Thoughts On The Opener

I'm not going to say I didn't see that coming, but I didn't see the Riders being that dominant at Commonwealth Stadium this afternoon. I felt as if the team had to go out and send a message to a Western Division opponent by walking into their house and slapping them in the mouth and that's what happened. As well as what the Riders played, it just didn't seem as if Edmonton had any energy. However, any energy the Eskimos may have had might have been sucked away on the Riders first drive as Darian Durant led them down the field on an 8 play drive that ended in Kory Sheets' 18 yard TD. Just some thoughts


--It is just one game and we remember that the Riders demolished Hamilton in the season opener last year, but there weren't a lot of negatives that could be found.

--One negative was Dwight Anderson. Yes, he got penalized for doing something that he didn't do, but his actions were simply not what you want to see. Giving up 30 yards in a game that has been decided is one thing, but giving up 30 yards in a close game might be the difference between victory and defeat. Anderson will have to control his temper. The Rider Nation isn't sold on this guy on a whole and that act won't help any.

--Ben Heenan was absolutely fabulous playing right tackle. A lot was made about Heenan and whether or not he would make the adjustment. Did Odell Willis' name even get mentioned during the broadcast?

--It doesn't pain me to see Kavis Reed get it to handed to him whether it be by the Riders or any team.

--I said at the start of the year that this would be a monster year for Keith Shologan. One game in and that prediction is holding true.

--Could the biggest beneficiary of a George Cortez offence be Kory Sheets? With all the attention being paid to Dressler, Getzlaf, Smith and Carr, Sheets can take the ball and rack up some big chunks of yardage.

--If the time comes this year that the Riders are in their own end at the end of the half and they take a knee to end the half, don't boo. Please remember what Mike Reilly did at the end of the first half today. That was when you take a knee. The game was over as soon as Rey Williams went across the goal-line.

--It wouldn't have counted because of a pass interference call, but how exactly did Darian Durant not catch that pass from Weston Dressler. Darian has shown us he has the legs and the arm, but he has no hands.

--I'm not making a big deal out of the no-challenge call on the Macho Harris interception. Like the Anderson situation, if the game was close that might have been a major mistake, but I don't think Chamblin wanted to waste a challenge on a play where there was no guarantee that it would have gone his way. That being said. someone upstairs has to let him know what's going on and that didn't appear to happen.

--All in all, it was a great opener, but as the team will tell you its just one game and they have to do it again next week against a Calgary team that looked pretty good at home against B.C.