Defence held At key moments
Defence wasn’t perfect but stepped up at critical moments against Argos
The Saskatchewan Roughriders have veered away from their bend-but-don’t-break-up-anything defence.
One week after being lacerated by Ottawa Redblacks quarterback Trevor Harris, the Roughriders’ defence improved — at least at critical junctures — in Saturday’s 30-29 CFL victory over the host Toronto Argonauts.
Like Harris, Toronto quarterback Mcleod Bethel-thompson was able to consistently move his team’s offence while emphasizing short passes.
The difference, though, was that the Argos repeatedly stalled after venturing into Saskatchewan territory, whereas Ottawa’s finishing touch was considerably better Sept. 15 during its 30-25 victory at Mosaic Stadium.
Ottawa scored four touchdowns and settled for only one field goal.
Toronto registered just one offensive touchdown and attempted six field goals, four of which were successful.
The Argonauts’ most memorable field-goal attempt was on the game’s penultimate play. Zack Medeiros was wide on a bid for a game-winner from 51 yards away.
Medeiros’ kick would not have been as difficult — and it might not have been required — if not for Roughriders defensive backs Ed Gainey and Crezdon Butler.
Gainey knocked away a pass that was intended for S.J. Green, preventing a four-yard gain on Toronto’s second-last play from scrimmage.
On the previous play, Gainey had been visibly frustrated with himself after Armanti Edwards caught an 11-yarder, but the Roughriders’ top cover man quickly made amends.
Roughriders fans must have experienced heart palpitations during Toronto’s final offensive play.
From Saskatchewan’s 44-yard line, Bethel-thompson launched a moon shot just before being flattened by a blitzing Butler. Green was wi-i-i-i-i-ide open in the middle of the field, only to be overthrown. If Butler had arrived a split-second later, Toronto would likely have settled the game with a 44-yard touchdown.
Butler was an unsung hero on the Argonauts’ final possession. He blitzed on three of the six plays, pressuring Bethel-thompson each time.
Roughriders head coach Chris Jones, who moonlights as the defensive co-ordinator, ordered up additional pressure for Toronto’s last-gasp drive.
Before that, Jones had blitzed only 12 per cent of the time on Saturday. He proceeded to blitz on five of Toronto’s final six plays.
On each of those six plays, Bethel-thompson was forced to release the ball in fewer than two seconds. The release times: 1.78, 1.88, 1.80, 1.83, 1.56 and 1.78 seconds.
Previously, Bethel-thompson’s average release time was 2.47 seconds, and only six throws had been clocked at under 2.00.
The Roughriders’ defence certainly had its imperfections on Saturday. Toronto put up 419 yards of net offence, compared to Ottawa’s 481.
Neither total will leave Jones clicking his heels. But his defence clicked when it counted.
The Argonauts used receiver Duron Carter on 32 of a possible 65 plays (short-yardage situations excluded) during his first game against his former team.
The one pass that was aimed in his direction fell incomplete.
Curiously, Carter was not on the field for either of Toronto’s final two possessions. At a stage of the game when the Argonauts urgently needed a game-changing play, one of the league’s most talented receivers was on the sideline.
Rodney Smith (three targets, two receptions, 14 yards) and Malcolm Williams (two targets, zero catches) were busier than Carter, whose presence was wasted as Toronto suffered its ninth loss in 12 games.
The Argonauts are a bad team that can’t even find a way to deploy a premier talent.
How not to sell football in Toronto. Over to you, John Tavares ...
FOUND: OFFENCE
The Roughriders’ offence, while not without its misadventures, took some progressive steps Saturday.
For starters, Saskatchewan scored on its first possession for only the second time this season.
As for the first time, well, it wasn’t really a drive. A 53-yard interception return by Matt
Elam gave the Roughriders a first down on the Winnipeg Blue Bombers’ one-yard line Sept. 2. Not even the Roughriders could blow it from there.
The Roughriders also produced points, courtesy of a 13-yard
Brett Lauther field goal, to cap their opening possession Aug. 19 against the visiting Calgary Stampeders.
Saskatchewan failed to produce even a point on its other 10 opening possessions — consisting of eight two-and-outs, one four-play spasm (including a first down) and a turnover on downs on third-and-one.
On Saturday, the Roughriders had five opening-possession first downs, as many as they had recorded over the previous 12 games combined.
ON YOUR MARCUS ...
The 2018 Roughriders have four scoring drives of 80-plus yards (82, 82, 80 and 80). Two of them have been one-play possessions, courtesy of 80- and 82-yard TD runs by Marcus Thigpen.
Thigpen’s 82-yarder on Saturday was Saskatchewan’s longest TD run since Aug. 20, 1976, when Pete Van Valkenburg — The Flying Dutchman! — erupted for a 90-yarder during a 38-13 victory in Calgary.
Saskatchewan has registered only four runs of 80-plus yards since 1976. Half of those carries ( by Thigpen) have occurred over a nine-game span this season.
There is only one problem: Thigpen, the Roughriders’ most dangerous player, has touched the ball on offence only eight times over the past three games.
Nonetheless, he did play a key role in Saskatchewan’s first touchdown on Saturday: a fiveyard pass from Zach Collaros to Jordan Williams-lambert.
Thigpen, moving laterally behind the line of scrimmage, attracted the attention of defensive back Marcus Roberson. Williams-lambert, lined up as a tight end on the left flank of a seven-man front, slipped behind Roberson for an easy score.
BLOCK PARTY
Centre Dan Clark made a key block on Thigpen’s 82-yarder, pulling to the left before sealing off linebacker Akeem Jordan.
Also of note were blocks by left guard Brendon Labatte (on defensive tackle Cleyon Laing), left tackle Takoby Cofield (on defensive end Troy Davis) and right tackle Thaddeus Coleman (on middle linebacker Bear Woods).
Each member of the offensive line, which also includes right guard Dariusz Bladek, provided textbook protection on a 12-yard TD pass from Collaros to Williams-lambert.
SHORT SNORTS
Lauther is flawless from 41-plus yards. He has missed only three field-goal attempts — from 40, 38 and 32 yards — as a firstyear Roughrider.
Naaman Roosevelt, with five receptions for 105 yards, was the only player to catch more than two passes from Collaros on Saturday. Williams-lambert, Shaq Evans, Spencer Moore and Trumaine Washington were tied with two catches apiece. (Washington had both of Toronto’s interceptions, including a picksix.)
Charleston Hughes was held without a sack for the third consecutive game, but he pressured Bethel-thompson four times (as did Butler) and added a tackle for a loss.
Jones deferred after winning the coin toss. After halftime, he allowed Toronto to take the ball so Saskatchewan could have the wind in the fourth quarter. Jones was rewarded for that inspired decision when Lauther had the wind at his back for a gamewinning 56-yarder and Medeiros had to attempt his final kick into a breeze.