By Joel Gasson

Riders hope to contain Chad Owens

Oct 5, 2012 | 7:18 AM

A little Thanksgiving challenge for the Saskatchewan Roughriders.

As they get ready for face Toronto on Monday afternoon, they will have to deal with one of the league's best returners. Chad Owens has lit up the league on more than one occasion, including a game this year against Hamilton where he set the record for all purpose yards in a game. So, needless to say the Riders will have to keep the double blue's biggest weapon at bay. Owens comes into the game as the league's leader in all purpose yards by 934 yards over Hamilton's Chris Williams.

“Chad Owens is very difficult,” said head coach Corey Chamblin. “He's a big weapon for them.”

Owens is a big threat anytime he steps on the field, be it as a receiver or on kick returns. Chamblin called him a game changer on Thursday afternoon, adding they have to focus on making sure he doesn't change the game.

The good news is the Riders do have some experience taking on top notch returners, when they shut down Williams, who set a record this year for returned touchdowns.

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“Each guy presents a different task,” said Chamblin. “Mike O'Shea is a phenomenal special teams coordinator, so who knows what we'll get from him.”

While Owens is a duel threat, it's really in returns where he does the most damage. So there will be a lot of pressure on the special teams unit to stop him, but it's not as simple as just kicking away from Owens.

“They've got Matt Black over there, who's done a good job,” said special teams coordinator Craig Dickenson about the kick return game. “Then on punt, they put Chad Owens back there and nobody. So it's him or out of bounds.”

All week the team has put a lot of emphasis on covering the kick returner, trying to get ready for the elusive Owens. Certainly something else they can do is try to keep Owens off-balance.

“Maybe outside the numbers on one call, we can try to punt to the field on the next,” said Dickenson. “A little deep, a little shorter.”

They've also focused a lot on the football this year. Owens has been known to put a few on the ground in his career, including a few fumbles this year. Dickenson said that usually comes when Owens tries to do too much, and maybe gets hit from a spot he wasn't expecting.

At the end of the day, the best way for the Riders to contain Chad Owens…is to score on offense.

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