Greg Marshall is now gone and there is no one else to influence the defense other than defensive coordinator Richie Hall.  With an offensive minded coach in Ken Miller at the helm, Richie will be able to control his own game plan.  When Miller was running the show in 2008 with Hall as defensive coordinator, the Riders had a very strong defense.  Hopefully Richie can use his own strategies to get the Riders defense to play competitively and with some emotion.

The league leading Bombers are up first for Richie's crew.  Labour day classic at home is always an electric atmosphere and the Riders need to match the crowd's enthusiasm and get off to a strong start.  The Bombers are a running team, but they live for the big play.  Head coach Paul LaPolice isn't afraid to throw in trick plays and many deep passes to keep a defense off balance.  Buck Pierce is also a running quarterback that can break the pocket and produce big plays with his feet.  The Riders need to stick to their assignments every play and the defensive ends need to keep contain.  Even when the Bombers hand off the ball the Rider defensive backs need to keep covering their wide receivers because LaPolice has some tricks up his sleeves as he is prone to some flee flickers and lots of misdirection motion.  The Riders need this one, and the defense needs to play better for the Riders to have a chance to win against the league leading Bombers.  Labour day, consider the season started!... LETS GO RIDERS!!!

After four straight games of playing decent football, the Riders defense did not play very well on Friday.  The defense was embarrassed against the Stamps as they allowed the Stamps to score on their opening four drives and gave up a total of 31 points in the first half.  It seemed Hall tried to get pressure without blitzing, but it didn't work.  The Riders have to play to their strengths and that is working around their linebackers.  The defense is at their best when Hall gives opposing offenses many different looks and confuses them.  To be successful, the Riders have to send pressure by blitzing with the linebacking core from all over the field.  The Riders don't have a pass rush that will dominate with a four man rush, so it is up to Richie Hall to work with the horses he's got to make them successful.  I believe the talent is there, it just has to be used the right way to be successful.

The season hasn't gone well to date, but the Riders can still turn it around for some late season success.  Another struggling team is up next for the green and white as they travel out east to play the Argos.  The Argos may be the only team in the league hungrier for a win than the Riders as they have lost six straight.  Cleo Lemon and the Toronto offense played well last week against the Ti-cats and probably should have won that game, they will definitely be pressing for a better result Thursday.  A key matchup to watch will be Remond Willis against Rob Murphy.  Murphy is prone to taking holding calls against speed rushers and if Willis can get around the outside of Murphy early, it could make for some big plays by the much beleaguered Rider defensive line.  The most important player to watch on Toronto's offense is runningback Cory Boyd.  Boyd makes the Argos offense roll and the Riders would be best to keep up to eight guys in the box to stuff the Argos' rush attack.  Lemon played well last game, but I would rather have him try to beat us with his arm then roll the dice against Boyd's legs.  Last game before the bye week and this one is important to get the Riders back on the right track.  Both teams have struggled this season and this game is going to come down to who wants it more.  Gotta have this one green!... LETS GO RIDERS!

The Riders defense has definitely improved over the past three games compared to how they started the season.  The defensive front four is starting to create some consistent pressure.  The secondary has, for the most part, eliminated big plays against them.  The linebackers, lead by Jarrell Freeman, have tackled everything that has come near them.  Most importantly, after allowing 33 or more points in the first three games of the season, the defense hasn't allowed more than 24 points in any of the last three games.  All this stuff is great, but it doesn't really matter compared to the Riders 1-5 record.  The Riders need to find a way to win!

It's no secret the Riders offense has struggled, and thus, the defense needs to lead this team to a couple of victories until the offense can get their act together.  I think the Riders are closer to regaining their form and once again becoming a force for other teams to worry about.  The team just needs to figure out a way to get some momentum.  The defense needs to make a game changing play to turn the tide for the Roughriders.  Whether it's a pick-six, a fumble return or a very timely sack, the defense needs to be the difference for the Riders to get back on track.  They started the season slow because they were learning a new system.  Then they started getting the hang of what Richie Hall was feeding them and started playing pretty good football.  Now, the Saskatchewan defense needs to take the next step in their constant improvement and be game changers.  Don't just play well, be the difference!  

The Riders have been to three of the last four Grey Cups and no one in the league feels sorry for them for this slow start.  No one is going to give the green and white a break.  So, the only way for the team to get out of this funk they are in is to fight through the struggles and come out stronger at the other end.  It's been a tough start to the season, but no one has ever won the Grey Cup in July.  The days are getting shorter, the kids are busy buying back to school supplies, labor day is only a few weeks away, and that means it's time to start playing some meaningful and inspired football.  It's time to start winning.  Lead the way defense!... LETS GO RIDERS!

A decision that may have gone unnoticed, probably cost the Riders a chance at a last possession with a opportunity to win the game.  With a minute and a half left, down by four, the Riders had the Calgary offense in a 2nd and 7 situation.  Calgary had to make the call of whether or not to pass the ball to try and get a first down or run it to keep the clock moving.  Coach Marshall made a bad decision that gave the Calgary coaching staff an easy call on why to throw the ball.  If Marshall would have used his timeout before that play, then Calgary would have been more inclined to run the ball to keep the clock moving.  Because Marshall didn't call a timeout, the Stamps, knowing the Riders could stop the clock even if they ran, made a smart decision and took a risk passing the ball to have a greater chance at getting a first down.  The Stamps got the first down on that second down play and basically ran the Riders out of time.  If Marshall would have taken a timeout before that play, Calgary would have most likely run the ball and the Riders would have had a better chance of stopping the Calgary runningback short of a first down and leaving more time on the clock for Durant and the Rider offense to score in the last minute (even if the offense was struggling all game a chance is better than nothing).

There is no time to worry about mistakes made the game before.  The Riders need to learn from those mistakes and get ready for the Lions.  It's back on the road for the Riders in week six, which isn't a bad place to be because they haven't won a game at Mosaic Stadium at Taylor Field this season.  B.C is the only winless team left in the CFL and that makes them very dangerous.  Travis Lulay is a up and down quarterback and can be effective when he has time.  The Riders defense has done much better at getting pressure over the last two games and need continue the group effort of getting to the quarterback.  If Lulay is forced into quick decisions, he tends to give up turnovers.  Lulay loves to throw the ball deep and the Rider secondary has to make sure to eliminate the big play.  Geroy Simon is the one receiver to worry about on the Lions and the Riders need to shade coverage his way with safety help over top.  The Lions are going to be very hungry for a victory and the Riders need this game to get back into the hunt for second place in the West.  The Riders defense has played well over the last two games and needs to carry the team until the offense can get back to its form from last season as an offensive juggernaut... LETS GO RIDERS!

Riders general manager Brendan Taman said in the media that he wasn't cutting veteran defensive back Tad Kornegay just to send a message, but the don't tell the rest of the defensive players that.  With a struggling team and disappointing defense, Taman decided to make a change and at least for the first week, it worked.  Kornegay was pretty vocal that he did not like the role of short-side cornerback that defensive coordinator Richie Hall had been using him at.  In my opinion, if a player doesn't want to be where he is, then move him or get rid of him.  Kornegay didn't want to be there, so it was a no brainer for Taman to cut him, especially with Tad's veteran cap hit.  Taman looked like a genius making this move, only because of the emergence of Tristan Jackson.  "Trismo" played a great game at short-side cornerback leading the team with seven tackles and a pass knock down.  Jackson definitely showed that he wants to be a Roughrider and his play on Sunday emphasized that.

Along with personnel changes to the Saskatchewan defense, Richie Hall seemed to come out with a much more diversified game plan.  The defense had the Montreal offense guessing on who the defense was blitzing all day and it resulted in pressure on Calvillo and later McPherson.  Hall even used wider line-ups for the defensive ends and unbalanced formations to confuse the Montreal pass protections.  Hall constantly lined up the entire front seven on the line of scrimmage and made the Alouette o-line guess who was blitzing.  

Some people may argue that Hall and the Riders defense got lucky when Calvillo was knocked out of the game, but looking at it from another perspective, it really tested the Riders ability to adapt during a game.  I've always been critical in this blog about how Richie Hall, in my opinion, has never been great at adjusting during a game, but I definitely have to give credit where credit is due and he did a great job retuning the game plan from playing a pocket passer to a scrambler.  All week the Riders prepared for Calvillo who sits in the pocket and gets rid of the ball quickly.  When Calvillo was in at the start of the game, the Riders defense did a very good job keeping the leagues all-time leading TD passer from moving the ball consistently.  Then, when Dario Romero knocked Calvillo out of the game with a clean hit and the shifty McPherson took his spot the Riders defense made the changes necessary to continue to succeed.  McPherson held on to the ball longer and scrambled much more than Calvillo, but Hall's defense adapted to the style change and, for most of the game, stumped McPherson as well.

Time to see if it was a fluke or to find out if the Riders defense has really taken a turn for the better.  After three weeks against the East, it's back to playing the Western division for the Roughriders as familiar rivals, the Stampeders, roll into Mosaic Stadium.  Henry Burris and the Stamps offense has struggled to start the season, but a struggling team can end up being the most dangerous... Remember us last week?!  Calgary relies heavily on establishing a running game with their two talented runningbacks Joffrey Reynolds and Jon Cornish.  If those two get going early, then Burris benefits by using lots of play action and rolling out of the pocket with misdirection.  Outside linebackers Jarrell Freeman and Sean Lucas will need to play like they did last week for the Riders and keep Burris contained in the pocket.  Hall's defense is designed to play well against the run so the Riders do match up fairly well against the Calgary offense, but Calgary is a good team in a slump and that makes them dangerous.  The Riders have to prove that they are for real this season and last week wasn't a one time thing.  Win this game and we're right back in the mix of things in the West... LETS GO RIDERS!

Three games into the young season and Coach Marshall is learning what life as a head coach in the CFL is like.  Marshall is still in search of his first career win and his team seems to be going backwards instead of progressing.  This last game in Hamilton was an absolute write off.  The offense couldn't move the ball and in the Eastern humidity the defense slowly broke down and the rest as they say is "History".  The Riders defense held Hamilton to three field goals on the first four drives, but the Riders offense offered no help as they managed zero first downs and also turned the ball over once in that time.  After the Riders offense continued to do nothing, the green team's defense just broke down as the game went on and Hamilton had their way with them.  Even though the defense was left for dead by their offense, I will give them credit for at least forcing two turnovers, (a fumble recovery and an interception both by Jarrell Freeman), to try and keep the Riders in it, but the offense just couldn't do anything with the gifts. 

The Rider defense did play a little better in the third game of the season than the first two games, but they were still far from good by any means.  They still can't sustain any consistent pressure which is causing blown coverages in the secondary because the defensive backs have to cover for six or seven seconds on some plays, which is almost impossible to do successfully on a regular basis.  TSN analyst Chris Schultz suggested the Riders should try to widen their defensive ends to get a better pass rush.  Doing this would force the opposing center to double up on one of the Rider defensive tackles and leaving the ends both in a one on one battle.  The one problem this would pose for the Riders defense would be weakening them against the run, but I would take that trade for a pass rush any day.  The CFL is a passing game and if a defense can not slow down the other teams pass attack, they are basically swimming in shark infested water.

It's out of the frying pan and into the fire for the Riders defense this week.  Three poorly played games, and now it's time for the high powered Alouettes for the second time in three weeks.  Two weeks ago, Anthony Calvillo shredded the Riders defense for 400 plus yards and five touchdown passes.  The only way for the Riders to slow Calvillo down this time around is to pressure him without having to blitz.  If the Riders are forced to blitz the entire game Calvillo will pick them apart with short, quick passes that his big receivers (the twin towers Jamel Richardson and S.J Green) can turn into big gains.  The Riders will have to blitz at times, but have to be sure to hide who is going to blitz and catch Montreal's exceptional offensive line off guard.  The Als seem to have a good run game as well this year, but if the only guy that can beat the Riders is runningback Brandon Whitaker, then the defense will be playing pretty good. 

I know things aren't looking great right now and the season has not gone as planned so far for Marshall and the boys, but it only takes a little momentum to turn a season around.  A great defensive effort and maybe a little help from the offense could go a long way to getting the Riders on the right track.  This Rider fan has been through thick and thin with the Green and White and I'm far from being ready to give up on them now.   On a side note, I know this is a defensive blog, but I would give anything to see Montreal match up Dwight Anderson on Dressler all game again and see Weston take him to school this time around.  I just hate Anderson so much!... LETS GO RIDERS!