Arthur Ward/CFL.ca
The Roughriders defence has done a lot well this season. They’ve scored touchdowns, turned over the ball and have been a large reason, if not the largest reason, the team is 8-5 and holding on, right now, to a home playoff game.
But good isn’t good enough for the man who not only runs the football operations but the defence as well: Chris Jones.
The Head Coach and Defensive Coordinator has been saying for weeks that the defence has been unimpressive in his eyes.
When all people want to ask about are the struggles on offence, Jones wants to talk about the struggles on defence.
Yeah, they get a big play every once and a while but Jones isn’t letting wins and the odd big play hide the fact his once impenetrable defence has developed a few holes.
RELATED:
» Buy Tickets: Saskatchewan at Montreal
» Naaman Roosevelt sidelined vs. Montreal a precaution
» Start vs. Sit: Big return anticipated with Thigpen
» By the Numbers: Hughes leads sack race
Charleston Hughes leads the league in sacks with 13 (Arthur Ward/CFL.ca)
The offence shouldn’t get a pass from criticism. There is a lot left to be desired from that side of the ball.
But Jones is seeing a trend he knows could lead to disaster if it continues. The defence just isn’t as good as it was earlier in the season. Jones says ‘since the break’, they haven’t played as well as they did before.
You may think that strange as the Riders have gone 5-1 ‘since the break’. They were 3-4 before their second bye week of the season.
There are numbers the Riders have improved in on defence. Turnovers being one as they’ve gone from a -2 before the break to a +7 after.
Riders Loucheiz Purifoy says with the athletes they have on defence, there are going to be turnovers and big plays created but Purifoy also agrees with Jones because of one thing.
Communication.
“We’d could be that much better if we could communicate with each other and not leave people open, wide open down the field, and not miss our assignments,” admitted the veteran defensive back in his first year in Saskatchewan.
But what concerns Chris Jones is the yards they continue to give up. It’s the most common stat Jones cites when he starts criticizing his defence.
After seven games, the Riders were allowing just over 300 yards per game. In their last six games, they’ve allowed 377 per game.
They’ve allowed more yards on the ground and in the air since the break.
In fact, the Riders have allowed over 350 yards of offence in their last four games. Something they only did twice in their first 11 games of the season.
Willie Jefferson celebrates during a game at Mosaic Stadium (Arthur Ward/CFL.ca)
The only silver lining is it hasn’t resulted in a bunch more points given up. Only a change of about one more point per game.
But down the stretch, Jones knows what is coming following this week against Montreal, who rank last in a lot of offensive categories.
The Riders will play Edmonton, Winnipeg, Calgary and BC in their final four games to try to hold on to a home playoff game. The first three just so happen to be the three top scoring teams in the CFL and the BC Lions offence has started to find a spark and are lighting up the scoreboard a little more in the back half of the season.
Jones continues to start the week of prep for the Riders defence by showing their series of mistakes in the film room. The reason is to bring them back to reality as a team that has won five of their last six are in danger of starting to read the headlines, pat each other on the back and build up bad habits in doing so.
Jones has seen it before, all coaches and players in football have.
Fighting against human nature to start to ease off when things are going well may be among the toughest things coaches have to do.
So far Jones has done an amicable job, although he won’t think so until the yards given up by his defence starts to drop.
As for the Riders offence? So far their best offence has been a strong defence.
