Like many of the Saskatchewan Roughriders, the defensive line are hoping to their reverse direction as the Riders look to pick up an important victory in Hamilton on Friday.
The green and white are 2-8 over their last ten games and now they’re only path to the CFL playoffs is the crossover in the east.
On Wednesday, one of the interior defensive lineman for the green and white, Miles Brown, joined Michael Ball on the SportsCage.
Over the last four games, Saskatchewan has picked four sacks, not quite the pressure they were applying earlier this season when they were averaging over three sacks a game through their first eleven games of the season.
Despite the sack numbers going down recently, Brown thinks the stats don’t tell the whole story of the inside of the defensive line.
“When I watch film, I see myself beating blockers, I watch Demarcus (Christmas) beating blockers, I watch Charbel Dabire beating blockers and I see us getting into the backfield and getting in the quarterback’s face, I’ll just we all have to do better.”
The defensive line has been faced plenty of adversity this mean following a sizzling start to the season. Defensive ends Pete Robertson and AC Leonard both missed multiple games during the summer.
A loss of manpower has also affected the inside of the line, with Anthony Lanier being out since August 19. Head coach Craig Dickenson says that they will know more about the Lanier’s status for the rest of the season following the upcoming bye.
Another loss has been defensive tackle Garrett Marino. He was suspended following a low hit on Ottawa QB Jeremiah Masoli for four games. After serving the suspension, Marino returned for three games before he was released by the Riders.
In order for the Saskatchewan to succeed, Brown said that it will take everyone on the defence doing their job.
“Defensive line we have to better, we have to get there quicker, we have to be better on the backend, as a team we have to be better.”
Brown believes that the defensive line, especially the interior will be a factor in the important matchup.
“We will always strive to be better, and that will be shown.”
Friday’s game can be heard on 620 CKRM, with Countdown to Kickoff at 2:30, opening kickoff at 5:30.
