COULD IT BE THAT JONES KNOWS WHAT HE’S DOING?

Robservations ...

Select members of the triumphant Saskatchewan Roughriders are deriving considerable, understandable glee from pointing out that few pundits, if any, expected the visiting side to defeat the Hamilton Tiger-Cats on Thursday. Fair enough, but let’s be consistent. The prognosticators proved to be equally gormless while universally picking Saskatchewan to defeat the visiting Montreal Alouettes on June 30. Where were all the “you were wrong!” tweets after the Alouettes miraculously won 23-17? Crickets ...

Were we wrong about Chris Jones? Did the Roughriders’ (inhale) head coach, defensive co-ordinator, general manager and vice-president of football operations (exhale) know what he was doing all along ? Jones was widely excoriated for several of his strategies — musical quarterbacks, musical tailbacks, playing Duron Carter at cornerback instead of receiver — after the loss to Montreal. The Roughriders responded with back-to-back victories over Hamilton.

Regarding the quarterbacking: The critics were proven correct. Saskatchewan’s offence started to produce only after Jones stuck with Brandon Bridge on Thursday in Hamilton, where the Roughriders won 31-20. After two unsuccessful series with David Watford at the controls, Jones reinserted Bridge and dispensed with the quarterbacking carousel. And guess what? Bridge delivered. So did Jones, ultimately, by leaving Bridge in the game.

Regarding Carter: He is playing well on defence, but is he still being used to maximum effectiveness? Carter was a CFL all-star receiver last season and is being compensated commensurately. Carter is making well over $100,000, which is market value for a game-breaking receiver but an excessive expenditure for someone who is not your No. 1 defensive back. And besides, the Roughriders’ passing offence is still substandard without Carter as part of the arsenal.

Regarding the tailback troika: Marcus Thigpen, Jerome Messam and Tre Mason all made important contributions as the Riders won 31-20 on Thursday, so Jones deserves some slack on that front. But while dressing three tailbacks and using only one at a time, Jones ended up working without a safety net and it nearly cost him (and the team) dearly. The Roughriders’ lone backup offensive lineman was converted defensive tackle Eddie Steele.

Messam’s diminishing average yards per carry: 6.2 (in 2015), 5.8 (2016), 4.7 (2017) and 3.8 (2018). The numbers disguise the fact that Messam, 33, has helped the Roughriders close out two victories.

The alarm bells were ringing like Big Ben when perennial allstar guard Brendon LaBatte was briefly sidelined during Thursday’s first half. If LaBatte had been shelved for the duration, would the Riders have ended up rushing for 200-plus yards? Would Bridge have had the airtight protection he required to throw a 24-yard touchdown pass to Naaman Roosevelt?

Speaking of alarm bells: The, er, attendance at BMO Field for Saturday’s game between the Winnipeg Blue Bombers and Toronto Argonauts was 10,844. How long before the troubling Toronto situation turns into a full-blown crisis?

Troy Westwood (@TroyWestwood) posted this update on Twitter during Saturday’s game: “Bombers 14 Attendance 12.”

Jones is, first and foremost, a defensive genius. Twice in a row, he has schooled the Tiger-Cats and their head coach, June Jones. The overall roster management needs to improve, but if not for Chris Jones’ defensive gems, the Roughriders would be on a fourgame losing streak instead of a two-game winning skein.

Jones ramped up his blitzing during each of the two games against Hamilton. The Riders’ field boss sent more than four pass rushers 51 per cent of the time July 5, when Hamilton fell 18-13 at Mosaic Stadium. On Thursday, Jones blitzed with 48-per-cent frequency. Thank you, as always, to TSN’s Derek Taylor for the pass-rush data.

Thigpen scored on his only carry — an 80-yarder — on Thursday. The “1-for-80” looked quite impressive on the stats sheet. However, it is not the best “1-for” in Roughriders history. On Oct. 24, 1965, Ron Lancaster hit Gord Barwell for a 102-yard touchdown pass during a 30-14 win over the host B.C. Lions. Barwell’s final stats line: 1-for-102.

Thigpen’s 80-yarder was the longest run by a Roughrider since Wes Cates’ 83-yard sprint in 2010. While digesting that factoid, I was reminded of one surprising stat. Kory Sheets, who was an explosive running back for the Roughriders in 2012 and 2013, never had a rush exceeding 48 yards. In 2013, when Sheets rushed for 1,598 yards in 16 games, his longest gain was 41. But Cates, who was far less likely to produce a long gainer, went more than twice as far on one carry in 2010.

Saskatchewan’s Christion Jones returns punts in textbook fashion. He does not dance around or move laterally. Instead, he runs straight ahead and hits the seam with speed and purpose. It is not an accident, then, that he has four puntreturn touchdowns in just 17 games as a Roughrider.

Here is an accurate prediction! From the July 12 column: “The Roughriders’ Christion Jones is poised to return a punt for a touchdown, as he did three times last season.” In Jones’ next game, against Hamilton on Thursday, he scored on a 61-yard return. Please hold your applause.

Profuse thanks to Mike Sweeney, the producer of CJME’s “Green Zone,” for guesting with the shrinking Murray McCormick and yours truly on last week’s Rider Rumblings video podcast (which is available on leaderpost. com, iTunes and Google Play Music). Sweeney treated us to his bang-on Chris Jones impersonation. Next week’s special guest: Roughriders Plaza of Honour member Dan Farthing.

Roughriders linebacker Cameron Judge, drafted second overall in 2017, is improving with each game.

Now that the Tiger-Cats’ offence is back in the tank, will somebody find a way to blame Kent Austin for that, too?

CFL offensive co-ordinators are paid six-figure salaries to be copycats, basically. Hitch screen, hitch screen, hitch, screen ... boring! Not Major League Soccercalibre bo-ring, but eye-glazing nonetheless.

Recently in this cherished space, it was noted that a Stanley Cup ring will soon be presented to “Washington Capitals pro scout and director of minorleague operations Jason Fitzsimmons, who was born in Regina.” Inexcusably omitted was the fact that Fitzsimmons grew up in Lumsden. Apologies.

Anyone who visits Optimist Park should thank Norm Loehr for all the tireless, selfless and thoroughly amazing work he has continues to do on behalf of local baseball and its participants.

Nice people who deserve a plug: Judi Pedersen, Norm Loehr, Jennifer Ackerman, Clinton Ackerman, Barb Ryan, Brandon Bridge, Jim Balfour, Mike Schepers, Naaman Roosevelt, Mike Sweeney, Dan Farthing, Cyndi Cherney, Alex J. Walling, Travis Lulay, Barry Hilker, Jeff Marcynuk, Debbie Sentes, Pamela Cowan, Jeff DeDekker, Ashley Prest, Doug Lunney, Carolyn Hamilton and Ian Hamilton.