We went into last weekend needing to win 3 of our last 4 games to finish first.  After that tie, we need to win two of our last 3.  Had we lost the game, we would have needed to win all 3, so the tie is definitely not the same as a loss.  I believe this game against the Lions a must win for the Riders to finish first.  This is the fourth time these teams are meeting so this write-up has the potential to be so stale that people who still walk around saying "don't have a cow, man" are going to be demanding new material.  Well hopefully I have enough new stuff in here and it's not so recycled that you are left wondering "where's the beef?"

Offense

Quarterbacks:

There really isn’t much to critique about Darian’s performance except to say he was magnificent on Saturday.  He brought the Riders back for a TD every time the Stamps got one and led on some pressure filled drives late.  He’s the guy for us. I started working on this earlier in the week and now have to re-write this section due to the Casey Printers storyline.  Let that be a lesson to everyone, procrastination rules!  Printers has all the physical tools but his toolbox has come into major question since his 2004 season.  Now he is called upon to do the job despite not having taken a live snap since last year.      Edge Riders

Running backs:

Ok who had money on Chris Szarka getting the most carries on Saturday?  In one of the most unique method vote garnering, Chris had one of his best days in years with 3 TDs.  Due to the offensive success we had, I never realized during the game that Cates got so few carries.  It was a true team effort with Stu getting some action too.  The Lions look like they are going to come out with a 1-2 punch of Mallett and Harris.  Harris’s success last week shows that the Lion offensive line is a key to a lot of their running success.  Edge Lions

Receivers:

The biggest strength the Riders have with the receiver is how any guy can step up at any given time.  Fantuz is our go to guy right now with Dressler out.  However, Bagg, Clermont, Getzlaf, and even Quinn all stepped up and made important catches at some point in the game.  Gerran Walker is still a question mark for this week.  Look for Chris Jones to return if Walker can’t go. 

Geroy Simon and Paris Jackson lead the Lions passing attack.  Arceneaux is a deep threat and is also dangerous running with the ball on short crossing routes.  Grice-Mullen and Wilson are ok, nothing more.  Edge Riders

Offensive line:

For the most part, the Rider line did a good job of protecting Darian on Saturday.  When we did run the ball, the blocking was ok.  The biggest piece of good news was that we might have found something to correct our short yardage woes.  Szark converted in all his tries.  Everyone remembers the one that Jyles didn’t get but up till that point, he had done all right in short yardage as well.

As I said earlier, the Lions line deserves a lot of success for their running game this season.  Run blocking is not their problem.  The number of hits their QBs have taken indicate that their pass blocking has some issues.  Edge Lions

Defense:

Defensive line:

I am surprised that Stevie Baggs was rewarded for his efforts on Saturday as usually someone off a team that gave up 30 in regulation time and 44 overall won’t get individual accolades.  He and John Chick both had good games, and deserved to be the OT heroes in a win.  We gave some yards in the middle along the ground but the debate is on whether that was the result of our guys getting beat or the result of formations.  Between the Rider ends and Ricky Foley, we have the Western DE all-stars in this game.  Aaron Hunt played despite a bad shoulder last week.  Steven Williams is back after being tossed out of last week’s game.  Slight Edge Riders

Linebackers:

To be honest, Rey Williams didn’t shine enough to back up his words last week.  He did make a few run stuffing plays on Reynolds, but there were about a half dozen times where Reynolds got some big yardage.  On all those plays, Williams got blocked out by the linemen.  Whether it’s up to the line to occupy those blockers or not is something I don’t know.  It seems we get hurt on the play where Williams lines up to the outside of the line.  Mike McCullough still gets a lot of reps on defense.  Even though JoJuan Armour has replaced Glatt as the starting MLB in BC, Glatt still seems to get a lot of work on passing downs.  Even

Secondary:

Eddie Davis is normally a bulletproof name in Saskatchewan, but a couple of things have concerned me in the last two weeks.  He’s taken two interference calls setting the ball up inside the 5.  I thought that he really didn’t need to take the penalty on Copeland last week.  He also gambled and got caught on a long completion to Nik Lewis.  I still believe he will be back to his usual self.  For the most part I thought our guys played pretty well last week.  The Lions get the job done in a different way than the Riders.  While the Riders have some younger guys like Alexander and Patrick, the Lions are mostly a veteran secondary who use that experience to read and make plays. Edge Riders

Special teams:

Return game:

Jason Armstead has given us two excellent games with his returns the last two games.  I remember one return where he used his speed to hit the hole and beat the first guy.  Eric Morris just can’t make that play.  One concern I had was that there were a couple of plays where Jason used questionable judgment.  He wasted time when giving up a single where the team could have used that 4 seconds late in the half.  He also allowed a punt to bounce in the fourth quarter that he should have played.  If the Lions are playing Mallett and Harris, I am guessing they will have to sit Grice Mullen or Smart.  Whoever is left on the roster will return their kicks.  Great moment in the Lions / Bombers game last week.  A Bomber fan must have been heckling Jason Aragki.  Aragki responded by pointing at his name on his jersey and saying “I’m this guy, who are you?”  Even

Placekicking:

I’m not going to get on Luca for missing a 50 yarder.  Paul McCallum hasn’t had much of a body of work to look at this year due to his injury.  Edge Riders

Punting:

Luca did a good job last week against Calgary.  Chances are he will have to deal with a tougher wind for two quarters on Saturday.  He also has to deal with Barron Miles and company who love coming after the punter.  Paul has been around enough to know how to play the wind at Mosaic stadium.  Edge Lions

When the Riders have the ball

The Riders haven’t had a lot of success against the Lions so far this year.  We moved the ball reasonably well in week 1, but we did get a special teams TD from Stu Foord and Omarr Morgan returned a pick to the 1 yard line.  The problem has been up front.  The B.C. line has shut down the running game and put huge pressure on Durant.  I don’t have any magical answers here.  Our line just has to play better, period. 

One thing we could possible do to get the running game going is giving the Lions some two TE looks.  Chris Szarka seems to be rounding into form so maybe we need to run a two back set with him leading Cates through the hall.  We never gave Foord a chance in BC, but I think we should try and take advantage of his quickness.  Remember, it was against the Lions last year that Foord had his coming out party.  I’d love to see him out in space of some swing passes.

With the kind of pressure the Lions bring, Durant needs a safety valve.  I really hope we use Jason Clermont in that role to make the tough catch inside.  I’d love to see J.C. catch a pass and roll over Armour for a first down or two.  I think Andy Fantuz can make plays on the Lion halfs too.  I like the corner routes vs the Lions instead of post routes due to Barron Miles sitting in the middle.

The one problem against the Lions is running plays like screens or the end around to the slotback.  The Lions are vets and read these plays.  When running screens, they have to be like the bubble screens, where Durant gets it into the hands of the receiver early.  I think quick hitting plays are the key to moving the ball on Saturday.

When the Lions have the ball

With Casey Printers at QB, all bets are off with what the Lions will do.  I am guessing we are going to see a lot of running with Mallett and Harris.  With Printers at QB, we may even see some “wishbone” type action with fakes to Harris in the middle and then the Printers / Mallett combo outside.

I expect a lot of the Lions passing game to be based around play action passes and rolling Printers out of the pocket.  Look for him to have the green light to run any chance he gets too.  With two QBs who are injured behind him, he’ll probably have strict instructions to not take any unnecessary hits.

As a defense, the Riders should focus on stopping the run.  We really need some success on first down to force the Lions into second and long.  That will get them out of that dink and dunk offense.  The Lions have basically used the run and short pass on us most of the year and then mixed in the odd deep shot to Simon or Jackson. 

If we can get the Lions in passing situations, expect a lot of looks for the Riders and bring rushers from different directions.  I would think Printers will struggle in that scenario figuring things out and making plays.  When we blitz, our guys have to make the play and not miss Printers when they get their hands on.  Baggs and Chick are going to have to keep outside leverage on their pass rush.  In two of three games against the Lions, our defense has done a great job of putting pressure on the QB.

Outlook:

Both teams have used the same formula to beat each other this year.  Take advantage of the other team’s mistakes to generate just enough offense to win.  By mistakes I am referring to turnovers and big plays on special teams.  Darian has gotten a lot better at protecting the football and our special teams are better too.  That bodes well for us. 

We need to at least play it even up front, play it even on special teams, and win the turnover battle.  Getting the lead and forcing the Lions to have to pass the ball to get back into it will be huge.

At the start of the season, if someone had offered us a scenario where wins over Calgary and B.C. in Regina late in the year would secure first place, we would have gladly accepted that opportunity.  Time for the Riders to seize the day!

My score:  Roughriders 24 Lions 18