ROUGHRIDERS POST-MORTEM
‘They whipped our butts’
This instalment of the Leader-Post-mortem does not include the usual array of eye-popping, precedent-setting, life-changing offensive statistics.
Connoisseurs of defensive football must have revelled in the Calgary Stampeders’ 15-9 CFL victory over the Saskatchewan Roughriders at Mosaic Stadium on Sunday.
And, for those field-goal fanciers out there, Calgary’s Rene Paredes was a glorious 5-for-5 from three-point land.
But it was hardly a day in Paredes — er, paradise — for anyone who was expecting a wide-open exhibition of Canadian professional football.
When asked what went so horribly wrong on offence, Roughriders head coach, defensive co-ordinator, general manager and vice-president of football operations Chris Jones provided a response that was much more succinct than his job description: “They lined up and whipped our butt.”
No ifs, ands or butts about it. The Roughriders’ offensive line was equally inept at run blocking and pass protection, consistency being paramount.
For the second time this season, Calgary registered five quarterback sacks against Saskatchewan. (And it was nearly six. Brandon Bridge was trapped for no gain early in the fourth quarter.)
Sacks allowed versus Calgary: 5.0 per game.
Sacks allowed versus everyone else: 2.1 per game (over 10 contests).
Calgary’s first sack on Sunday was the ugliest. The Stampeders rushed with only three men, and two of them (Micah Johnson and Ja’Gared Davis) quickly converged at the quarterback within a split-second of one another. Johnson eluded left tackle Bruce Campbell and
Davis beat right tackle Thaddeus Coleman.
As for Saskatchewan’s alleged ground game, here is THE highlight: Greg Morris ran a sweep to the right for nine yards. The other seven hand-offs produced six yards.
The Roughriders also found a way to squander Morris’s nineyard advance. On the next play — a seemingly advantageous second-and-one situation — the home side called for a handoff to Kienan LaFrance from the shotgun formation.
Splat!
Why even risk a loss in that situation? If you are going to run, call for a quarterback sneak. The worst possible outcome will be third-and-short.
But no-o-o-o-o-o! Why not dial up a slow-developing running play against the league’s most carnivorous defence? What could possibly go wrong? (Oh.)
It got worse. On third-and-two, Saskatchewan called for the quarterback sneak that it should have attempted on second-andone. Vernon Adams Jr., who was in the game as the short-yardage quarterback, gained half of the required yardage. Turnover on downs.
SECOND-AND-SHORTCIRCUIT
In the fourth quarter, the Roughriders handed off to LaFrance in a second-and-two situation, which was expertly converted into a third-and-two predicament.
On third-and-two, Bridge was able to find Duron Carter, who made a fine catch for a four-yard gain — his only reception of the game.
What is it about second-and-short in this game, anyway?
Calgary was second-and-one on the Roughriders’ 28-yard line midway through the first quarter. Instead of ensuring that the chains moved, Bo Levi Mitchell flipped the ball to slotback Marquay McDaniel, who was three yards behind the line of scrimmage. McDaniel was quickly felled for a loss by Crezdon Butler, whereupon Paredes hit his first of five field goals.
CALGARY CONTAINS CARTER
Carter has three catches (on seven targets) for 16 yards in two games against Calgary this season.
Over the other 10 games, Carter has 48 catches for 630 yards and all eight of his touchdowns.
NINE ISN’T FINE
Calgary held Saskatchewan to a season-low nine points.
How bad was it? Leading up to Sunday’s game, Saskatchewan had registered nine or more points in 19 different quarters this season.
On Aug. 25, the Roughriders exceeded nine points in each of the four quarters en route to defeating the host Edmonton Eskimos 54-31. The quarter totals: 14, 12, 14 and 14.
Saskatchewan’s regulationtime point totals at home this season: 37, 37, 38, 41, 38 and (ahem) nine.
TD OR NOT TD?
Saskatchewan held Calgary without a touchdown for the first time since July 29, 2006, when the Roughriders won 19-9 on Taylor Field.
Calgary had a 100-yard rusher in each game — Joffrey Reynolds (110 yards in 2006) and Jerome Messam (127 yards on Sunday).
On both occasions, all of Calgary’s points resulted from field goals. Sandro DeAngelis was 3-for-5 in field-goal attempts in the 2006 matchup. Paredes was 5-for-5 for Calgary on Sunday.
One more similarity: Wes Cates was at both games. In the 2006 meeting, he had one reception for seven yards — for Calgary. Cates and Roger Brandvold, this year’s Plaza of Honour inductees, were showcased during Sunday’s game.
ACE BAILEY
Devon Bailey makes his catches count.
Three of his last six receptions produced a touchdown, dating back to the 2016 season.
Bailey scored on his second of two catches (a 72-yarder) with Edmonton in 2016. This year, two of his five grabs have been six-pointers — including Sunday’s 14-yard connection with Bridge.
HAIL MARY? HAIL BRANDON!
Two seconds remained in the first half. Saskatchewan had the ball on Calgary’s 50-yard line. It was time for a Hail Mary pass.
For some reason, starting quarterback Kevin Glenn was left in the game for the deep throw — even though Bridge has a significantly stronger arm.
Glenn’s pass travelled 35 yards before being caught by Bailey with time expired.
Bridge is the only Saskatchewan quarterback with a throw of 50-plus yards to his credit this season.
He is 1-for-1 from that range, courtesy of a scoring bomb to Carter on Aug. 5 against the host B.C. Lions. That 46-yard touchdown pass eclipsed the 50 mark when total distance was taken into consideration.
Obviously, that play wasn’t taken into consideration.
Sure, the Hail Mary pass is a long-shot, but it does require a long shot — in the form of a 50-yard pass.
Bridge has to be the guy in that situation.
HAND BAGG
Kudos to Roughriders receiver Rob Bagg for the one-handed catch he made in the fourth quarter.
Bagg also had a chance to make the biggest play of the day.
To begin the Roughriders’ second offensive series of the game, Bagg got open deep behind Ciante Evans, only to be overthrown. An accurate pass could have produced a 76-yard score.
PUNT, PUNT, PUNT
The Roughriders’ possessions, in order, ended as such: Punt, punt, turnover on downs, punt, interception, punt, halftime, punt, punt, punt, punt, punt, the stat-padding 35-yard touchdown to Bailey, fumble.
THREE’S COMMONPLACE
Jones was heavily reliant upon the three-man rush, calling for it 84.6-per-cent of the time, by my calculation. The four-man rush was used 15.4 per cent of the time.
And that was it. Jones completely eschewed (Gezundheit!) the blitz.
AUSSIE RULES
Australian-born Roughriders punter Josh Bartel had an outstanding day.
Bartel punted nine times for a gross average of 48.7 yards. Most impressively, his net average was 42.6.
The term “gross average” could also be used to describe the Roughriders’ rushing stats.