July 3, 2017

The Roughriders’ defence is seeking consistency

The Saskatchewan Roughriders’ defence has been in a boom-or-bust situation so far this season.

Unfortunately for the Roughriders, the busts have outnumbered the booms.

Opposing receivers have run free through the Saskatchewan secondary at times during the CFL team’s first two games. Those coverage busts have been costly for the Roughriders, who lost both contests.

“Initially, it’s frustrating (when receivers are uncovered), but you’ve got to go back and look to see exactly where the mistake was,” Roughriders cornerback Kacy Rodgers II said after Saturday’s 43-40, double-overtime loss to the Winnipeg Blue Bombers at Mosaic Stadium.

“It’s not a game where we point fingers. Everyone’s accountable. We lost as a team. We lost as a defence. We gave up big plays as a secondary. There’s no blame game or finger-pointing. But we’ve got to use that frustration to our advantage and make more plays.”

In the Roughriders’ 17-16 loss to the Montreal Alouettes on June 22, receiver B.J. Cunningham was wide open before catching a 65-yard touchdown pass from Darian Durant to open the scoring.

In Saturday’s loss, Saskatchewan left receiver Weston Dressler uncovered on two straight Winnipeg possessions. Dressler’s two TD catches 37 seconds apart helped the Bombers turn a 17-13 halftime deficit into a 27-17 lead four minutes into the second half.

Roughriders head coach-GM Chris Jones, who also is the team’s defensive co-ordinator, said his defence played only five different coverages against Winnipeg and still made errors.

“We play too hard to allow that to happen,” said Jones, who admitted he was frustrated by the situation. “We’ve got to get better at that. We’ve got to coach it better and we’ve got to play it better.

“We can play good defence some of the time,” he added. “We’ve got to learn to play good defence all the time.”

The Roughriders were solid on D to start Saturday’s game, holding Winnipeg without a first down until the 2:10 mark of the second quarter. The Bombers’ first five possessions ended in four punts and one interception.

Winnipeg advanced 25 yards (including 10 via a penalty against the Roughriders) on its sixth possession, which ended with a Justin Medlock field goal. The Bombers’ next two drives were two-and-outs followed by punts, but their subsequent possession was a seven-play, 67-yard march that led to a touchdown pass from Matt Nichols to Darvin Adams.

After a Sam Hurl interception, a 33-yard pass from Nichols to Clarence Denmark set up another Medlock field goal that completed the first-half scoring.

Winnipeg ran 38 plays in the first half and gained 137 yards of net offence. The Bombers punted six times in the opening 30 minutes and scored 13 points.

But the wheels fell off for the Roughriders’ defence early in the third quarter.

Two plays into Winnipeg’s first possession, Nichols found a wide-open Dressler for an 87-yard pass-and-run TD. Saskatchewan’s Greg Morris fumbled the ensuing kickoff and, one play later, Nichols hit an uncovered Dressler in the end for a nine-yard score.

“Those types of plays are going to happen through the course of a season,” Rodgers said of blown coverages. “Obviously we want to do our best to limit them, but those things happen — and when they do happen, we have to bounce back.

“We can’t let it continue to happen, especially going forward. (Opposing offences) are going to make their plays, but we have to be better on defence.”

The Bombers scored on their next two possessions as well — one touchdown, one field goal — to take a 37-23 lead. The Roughriders rallied to force overtime, but ultimately fell short.

Winnipeg had 10 possessions over the second half and two overtime periods. The Bombers ran 38 plays, gained 255 yards, scored 30 points and punted three times after halftime.

“If one play or two plays go differently, that outcome is different,” said Roughriders defensive tackle Zach Minter, who had one of the team’s four sacks in the game. “It’s not really what we did or what they did (during the Bombers’ offensive eruption). It’s how we finish.”

The Roughriders have tried myriad things on defence, ranging from rushing only three men to bringing a variety of blitzes to disguising different coverages. Some have worked and some haven’t.

Jones believes he has the right players with whom to work, but they have yet to develop the consistency required for sustained success.

He noted the Roughriders’ personnel compare favourably to that of a team like the Ottawa Redblacks, but the defending Grey Cup champions currently have an advantage on Saskatchewan.

“They don’t bust as much as what we bust,” Jones said. “We’ve just got to be consistent defensively.

“I’m like Kevin (Glenn, who tried to accept the blame for Saturday’s loss because he threw two interceptions). If we play great defence, we win the football game. (If the offensive players) score that many points, we ought to win the football game.”

Asked if consistency can be coached, Jones pointed the finger at himself.

“We need to coach them better,” he replied. “We need to make them have a better understanding of everything that we do, of the importance of everything that we do, so that they take it to the field. I’m going to put it on me and I’m going to coach it better.”