Riders’ passive offence looked eerily familiar
Longest gain against Stamps was 18 yards, just like in 1982 loss to lowly Concordes
Upon further review, the telecast of Saturday’s CFL game between the Calgary Stampeders and Saskatchewan Roughriders was available in high-defamation.
Despite having experienced the utter horror of twice re-watching the Roughriders’ 34-22 loss, we will attempt to compose the latest Leader-post-mortem without libelling anyone. Ready, set ...
FANS IN A HUF
Blame John Hufnagel for the Roughriders’ passive offensive performance.
The Stampeders’ general manager is, after all, a link to a comparable showing — from Sept. 12, 1982.
That afternoon at Olympic Stadium, Hufnagel quarterbacked the Roughriders most of the way in a 16-13 loss to the Montreal Concordes.
In terms of conservatism, the Roughriders’ offence was slightly to the right of Rush Limbaugh.
“They must think the deep pass is another name for the Grand Canyon,” Regina Leader-post legend Bob Hughes opined.
Even though Montreal entered the game with a 1-7 record, the Roughriders played it cautiously and ultimately absorbed a loss that left fans fuming about the play-calling.
The outcry was rather reminiscent of Saturday, when the Roughriders didn’t even think about challenging Calgary’s defence.
The Roughriders’ longest gain on Saturday: 18 yards.
Their longest gain on 9/12/82: 18 yards.
After Saturday’s game, Roughriders head coach and general manager Chris Jones talked about his team’s “ball-control offence.”
Compare that to John Chaput’s assessment of the Roughriders’ offence in the Sept. 13, 1982 Leader-post: “(Hufnagel) utilized a ball-control offence of running plays, short passes to the receivers, and shorter passes to the running backs.”
SOUND FAMILIAR? THERE’S MORE
On Saturday, quarterback Brandon Bridge had this to say about the Stampeders’ defence: “They take away the deep throws and I just kept checking down because that’s what they were giving us.”
Head coach Joe Faragalli’s assessment from 9/12/82: “We took what they gave us.” (Headaches?)
In that game of nearly 36 years ago, Hufnagel ran a quarterback draw on second-and-20 and went nowhere.
Bridge tried the same play on second-and-15 and ... wait for it ... went nowhere.
Also worth noting: Bridge is from Mississauga, Ont. On 9/12/82, one of the starting quarterbacks was also a Canadian — Montreal’s Luc Tousignant, from Trois-rivieres, Que.
NO OFFENCE INTENDED
One largely forgettable play from Saturday summarized the Roughriders’ offensive ineptitude.
Early in the fourth quarter, Bridge scattergunned a short pass toward Joshua Stanford, who was
somehow able to get his fingertips on an uncatchable ball while running a crossing route.
Nine yards behind Stanford stood 2017 CFL all-star receiver Duron Carter, whose frustration was evident as the punt team ambled on to the field. Again.
PRAIRIE OFFENCE, PART 2
The Roughriders have a mere six offensive touchdowns in six games.
And to think that Kent Austin once threw six touchdown passes in one game — a 49-47 Roughriders victory over the host B.C. Lions on Sept. 21, 1991.
This year’s Roughriders are nearly as likely to score when the offence is on the sideline.
The defence, which is stellar, has produced four majors (courtesy of three interception returns and a fumble recovery) and Christion Jones has added a punt-return TD.
Get this: Saskatchewan has more touchdowns via interception returns (three) than on the ground (two). How is this even possible? (George Reed, we miss thee.)
PPPOSITIVELY PPPOOR
The Roughriders’ offensive woes are illustrated by once again resorting to the Positive Plays Percentage (PPP).
The PPP was invented last year by this statistical nerd 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.
The numbers are predictably ugly.
Last season, the Roughriders’ PPP was below 40 only once — when Saskatchewan “won” 38.6 per cent of its plays in a 15-9 loss to the visiting Stampeders on Sept. 24.
In only six games this year, the Roughriders have already been below 38.6 three times.
Saskatchewan’s PPP was 37.3 on Saturday, and on July 5 in an 18-13 home-field victory over the visiting Hamilton Tigercats. The nadir was on June 30, when the PPP was 35.8 in a 23-17 home-field loss to the Montreal Alouettes.
Overall, the Roughriders’ PPP over six games is 43.7 — compared to 53.0 over 18 regular-season games in 2017. (Kevin Glenn, we miss thee.)
The numbers are considerably better defensively. Rival offences are at 47.0 against Saskatchewan, compared to 50.6 a year ago.
Calgary’s offence had a PPP of 41.7 on Saturday. Montreal was a horrid 30.0 on June 30. Yet, both teams won.
FOUR-MAN CRUSH
Calgary’s Bo Levi Mitchell repeatedly scorched Saskatchewan when it used a four-man rush — going 9-for-9 for 122 yards, with one touchdown on Saturday.
There were mixed results with the three-man rush. Mitchell went 5-for-9 for 38 yards with a TD, but was also sacked twice by Charleston Hughes.
When Roughriders head coach
Chris Jones dialed up a five-man rush, Calgary was 3-for-5 for 20 yards, with one TD and one interception. The pick was returned 52 yards for a major by Tobi Antigha.
Not once did the Roughriders send six pass rushers. When seven men were sent, Calgary was 1-for2 for seven yards.
Saskatchewan blitzed (i.e. sent more than four men) 26 per cent of the time. The Roughriders were in the 50-per-cent range in each of their previous two games — victories over the Hamilton Tiger-cats.
As always, profuse thanks to TSN’S great Derek Taylor (@ DTONSC) for generously sharing his pass-rush data.
THE JOY OF SACKS
Hughes emerged from Saturday’s game with a league-leading eight sacks. Willie Jefferson had eight sacks all of last season to lead the Roughriders in that category.
INSIDE THE GAME
Roughriders tailbacks Jerome Messam, Tre Mason and Marcus Thigpen combined for 21 carries — 20 of which were inside runs. (Messam was released Monday, one day after being charged with voyeurism.)
Fourteen of the Roughriders’ 30 passes were of the swing/hitch/ flair/screen variety.
In other words, 60 per cent of the Roughriders’ paint-by-numbers repertoire consisted of the aforementioned plays. The chilling post-game proclamation from Jones: “You had better get used to it, because we’re going to do some more of it.”
Is this simply a smokescreen? Or will Roughriders fans be forced to endure some more smoked screens?