There seem to be more football statistics that identify when an offensive line is struggling than when it\u2019s doing well, but one way to show success is the effectiveness of the run game.<\/p>\n
There seem to be more football statistics that identify when an offensive line is struggling than when it\u2019s doing well, but one way to show success is the effectiveness of the run game.<\/p>\n
The Saskatchewan Roughriders used four different ball carriers to rush for 124 yards in their last outing, a 28-24 win over the Toronto Argonauts last Saturday. That improved their record for a perfect 5-0 when they collect at least 100 yards on the ground.<\/p>\n
It doesn\u2019t take a genius to figure out there might be something to that \u2013 and that the offensive line plays a significant role in getting them over that century mark.<\/p>\n
\u201cYou have to take a lot of pride in it,\u201d Riders centre Logan Ferland said. \u201cThe more you can run the ball, the more it takes off the pass rush. The ability to do that is really key. If you can\u2019t run, it\u2019s hard to win games.\u201d<\/p>\n
The Riders hope to continue their diversified offensive approach when they host the Winnipeg Blue Bombers in the Labour Day Classic on Sunday.<\/p>\n
For that to happen, the big guys up front must take another step.<\/p>\n
\u201cFor us as a unit, we just try to get better every weekend,\u201d left tackle Payton Collins said. \u201cWe have our certain standard that we hold ourselves to and, even like last week, obviously we won the game, but there\u2019s always stuff that we can work on.\u201d<\/p>\n
How to quantify that isn\u2019t as easy as it is elsewhere on the field.<\/p>\n
Every other position in football has a slew of numbers that prove players\u2019 worth. Those stats show how impactful they\u2019ve been and at least have an ability to display a cheery narrative.<\/p>\n
Offensive linemen are primarily evaluated \u2013 at least on the surface \u2013 by how much or little they mess up like the number of sacks they allow. (Riders quarterback Trevor Harris has been sacked 17 times, tied of third most in the CFL.)<\/p>\n
Judging them seems to be like critiquing defensive defencemen on the rink: It\u2019s easy to spot the gaffes and it takes a weeks of steady limited mistakes\u00a0before they get their flowers.<\/p>\n
The bouquet is fresh and fragrant now after a bit of a dip.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe started out hot and then there were a couple games where I thought we didn\u2019t meet the standard for ourselves,\u201d Riders coach Corey Mace said. \u201cThey\u2019ve identified that. We\u2019re starting to get back to an upward tick.<\/p>\n
\u201c(These are) guys who\u2019ve played a lot of games together. Some really good individual linemen who\u2019ve been recognized. But as always for that position, we\u2019ve got to make sure that we\u2019re working great together. That\u2019s what they\u2019ve focused on.\u201d<\/p>\n
Ferland agrees with his coach\u2019s assessment.<\/p>\n
\u201cI see it very similar,\u201d he said. \u201cWe\u2019re a group that always wants to improve no matter what, even if we\u2019re doing well.\u201d<\/p>\n
With the dearth of stats readily available, Collins said the focus is on getting better on a weekly basis and trying to do their jobs properly.<\/p>\n
There\u2019s been more good than bad in that regard.<\/p>\n
\u201cYes, they had a couple bad plays, but at the same time, they were able to bring it back and being able to compete at the level that I know they can,\u201d running back Thomas Bertrand-Hudon said. \u201cI always have my trust in them.\u201d<\/p>\n
That leads things back to the running game, one of the few stats \u2013 albeit one credited to someone else or the team at large \u2013 that can put the O line in a positive light.<\/p>\n
The Riders are seventh in the CFL with 1,058 yards through 11 games. That facet of their game has been integral to victories but could be a more consistent part of their repertoire.<\/p>\n
It takes\u00a0collective approach, one that includes honorary lineman Bertrand-Hudon as the lead blocker in packages for backup quarterback Tommy Stevens.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe run game has always been a big part of our game,\u201d Bertrand-Hudon said. \u201cIt\u2019s something that we preach every week and something that us, the running backs and the O line, take a lot of pride in.<\/p>\n
\u201cBeing able to have a good game just reflects the things that we do all throughout the week.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"There seem to be more football statistics that identify when an offensive line is struggling than when it\u2019s…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":883765,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[437],"tags":[49,48,521,522,520,82],"class_list":["post-883764","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-cfl","tag-ca","tag-canada","tag-canadian-football-league","tag-canadianfootballleague","tag-cfl","tag-sports"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/883764","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=883764"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/883764\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/883765"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=883764"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=883764"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=883764"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}