The TSN Rodney Dangerfield Defensive Award...

…goes to the stamps…no respect from TSN…in a recent broadcast TSN called the Rider D the ‘best in the league’ with the ‘lowest points per game’…maybe they should check the stats…Calgary actually has the lowest points per game (22.6 to SSKs 22.7) and the lowest points given up (158 to SSKs 159)…

…In 25 defensive stat categories kept by the league Calgary leads in 10 of those vs. SSKs 6…combined first and second place rankings Calgary leads SSK 14 to 11…

…yeah yeah, start the ‘stats don’t mean anything’ pre-recorded argument…if it’s true, then I suppose television journalism without facts is acceptable too…

…note: this is no slight against the riders, they do have a great D, with injuries to boot…a great #2 ranked D…

I guess that is the privelege of being 6-1 as opposed to being 4-3...

Maybe being last in passing defense hurts Calgary's perception. When you think of the 'best D' you don't think of the worst against the pass.

I always find it funny that every year Toronto trumpets it's 'awesome' pass defense. I'll admit they have a good secondary but when you can rush for 6.4 yards a carry against them...why pass?

It's the same for Calgary's rush defense...it's good but when you give up over 300 yards a game in the air...why run the ball?

Also, Sask has allowed over 200 less yards to date with 25 more plays from scrimmage. Calgary has the least amount of defense plays which says more about their offense then their defense I'd say.

I actually think the Calgary D gets too much respect. They're not all that good, definitely not as good as the stats have been showing this season. They got torched by Winnipeg and a few others.

There is absolutely no comparison, the Riders D is much, much better than Calgary's.

..."not all that good, definately not as good as their stats show"....this isn't about opinions, its about cold hard numbers, which do not tell lies...

...it's like saying, sure Usain Bolt won the 100m, but he's not a very good runner, that second place guy is much better....

...sure they got burned late in games, chalk that up to youthful loss of attention, not overall performance....Fooks, you're right, the numbers on pass coverage are bad, so there is a glaring hole in their performance...the DBs play a high-risk-high-reward style and it has cost them at times...remember though, TSN was using stats to drive their report, and the stats say something different....

I do believe that Calgary has one of the best defensive coordinators in the league and given how he has had to basically start from scratch with those guys, has done one heck of a job.

But best defense in the league ? Sorry, it takes more than stats to claim that title.

Since there are more passing attempts then running plays stats are sometimes not what they seem to be in actual game reality. Stoping the run is important, yes, but one has to stop the pass to win. Additionally stats due lie when you look at them sometimes after a game and the loosing team has more passing yardage and running yardage and still looses. That happens lots. Stats don't win games, field postion does.

I did a stat analysis of the defensive rankings. If you were first in a category you get 1, 2nd 2...etc.

Lower points is better.

Sask 65
Cal 79
Edm 80
BC 81
Mtl 110
Tor 132
Win 148
Ham 156

It should be noted that the east teams have 1 more game and as such would suffer in many of these categories but we can still compare the west teams to each other.

For many of the stats calgary is leading in sask is 2nd or 3rd...for the categories the riders lead calgary is last.

Calgary defense is overrated. A strong offense hides a weak defense by dominating time of possession. Don't be fooled by points allowed because they result from a combination of defense, offense and special teams. In yards allowed, Calgary defense is average and worst against the pass in a pass-oriented league.

I'm a big stats guy (not in that I believe what they say, I just like numbers), however for a defence the MAIN stat is points against...who cares if you give up 800 yards through the air if you never get scored on?

And in those stats calgary and sask are 1 point different in 7 games...not much to choose from there.

Very good point.

stamps…best defence…hmmmmm i would say it ranks high…didn’t impress Ryan Dinwiddie too much though…as he took it apart…and it would have been much worse for the cowboys, if Browner wasn’t allowed to hold on to Derick Armstrongs personal belongings all game… :wink:

…a much better point…

Yards allowed is a better measure of defense because only the defense is ON THE FIELD. Whereas points allowed is misleading because the defense may be off the field while offense or special teams are responsible. If Saskatchewan defense switch teams with Calgary defense, Saskatchewan would become weaker.

...that was an awesome clinic put on last night by the TSN ranked #1 defense....there is no question about the rider D being rated #1....no question whatsoever....

(damn, keep forgetting to use the sarcasm buttons)

...and before anyone in the trapezoidal province evens attempts to use the injury angle please remember the riders had their three starting LBs in the game for the better part of three quarters and Harris still managed to rack up triple digit yards....

Even a top ranked D can have an off night… I would rather have that than a D that relies on one player for it to be even considered good… better hope that Armour doesn’t get injured or some Stampeder fans will think their team is toast…

...a one game anomaly in a high pressure situation, hardly toast if Armour were to go down (and laughing about a potential injury just isn't classy sam)....that is two games now where this once vaulted stop-the-run D has been ineffective at actually stopping the run...bet Mr. Roberts in Winnipeg is damn near peeing his pants to see what Berry has in store for Labour Day...

I don't want Armour to get injured, and certainly would not laugh about it.. just laughing at the fact that some feel that Armour is your whole D.. and without him the Stamps would be in terrible shape.. should have worded it better, maybe.

PS- I did fix that post up a bit..

Wow what a reversal of fortunes Cates disappears for two games in a row and no running game. Then the defense allows an unknown RB to run over them like there was nothing stopping him. Great defense that took a holiday LOL. Sambo you guys are always yapping about injuries and true you do have them but so do the Stamps. Armour by the way is playing out of position as you might want to know. We have to middle linebackers out and are about to return. We did not have the luxury of hiding another middle line backer on the Ir to put in place of Armour so we had to use a dlineman amazing how injuries are only mentioned for the riders. :lol: :lol:
But you know anyone who states the riders are lucky to be 6-2 well a win is a win no matter how you look at it. I am just wondering though if the riders peaked and now are on a big slide to where they belong.

Well 05, take Rambo, Lewis and Ralph out of your lineup and see how well you guys fare on offence...