The Morning After – Another Embarrassing Outing, Riders Lose Again
Published: Saturday, Sep 23rd 2023, 12:09pm
By Alex Dormuth (@RealAlexD)
It wasn’t a must win game for the Riders, but they needed that one last night against Ottawa. I’d like to tell you I’m mad about the effort level or the coaching (lack thereof, actually), but I’m not. I’m not surprised by the Riders 36-28 loss to the Redblacks. In fact, we should all just come to expect it by now. This is what a Craig Dickenson led team looks like. The fact that I’m not mad and I’m kind of starting to not care anymore about this season, shows just how little faith I have in the head coach and his team right now.
It’s not the record. I can live with the team being 6-8 and still in a playoff spot. It’s the lack of effort, it’s the lack of adjustments, it’s saying we’re going to TRY and make changes, but change absolutely nothing. THAT’S what has me mad. I’m over it. Fans are even more vocal than ever, wanting Coach Dickey to be fired, but that ship has sailed. General Manager Jeremy O’Day had only one chance to do it, but there was no way he was going to make a change in the bye week before Labour Day after the team beat BC. So here we are, Rider fans, stuck with this head coach who hasn’t shown an ounce of improvement from the one who was completely lost last year. And much like last season, the team has seemingly quit on him. Major changes are needed here in Riderville.
Anyways, some thoughts on last night’s game:
– I wanted Kian Schaffer-Baker to become a focal point for the offense… and he was! And the Riders were successful when giving him the ball! Then they just stopped and the O didn’t do much after that until the very end of the game. Why stop what’s working??
– Frankie Hickson had some VERY good runs, some Angry Runs that NFL Network’s Kyle Brandt would be proud of! And again… they stopped using him in the 2nd half. Sigh.
– The two interceptions that Jake Dolegala threw were bad ones, for sure, but I’m having a hard time being mad at him. The biggest issue with the Riders O right now is the play calling. Some of it is just absolutely baffling. They have some very good talent to spread the ball around to, but Offensive Coordinator and play caller Kelly Jeffrey just isn’t it. The O-Line still has some issues, but for the most part, have improved. Brandon Council needs to be shown the door though, he was absolutely awful last night.
– The first half of the season, I commended Coach Dickenson for having a pretty disciplined team. That was the biggest issue in 2022 when the season fell apart. He had me fooled, I REALLY started to think they were a different team. Did he get complacent in that regard? Because the lack of discipline the team, especially on defense, that is showing right now is exactly what we saw in 2022. All these misconduct penalties and then the camera shows Coach Dickey AND HE’S CLAPPING?? This team hasn’t changed a bit from the one we saw last year. That’s a culture issue that starts at the top.
– I know they were missing Anthony Lanier II and Miles Brown this game, but again, the run defense was atrocious. ANOTHER 100 yard rusher and nearly 200 yards rushing against. Embarrassing from Jason Shivers’ crew. Whatever the over/under for Taquan Mizzell Sr. is next week for rushing yards, I’m betting the over. Micah Teitz keeps on whiffing on tackles, Larry Dean is nowhere to be found… it’s obvious that Edmonton and Ottawa will run on you and you still can’t stop it. Pathetic.
– When they were rushing the QB, Christian Albright looked good. I’d like to see more of him as the season continues. He was pretty much the lone bright spot on an otherwise lethargic defense.
– It was nice to see Mario Alford Jr. finally break through for a TD return. He’s had a lull in the middle part of the season, but he showed why he’s the best returner in the West Division with his long punt return TD.
Along with Greg and Steve, I’ll have more thoughts on this game on the next episode of The Piffles Podcast and I’m told Greg can’t wait to talk about the play calling. We’ll also look ahead to another road game as the Riders prepare for the BC Lions.
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