HAMILTON – I’ve touched down in Hamilton and it’s a wonderful evening in southern Ontario.
The downtown is jumping because Supercrawl14 is on just down the block on James Street. It’s billed as a street culture festival with numerous live bands. It looks like a lot of people are having a lot of fun.
It has already been a long travel day. So without any further preamble here is some news and musings on Sunday’s game between the Riders and Tiger-Cats at Tim Hortons Field:
The Riders and Tiger-Cats are to meet Sunday at Tim Hortons Field (THE CANADIAN PRESS/Aaron Lynett)
* It’s a 1 p.m. EST kickoff, which is 11 a.m. in Saskatchewan. It’s the earliest kickoff of the season for the Riders and I think there has to be some kind of an adjustment to the time change. I know it takes me time to adjust and I really don’t have any time to get used to the time change.
* The Riders added QB Keith Price, SB Chaz Schilens and DL Markus White to the 46-man roster. Dropped were QB Darian Durant, SB Ryan Smith and DT Trevor Guyton.
* It’s strange seeing Durant on the six-game injured list. He has started 97 regular-season games since 2008 and has a 54-42-1 over that span. It goes without saying that he has been durable and reliable over the years.
* Tino Sunseri is to make his first CFL start on Sunday. Loads of pressure on the young QB, but he does have the confidence of the coaching staff and players. Really, what else would they say? We’ll have and see what happens in the game.
* White is listed as a back-up defensive end. That’s interesting because it means Tearrius George and Derek Walker are the only defensive tackles on the depth chart. The Riders prefer a three-player rotation at defensive end and tackle, so I expect that White will see more action at defensive tackle than at rush end.
* Schilens makes his first appearance on the 46-man roster since recording two receptions for 13 yards against the host Blue Bombers on Aug. 7. Schilens is listed as a slotback on the depth chart. He practised quite a bit on special teams this week, so that may be his primary role on Sunday.
* Steve Daniel, the CFL’s head statistician, did some digging into CFL quarterbacks making their debuts. Here are the results of Steve’s research. I warn you before reading this, it doesn’t bode well for Sunseri: Since 1995, there have been 102 CFL QB debut starts and those clubs have a combined record of 34-67-1. Sunseri’s debut comes on the road where those clubs starting a QB for his first time have won only 14 of 53 games since 1995 (.264) compared to 20-28-1 at home (.418).
Here are some other statistical gems that Daniel unearthed:
* Brian Peters’ Tackles: Has recorded six special teams tackles in the last two games to go with another 9 on defence. Peters is the only player in the CFL to lead his team in defensive and special teams tackles.
* 300 yards passing: The Riders have gone eight games without going over the 300-yard passing mark and have done so only once in 2014. Last season the Riders went over 300 passing yards seven times. Durant had not thrown for 300 yards in his last 14 starts.
* Weston Dressler: Since returning to Regina, Dressler has made a bigger impact on special teams than offensively. He has had just 7 catches for only 68 yards with no TDs and a longest gain of 17 yards. On punt returns however, he has 5 for 92 yards including a 75-yard TD return last week.
* Three players with seven-plus sacks: The Riders feature three players with at least 7 sacks and all are defensive linemen – John Chick (13), Ricky Foley and George with seven each.
* Remember to follow me on Twitter. I should be posting pictures before the game and updates during it.
http://cfl.uploads.mrx.ca/ssk/pdf/depth/2014/2014_Depth_Chart___Game_11___Hamilton095925.pdf
