Machiavelli Has Nothing on the Saskatchewan Roughriders

Not all the games in the CFL are played on the field.

It’s kind of funny now that Brendan Taman is no longer in a management capacity, the amount of breaking stories have gone down in the CFL.  If you are smart and monitor social media, you can stay ahead of the mainstream media although some people like Justin Dunk, managed to live tweet the 2016 CFL draft long before TSN announced the picks.

So this week there was a story that the Riders were denied permission to put Greg Hardy on their negotiation list. Hardy is a former Dallas Cowboy defensive lineman who got cut and has a sordid domestic violence history attached to him.

He had tried out for Jacksonsville and is searching for other NFL possibilities and apparently the Riders put in a neg list claim on him. The interesting thing about this is that neg lists are generally secret except when Eric Tillman decides to release them and teams are aware who is on other teams’ lists. So this report via Arash “I wish Brendan Taman was still in the CFL” Madani is interesting because it became public. It seems someone wanted to cast aspersions against Murphy, leaving of question of who and why?

In the CFL right now there is one situation where not just the coach, but the GM is on shaky ground. Winnipeg has Kyle Walters joining his project Mike O’ Shea on the hot seat with the question currently being when would be the right move.
Rider’s guru of Player Personnel John Murphy would be high on anyone’s list of potential GM’s, unless something could be done to show that Murphy has questionable judgement that would offend the good burghers of Satan’s vacation playground. Murphy has also ticked off Calgary and BC, but they are not looking for GMs.

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The whole situation is interesting because it shows Game of Thrones sometimes has nothing on the CFL when it comes to the blood sport of job security.

For those wondering about the constant improvements, consider the release Monday of Brandon MacDonald, a former NFL defensive back who was with BC and Calgary but in the last two games was featured prominently in the chase position chasing receivers who took advantage of busted coverages. The Riders replaced MacDonald with Major Culbert who did time with Toronto in 2013 I am told. Then again, my favorite latest addition is quarterback Vad Lee, otherwise known as “The Impaler” because of how fast he throws the ball.

But I digress because it is time to pick this week’s winners.

Winnipeg goes to Edmonton on Thursday and it is Cholera versus Zika virus. Edmonton fans want Mike Benevedes head on a stick and they are frantic the Riders are just a game behind. Winnipeg is incredulous the Riders are ranked above them, but I would also rank the Zika Virus and cholera over Winnipeg. So this week O’ Shea attempts to placate the toothless mob milling about outside Dollarama Field by naming Matt Nichols as his starting QB. As I have previously mentioned, Drew Willy is suffering from PTSD from being hit so often. The Bombers were game against the Cowpokes, but Winnipeg lost again – it’s what they do.

What makes this fascinating is the Edmonton fold against Hamilton which could be one of those signature moments to the 2016 season. Edmonton has had a problem taking anyone seriously this year on the field; with the result games with Edmonton have been mostly entertaining.

 Edmonton is working off an emotional level where if they get ahead, they go into automatic pilot mode which is a sign of a team in transition and lacking the discipline Jones brought to them last year. Edmonton is looking for their identity defensively and I would say offensively they can also be had.

The question is whether Winnipeg is the team that can do it. While Nicholls going in is intended to placate the toothless mob, I don’t think his previous familiarity with Edmonton is going to spell dividends for the Bombers.

 Winnipeg can keep it close to start and maybe even in garbage time, but when a team’s management is more interested in derailing potential candidates for their job, it makes me think somewhere Winnipeg got it wrong, especially with their offensive line. Winnipeg makes it close enough to maybe stall O’ Shea getting the pink slip for another week – Edmonton 29-26.

The Riders go to Montreal in search of Canada’s best poutine and strip bars for Friday night and I suspect the players are looking forward to the post game festivities. The Riders win over Ottawa was likely determined on the fourth play when Trevor Harris went down with an injury and the battle of backups became a more equal contest.

 The Riders have some problems along their offensive line with Brendan LaBatte out with a concussion and Dan Clark maybe coming back onto the roster after having suffered an undisclosed injury.  The Riders still have problems with their offense line including looking at a possible five rookies playing offensive linemen on Friday while their defensive backfield seems to be suffering from the occasional breakdown, which makes it interesting with the release of Brandon MacDonald.

Kevin Glenn has returned, but while Montreal’s defense keeps them in games, their offense has all the effectiveness of a pop gun. The difference in this game will be speed and youth, which the Riders have and Montreal does not have enough of.

The Riders will likely give up a big play or two, but their aggressiveness will pay off with big plays of their own. The Riders swept Montreal last year with a sad sack crew, and the Riders have a chance to land themselves smack dab in the middle of the Western Conference race but keep in mind the Riders find it hard to win in Montreal – Riders 26-24.

BC goes to Calgary in the second round of supremacy in the western conference. BC won the first round when Calgary could not convert blocked kicks into touchdowns and let BC escape with a big win.

BC now goes into Calgary with arguably the best defense in the league, although they have injury problems of their own.  Calgary is also trying to find its own identity, with probably most of the team thinking it is John Hufnagel time and then realizing it is Dave Dickenson at the reins. Calgary is a little more balanced, and while I think a tie is extremely likely, I will reluctantly go 24-23 Calgary because these teams are pretty evenly matched.

Finally we have Toronto at Ottawa and while the attendance was not embarrassing Monday night at BMO place, the marketing of this team has a way to go if the ownership is patient enough. It may be too early to say Toronto eliminated Montreal Monday night, but as long as Jim Popp coaches Montreal I can’t see them going anywhere.

I am expecting both teams will start quarterbacks from lower down the food chain in this one which means a lot of procedure and offside penalties and because Toronto’s offense is a few bricks short of a load, I expect Ottawa to win 26-25
I tumbled too on my fantasy team, but this week for giggles I chose Gale at QB, Routley at RB, Williams and Bowman at wr, Collins at flex, Whyte at kicker and Riders at defense/special teams. All those blocked kicks have to count for something.