Gary Etcheverry's defence is known for working to catch offences by surprising, using a combination of unfamiliar looks, unique personnel combinations, and a focus on turnovers to keep opponents uncomfortable. But I'm not sure anybody could have seen yesterday's strategy coming from the 'Riders' game tapes.
Rather than working from its usual bag of stunts and tricks, the 'Riders' brain trust came up with the radical idea of "tackling the ball carrier" - which the defence did brilliantly on all but about three plays. And Calgary had no answers for that strategy once it became clear that the Stamps' early points weren't going to hold up.
Indeed, the 'Riders became more and more effective on D as the game progressed. The first couple of drives, Calgary did manage to move the ball - taking only slightly longer than usual as every handoff, dump-off and quick pass was met with an immediate hit.
But as the game went on, Burris held onto the ball longer and longer trying to find a receiver who was already in position to get the yardage the Stamps needed - leading first to a series of dumpoffs, then to a flurry of late sacks. And the end result was that the CFL's top-scoring offence was held to its second-lowest point total of the season.
Meanwhile, the 'Riders' offence did just enough to pull out the win. After leaving some points on the field in the first half as two drives stalled in Calgary territory, Darian Durant turned the 'Riders' final three scoring opportunities into touchdowns. And an effective one-two punch on the ground from Durant and Wes Cates along with another big game from Chris Getzlaf did plenty to make up for the field position issues caused by the 'Riders' continued special-teams follies (featuring a missed convert, a fumbled punt return and a number of big returns for the Stamps).
If there's any bad news for the 'Riders going into the Grey Cup game, it's that Montreal likely won't be taken by surprise by the concept of sure-handed tackling from a team that's displayed nothing of the sort through most of the season. But it's still a great sign that the 'Riders were able to reach the big game by shutting down a top opponent (rather than having to win a shootout as they did in previous victories over Calgary and Montreal). And with Saskatchewan having won in a way nobody would have anticipated, Marc Trestman and the Als can do little more than guess as to what to expect with the CFL's championship on the line.
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