The good news for Saskatchewan fans is Henry Burris is back in the line up and looks in complete control, even better news is the division at the start of this season is quite weak, leaving the Riders in a very good position to start to dominate the CFL West very shortly.
The road to controlling the west began Friday night in Regina as Henry Burris tore apart a woeful BC Lion defence. Returning to the starting QB position for the first time after a four year experiment in the NFL, Burris picked up right where he left off. Entertaining the fans and loading up the points on the board. Burris completed 25 of his 36 passes for 338 yards, throwing four of those 25 completions for touchdowns, as the Riders trampled over the Lions 42-29, the 29 points of Lions not indicative of how outplayed they were on Friday night.
Two teams with identical records but seemingly going in different directions, The Riders who got off to a horrendous start with starting QB Nealon Green injured in the season opener and gone for the season, Rocky Butler the third string QB received his baptism by fire as he stepped in for the injured Burris, relinquishing the starting job when Burris was cleared to play for Friday’s game. With Burris back on the active roster the Riders look like the contenders everyone suspected they would be at the start of the season. Coupled with the return of running back Kenton Keith back from his time with New York Jets the Riders suddenly have a potent offence which was on display Friday.
For Wally Buono Friday night’s game highlighted a continual concern about the secondary which seemed helpless to stop the Burris aerial circus. Both the offensive and defensive lines were handled easily by the Riders allowing Burris the time to throw on offence and rushing and complicating the Lion attack on offence. The Saskatchewan defence controlled the Lions offensive line completely, getting to Lion QB's five times for sacks in the game.
For the third game in a row Dave Dickenson gave it his best shot, but was forced from the game early due to troubles with his injured leg. Casey Printers was once again handed the ball and sent out to salvage what had become a very one sided game. Printers fumbled in his first set of downs, which was quickly turned over for a Rider touchdown, later on in the game a Printers pass was intercepted sending the Riders back into the Leos end, setting up another Burris TD toss.
Printers gained a couple of touchdowns back during his share of the game, but the effort was too little too late and the Riders held on for a 42-29 victory. With the win the Riders now share first place with the downward spiraling Lions and the surprising Stampeders who play their next game of the year Sunday against Hamilton at McMahon stadium.
Both the Riders and the Lions face desperate teams in their next outing, Saskatchewan traveling to Winnipeg to take on the Big Blue who have yet to win a game, likewise the Lions take on the winless Edmonton Eskimos at Commonwealth stadium. By the end of next weekend the CFL West will either give us a blueprint for which teams are on the upswing or complicate the already surprising point totals in the division.
No comments:
Post a Comment