Stamp of approval for new tactic
Double-move scheme has Jones impressed
It didn’t take long for Chris Jones to follow the Calgary Stampeders’ lead.
The Saskatchewan Roughriders’ head coach said Thursday that a double move by his receivers had been installed in the CFL team’s offence heading into Saturday’s game against the visiting Toronto Argonauts.
Earlier this week, Jones pointed out how effective the Stampeders were at drawing contact while completing the double move and drawing challenges and penalties. Jones said part of Calgary’s strategy was for the receivers to look for contact after clearing five yards and facilitating a coach’s challenge. Defenders are only allowed contact with receivers within five yards of the line of scrimmage.
“I reached out to the league for clarification on how they are going to govern it,” Jones said Thursday. “If they are going to govern it like that, then we are going to implement it ourselves because it’s pretty smart.”
Jones picked up on Calgary’s strategy during Saturday’s 2710 loss at McMahon Stadium. He noticed how quickly Calgary reached for the challenge flag and figured out that the Stampeders knew where and when the contact was going to occur between the receiver and defender.
That meant Calgary only had to look at one receiver instead of five while searching for illegal contact. The Riders were flagged twice for pass interference and once for illegal contact during Saturday’s game.
Calgary’s strategy, as described by Jones, makes it nearly impossible for defenders to avoid contact with receivers.