Davis: Saskatchewan Roughriders defensive line looking for another sack attack

Yahoo

3 days ago

Good job, D-line!
Can you do it again?
That's how things go in the CFL, where the Saskatchewan Roughriders defensive linemen just played their best, most dominating game of the season and are expected to repeat it Saturday when they visit the Montreal Alouettes.
'I think it was our best performance this year,' said defensive end Shane Ray, reflecting on the six (of eight) times Riders defensive linemen sacked Edmonton Elks quarterback Cody Fajardo in a 21-18 victory on Friday that improved Saskatchewan's league-best record to 6-1.
'You get two sacks across the board with me, Scoop (Malik Carney) and Micah (Johnson), that's big. To have eight sacks total, that's incredible! But we look at the film and we're like, 'Man, we left so many more sacks out there.' So for us it's about trying to capitalize and get the ones that we missed.'
With starting quarterback Davis Alexander sidelined by injury, the 5-2 Alouettes will be led by veteran McLeod Bethel-Thompson.
Not a tremendously mobile quarterback, Bethel-Thompson plays behind an offensive line that has allowed only 10 sacks and gets only 4.7 yards per carry from running back Sean Thomas Erlington. The Alouettes practised all week without game-breaking receivers Austin Mack and Tyson Philpot.
Ray and Bethel-Thompson were teammates on the 2022 Grey Cup-winning Toronto Argonauts.
'I played with McLeod and I think he's going to stand in there when he feels pressure,' said Ray. 'He's the kind of quarterback that's going to stand in there, try to make throws. That's what we're looking at with him.
'You know, he's not very mobile. But he can make the throws and he can obviously make the deep ball down the field.'
Despite the all-star credentials of starters Ray and linemates Johnson, Carney and Mike Rose, who joined the Roughriders in the off-season from the Calgary Stampeders, Saskatchewan's defensive linemen weren't having an outstanding season before manhandling the Elks. They have been rotating nine players through the line and expecting the front four to pressure opposing quarterbacks while eight teammates dropped into zone coverages.
'It's getting better and better,' said Ray, a former Super Bowl winner who also joined the Riders in the off-season. 'Early in the season we were trying to build our chemistry.
'It's difficult to build chemistry. I was out for a couple weeks in training camp and the pre-season. We needed those first few games to understand how we all rush because how we work together is crucial. Though we've been rushing very well, we just haven't hit home.'
Maybe they just needed a little help.
'We were getting all (quarterback) pressures but no sacks,' said Ray.
'To continue to have pressure on guys, especially guys that can't really move in the pocket, putting a phone booth around them, having guys close around him so he can't extend his arm and make those throws, that changes the game. That's what we've got to do as a D-line every week.'
Against Edmonton, the Roughriders relied heavily on a five-man pass rush and frequently added a defensive back or another linebacker in six-man blitzes. Linebackers A.J. Allen and C.J. Reavis also sacked Fajardo, whose offensive line struggled to protect him.
The blitzes were particularly effective in shutting down Edmonton's rushing attack, which gained only 25 yards and repeatedly forced the Elks into passing situations.
And the final two sacks came on the game's last two plays. After the Roughriders — who have struggled to hold late-game leads — had been outscored 14-0 in the fourth quarter to make it a three-point game, Edmonton had possession on its five-yard line and needed 60 quick yards to try a game-tying field goal. Johnson and Ray snuffed out those hopes. Credit those big plays to the nine-man rotation keeping everyone fresh.
'We've got a lot of guys that can play,' said Ray. 'We would be doing guys like Habba (Baldonado) and Caleb (Sanders) a disservice if we didn't get them an opportunity to get on the field and make plays.
'Rotating and having guys we can trust when me or Scoop comes out, or Micah or Rose, we have that. To be able to rotate and be fresh at the end of the game, that's part of our chemistry.'
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