When playing against the Winnipeg Blue Bombers and they are doing well, a team like the Saskatchewan Roughriders cannot afford bad luck (KeeSean Johnson slipped early in the game) and mistakes (Willie Jefferson blocked a punt). Lastly, you need to be aggressive on offence in the second half of the game.
The Riders lost the Sept. 7 game 26-21.
I thought the Rider defensive strategy of stopping the Bomber running attack, keeping Zach Collaros in the pocket and forcing the Bombers to keep throwing short passes was effective.
Riders head coach Corey Mace said the team was very aware that they are leading the league in giving up explosion pass plays, over 30. They were determined to avoid increasing that number against Winnipeg and succeeded.
The Bombers had some success with short passes but Mace said they got better during the game at reacting and tackling on the checkdown passes of the Bombers.
Confirming the strategy, Marcus Sayles also said they concentrated on avoiding explosive plays.
Winnipeg scored 10 points, two drives into the game but they had only 16 points in the remaining 3 1/2 quarters.
On offence, in the first, third and fourth quarters Trevor Harris went deep more often than he has in recent games. He explained there were certain leverages they could find and if the coverage was what they wanted they took their shots deep.
I thought the difference in the game was that Winnipeg was more willing to take chances on offence.
Over the season the Bombers have been rewarded by going for long field goals with Sergio Castillo hitting two of 60 yards.
When the Riders were at the Bomber 48 in the third quarter Mace chose to punt rather than attempt a 55-yard field goal. He said the previous series they had pinned Winnipeg deep and played good defence. He said he had confidence in Adam Korzak as he is one of the best punters in the league but Korzak kicked it into the end zone for a single and the Bombers were at their 40.
On the risk/reward ratio I expect Winnipeg would have gone for the field goal in that situation.
Playing Winnipeg, possessions are going to be limited in the fourth quarter as they will work hard to run down the clock.
The Riders had three possessions in the final quarter.
On the first possession they moved the ball effectively running on five of their first six plays. When Winnipeg finally stopped a rush Harris went downfield to Shawn Bane Jr. They were stopped on the following first down play when the Bombers made a good play on a deeper route to Sam Emilus. The Riders stopped themselves on the second down with Bane running a crossing route for seven yards when they needed 10 yards.
It was the second possession of the quarter that I thought was the crucial series. Starting with 5:30 on the clock I felt the Rider offence needed to attack to keep the Bomber offence off the field.
The Riders had the Bombers set up for play action on first down. When they ran the ball Frankie Hickson was able to gain but two yards and the Riders were at a disadvantage.
The shovel pass to Kian Schaffer-Baker on the second down was a surprise to me. I was expecting a pass of at least 10 yards to ensure a first down if it was completed.
The third possession saw the Riders with 59 seconds to go and the chance to win.
Harris had a good throw to Schaffer-Baker on the first play for 14 yards.
He was high and incomplete on his next pass to Schaffer-Baker in the same area.
His last pass floated out towards Sam Emilus who was actually stopped near the sideline waiting for the ball when Tyrell Ford dropped off his coverage and intercepted the pass. Harris said they had a clearout route with a flood underneath and he saw the corner drift off and he thought he had enough room to get the ball in and the ball was in the air a long time and Ford made a play on it. Hickson was open to the same side near the line of scrimmage. Harris was looking downfield towards Emilus the whole play.
