THIS ROUGHRIDER CIRCUS IS NO FUN
With worst margin of defeat in 16 years, signs of progress are difficult to discern
Hamilton Tiger-Cats defensive end John Chick referred to the Saskatchewan Roughriders as a “circus” — an appraisal that wasn’t entirely accurate.
People actually enjoy watching a circus.
As for the 2016 Roughriders, well ...
Saskatchewan’s CFL-worst record dropped to 1-7 on Saturday when Hamilton posted a 53-7 home-field victory. The game was all too representative of the Roughriders’ season to date. Matador defence. Anemic offence. An overall lack of direction. Jeff Fairholm, a spectacular Saskatchewan slotback from 1988 to 1993, put it best on Twitter while bravely enduring Saturday’s sorry spectacle: “I hate to see the Riders getting outcoached and outclassed in a game ... this is embarrassing.”
Chris Jones — the head coach, general manager and vice-president of football operations — was brought to Saskatchewan, in part, because of his reputation as a defensive maven.
The 2016 Roughriders have allowed 285 regulation-time points — 36 more than the team had permitted at the eight-game mark last year.
On Saturday, Saskatchewan allowed its highest point total since July 8, 2006, when the Calgary Stampeders won 53-36 on Taylor Field.
At least the Roughriders scored 36 points in that game. The 2016 Roughriders have eked out 35 points over their last four contests.
Saskatchewan has gone an even 90 minutes without scoring a touchdown. Somehow, the Roughriders have managed to top this season’s earlier TD droughts of 80 minutes, 50 seconds, 78:53 and 42:37.
Triple digits, anyone? Who would bet against that?
The Darian Durant detractors, who were so strangely silent during the 2013 playoffs, must be revelling in the adversity he is encountering.
Durant threw a career-high four interceptions — his first four picks of the season — on Saturday. He will be the first to tell the Rider Nation that he can play better. But what he won’t say, because he has too much class, is that the supporting cast is far from satisfactory.
Aside from receiver Naaman Roosevelt, the Roughriders do not have a consistent playmaker on offence. The offensive line has been ravaged by injuries. Durant has been hung out to dry, and it is sad. Anyone who blames him is divorced from reality.
The defence is comically and chronically inept, despite the presence of Jones. The opposing quarterback is rarely pressured, partially because of a tendency toward a three-man defensive front.
Chick, who was dumped by Jones in January, had two sacks on Saturday to increase his season total to seven — two more than all of the Roughriders’ defensive ends, combined. It must have been sweet revenge for Chick, who on Friday used the term “circus” while discussing the plight of his former team.
Like the defensive line, the Roughriders’ secondary is a liability. Saskatchewan surrendered six touchdown passes, including five by Zach Collaros, on Saturday.
As bad as the 2015 Roughriders were, they never surrendered more than 46 points in a game. Most recently, the Roughriders lost by 46 points. It was their worst margin of defeat since Aug. 3, 2000, when the host Montreal Alouettes administered a 62-7 beating.
Then, as now, the Roughriders were coming off a three-win season. The 2000 Roughriders had one victory at the eight-game mark, and the latest edition has matched that torrid pace. In both cases, the Saskatchewan defence was a sieve.
So maybe this is all to be expected.
Perhaps it was unrealistic to think that Jones, who coached the Edmonton Eskimos to a Grey Cup championship in 2015, could waltz into Saskatchewan and instantly transform the team.
Maybe this is a larger project than anyone could have imagined.
But, at this point of the season, some progress — or some plan — should be discernible. Things should be trending in the right direction.
The Roughriders did stand in there against the league-leading Stampeders during a home-andhome set that preceded the hammering in Hamilton.
Saskatchewan went toe-to-toe with Calgary for seven of eight quarters, showing signs that the team was at least making incremental progress.
And then everything fell apart in Hamilton, where the Roughriders looked woefully unprepared for a game plan that was implemented by Tiger-Cats head coach and vice-president of football operations Kent Austin.
Austin and Jones are among the CFL’s highest-paid coaches/ VPs. On Saturday, the Tiger-Cats got their money’s worth.
As for the Jones-led Roughriders, well, at least they made it through the week without being fined.