The Morning After – Awful Team Gives Awful Performance
Published: Sunday, Oct 8th 2023, 9:10am
By Alex Dormuth (@RealAlexD)
Of all the games on all the nights to show up and lay an absolute egg, the Saskatchewan Roughriders did so on the night we celebrated the legendary George Reed and the 2013 Grey Cup winning Riders team… what a pathetic, embarrassing, awful “performance” that absolutely everyone should be ashamed of.
I’m going to save some thoughts for Episode 243 of The Piffles Podcast, when Greg and Steve share some as well, but for now, here are some thoughts on the Riders 5th straight loss, a 38-13 drubbing at the hands of the Hamilton Tiger-Cats:
TLDR version:
– I wanted to see energy from the opening kickoff. Something, ANYTHING to show me this team was going to at least put in a great effort. Nothing. This team has NO pulse and simply put, aren’t ever ready to go. That’s 100% on coaching and Craig Dickenson. There is no motivation and no direction. I can’t wait until someone new comes along and changes things.
– Kelly Jeffrey should be nowhere near the pro level as an Offensive Coordinator. To see how things have regressed over the last month is mind blowing. In August, I was starting to come around, Jeffrey was letting Jake Dolegala take chances and let him throw it. Now? Check downs and screens that go nowhere. This is why we all hated Marcel Bellefeuille’s O back in the mind 2000’s. Too many times on 2nd and 6, we see a 3 yard out that goes nowhere. Just brutal decisions and he needs to go.
– At least Jamal Morrow had a good game running the ball with over 100 yards. His TD run was nice and it gave the team a tiny spark before halftime… it just didn’t carry over to the next 30 minutes.
– I still believe the defense has some really good pieces that next year’s coaching staff can work with. But Jason Shivers has wrecked them. His soft zone was picked apart yet again to the tune of 546 yards and 38 points against. Yet another embarrassing outing from the league’s worst defense. And to think, I actually thought Shivers should be next in line to coach this team. He can’t leave fast enough either.
– It was a gorgeous night for a game, so I guess there’s that? The tributes to George Reed and the halftime ceremony for the 2013 Grey Cup team were top notch. After speaking to a few of the players (briefly) in the autograph line before the game, they were so happy to be back and said the whole weekend was spectacularly put on from the team.
It’s not too late, blow it up now and just let Naaman Roosevelt coach the team for the final two weeks. If Dickey can bench Cody Fajardo in the final 2 must win games last season, Jeremy O’Day can bench Dickey for the final 2 games this season when they matter most. They can’t get any worse than they are right now…
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