Vanstone: Porous pass protection was contagious at Mosaic Stadium

Article content

Cody Fajardo recently severed the Twitter connection between himself and Michael Ball, the voice of CKRM’s Saskatchewan Roughriders. Finally, there is evidence that Rough Rider is blocking someone.

Article content

The inability to interrupt the enemy was not just limited to green and white, as emphasized by the depressed denizens of the Rider Nation.

Article content

Back to November 20, when the Toronto Argonauts won the 24-23 Gray Cup over the Winnipeg Blue Bombers at Mosaic Stadium.

A key factor was the subpar performance of Zach Corralos, who bears little resemblance to the repeat CFL Most Valuable Player award-winning quarterback just three days earlier.

Corralos was sacked four times — should have been five, but Robbie Smith was penalized for covering his face while tackling the Blue Bombers quarterback late in the fourth quarter, giving the Argonauts a Routinely ruffled by pass rushes.

The Blue Bombers’ bid for a third straight title also hit the turf.

Article content

Corralos came out of the contest with unusual stats of 14-of-23 passing for 180 yards, one interception and one touchdown toss.

Quarterback (d) Efficiency Rating: 67.8.

Fajardo has been statistically superior in 13 of his 15 starts for the Rough Riders in 2022, using the aforementioned stats as a barometer. He surpassed his 100 points his seven times and scored a respectable 96 in his final game as a starter for Saskatchewan. On October 7, host Hamilton lost to the Tiger-Cats 18–14.

Saskatchewan head coach Craig Dickenson then benched Fajardo in favor of Mason Fine.

Comparing these totals to Collaros Gray Cup Grade 67.8, two things are immediately apparent.

Article content

thing: The Argonauts really made life miserable for Collaros at Sunday’s championship.

Different: Without at least good pass protection, even the best teams, such as the Blue Bombers team, who won a franchise-record 15 games in the regular season, struggle. A team as bad as Saskatchewan has no odds.

The Matador’s pass block was an anomaly for the Blue Bombers, who had allowed only 29 sacks in 18 regular season games. Only the Calgary Stampeders, who recorded 17 sacks, provided more security to their quarterbacks. Meanwhile, Saskatchewan allowed a franchise-record 77 sacks.

In 2021, Winnipeg surrendered a league-low 16 sacks in 14 regular season games, 13 of which were won by the Blue Bombers. The Roughriders and Tiger-Cats are tied for his second-worst total (40), trailing only perennially holed Ottawa his Red Blacks (53) during a COVID-shortened season.

Article content

Saskatchewan allowed three fewer sacks (37) while playing four more regular season games in 2019.

Ultimately, it was Winnipeg who surprisingly won the Gray Cup title in 2019.

Clearly, therefore, Blue Bombers had established a foundation for success. Just a week ago he unexpectedly collapsed at the championship in Regina.

what happened?

Well, technically Winnipeg was the home team to the Gray Cup games, so the curse of Mosaic Stadium — the Roughriders have gone winless in their last six appearances — could hit one last time in 2022. There is a nature.

rvanstone@postmedia.com

twitter.com/robvanstone

The world of sports is constantly changing with the times. Subscribe to Regina Leader-Post to supplement your steady diet of sports coverage. 306 Sportfix Newsletter. Each week, Sports His editor Rob Van Stone provides additional commentary on the Roughriders, Pats, and other teams and sports of interest, giving a peek behind the curtain. Click here to subscribe.