Riders fall to 0-7 following 30-26 loss in Toronto

The problem for the Riders on Saturday night was one major problem they’ve been dealing with all season – penalties.

In the first half, the offence took two touchdowns off the board due to penalties. Another penalty also pushed back kicker Paul McCallum and he missed. The field goal wouldn’t have happened if the second called back touchdown stood.

What’s even more problematic is it’s the team’s veterans, the guys who should know better, that are taking most of the penalties.

“I’m not sure what their problem is right now. When I look across the board, whether they’re tired or whatever the deal is they need to bounce back and clean things up,” said Chamblin.

It’s a question that’s been asked time-and-time again to basically every member of the Riders. How do they stop taking so many penalties?

The team already led the league in penalties through six weeks. Adding another 24 penalties for 192 yards isn’t going to help either.

“It starts in practice. You go to be working your craft and trying to be better,” said offensive lineman Brendon LaBatte.

“Some of them are subjective. You leave a subjective one out there and put yourself in a bad situation and give them the leeway to make the calls against you and they’re doing it.”

Smith shines

One thing that did go right for the Riders in Toronto is the play of quarterback Brett Smith.

Smith definitely took a big step forward following a fairly good CFL debut last week against the Eskimos.

“Yeah, I felt great. I felt more confident,” said Smith.

“Just got to be more consistent with things. (I) want to put together a few more positive drives than I did tonight.”

Smith had the game in his hands with an impressive drive that began with around 90 seconds to go. Smith had the Riders deep in Argonauts territory before the final pass of the game was tipped and fell incomplete.

The storybook ending wasn’t meant to be on this night.

However, Smith did show a lot. That includes one play where he escaped what looked like a sure sack, scrambled and found Chris Getzlaf for the touchdown.

Smith finished the night 23-for-35 for 298 yards passing, two touchdowns and an interception.

Those numbers would have been approaching 400 yards and four touchdowns if not for the penalties.

“A young QB like that, you give him a touchdown early in the game and I think his confidence go sky high. Definitely, I think the penalties are letting him down,” said LaBatte.

For his part, Smith did his best to try and brush those lost plays off.

“Coach and Kevin (Glenn) and Tino (Sunseri) were saying ‘not to get too high not to get too low,’ that’s what I got to do as a young quarterback,” said Smith.

Number Crunching

The Argos were hardly angels on this night too. They took 19 penalties for 175 yards. Both teams combined for 43 penalties for 367 yards. The CFL record for penalties in a game is 46.

Chris Getzlaf was the Riders leading receiver with 80 yards and two touchdowns.

Jerome Messam led the team with 61 yards rushing. Steven Miller had 144 yards in kick-off and punt returns. His number would have also been much higher if not for penalties.

Defensively, Macho Harris and Terrell Maze had five tackles each. Harris, Brandon Tennent and John Chick all picked up sacks. The defence once again failed to create a turnover. Tyron Brackenridge did intercept Argos quarterback Trevor Harris, but that play was also taken away because of penalty.

The Riders are now on their bye-week. The team will likely return to practice August 18 before hosting the Calgary Stampeders that Saturday at Mosaic Stadium.

JGasson@rawlco.com
Follow on Twitter: @JGasson_21
Follow on Twitter: @homeofthefans

by News

Riders fall to 0-7 following 30-26 loss in Toronto

What's Trending