Saskatchewan at Ottawa – 12:00 PM CST – Roosevelt is returning to duty at slot back for the Riders. The RedBlacks are missing Sinopoli which is a huge blow to their offence and the Riders will be missing LaBatte on the line. Ottawa has been using their running backs to great effect the last few weeks and I expect that to continue. In my opinion the key for the Riders will be to protect and give time to Kevin Glenn time to find Owens, Carter, Roosevelt, Bagg and Grant. For the RedBlacks they have to get Powell running that ball. If Ottawa can grind long drives with runs they’ll score more than the Riders, if not the Riders receivers will takeover the game providing the QB can get the ball to them. The Riders secondary showed some weakness last week but Harris is no Reilly. Expected weather is 3C (37F), wind 7 gusting to 11km/h. Pick Riders.
Edmonton at Winnipeg – 3:30 PM CST – The Bombers gave a strong showing last week against Calgary, with both teams playing backups in many positions. The Eskimos were in a grinder with Saskatchewan. Edmonton has Zylstra, Bowman and Reilly, Winnipeg has no stand out receivers with Adams out. Nichols is a great QB but there are questions about his leg. The Bombers have Andrew Harris, one of the best OLines in the league and they have home-field advantage. Expected weather is -5C (23F) wind 11 km/h gusting to 18. This game is a toss-up but I’m going with Winnipeg.
The Riders managed to beat Ottawa by one point when Ottawa played their third string quarterback in their first game. And only because Christion Jones returned a punt for a touchdown. Two weeks later Ottawa came back from a 17 point deficit to beat the Riders in Mosaic. Lots of penalties, and poor coaching by the Riders (Ottawa converted a fake punt for a first down with 2:30 on the clock to continue a drive to win the game). The Riders should have been ready for a fake punt considering that Ottawa beat B.C. the previous week with an onside kick in the late stages of the game. The Riders coaching staff should have been ready for a fake knowing that Ottawa was desperate for wins.
I have no reason to believe that the Riders can beat Ottawa based on this recent history. Jones is a good coach. Rick Campbell appears to be a great coach. He coached Ottawa to a Grey Cup in their second year in the league. And they are playing better every game.
And Edmonton will easily beat Winnipeg, and give Calgary a good beating the following week on their way to the Cup, sadly.
I expect Riders to continue to surge next year and could possibly dominate the Cup.
After last week’s disaster pick-wise,I’ll go with:
Riders over Ottawa Would love to see Glenn get the ‘Riders into the Western final.
Edmonton over Winnipeg. Surely this week Edmonton can live up to their promise earlier in the year when they looked unbeatable.
Edmonton has won every game except the six in the middle when half their team was injured.
Well I am very happy to eat my words. Impressive game by both offense and defense. I don’t think I heard Antoine Pruneau’s name once. He usually kills us. Ottawa without Sinopli or Ellington just didn’t have the horses.
The last 10 minutes of that game took an hour.
Nice to watch a game with so few penalties. Are the players smarter in the playoffs or did the refs put the flags away?
39-32. We’re cheering fight fight fight on ESKIMOS.
We’re cheering…. pi$$ off Don Iveson, their name is the Edmonton Eskimos.
The 2017 Eskimos season: 7 wins followed by 6 losses followed by 8 WINS……