Photo courtesy: Saskatchewan Roughriders
The Edmonton Elks came out of the bye week with Cody Fajardo at QB1 and produced exactly the same result.
With only four points in the first half, there are likely to be a lot of people who thought a switch should have happened at halftime. Unfortunately, Edmonton did not have another offensive line to come in and stop the bleeding. The 21-18 score in favour of the Saskatchewan Roughriders flattered the visitors.
Here are my thoughts on the game.
Why dress running backs?
After the B.C. Lions game, I laid some blame at the feet of defensive coordinator J.C. Sherritt for the bad performances. Five straight games with the opponent scoring more than 30 points will bring that question up. This week, though, I need to put my full attention on offensive coordinator Jordan Maksymic.
After the strength of the offence last year was in being a balanced attack, the last two games have seen Edmonton completely abandon the run game, leaving both quarterbacks in awful positions. I know that Maksymic had success with Lions’ QBs Nathan Rourke and Vernon Adams Jr, especially with the long pass. That is not working in Edmonton.
Handing the ball off only five times in each of the last two games is a dreadful use of one of the strengths of this team. The Roughriders knew they could pin their ears back without any threat of a run game, and Cody Fajardo paid the price. Not employing much of a short pass game to keep any defence guessing only increased the pressure.
At this point, if you aren’t going to use the running backs’ abilities, just start seven offensive linemen and four receivers. Might as well try to give some kind of time for a play to develop that you want to happen so badly.
Fajardo fought through the pressure to have a decent night. Seeing how this played out, maybe who is playing quarterback isn’t the problem. Failing to build an offence that gives the starter the ability to use their talents might be.
Fajardo returns to Regina
Two and a half years ago, Cody Fajardo was dumped out of Saskatchewan and joined the Montreal Alouettes. Every time the Als went to Regina, though, Cody was injured and not able to play against his old squad. Friday night was his return.
Despite the struggles of the play calling and offensive line, Cody did Cody things and was able to put up 346 yards and two touchdowns. There were some magnificent plays downfield to Zach Mathis, Steven Dunbar Jr., and Kaion Julien-Grant. The fact that the nine-year veteran knows how to deal with pressure was on full display with his throws being on target.
After six drives ending in punts through the second and third quarters, the Nevada product put up two huge touchdowns in the fourth. His decision-making to run or find a throwing lane seemed to get better as the game went on, and it almost looked like one of the comebacks he had done so well at Mosaic before.
After the game, head coach Mark Kilam confirmed that “Cody is the starter going forward.” No need to be guessing this week. Fajardo did earn another chance.
Defence steps up
The Green and Gold defence suffered a couple of big injuries two weeks ago, with safety Royce Metchie and boundary cornerback Devodric Bynum both going down. Against B.C., that left some gaping holes that Nathan Rourke took advantage of.
Insert Kenny Logan Jr. at safety and J.J. Ross at corner this week, allowing rookie Chelen Garnes to move back to the strong-side linebacker. I admit I was skeptical of this lineup, but Ross and Logan Jr. made some great plays. They were picked on by veteran quarterback Trevor Harris, but a lot of clean tackles or disruptions kept the damage limited.
Nick Anderson, last year’s Most Outstanding Rookie, went out in the second quarter with an injury and did not return. Sophomore Joel Dublanko stepped into the weak-side linebacker spot and performed admirably on short notice. He finished with four tackles on the night and seemed to be around the ball on most plays. There was no update on Anderson’s injury, but it seems like Dublanko can fill in until he returns.
Most notable for the defence was Nyles Morgan. He led the way with seven tackles, most of which came on Riders’ running back A.J. Ouellette. The battle between the two number 45s was intense. Morgan has been vocal about being the leader of this group and is showing it on the field.
Jared Brinkman also had his best game in green and gold, applying pressure up front and breaking through on a few occasions. He was recorded as having the lone sack for Edmonton in the game. The Northern Iowa product was out for a number of snaps with a limp, but returned in the fourth quarter. His understanding of this line seems to be improving.
This was the first game the Elks did not allow their opponent to score 30 points. Saskatchewan still gained over 300 yards of offence, but the scoring was kept to a minimum. That’s a positive step overshadowed by the other tough moments.
Tsk, tsk
Edmonton had their worst game of the year in both penalties and sacks allowed. A total of 197 yards was lost between the two categories — almost two football fields. That does not put you in a position to win any game. The fact that this was just a three-point loss shows the growth of the defence.
11 penalties for 133 yards is atrocious. It resulted in many meaningful plays taken off the board, the most egregious being an offside on a third-and-two inside their own ten-yard line. Jonathan Kongbo needs to know better and not jump the hard count.
Next comes the no-yard penalties. The first one negated a contacting the kicker call on a punt and changed a first down to a re-kick five yards back. The second took away a bobbled return and Green and Gold fumble recovery. It is Week 8; these are Week 1 mistakes.
Saskatchewan’s defensive line had a heyday against the struggling Elks’ offensive line. Eight total sacks, including two to end the game, is the highest total for any team in a single game this season.
Gregor MacKellar and Brent Boyko really had a hard time locking down the right side. Mark Korte was bullied by Micah Johnson on multiple plays. Three Riders had two sacks in the game. A total of 64 yards were given up, and that does not include the times Fajardo threw the ball away.
If there were some variety in the play calling, maybe the line wouldn’t need to always be in protect mode. Kudos to a very powerful Roughrider defensive line, but Edmonton needs to find ways to make their jobs more difficult.
Bizarre play
On a Cody Grace punt in the third quarter, Draw McCray bobbled the kick, and the ball went out of bounds for Saskatchewan to maintain possession. Kilam challenged the play, saying it went off the Edmonton player last. On replay, it did seem to change the direction of the ball and looked to go off the shoulder of the Elks player. However, the call ultimately stood.
I’m sure there are many back-and-forth opinions on this one, but I guess it didn’t meet the “clear and obvious” threshold to be overturned. The call proved to be a huge swing, as the Riders scored a touchdown on that next drive.
Edmonton is back in action Saturday, August 2, when they take on the Hamilton Tiger-Cats. Variability needs to be the motto this week to try and have success at home.