Far too often throughout the latter half of the 2013 season, the Saskatchewan Roughriders’ early-game offensive struggles partially masked their greatest strengths. Particularly after Alex Hall arrived in a mid-season trade, the ‘Riders were built ideally to hold leads. The defence boasted enough elite pass-rushers to pressure quarterbacks while leaving
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Accidental Deliberations: Friday Morning ‘Rider Blogging
Last week, I noted that the Saskatchewan Roughriders’ semi-final win against B.C. reflected a team just barely adjusting to an opponent who thoroughly neutralized its strengths. But in case there was any doubt whether the ‘Riders could play exactly their preferred type of game against a playoff-ready opponent, Sunday’s win
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Ideally, a football team would hope to be able to win on its own terms in the playoffs. But that wasn’t to be for the Saskatchewan Roughriders in their semi-final matchup against the B.C. Lions. The ‘Riders’ greatest strength through the second half of the season was a devastating pass
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Obviously the final two games of the 2013 regular season didn’t go the Saskatchewwn Roughriders’ way. But they did seem to offer a clear indication what the ‘Riders will need to do in order to advance in the playoffs. For the ‘Riders’ defence, the issue the last couple of weeks
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Halfway through the first quarter of last weekend’s contest against B.C., nobody would have been surprised to learn that the game would be decided by a team giving the ball away repeatedly until it dug a hole too deep to escape. But the ultimate outcome would have been rather more
Continue readingAccidental Deliberations: Tuesday Morning ‘Rider Blogging
In some ways, CFL wins don’t get much uglier than the Saskatchewan Roughriders’ narrow victory over Edmonton on Saturday. But while a 14-9 slugfest may have continued to emphasize the ‘Riders’ weaknesses as the regular season draws to a close, it also allowed plenty of room to notice the team’s
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After a few weeks of maddeningly bad luck, the Saskatchewan Roughriders desperately needed a win against B.C. to stay in the race for a top-two position in the West. And last Friday’s victory signalled that the ‘Riders can win in a game where the breaks mostly even out. Yes, Saskatchewan
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Early in the season, the Saskatchewan Roughriders frequently dug themselves into a hole at the beginning of a game, only to pile up just enough points at the end to emerge victorious. But that kind of luck can only last for so long. And Sunday’s loss in Montreal provided an
Continue readingAccidental Deliberations: Sunday Morning ‘Rider Blogging
Earlier in the 2013 season, the Saskatchewan Roughriders looked like they could control games with a ruthlessly efficient offence. Two thirds of the way through the season, that theory seems to have broken down – with last week’s loss to B.C. serving as just the latest evidence. But the Lions
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It would be nice to be able to blame the ‘Riders’ latest loss on injuries hitting a few more of the team’s key players. But that excuse would ring rather hollow against an opponent missing the CFL’s defending Most Outstanding Player and its top starting quarterback – particularly at the
Continue readingAccidental Deliberations: Saturday Morning ‘Rider Blogging
Needless to say, last weekend’s result against Winnipeg was far from what ‘Rider fans would have hoped for to start the second half of the 2013 season. And it’s particularly worth noting how a few strengths seem to have been lost just when they were needed most. In last week’s
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Once again, the Saskatchewan Roughriders faced a significant challenge from a team at the bottom of the CFL’s standings in last weekend’s Labour Day Classic. But once again, the ‘Riders emerged on top – finishing the first half of the 2013 season with an 8-1 record. And perhaps more importantly,
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Yes, Saturday’s Roughrider win over Edmonton represented another narrow victory over a seemingly struggling team. But otherwise it couldn’t have been much more different from the team’s previous game against Montreal. And the ‘Riders will need to figure out whether Edmonton has found a formula which more-talented opponents can copy,
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Last week, I wrote this about the Saskatchewan Roughriders’ upcoming schedule: Of course, the next few games may seem to be ones where the ‘Riders can afford to experiment somewhat. And hopefully the team can keep up enough focus against a few reeling opponents to stay in the win column
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Obviously Friday’s result against Calgary wasn’t what the Saskatchewan Roughriders hoped for – particularly since it means having only one game of separation from third place in the CFL’s West Division. But it’s worth noting that most of the problems against the Stampeders were simply a matter of the inevitable
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Just two games ago, I noted that there was still one major question facing the Saskatchewan Roughriders: whether the team’s offence could function without Darian Durant at the controls. But at most one week later than might have been ideal, we seem to have our answer. No, Drew Willy isn’t
Continue readingAccidental Deliberations: Monday Morning ‘Rider Blogging
Needless to say, there isn’t much to question after a performance like the ‘Riders romp over Hamilton yesterday. But I’ll point out a couple of aspects of the ‘Riders’ recent play which may mean far more than the numbers receiving the most attention so far. On that front, while “no
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Last week, I noted that even after a 2-0 start, the Saskatchewan Roughriders might be one injury away from some serious problems. And another impressive win later, that number may be down to zero. But there are a few ways the ‘Riders can handle the late-game injury to Darian Durant.
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Two games into the Saskatchewan Roughriders’ regular season, the “experienced team starting quickly” theory is looking fairly solid. But let’s take a look at what’s gone better than expected – as well as where there may be room for concern. To start with, a couple of areas which looked like
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I was going to post about the ‘Riders’ offseason…until Stephen LaRose said pretty much everything I planned to say. So instead, I’ll stick to pointing out where I’d question or clarify LaRose’s take. Simply put, I think he’s right to compare the current ‘Rider team to the 1976 version as
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