Sunday, August 01, 2010

Sunday Morning 'Rider Blogging

Another game, another fairly solid win that could easily have been a blowout in the Saskatchewan Roughriders' favour. But there's reason for optimism both that the 'Riders have fixed a couple of their nagging weaknesses, and that they can remedy their current problems by digging into their existing playbook.

The main story coming out of the game was the 'Riders' inability to convert drives, with three separate trips inside the Hamilton 5 resulting in a field goal or less (and another two just barely turning into touchdowns). But while Hamilton deserves credit for some highly effective short-yardage defence, it's worth noting that the 'Riders would seem to have the ability to improve their chances of scoring by using some strategies that have been far more effective in the past.

After all, it's been well noted that the 'Riders have had a stellar track record on two-point conversions: given one play to score from the 5-yard-line, Darien Durant's offence hasn't been stopped a single time over the past two years. So why would the 'Riders have any trouble scoring with three chances starting from the 3 or closer?

The main problem seems to be a choice to play it safe in a couple of ways. On first down and on subsequent plays within a couple of yards of the end zone, the 'Riders regularly ran into the teeth of the defence - ensuring that the Ticats needed only a strong push from the line to hold the 'Riders back.

And in what's surely a somewhat related factor, the 'Riders were shockingly reluctant to let Darien Durant use his scrambling ability near the goal line. Every play after Durant's lone interception was apparently designed for either a handoff or a lob from the pocket into the back of the end zone - with the result that Durant had neither any chance to take the ball into the end zone himself, nor any angles for a quick pass to catch the secondary by surprise.

Fortunately, there would seem to be an obvious solution. Rather than fixating on playing it safe when that means making the defence's job far easier than it should be, why not use the 'Riders' two-point conversion playbook as their default option on plays outside the opponents' 1, treating the extra downs as bonus chances in case the first try doesn't work? At the very least, that would bring some of the 'Riders' key offensive strengths back into play - and as an added bonus, it would soften up the interior of the defence for when they do decide to try to pound the ball into the end zone.

Aside from its trouble converting drives, the other issue for Saskatchewan's offence was the success Hamilton's defensive backs had at times in timing and deflecting Durant's longer passes. This too looks to go to some predictability that's creeping into the 'Riders' offence - but should be easily fixed by relying somewhat less on rainbow passes and proportionally more on direct strikes underneath.

On defence, the obvious story was Arland Bruce's huge game, which feeds into the problems I've mentioned earlier with the 'Riders' ability to stop a single top speed receiver. But at this point, it's worth wondering whether that should be considered an acceptable price for combining Gary Etcheverry's trademark pass rush and push for turnovers with a generally effective run defence. After all, the 'Riders have now given up the two biggest individual receiving performances in the league this season (and three of the top five) - and have won each of those games.

Of course, the tip interceptions by Luc Mullinder and Lance Frazier did wonders for the 'Riders' chances in countering Hamilton's attack - and one can't particularly credit the defensive scheme for basic mistakes by the Ticats' receivers. But both Mullinder and Frazier did have to make brilliant plays to take advantage of those opportunities. And if there's a tradeoff to be made between the preparation needed to scheme to slow down a receiver like Bruce and that used to take advantage of chances to take the ball away from the opponents, I'd have to think the 'Riders have made the right call.

Meanwhile, the special teams had their best game of the year by far on all fronts. The most obvious strengths were Luca Congi's seven field goals along with Neal Hughes' blocked punt. But two other areas which may make for more consistent advantages are worth highlighting as well.

First, Eddie Johnson's kickoff distance was superb throughout the game - leading to two free points for the 'Riders as Marcus Thigpen was forced to retreat into his end zone. As it happened, the game wasn't close enough for those points to make a huge difference - but it's always worth taking whatever advantage a team can get.

And second, Dominique Dorsey had by far his best game of the year. Instead of letting punts bounce around as he had earlier, Dorsey managed to cash in on two fifteen-yard no-yards penalties, which combined with a couple of solid returns to help the 'Riders to better field position than they've enjoyed for ages. Of course, the 'Riders' opponents figure to notice that pattern and back off based on the knowledge that Dorsey isn't going to give them the benefit of a reduced penalty for getting too close. But that should only make it easier for Dorsey to find the blocks he'll need to break returns more consistently.

With Montreal looming next, the 'Riders will need to make sure both Dorsey and the offence are firing on all cylinders as they were in week 1. But yesterday's performance once again seemed to signal a team on the cusp of dominance - and Saskatchewan will surely be looking forward to seeing whether that holds up against the league's other top team from the past couple of seasons.

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