversely, if our defence can keep Wes Cates and Kerry Joseph contained on the ground forcing Joseph to throw his way up and down the field there is a higher chance of mistakes being made.
Of course, these potential reasons for victory are not exactly news. I’m certain they are the same that you will be read about in the game day news articles, and discussed on the pre-game show. That is, if the media can find any possibilities for victory amidst our endless injury train of course. In my opinion this is and will always be a passing league, and a team must have a very adept passing attack in order to be an elite team. But the best teams must be able to strike fear into the heart of a defence with the run in order to keep defenses honest. Besides the threat, it physically wears on the front seven of a defence when the big boys are allowed to tee off on people (as an educated Eskie fan put it this week to me.) The run game can create an identity that the whole team feels the ripple effects from, but it all begins in the trenches.
The game between Calgary and B.C. was the highest scoring game of the year thus far and both teams had a nice balance of pass and run complimenting each other. Watching that game reaffirmed to me that establishing the run against Saskatchewan tomorrow will be the key to any success that we may have. We’ll all have both a role to play, as well as chances to put the Eskimos on the winning side of things, but life just gets a whole lot easier for everybody when the big fellas decide to get nasty. ©

KP8