The final minutes, especially the last three, of Canadian Football League games are the critical minutes for decisions by CFL Head Coaches.
the Aug. 6 game, featuring the Saskatchewan Roughriders and the Ottawa Redblacks was a great example. The Riders won 26-24.
With just over six minutes to go and trailing by two points, the Redblacks were third and what appeared to be 2 at the Rider 24. Redblack head coach Bob Dyce pointedly told me it was 1.5 yards. He said they wanted to score a touchdown. He felt they would get the first down.
Backup quarterback Tyrone Pigrome went to the right side and tried to jump. He was met by Larry Dean and driven back short of the first down. Jumping is rarely a good decision for a quarterback sneak. There is no ability to drive with the legs when contact comes.
Talking about short yardage action Rider defensive tackle Micah Johnson said it is easier to stop a head-on sneak. On this play, he said the Rider defence, as it likes to do, squeezed down toward the middle to force the quarterback to bubble out laterally.
The next major decision was for Riders head coach Craig Dickenson with the Riders at third and 1 on their 19 yard line with 2:08 left in the game. Dickinson equally thought the Riders would make it despite having given up two turnovers, including one for a touchdown, on short yardage. If it failed he thought there would be enough time to score if the defence held Ottawa to a field goal.
After three hours of reflection on the drive home I think the Riders should have punted. Gambling deep in your territory, while still in the lead is not a good idea. With the thinking that the defence can hold Ottawa to no more than 1-2 first downs a kick would mean that with a good punt, Adam Korsak was averaging over 50 yards a punt, the Redblacks would either be stopped outside field goal range or be forced to attempt a long field goal.
I was more unsettled by Dickenson having gone with Jake Dolegala on short yardage, then going with Mason Fine and then coming back to Dolegala. He said that if they want to go quicker on third down it will be Fine. After watching Dolegala struggle earlier, I thought they should just have gone with Fine.
Three plays later, with 1:25 to go, it was back to Dyce on whether to gamble on third and goal from the Rider 1 or go for the field goal. He opted for the field goal. He said he wanted to go up in the score and had great confidence in his defence.
Dyce confused every reporter at his post-game press conference when he said he let the guys down but it was not over this decision. He said his regret was letting the kickoff after the field goal go to Mario Alford. I agreed it was a poor kicking decision but the real problem was not going for the touchdown. If you cannot score then you have confidence in your defence that they will stop the Riders and you will still have time to kick a field goal. I consider the risk of the Riders moving the ball into field goal position after an Ottawa field goal greater than gaining a first down from the 1.
Dickenson summed up the thoughts of everyone on the Rider side of the field with regard to Dyce’s decision when he said he was relieved there was no Ottawa sneak from the one-yard line.
The final decision was for Dickenson with the Riders 3rd and 10 at the Redblack 46 with 0:36 to go. He chose to have Brent Lauther go for a 54 yard field goal rather than gamble on third down. Going for the kick was the best decision whether or not Lauther made it. There were better odds for a successful kick than for a first down. Dickenson said Lauther had been very confident the whole game and had told him he was good from 55 yards. Lauther told me in pre-game practice he had hit a pair from 60 yards going the other way. He said he knew it was going through as soon as he hit it.
On the four decisions, I thought Dyce showed inexperience as a head coach being overconfident and then under confident. I felt Dickenson risked too much at the 19 and was absolutely right on going for the long field goal.
Bill Selnes, who’s based in Melfort, has written about the Saskatchewan Roughriders since the late 1970s. He was inducted into the Canadian Football Hall of Fame, Football Reporters of Canada wing on Nov. 24, 2013.
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