Roughriders use bye week to tweak tactics against Ticats
The Saskatchewan Roughriders are hoping for the same outcome while recognizing that absolute sameness will not suffice.
Roughriders head coach and general manager Chris Jones understands the need to tweak the game plan for Thursday’s CFL matchup with the Hamilton Tiger-cats, which Saskatchewan defeated 18-13 at Mosaic Stadium on July 5.
“There are going to be some things that we ran last time that we’re going to run this time,” Jones said following Tuesday’s practice. “Are we going to have some things new? Yeah, we’re going to have some things new, and I’m sure that they ’ll be the same. It comes down to execution.”
Saskatchewan and Hamilton are poised to complete a back-to-back set following a mutual bye week.
“They’ve had two weeks to prepare for us. We’ve done the same,” Jones said. “It’s not like they’re going to completely change their offence, and we’re not going to change our defence, and vice versa. We’re just going to line up and play the game.”
One of the keys for Saskatchewan on July 5 was its ability to pressure Jeremiah Masoli despite the Tiger-cats’ emphasis on protecting their quarterback.
“They leave an extra O -lineman in the game for a reason, to try to keep the quarterback clean,” Jones noted.
“It does make it a little tougher to try to get pressure.
“We’ve just got to do a great job. Our guys have to show up. It’s inevitable that they’re going to get double-teamed, if you do the math, and we’ve got to beat double teams.”
Although the Ticats were held without a touchdown July 5, Masoli did extend his streak of 300-yard passing games to nine. In the process, he tied a CFL record that had previously been set by the Montreal Alouettes’ Sam Etcheverry (in 1956) and Saskatchewan’s Kent Austin (in 1991).
“We’ve got to limit (Masoli’s) opportunities,” Jones said. “Hopefully we can stay on the field offensively to limit the number of times that they throw the ball downfield.”