By Jack B. Bedell
Week 6: Saskatchewan Roughriders
With 12 quarterback sacks, the Saskatchewan Roughriders are tied with the Alouettes for third place on the CFL’s sack list. Considering all the athleticism fielded on the Riders’ front seven and all of the exotic defensive fronts the team employs, you’d have to figure the Riders were among the league’s top teams defending the pass.
Unfortunately, all that pressure on the quarterback hasn’t translated to success defending the pass thus far in 2010. Heading into week 6, the Roughriders sit at or near the bottom of most statistical categories kept by the league in terms of pass defence.
The Riders: Tighten up defensively
Currently, Saskatchewan has surrendered the most net yards passing this season (1,728), the most yards passing per game on average (345.6), the highest percentage of passes completed (67.6%), the most passing TDs (13), the highest average yards gained per pass (9.5), and the most first downs passing (73).
A good bit of the damage done through the air against the Roughriders’ defence has been by wide receivers catching balls underneath the coverage of Saskatchewan’s cornerbacks, Omarr Morgan and Donovan Alexander. Last week alone, The Ticats’ Arland Bruce III caught a career high 16 passes for 272 yards and a couple of majors.
After watching Bruce’s performance against the Roughriders’ secondary last weekend, I’m very interested in keeping my eye on how the Alouettes utilize their set of talented wideouts in this Friday’s matchup with Saskatchewan.
The Als: Go deep!
In week 1, both Kerry Watkins and Brian Bratton had some success torching the Roughriders’ D. Watkins caught five passes for 106 yards and two TDs while Bratton snagged five balls for 57 yards. Much of that work was done over Donovan Alexander for long gains.
With Bruce pulling in many of his balls last week underneath coverage and then gaining serious yardage after his catches, I’m very eager to see if Watkins and Bratton, and maybe newcomer Tim Maypray, can find similar space to roam in the Riders’ secondary this Friday night.
All three of the Alouettes’ wide receivers have excellent hands and are more than capable of using their speed to break away from defenders. Drag routes across the front of the Riders’ secondary, quick slants, and hitch passes should all be effective this week against Morgan and Alexander.
And while Saskatchewan’s cornerbacks are sticky, physical players, Anthony Calvillo’s timing and his ability to hit his wideouts in stride should really lead to consistent yardage and some big play opportunities.
The Alouettes welcome the Saskatchewan Roughriders to McGill on Aug. 6 at 7:00 pm EST on RDSHD, TSNHD, NRJ, CJAD
