Jones’ strategy against the Ticats was masterful
Jones engineered a masterful plan that overwhelmed the Tiger-Cats on Saturday
This seasoned scribe is rustier than Vince Young.
The Saskatchewan Roughriders are coming off a convincing victory and, honestly, I must somehow recapture the ability to document such conquests.
I was inured to chronicling chaos after watching the Green and White win only 10 of 47 meaningful CFL games during a 2 ½-year period.
“Meaningful” may be a stretch, in that the 2015 Roughriders registered all three of their victories following an 0-9 start. Four of last season’s five wins were also strictly for show after Saskatchewan started at 1-10.
But now the Roughriders are 1-2, having dismantled the visiting Hamilton Tiger-Cats 37-20 on Saturday, and this media organism is admittedly unaccustomed to witnessing or explaining such an impressive display.
To verify that the Roughriders did, in fact, win by 17 points, I re-watched TSN’s telecast of Saturday’s game. Many of the plays were in slow-motion, much like the league’s video-review procedure.
What follows is a review of a different nature …
Roughriders defensive ends A.C. Leonard and Willie Jefferson were far too much for the Tiger-Cats to handle.
Jefferson has been shakily awarded the D.C. label because of his 2016 NFL stint with Washington. Yes, that is a stretch. (See also: “meaningful.”)
Roughriders head coach, defensive co-ordinator, general manager and vice-president of football operations Chris Jones did a masterful job of stretching out his defensive line (much like his job description) and creating alignment-related horror for the Tiger-Cats.
The defensive ends had wider-than-usual splits from the defensive tackles. This approach isolated A.C. and D.C. on the Hamilton offensive tackles, Xavier Fulton and Jordan Swindle, who were often left on islands.
Jones took advantage of a Hamilton offensive scheme that typically releases the tailback, removing one supplementary blocking option. Moreover, the Tiger-Cats rarely augment the offensive line with an extra blocker, such as a tight end.
Very few offensive tackles in the CFL can handle the likes of Leonard and Jefferson without help of some nature. As a result, Tiger-Cats quarterback Zach Collaros was often helpless.
Jefferson had a sack and, along with Leonard, registered three quarterback pressures. Leonard added a virtual sack, felling Collaros for no gain. Because Collaros was not tackled behind the line of scrimmage, the play was classified as a run for statistical purposes.
Essentially, though, it was a sack. Officially, Collaros was sacked only once, but he was pressured on 11 occasions. COOL-HANDS LUKE: Jones also took a page from Bill Belichick’s coaching manual, making a point of eliminating the other team’s top receiver — in this case, Luke Tasker. Tasker was targeted only twice, with neither play resulting in a reception.
The Tiger-Cats had a dearth of complementary options as a result of injuries to Andy Fantuz and Terence Toliver, both of whom exceeded 1,000 receiving yards last season.
Considerable credit should go to the Roughriders’ coaches for adroitly scouting Hamilton’s offensive tendencies, and to Saskatchewan’s defensive backs for recognizing certain routes.
The Roughriders’ secondary was vastly improved after a shoddy outing against the visiting Winnipeg Blue Bombers on Canada Day.
FOUR-SIGHT: Jones all but ashcanned the three-man rush that wasn’t even moderately successful during the 43-40, doubleovertime loss to Winnipeg.
By my calculation, Jones sent four pass rushers slightly more than 70 per cent of the time on Saturday. Twelve per cent of the time, Jones deployed six rushers, but four usually sufficed due to the pressure that the defensive linemen were exerting. POSITIVE PLAYS: Last week in this cherished space, I introduced the concept of awarding a win to the offence or defence on each play as a means of determining the frequency with which a team’s execution is effective.
A positive outcome for the offence is defined here as a touchdown, a first down, a firstand-10 play that gains at least five yards, or a second-down play that creates at least a third-andshort opportunity.
Based on those criteria, the Roughriders have emerged victorious offensively and defensively in each of their three games.
Versus Hamilton, Saskatchewan had a positive outcome on 57.7 per cent of its offensive plays. Hamilton checked in at 46.9.
One week earlier, Saskatchewan’s offence had a 50.1-percent success rate. Winnipeg was far behind at 39.3, but that percentage did not account for the Bombers’ repeated big plays. Per this formula, for example, an 87-yard touchdown reception by Weston Dressler carried the same weight as his six-yard reception on first down.
Saskatchewan’s offence checked in at 56.9 per cent during a season-opening, 17-16 loss to the host Montreal Alouettes on June 22. The Darian Durantled Alouettes offence was at 44.0 per cent.
On the season, Saskatchewan’s offence has won 55.2 per cent of its plays. The Roughriders’ defence has been successful 56.8 per cent of the time. CONCLUSION: More often than not, the Roughriders are executing on both sides of the ball. That might explain why they have outscored the opposition 93-80 to this point. (Saskatchewan leads the league in offensive points, with 90.)
Last year at this point, after Jones’s first three games as the Roughriders’ field boss, Saskatchewan had been outscored 109-80 and was 0-3.
Also, the Saskatchewan offence (49.5 per cent) and defence (46.0) were not as efficient at the threegame mark in 2016. So there is progress. MISTER ROGERS’ NEIGHBOURHOOD: Hamilton’s Justin Rogers scored and surrendered a touchdown on Saturday.
For starters, Rogers intercepted a Kevin Glenn pass on the goal-line and ran 110 yards to pay dirt. Later, however, Rogers was cleanly beaten by Duron Carter on an eight-yard scoring strike from Glenn.
As TSN’s astute Glen Suitor pointed out during Saturday’s telecast, Hamilton linebacker Simoni Lawrence disrupted Saskatchewan’s timing on the throw that resulted in a long-distance interception return.
Nic Demski was momentarily open just inside the goal-line on the left side of the end zone, but Glenn’s pass was slightly delayed when a blitzing Lawrence jumped in front of the quarterback and momentarily blocked a passing lane. By the time Glenn was able to release the ball, Rogers was in position to step in front of Demski.
PERFECT PASS: Glenn’s 14-yard touchdown toss to Bakari Grant was an absolute gem.
On second-and-14, Grant — lined up to the right of the quarterback — ran a quick post. He was well-covered by Ethan Davis, who fronted the 6-foot-4 Saskatchewan receiver.
Glenn would have been intercepted had he thrown the ball on a line. Instead, he displayed a deft touch and feathered the pass over Davis, putting Grant in position to make a play — which he did, thanks to a spectacular lunging catch.
END NOTE: Defensive end Tobi Antigha was impressive when utilized, registering two quarterback pressures. Antigha’s emergence creates an enviable problem for Jones, who must decide how and when to deploy yet another ultra-athletic pass rusher. Tobi or not Tobi? That is the question.