No, the most important factor in the Saskatchewan Roughriders' loss to Edmonton shouldn't come as much surprise.
As I noted last week, the Eskimos are one of a few CFL teams plainly built around a model of forcing and capitalizing on turnovers. And on Saturday, the 'Riders obliged by handing Edmonton the ball in scoring position in many different ways: four times Edmonton was able to start drives inside the Saskatchewan 40, and the 17 points scored on those possessions matched the final margin of victory.
But more worrisome for the 'Riders was the fact that some of their usual strengths were nowhere to be found.
Saskatchewan's recent winning streak had been based largely on controlling the line of scrimmage on both sides of the ball. But against Edmonton, that advantage disappeared.
While the 'Riders ended up with reasonable counting statistics both on the ground and through the air, their offence did little to control the line or the ball until the latter part of the third quarter.
Meanwhile, the Eskimos' offensive line was able to clear space for Hugh Charles seemingly at will
- even when the Esks went into in prevent mode in the fourth quarter.
And the 'Riders' pass defence also wasn't up to its usual standard of performance. Yes, a couple of questionable pass interference penalties helped the Eskimos out at key junctures. But the Esks managed to move the ball through the air with relatively little trouble even without taking those calls into account - ensuring the 'Riders had few opportunities to make up the ground they gave away early.
And as for the special teams which have been a strength through most of the season...well, I'll simply say they were nothing of the sort against Edmonton.
Unfortunately, Saturday's loss makes a home playoff game into a remote possibility at best for the 'Riders. Which means that in order to get anywhere in the postseason, Saskatchewan will need to figure out how to do in the playoffs what it couldn't do this weekend: win tough games on the road while at a disadvantage in preparation time.
Showing posts with label hugh charles. Show all posts
Showing posts with label hugh charles. Show all posts
Monday, October 15, 2012
Sunday, August 14, 2011
Sunday Morning 'Rider Blogging
In the wake of Friday's loss to Calgary, there seem to be some stunningly short-sighted theories flying around. So let's point out that the game featured plenty of good news when it comes to building the 'Riders for this season any beyond - even if it did also provide ample evidence that there's room for improvement.
To start with, anybody even considering the possibility of replacing Darian Durant with Ryan Dinwiddie needs to have their Monday morning quarterbacking privileges revoked.
Yes, Dinwiddie put together one good series once the game was out of reach, while Durant threw a single costly interception. But Durant once again completed over two thirds of his passes, while adding a few more deep completions to the mix than he had for a few weeks. And most importantly, Durant made plenty of the types of plays that set him apart from any other quarterback in the CFL - regularly avoiding what seemed like sure sacks, and this time turning a good number of those seemingly broken plays into positive yardage.
Of course, the receiving corps was somewhat better than usual in converting Durant's wizardry into passing yardage. And the thanks goes in large part to a development that caught me by surprise.
When I put together a list of receivers who might help to fill in the 'Riders' gaps this season, I left off Efrem Hill based on the theory that an import with unexceptional size and speed who couldn't cut it with the Eskimos likely wouldn't be anything more than a replacement-level player. And until this week, nothing in Hill's game seemed to suggest otherwise - particularly when some glaring mental errors were added to the mix.
But in Friday's game, Hill constantly found ways to get open, and did a brilliant job of converting when Durant threw the ball his way. And as long as he can keep up even a reasonable facsimile of that performance, he should have no trouble holding onto at least a complementary job no matter which additional receivers work their way onto the 'Riders this year.
Similarly, Hugh Charles took advantage of his best chance to prove himself as a starting running back by providing more explosiveness than the 'Riders have seen since Kenton Keith's prime, while also holding onto the ball without any apparent trouble. And that should not only give the 'Riders confidence in his performance while Wes Cates is hurt, but also signal that they can count on Charles in a platoon role once Cates returns.
Of course, if the offensive story had all been a matter of good news, the 'Riders wouldn't have spent the entire game trying to climb out of a hole. And while the largest culprit put up some numbers after the game was out of reach, James Robinson seems to have offered reason for the 'Riders to look for a replacement as soon as humanly possible.
Yes, Robinson drew a couple of penalties which helped to move the 'Riders into scoring position. But there's a reason why the name of the position is "receiver" rather than "interference magnet" - and aside from his late-game receptions from Dinwiddie, Robinson has shown little ability to actually catch the ball, combined with a maddening propensity for being in the wrong place at the wrong time. Which means that he, not Terrence Nunn, should be the first receiver benched for one of the 'Riders' newer acquisitions - though Nunn too has plenty left to prove.
As for the defence, I'm a bit less concerned with Saskatchewan's early-game performance than some commentators. Unfortunately, the streaky Stampeder offence tends to go through a spell or two per season where it can't be slowed down let alone stopped. And the first half of Friday's game looks to have been one of those times: the 'Riders put some heat on an elusive quarterback, made most of their tackles and didn't leave a lot of open receivers, but Henry Burris was nonetheless able to find the right read on nearly every play to give the Stamps a lead they wouldn't relinquish.
At most, one might say the secondary could have gambled a bit more on the theory that it wasn't going to stop Calgary by playing straight-up defence. But the best bet against the Stamps probably is to let Burris beat himself - and I'm not sure the defence could have done more than to maximize the chances of that happening by forcing Burris into extended drives.
Meanwhile, there was one bit of unqualified good news on the defensive side of the ball, as Shomari Williams applied plenty of pressure against Burris in his opportunity to replace the departed Luc Mullinder. And no matter what happens the rest of the season, the 'Riders should work an ensuring that Williams can work on doing the same consistently as one of the team's Canadian cornerstones.
In sum, there's plenty of reason for frustration with both the 'Riders' record and how they've reached it. But the right move for a rebuilding team is to recognize the pieces which can support something stronger - not to tear down a useful foundation. And there's still little reason to think there's much structurally wrong with the 'Riders.
To start with, anybody even considering the possibility of replacing Darian Durant with Ryan Dinwiddie needs to have their Monday morning quarterbacking privileges revoked.
Yes, Dinwiddie put together one good series once the game was out of reach, while Durant threw a single costly interception. But Durant once again completed over two thirds of his passes, while adding a few more deep completions to the mix than he had for a few weeks. And most importantly, Durant made plenty of the types of plays that set him apart from any other quarterback in the CFL - regularly avoiding what seemed like sure sacks, and this time turning a good number of those seemingly broken plays into positive yardage.
Of course, the receiving corps was somewhat better than usual in converting Durant's wizardry into passing yardage. And the thanks goes in large part to a development that caught me by surprise.
When I put together a list of receivers who might help to fill in the 'Riders' gaps this season, I left off Efrem Hill based on the theory that an import with unexceptional size and speed who couldn't cut it with the Eskimos likely wouldn't be anything more than a replacement-level player. And until this week, nothing in Hill's game seemed to suggest otherwise - particularly when some glaring mental errors were added to the mix.
But in Friday's game, Hill constantly found ways to get open, and did a brilliant job of converting when Durant threw the ball his way. And as long as he can keep up even a reasonable facsimile of that performance, he should have no trouble holding onto at least a complementary job no matter which additional receivers work their way onto the 'Riders this year.
Similarly, Hugh Charles took advantage of his best chance to prove himself as a starting running back by providing more explosiveness than the 'Riders have seen since Kenton Keith's prime, while also holding onto the ball without any apparent trouble. And that should not only give the 'Riders confidence in his performance while Wes Cates is hurt, but also signal that they can count on Charles in a platoon role once Cates returns.
Of course, if the offensive story had all been a matter of good news, the 'Riders wouldn't have spent the entire game trying to climb out of a hole. And while the largest culprit put up some numbers after the game was out of reach, James Robinson seems to have offered reason for the 'Riders to look for a replacement as soon as humanly possible.
Yes, Robinson drew a couple of penalties which helped to move the 'Riders into scoring position. But there's a reason why the name of the position is "receiver" rather than "interference magnet" - and aside from his late-game receptions from Dinwiddie, Robinson has shown little ability to actually catch the ball, combined with a maddening propensity for being in the wrong place at the wrong time. Which means that he, not Terrence Nunn, should be the first receiver benched for one of the 'Riders' newer acquisitions - though Nunn too has plenty left to prove.
As for the defence, I'm a bit less concerned with Saskatchewan's early-game performance than some commentators. Unfortunately, the streaky Stampeder offence tends to go through a spell or two per season where it can't be slowed down let alone stopped. And the first half of Friday's game looks to have been one of those times: the 'Riders put some heat on an elusive quarterback, made most of their tackles and didn't leave a lot of open receivers, but Henry Burris was nonetheless able to find the right read on nearly every play to give the Stamps a lead they wouldn't relinquish.
At most, one might say the secondary could have gambled a bit more on the theory that it wasn't going to stop Calgary by playing straight-up defence. But the best bet against the Stamps probably is to let Burris beat himself - and I'm not sure the defence could have done more than to maximize the chances of that happening by forcing Burris into extended drives.
Meanwhile, there was one bit of unqualified good news on the defensive side of the ball, as Shomari Williams applied plenty of pressure against Burris in his opportunity to replace the departed Luc Mullinder. And no matter what happens the rest of the season, the 'Riders should work an ensuring that Williams can work on doing the same consistently as one of the team's Canadian cornerstones.
In sum, there's plenty of reason for frustration with both the 'Riders' record and how they've reached it. But the right move for a rebuilding team is to recognize the pieces which can support something stronger - not to tear down a useful foundation. And there's still little reason to think there's much structurally wrong with the 'Riders.
Sunday, September 19, 2010
Sunday Morning 'Rider Blogging
Most of the discussion following the 'Riders' stunning victory over Calgary has revolved around Ken Miller's odd decision to try to win the game with a punt single rather than a 35-yard field goal. But while that choice was certainly an odd one, the bigger story in the game was that the 'Riders were in a position to win to begin with against a team that had been demolishing all comers - and that they did it by adding elements to their offence that had seldom been seen in 2010.
Keep in mind that Calgary's defensive success over the past few years has been based largely on its being willing to trust the Stamps' secondary in regular man-to-man coverage - accepting slightly greater vulnerability to big plays if an offence could beat a top-level defensive back as the price of having more defenders available to load up the line of scrimmage. And Calgary has been more successful than ever this season in making that tradeoff work to their advantage.
Which looked to create serious problems for a Saskatchewan offence which hadn't made effective use of long passes in recent memory, and whose already-porous line seemed likely to let Calgary's defenders get to Darian Durant before he'd have time to set up deep throws. But the 'Riders managed to create just enough time for Durant to get the ball away on plenty of deep routes. And from there, a combination of great plays by the 'Riders' receivers and perfect timing or luck resulted in the 'Riders completing as many long (50-yard) passing plays as they had in their previous 10 games combined - not to mention putting up a total of 12 20+ yard gains based on a combination of passes to four different receivers and runs by Durant and Hugh Charles.
While the 'Riders amassed some yardage with more conventional offence as well, I don't think there's much room to argue that they would have come close to the Stamps if they hadn't put such a constant emphasis on big plays. Durant posted what has to be a remarkably low number of completions (23) and completion percentage (59%) for a 500-yard game, while Wes Cates was once again shut down on the ground. So the 'Riders had little choice but to match the Stamps' high-risk, high-reward defence with an equally aggressive offence - and the gamble obviously paid off.
Meanwhile, the 'Riders' defence fared about as well as can be expected against Calgary's high-powered offence. While 30 offensive points (plus a touchdown off a turnover) is normally more than a team can afford to give up, the 'Riders held the Stamps to a thoroughly mediocre ground performance, and managed to stop Henry Burris' passing attack as well when it counted most.
The bad news for the 'Riders is that their plan of attack against Calgary doesn't figure to work all that well against any other CFL team - meaning that if they plan to rely on winning shootouts in the future, they have plenty of work to do adding accuracy to their mid-range offensive game. But it's still a huge plus to see Durant's offence going toe-to-toe with one of the league's elite defences and producing enough long-range fireworks to win - and that looks to be a more important story going forward than the late-game maneuverings that nearly blew the 'Riders' chance to win.
Keep in mind that Calgary's defensive success over the past few years has been based largely on its being willing to trust the Stamps' secondary in regular man-to-man coverage - accepting slightly greater vulnerability to big plays if an offence could beat a top-level defensive back as the price of having more defenders available to load up the line of scrimmage. And Calgary has been more successful than ever this season in making that tradeoff work to their advantage.
Which looked to create serious problems for a Saskatchewan offence which hadn't made effective use of long passes in recent memory, and whose already-porous line seemed likely to let Calgary's defenders get to Darian Durant before he'd have time to set up deep throws. But the 'Riders managed to create just enough time for Durant to get the ball away on plenty of deep routes. And from there, a combination of great plays by the 'Riders' receivers and perfect timing or luck resulted in the 'Riders completing as many long (50-yard) passing plays as they had in their previous 10 games combined - not to mention putting up a total of 12 20+ yard gains based on a combination of passes to four different receivers and runs by Durant and Hugh Charles.
While the 'Riders amassed some yardage with more conventional offence as well, I don't think there's much room to argue that they would have come close to the Stamps if they hadn't put such a constant emphasis on big plays. Durant posted what has to be a remarkably low number of completions (23) and completion percentage (59%) for a 500-yard game, while Wes Cates was once again shut down on the ground. So the 'Riders had little choice but to match the Stamps' high-risk, high-reward defence with an equally aggressive offence - and the gamble obviously paid off.
Meanwhile, the 'Riders' defence fared about as well as can be expected against Calgary's high-powered offence. While 30 offensive points (plus a touchdown off a turnover) is normally more than a team can afford to give up, the 'Riders held the Stamps to a thoroughly mediocre ground performance, and managed to stop Henry Burris' passing attack as well when it counted most.
The bad news for the 'Riders is that their plan of attack against Calgary doesn't figure to work all that well against any other CFL team - meaning that if they plan to rely on winning shootouts in the future, they have plenty of work to do adding accuracy to their mid-range offensive game. But it's still a huge plus to see Durant's offence going toe-to-toe with one of the league's elite defences and producing enough long-range fireworks to win - and that looks to be a more important story going forward than the late-game maneuverings that nearly blew the 'Riders' chance to win.
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