Offensive woes finally catch up to Roughriders
Hometown fans boo as special teams only bright spot in 30-25 loss to Redblacks
REGINA The Saskatchewan Roughriders’ 30-25 loss to the Ottawa Redblacks was a reminder that a CFL team can’t expect sustained success without contributions from all three phases of the game.
The Riders had won their previous four games on the strength of defence and special teams, both of which carried the offence. That didn’t happen on Saturday at a sold-out Mosaic Stadium.
The special teams came through with two returns for touchdowns, including a 97-yarder by Marcus Thigpen on the opening kickoff at Mosaic Stadium. Based on previous performances, it wasn’t too much to expect the defence to shut down the Redblacks and hope for the offence to produce just enough.
However, Saskatchewan’s defence stumbled, surrendering 481 yards of net offence. Ottawa’s Trevor Harris threw for 334 yards and two touchdowns while William Powell rushed for 147 yards and two more scores.
“We just came out flat,” Riders linebacker Samuel Eguavoen said. “Even after the kickoff return, we didn’t have a spark. If we don’t start fast, it’s going to be an uphill battle.”
Saskatchewan came into the game with a league-leading 29 sacks, but failed to register a sack for the first time since losing 40-17 in Ottawa on June 21.
“We’ve been having some great games defensively and forcing turnovers,’’ Eguavoen said. “We just have to understand that some nights aren’t going to be our nights.
“Teams can play conservative and not try to throw us the ball. That’s when we have to play good, sound defence. We have a bunch of maniacs on defence and they want to get that ball. Ottawa is going to test your discipline and that’s what they did.”
Saturday’s game presented an opportunity for the offence to step up with the defence struggling. That often happens with championship-calibre teams.
Once again, the offence wasn’t up for the challenge as the Riders generated only 240 yards offence.
Zach Collaros completed 10 of 27 passes for 162 yards, including a 34yard touchdown toss to Naaman Roosevelt that helped the Riders pare their deficit to five points at 12:18 of the fourth quarter.
The Riders got the ball back once more, but Jonathan Rose intercepted Collaros on the first play of Saskatchewan’s final possession.
“We just didn’t execute the game plan,” Collaros said. “There were plays there to be made and we didn’t make the plays — and that starts with me.”
Rose’s first interception was an example of a missed opportunity by the Riders. Collaros connected with Kyran Moore on a 40-yard pass after the Riders went deep on a third-and-two gamble. On the next play, with the Riders on Ottawa’s 17-yard line, Collaros looked for Joshua Stanford and was intercepted by Rose at the one-yard line.
“When you get down there with our kicker (Brett Lauther), it’s a guaranteed three points,” Collaros said. “I have to make a better decision and throw a better ball.”
The Redblacks proceeded to march 109 yards for a touchdown — a four-yard pass to Diontae Spencer.
The inability of the offence to generate sustained drives led some of the 33,350 spectators at the sold-out game to boo Collaros.
“It’s part of the game and I would boo us too because we were playing pretty bad,” Collaros said.
That wasn’t the case on special teams. In addition to the touchdown by Thigpen, Saskatchewan scored on an 89-yard punt return by Moore.
“Our return teams were very good, with two returns for touchdowns,” said Chris Jones, the Riders’ head coach and general manager. “The offence and defence portions of our team did not play very well at all.”
Saskatchewan is now preparing for back-to-back road games — Saturday against the Toronto Argonauts and Sept. 30 versus the Montreal Alouettes.
The riders’ next home game is oct. 8 versus Edmonton in what could be a showdown for second place.