The lead story coming out of the Saskatchewan Roughriders' loss to Toronto has been the fourth-quarter special-teams breakdowns that allowed the Argos to squeak out the win. But while there's always some risk that a couple of big plays will change the course of any game, the biggest question to me looks to be the 'Riders' failure to take enough control of the game to make those types of gimmicks irrelevant.
And it's not like they lacked for opportunities. After first taking the lead by converting two series which started deep in Toronto territory, the 'Riders had three more possessions where they took control of the ball at the Argos' 45-yard-line or closer...but came away with a grand total of three points. And the 'Riders' failure to take advantage of opportunities was even more glaring when they had opportunities to finish off long drives, as three more drives into Argo territory led to a mere two singles.
In all, Saskatchewan effectively gave away points three times by managing to lose yardage or turn the ball over while already in field goal range - more than making up the Argos' margin of victory. And that's not even mentioning the free touchdown the Argos picked up on Jeremy Unertl's early interception.
So the 'Riders did more than enough on defense and special teams to win even taking into account the Argos' trick plays - if only they'd played a competent ball-control game on offence. But a combination of sacks and turnovers kept the 'Riders' point total down to a level where Toronto could hang around in the game, allowing a big play or two could swing the result.
Of course, one can't entirely blame the offence for trying to put the Argos away rather than playing it safe: after all, a low-risk, low-reward strategy has its own costs if the opponent is able to respond to field goals with touchdowns. But the last couple of drives of the game notwithstanding, there was seldom much indication that the Argos' offence was capable of doing much beyond grinding out the occasional first down or two in a field-position battle - meaning that if ever there was a time to use a conservative offence and tough out a low-score win, yesterday's game was it.
And again, the defence more than held up its end of the bargain. Yes, it would have been a plus to stop Cory Boyd on the last series of the game - but until then the 'Riders' had been more than respectable against the CFL's top rushing threat, limiting any big plays and forcing a huge fumble. And Cleo Lemon spent most of the game either dumping short passes to his running backs or giving up on plays entirely. Which means that unlike in most games, the 'Riders didn't have to choose between forcing turnovers and limiting offensive gains.
In contrast, the special teams saw an obvious tradeoff between effectiveness on standard plays and the ability to control big plays - with the Argos' two fourth-quarter first downs and blocked field goal all looking like serious breakdowns. But at that shouldn't entirely overshadow the fact that the 'Riders were able to put up a solid coverage performance against the league's most dangerous special-teams threat, and also return the ball fairly effectively even with their own main returner out of the lineup. So while there may be a need for a dash more awareness of the trick play, it's hard to see much else that needs changing going into next week's showdown with Calgary.
What does obviously need to change, however, is the offence's effectiveness - both in avoiding costly mistakes, and converting its opportunities. And while Darian Durant has already broken out of one slump against the Stamps this year, there would be far more reason for confidence going into next week's game if he wasn't coming off a downright counterproductive performance.
No comments:
Post a Comment