Through the last handful of games, the scene has been common for the Saskatchewan Roughriders.
Have the defensive front push through the offensive line and get the quarterback scrambling, sometimes even getting hands on him, only to see a great escape and even better play downfield for a big gain.
That issue was especially prevalent the last two games against solid scrambling pivots, as both the B.C. Lions’ Nathan Rourke and Calgary’s Vernon Adams Jr. were able to punish the Riders for not putting them on the turf when they had the chance.
And that’s a major reason why Saskatchewan finds themselves in the situation they’re in, says Roughriders Plaza of Honour member Scott Schultz.
Schultz joined Barney Shynkaruk on the SportsCage for his Midweek Soundoff segment on Wednesday and pointed out how the lack of finish from the defensive line has led to losses in the Riders’ last three games.
“Our pass rush is suffering right now,” Schultz said. “The past two games, Rourke and Adams have combined for eight touchdowns, no interceptions. Us, we've only had one sack.
The D line did get some pressure and get these guys to scramble, but then they're making some spectacular plays on the runs that got converted. And that will kill you, it absolutely kills you.”
Schultz knows of what he speaks. He brought down the quarterback 35 times in his nine year CFL career as a defensive lineman and went through periods of feast and famine in his own right. But seeing the current trend is unusual, especially with the talent up front and the pressure they’ve been getting.
“For whatever reason we haven’t been able to get them down or create enough havoc to cause trouble with their passing off the block,” Schultz said.
That’s all led to the current situation: the aforementioned three straight losses, only two wins the last seven games and now the need to put together wins in their last three games against the top two teams in the league.
“Right now, it's that come-to-Jesus time where we've just got to figure out what we can do play-by-play, stack them up, and try to get back onto a win,” Schultz said. “There's a lot of things during the meaningful parts of the game where we just need to execute. We had our opportunities. It's just we weren't able to execute them.”
One thing Schultz hopes isn’t happening is finger-pointing in the dressing room, which could quickly lead to devastating morale problems at the worst possible time.
“I sure hope not,” he said. “I've been in some locker rooms where that's happened.
“It happens rarely. It's not a very common thing. Teams struggle. There are ups and downs. I had three seasons of 9-9, and lots of times we could have pointed fingers at the offense and vice versa at the defense. But you try to get addicted to discipline at this point because discipline is the only thing that's going to get you back on track.
“In the older days, it was getting into that mindset of it doesn't matter what the offense does.
Our job is to give them the ball as many times as possible for them to score the ball. So you start getting into some of that circle-the-wagon type mentality to get yourselves to be able to perform.”
One thing that for certain is a turnaround will need to be a unit-by-unit effort, Schultz said.
“How do you eat an elephant, right? One bite at a time. We've got to start breaking it down to the small levels per group and get some successes. Those will all stack up, but it's a rough road ahead right now.”
The Roughriders are back in action on Thanksgiving Monday when they travel to Montreal to face the Alouettes. It’s a very early start, with the Rider Broadcast Network pregame show with Teagan Witko, Wes Cates and plenty of special guests beginning at 8 a.m. Dave Thomas and Luc Mullinder will then have the game call at kickoff at 11 a.m.
