A look at how the Riders beat the Argos
Column lavishes praise on Roughriders following team’s second win of season
This weekly submission had routinely taken the form of a Leader-Post-mortem.
Then the Saskatchewan Roughriders reached the elusive two-victory mark before September — a feat they had not accomplished since 2014 — and necessitated a change in the tenor of this column, suitable for framing.
Without further preamble, here is an atypically upbeat dissection of the Riders’ most-recent game — Saturday’s 38-27 victory over the visiting Toronto Argonauts:
HOORAY FOR HOLLEY
One of the Roughriders’ mostimportant offensive plays turned out to be an incompletion.
Late in the second quarter, with a first down on the Argonauts’ 18-yard line, quarterback Kevin Glenn looked for Caleb Holley in the end zone.
Problem: The Argos’ Rico Murray provided textbook coverage, to the extent that he was wellpositioned for an interception.
Without a realistic chance to make the reception, Holley instantly changed his mindset to that of a defender and prevented Murray from making the pick.
On the next play, Glenn found Duron Carter for a highlight-reel touchdown. Carter’s spectacular, one-handed grab may very well end up being the CFL’s play of the year. But it wouldn’t have happened without Holley allowing the drive to continue.
DURON DURON
That is one “Duron” for each of his touchdowns on Saturday.
Actually, Carter did not score — or even make a reception — to complete the play on which he gained the most separation.
In the second quarter, Carter pulled off a double move and got behind Akwasi Owusu-Ansah in the end zone, only to be overthrown.
Glenn made amends on the following play by hitting Naaman Roosevelt for a 14-yard major.
In addition to catching nine passes for 131 yards, Carter had a 29-yard punt return and he made a key block to help Cameron Marshall register his longest rush of the game — an 18-yarder.
Rob Bagg also got in on the block party. The veteran wide receiver impeded Murray with just under two minutes left in the game, allowing Bakari Grant to motor for his third receiving first down of the drive. Glenn hit Holley, a deserving recipient, two plays later for the game-clinching touchdown.
WHAT A RUSH
Roughriders head coach and general manager Chris Jones — who moonlights as the defensive co-ordinator — continued to emphasize a four-man pass rush.
According to this scribbler’s calculations, Jones rushed with four men on 69 per cent of the Argonauts’ passing plays. The three-man rush was used 15 per cent of the time.
On one occasion, Jones rushed Argonauts quarterback Ricky Ray with only two men (Eddie Steele and Makana Henry). Ray had 4.7 seconds to find an open receiver, Llevi Noel, for the game’s first TD.
The Roughriders did a fine job in general when it came to rushing the passer, felling Ray five times. Three of the sacks came with the Riders rushing four men. They also had a sack with five- and six-man pressure.
RIDERS RESPOND
Glenn, who threw four touchdown passes for the second time this season, produced timely points Saturday to prevent Toronto from generating any momentum.
Saskatchewan answered all three Argonauts touchdowns by hitting the scoreboard on the ensuing possession. The Glennled offence countered with two TDs and a field goal.
Glenn subsequently piloted a touchdown march — one that ended with Holley’s major — after Toronto’s Lirim Hajrullahu had kicked a 12-yard field goal with 3:48 left to reduce Saskatchewan’s lead to three points.
DOUBLE D
Roughriders left tackle Derek Dennis, who as a Calgary Stampeder was named the league’s most outstanding offensive lineman in 2016, has given up at least one sack in each of the past two games.
On July 22, Charleston Hughes repeatedly got the better of Dennis as the Stampeders won 27-10 at McMahon Stadium. On Saturday, Dennis surrendered a sack to Troy Davis, who had a clear path to Glenn after making an inside move.
Overall, though, the protection for Glenn was sound — thanks in large part to Dennis, who is principally responsible for securing the quarterback’s blind side.
PPPRETTY PPPOSITIVE
Saskatchewan’s offence enjoyed its finest game of the season from a Positive Plays Percentage (PPP) perspective.
The PPP has appeared in this treasured space as a means of evaluating the consistency with which the Roughriders execute on both sides of the ball.
Per this formula, a win is awarded to the offence or defence on each play from scrimmage. 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.
Saskatchewan operated at 65-per-cent efficiency on offence on Saturday. The previous high of 57.7 per cent was established July 8 during a 37-20 victory over the visiting Hamilton Tiger-Cats.
Defensively, though, Saskatchewan is coming off its worst PPP performance of the season. Toronto’s offence had a PPP of 60 per cent. The previous high against the Saskatchewan defence was 57.8 by Calgary one week earlier.
On the season, the Saskatchewan offence has a PPP of 55.1 per cent. The opposition’s offence is at 50.2
AGGRESSIVE = IMPRESSIVE
For the first time this season, the Roughriders threw downfield for an average of more than 10 yards per play. Saskatchewan’s average pass attempt covered 12.6 yards on Saturday. Toronto’s average attempt was 11.3.
The Roughriders improved their season average to 9.6. The opposition is averaging 10.2.
Also worth noting: 45.9 per cent of the Roughriders’ passes travelled at least 10 yards beyond the line of scrimmage (Toronto was at 41.0 per cent). Again, the numbers show that Roughriders offensive co-ordinator Stephen McAdoo was more aggressive than usual on Saturday.
HEEEEERE’S JOHNNY
The Argonauts’ Johnny Sears Jr. had a night to forget on Saturday. Most notably, Sears neglected to tag Bakari Grant when the Roughriders receiver hit the ground well short of first-down yardage during his team’s final drive. Sears, who was hoping to strip Grant of the football, waited for him to get up. However, Grant broke a tackle and registered his first of three first downs on that crucial possession.
Sears was also victimized on a 51-yard reception by Grant in the second quarter. The Argonauts defensive back fell while in pursuit of Grant, who was wide open. To Sears’ credit, he didn’t give up on the play and ended up making the tackle after Grant gained 22 yards after the catch.
The unfortunate Sears was also beaten cleanly by Carter for his second touchdown of the game. Sears was left without safety help after Argos defensive coordinator Corey Chamblin sent Jermaine Gabriel on a blitz.
So take heart, Rider Nation. Someone with the surname of Gabriel doesn’t always have the Roughriders’ number.