Roughriders’ offence needs to get back into the game
The Roughriders are expertly melding their running and passing attacks to set up the punt.
Twenty-four of their last 31 possessions — excluding obligatory end-of-half and end-of-game situations — have concluded with punter Josh Bartel being summoned. Fourteen of his 24 punts, spanning the Roughriders’ last 10 quarters of CFL (ahem) action, have followed what has become a patented two-and-out by the dormant offence.
So far, the Roughriders have withstood their first extended offensive drought of the season.
Although the offence dried up early in the second quarter of a Sept. 16 game against the host Hamilton Tiger-Cats, Saskatchewan was able to hold on for a 27-19 victory.
The Roughriders proceeded to lose 15-9 to the visiting Calgary Stampeders on Sept. 24. Saskatchewan actually scored the game’s only touchdown, but only after starting quarterback Kevin Glenn had been replaced by Brandon Bridge.
Then came Friday’s game in Ottawa, where the Roughriders overcame a 17-0 deficit to defeat the Redblacks 18-17. The visitors’ offence reached the end zone only once, with their other touchdown coming on a 97-yard punt return by Christion Jones.
Jones had the right idea: Keep the offence off the field.
The long-distance punt return and a vastly improved defence — albeit one that has been susceptible to the run — have allowed the Roughriders to win two of their three games during a period in which the offence has all but evaporated.
However, it is unlikely that they will be able to weather the offensive woes much longer. The numbers, after all, are troubling.
Here are the Roughriders’ totals, with the opposition’s superior stats in parentheses, over the last 10 quarters as the Green and White prepares for Saturday’s road game against the Toronto Argonauts:
Punts: 24 (14).
First downs: 32 (58).
Two-and-outs: 17 (10) — plus a one-and-out by Ottawa, the result of a game-clinching interception by Saskatchewan’s Jovon
Johnson. Plays from scrimmage: 109 (167).
Net yards: 575 (967).
The Roughriders’ offence was purring along quite nicely into the third quarter in Hamilton.
Bridge punctuated a zing-zingzing possession with a TD pass to Naaman Roosevelt on the Roughriders’ second offensive series after halftime.
Cue the aerial circus against Calgary: Punt. Punt. Turnover on downs. Punt. Interception. Punt. Punt. Punt. Punt. Punt. Touchdown. Fumble.
Fast-forward to the Ottawa game.
After smartly moving the offence into Redblacks territory on the Roughriders’ first possession, Glenn looked for Duron Carter in the end zone from 36 yards away and was ... wait for it ... intercepted.
Punt. Punt. Punt. Punt. Punt. Touchdown!
Field goal!!
Punt. Punt. (The Roughriders did register an important, clockgobbling first down before the final punt.)
Kneel-down. Kneel-down. There were signs of a pulse in the fourth quarter against Ottawa. Glenn moved the team 75 yards in seven plays for a touchdown.
On the next possession, the offence travelled 66 yards on five plays before Tyler Crapigna produced a 16-yard field goal.
The Roughriders’ following possession concluded when Bartel boomed a 55-yard punt for a rouge — the game-winning point, as it turned out.
Given the Roughriders’ dependency on Bartel of late, his role in the outcome was entirely fitting.