How Sweet it is....

If you weren't convinced the Rider's made considerable strides as a team after Labour Day, you must be now. The Rider's not only marched into Swaggerville, (which in my opinion has now been permanently erased from the map) and looked Mayer Odell Willis and the rest of his crew right in the eye, but then they punched them in that eye, the other eye, the back end, the manhood and any other body part they felt obligated to strike. What a demolition!

After falling down 10 - 0 the Riders went on a 45 - 6 run over nearly the next three quarters and headed home with a convincing 45 - 23 victory. In total the last two weeks the Riders outscored the apparent best team in the CFL 72 - 30. Well done by all facets of the team, the offence, the defence and for the second week in a row I was really impressed with the Special Teams.

For me the tide started to turn when Craig Butler sent Buck Pierce into next week. Butler came untouched off the corner, drilling Pierce in the CanadInn Stadium turf, sending his helmet flying off. Sure Pierce continued the drive which culminated in a Blue Bomber score, but after that he didn't even look average.

Here are my thoughts, in no particular order:

Andy Fantuz' stats may not have been off the charts; two catches for 48 yards but look at how his presence helped the other recievers. How do you let guys like Getzlaf and Dressler get that wide open? You put two men on Fantuz because you know he will kill you otherwise. I mean really, it isn't fair to the opposition to line up against our starting five...who are you going to double team? Glad they are our recievers, and not somebody elses.

Craig Butler was VERY impressive yesterday. He had played well in limited game action up to this point, but what a game he had yesterday, two INT's, a huge hit on Pierce, as was already mentioned, and was big on the teams a couple of times as well. When the Riders made the move to insert Butler at Safety and move James Patrick to linebacker, I will admit I had my reservations. How can you move arguably the league's best Safety to a new position in the middle of the season? You simply move him because you A) know he is good enough to play there, and B) you have a Canadian rookie who has not missed a beat back there. Should Butler continue to play the way he is, thos Brendan Taman nay-sayers can just shut right up.

If the Riders continue to play the way they have the last two weeks, is there a team in the CFL that can beat us? I mean honestly, if the Riders play the same way next week Jim Barker and the Argos are going to get creamed. Looking at Jim Barker and his manly physique, looks like he's been enjoying a little too much cream anyways.
But on a serious note, these guys are at the moment the most feared team in the CFL. On the past game show Michael Ball said that a 10 - 8 record in very possible. At the time I thought that was perhaps some wishful thinking, but looking at the schedule, that is VERY possible. The fact that the teams we need to beat, BC, Edmonton and Calgary present the opposition six times in the last eight games, things are certainly looking up in Rider Nation.

See you at Mosaic on Saturday where it WILL be loud, the Riders WILL be great and our march towards the play - offs WILL continue.