JONES “PRAISES” DICKENSON, DISCUSSES PASS INTERFERENCE REVIEW
As the Saskatchewan Roughriders prepare for Saturday’s home date with the Toronto Argonauts, Head Coach & GM Chris Jones discussed last week’s 27-10 loss at Calgary and how Calgary “bent the rules” to get ahead.
Jones said Stamps Coach Dave Dickenson took advantage of CFL rules preventing contact on receivers, which allowed Calgary to extend a drive culminating in a touchdown.
Rider fans lit up Social Media Saturday night wondering how Calgary receiver Marquay McDaniel could “run into” a Roughriders defender, resulting in a Defensive Pass Interference call after a challenge by Dickenson.
“I really didn’t think about it until after the Calgary game and I went back and looked at how many times in the past over the last four weeks that they have been so successful with their challenges,” Jones said. “Dickie’s calling his plays so he knows exactly where he’s built in his double-move and if (the defense) is in man, then he has a certain percentage of knowing that there’s going to be contact.
“Especially with Marquay (McDaniel) because the DBs will come down because he’s such an out-route or hitch runner, that all he has to do is move and look for contact. If that DB is sitting there waiting, like taking a charge (foul) in basketball, he has position. But if they’re going to call that as Pass Interference or Illegal Contact, you’re able to extend the drive that way. D.P.I. is a spot foul so you’re got a 75%-80% chance that’s going to result in points.”
Jones said he’s not against video review of Pass Interference plays, particularly since that exact innovation helped his Edmonton Eskimos in the 2015 CFL championship game.
“It helped win us a Grey Cup,” Jones recalled. “Had we not had the challenge, you don’t know if we’d win that game or not.”
Regarding the CFL in 2017, Jones said his hat’s off to Dave Dickenson for circumventing the rules and capitalizing on a loophole.
“Looking at this moving forward, if the thought is to have a double-move built-in to gain contact, that’s really pretty ingenius,” Jones concluded. “We’re going to try to incorporate and copy that.
Now I don’t have to look at five receivers. I can look at one guy where the double-move is, and there’s contact.”
RP
@rodpedersen
