VICTORIES ARE A RUSH FOR RIDERS FANS
This concept — the Leader Post-mortem — was born at a time when the Saskatchewan Roughriders were mired in a morass of misery.
Amid all the wailing over the Roughriders’ seemingly uninterrupted run of misfortune, this scribbler coined the term (how clever) and endeavoured to dissect the CFL team’s games by poring over PVR’d TSN telecasts and lethal quantities of statistics.
The Leader-Post-mortem (registered trademark) has proven to be such an astonishing success that I am still tenuously employed. The time has not yet arrived to play jazz kazoo at the F.W. Hill Mall while foraging for loose change.
But change of a different nature has been observed and duly documented.
The Roughriders are (cue trumpets) winning and there has been a consequent enlivening of the fan base.
Saskatchewan has outscored its opponents 133-63 while posting three victories in succession.
For the first time since the Leader-Post-mortem debuted, the Green and White has a winning record — 5-4.
(See? I told you the statistical analysis would be groundbreaking. Five-and-four, people!)
There is only one problem. What becomes of a title that connotes sadness? Is it an unnecessarily sombre label at a time when so many people are so happy about so much?
Well, yeah.
Anyway, here is the latest Leader-Post-mortem, which is brought to you by ... er ... um ... uh, we don’t have a sponsor.
BLITZ, SCHMITZ!
The mind rewinds to the Roughriders’ 2016 annual general meeting, at which first-year head coach, defensive coordinator, general manager and vicepresident of football operations Chris Jones wowed the crowd with an extemporaneous, downhome address.
“It’s not always going to be pretty,” he cautioned, presciently. “Sometimes we’re going to get beat over the top because I’m going to be in Cover Zero.
“Just for y’all’s information, Cover Zero is when you don’t play with a free safety and you blitz everybody. It has been 86-per-cent successful over my career for a 3.3-yard average, so that’s why we run it.”
And the crowd went wild. There were, however, subsequent stretches of silence and sadness as the Roughriders lost 17 of their first 24 games under Jones.
During that span, the defence — Jones’ forte — was often passive and generally porous.
Then everything changed. The defence, which was seemingly allergic to turnovers, began making interceptions (see: Gainey, Ed) and creating discomfort for the opposing quarterback.
And, surprisingly, the defence routinely excels without Jones leaning on what was thought to be his beloved Cover Zero.
On Saturday, for example, Saskatchewan’s defence was more conservative than Newt Gingrich.
According to information compiled and generously shared by TSN’s Derek Taylor, the Roughriders sent four or fewer men in 43 of 47 pass-rush situations during a 38-24 victory over the visiting Winnipeg Blue Bombers.
In other words, Jones called for a blitz only 8.5 per cent of the time.
He sent two men (on two occasions) more often than five (once) or seven (once).
Although Jones was disinclined to bring the house, his team clearly brought it down — judging by the fans’ merriment.
By emphasizing coverage as opposed to blitzing, Jones forced Blue Bombers quarterback Matt Nichols to Nichol-and-dime, the only option usually being to settle for shorter passes.
My calculations show that only 27.1 per cent of Nichols’ throws travelled 10 or more yards downfield. Saskatchewan, at 40.5 per cent, was considerably more aggressive.
On the season, 37.3 per cent of the Roughriders’ passes have been in the 10-plus range. The opposition: 41.8 per cent.
Saskatchewan is averaging 9.5 yards per throw. The foe: 10.9.
DEEP THOUGHTS
The Roughriders’ pass defence, once a sieve, has sparkled during the three-game winning skein.
On passes that travel 20 or more yards downfield, the opposition is 7-for-26 (a 26.9-per-cent accuracy rate) over the last three games, with two touchdowns and five interceptions.
Compare that to the horrifying 20-plus figures after six games: 20-for-43 (46.5 per cent), with 11 TDs and zero interceptions.
Contrast, too, Winnipeg’s performance in its two regular season visits to the new stadium.
On July 1, when the Blue Bombers won 43-40 in double overtime, Nichols was 4-for-7 on passes of 20 yards or more. Each of those four completions was for a touchdown.
It was a different story Sunday, when Nichols was 3-for-6 on passes in 20-plus territory. Not one of those passes produced a touchdown. One of them was intercepted.
BIG MAC ATTACK
The Roughriders’ offence, choreographed by Stephen McAdoo, lacerated the Winnipeg defence while helping the Green and White lead 24-3 after the first quarter and 34-16 at halftime on Sunday.
Two play calls stood out. Saskatchewan scored the game’s first touchdown when Kevin Glenn found a wide-open Naaman Roosevelt for a 53-yard pass-and-run.
The Roughriders first faked a handoff to wideout Duron Carter as he sprinted from right to left — thereby fooling and freezing the defence — before Glenn went over the top to Roosevelt.
Carter was then uncovered in the second quarter, when he casually caught a 17-yard payoff pitch from Glenn.
Saskatchewan took advantage of an injury to defensive halfback TJ Heath. McAdoo and Glenn immediately went after cornerback Derek Jones, who was inserted into the secondary while Heath was sidelined. Jones was promptly turned inside-out by Carter on a post-corner route. (Should we call this “post-corner” instead of “post-mortem?”)
GLENN CLOSE
Glenn is close to the CFL’s lead in touchdown passes this season.
The Ottawa Redblacks’ Trevor Harris is on top of the list with 22 TD passes, followed by Nichols and Glenn at 19.
Glenn is among only seven quarterbacks in Roughriders history with 19 or more TD passes over their first nine games of a season.
Kent Austin had an unmatchable 28 scoring tosses after his ninth game of an injury-interrupted 1991 season.
Next in line are Glenn Dobbs (who had 25 TD passes after nine games in 1951), Darian Durant (21 in 2013), Tom Burgess (20 in 1989) and three QBs with 19 — Glenn (2017),
Ron Lancaster (1966) and Henry Burris (2000).
FINAL CHORD
It is timely that Glenn and Burris are tied at 19.
They were the opposing starting quarterbacks in the inaugural Banjo Bowl, during which Glenn piloted Winnipeg to a 27-24 victory over Smilin’ Hank on Sept. 12, 2004.
Now, 13 years later, Glenn is preparing for Saturday and his first Banjo Bowl start against Winnipeg.
At 38 — an advanced age for any athlete — Glenn is hardly playing out the string.