Vanstone on Riders’ running game.
REGINA — The Saskatchewan Roughriders were determined to neutralize one of the league’s premier tailbacks — namely their own.
Kory Sheets was routinely rendered a bystander as the Roughriders lost 29-25 to the host Calgary Stampeders in Saturday night’s CFL game.
Sheets was handed the ball only 11 times in Saskatchewan’s biggest game of the season to date. Given the imbalance in the offensive blueprint, the result of the game was not at all surprising.
The biggest surprise, in fact, was the closeness of the game, considering the predictable play-calling. If not for a robust defensive effort by the Roughriders, it would have been a debacle. In some ways, it was. The Roughriders’ only explosiveness of the game was evident on the sideline, where there were fireworks between a seething Sheets and offensive co-ordinator George Cortez following yet another futile possession by the visiting team.
It was that kind of night. The only notable exchange involving Sheets occurred near the bench.
Sheets was livid when the Roughriders failed to score a touchdown after a second-quarter fumble recovery by Tearrius George had given Saskatchewan a gift-wrapped first down on Calgary’s five-yard line.
On first down, a pass to Scott McHenry was incomplete.
On second down, Roughriders quarterback Darian Durant was predictably felled by Cordarro Law, who registered one of Calgary’s seven sacks.
On third down, Chris Milo kicked a 20-yard field goal that reduced Calgary’s lead to 10-6.
At that point, Sheets had touched the ball on only three of Saskatchewan’s first 15 plays from scrimmage. That is the very same Sheets who Durant has correctly referred to as the Riders’ offensive “engine.”
The engine was a motormouth on the sidelines while voicing his displeasure to Cortez. Sheets had every right to lament his lack of deployment. But he was dead wrong to react in that manner, with the country’s football fans watching on TSN, and publicly embarrassing his coach.
The volcanic outburst didn’t change very much. Sheets was used on only five of the Roughriders’ 28 offensive plays (including one failed two-point conversion attempt) during the first half. He rushed four times for nine yards and caught one pass for a loss of two.
The second half was not much better. Sheets was handed the ball on only seven of Saskatchewan’s 26 plays during the final 30 minutes.
Even when Sheets did touch the ball, the offence struggled. He had a mere 42 yards to show for 11 carries. Nonetheless, the lack of a commitment to the running game restricted the Roughriders’ options on a night when they eked out 212 yards of net offence.
“If you’re running the ball and you’re not effective when you’re running it, you don’t keep doing it,” Roughriders head coach Corey Chamblin said at Regina International Airport on Sunday. “We’ve got to be effective in whatever we do and that’s run or pass.”
On many occasions this season, the Roughriders have been patient with the running game even when it has been ineffective in the early stages.
In Week 2, for example, Sheets was held in check during the first half of a home game against Calgary, gaining 30 yards over his first eight carries. The Roughriders trailed 21-14 at halftime of that July 5 game, but that did not deter Cortez from prescribing a run-oriented attack. They ended up winning 36-21 with Sheets carrying 18 times for 103 yards in the second half.
Moral of the story: Run the ball.
When the Roughriders did rediscover their offensive identity, they marched 78 yards in six plays en route to a touchdown — a 28-yard pass from Durant to Taj Smith. Milo’s convert, with 5:05 remaining in the fourth quarter, gave Saskatchewan a 25-22 lead. End of highlight reel.
Sheets carried the ball on three of those six plays, for gains of five, three and seven yards. The first two runs moved the chains on secondand-short. The seven-yarder, on first-and-10, became a 22yard gain when a face-masking penalty was applied. Durant then found Smith in the end zone.
It is hardly accidental that Sheets was showcased on the Roughriders’ one sustained drive of an evening that was otherwise an ordeal, at least from an offensive perspective.
Perhaps the Roughriders can extract a lesson from that one impressive drive and use Saturday’s eyesore to their advantage once the playoffs arrive.
The Roughriders cannot lose sight of their bread and butter. Otherwise, they will soon be toast.