Fraser Caldwell
Ticats.ca
Brilliant in bits and pieces, drives and quarters, the Tiger-Cats’ offence is determined to string together a full on-field hour of the highest order on Saturday.
Looking to notch their first entry in the win column against the hated Argonauts, the Black and Gold’s offensive unit hopes to take inspiration from an encouraging final half in a losing effort a week ago. While it proved to be too little, too late, the Ticats posted 15 points in the last quarter of their 39-36 defeat to the Lions and very nearly overturned a 12-point deficit in the process.
Sophomore receiver Chris Williams believes that the last-gasp effort against the Lions was an indicator of the offence’s continued progress, and hopes that such improvement can put the unit over the top this weekend.
“We did some good things, stuff that we can build upon,” says Williams of the fourth quarter performance. “Hopefully that helps us come out and put together a good game on Saturday. We’re definitely improving week-to-week. There’s been good and bad in both games so far, and we’ve just got to put everything together. We played a good first half in week one and a good second half in week two, so now we’ve got to put it together.”
Quarterback Henry Burris is similarly encouraged by the late-game push, and argues that the effects have already been seen this week on the training field, where players appear more attuned than ever to the demands of the offensive playbook.
“I think that’s always the biggest key, because we’ve been working hard to get everything on the same page,” says Burris of the offence’s evolution. “It’s something that really took place last week where we came out and got off to a good start on offence and then had that deflated second quarter. When I got back in there in the second half, we took off, even though we had a few mistakes.
“The thing is, that momentum has carried over into practice this week, and we’ve had a good time in practice these first few days. It’s good because guys aren’t thinking as much anymore. You’re seeing guys start to really play right now, and that’s where we’ve been evolving and trying to get to as an offence. Because with this talent, we can really do special things when guys start to just use their God-given ability and not think about what they’re supposed to do.”
For both Williams and Burris, consistency is the key as their unit strives for success.
“It’s all about getting better,” says the receiver. “It’s the same focus that we have every week, to continue getting better and working on our craft. We know that we’re a big part of what this team is trying to do, and we’re here to make big plays every time whether it’s in the running game or the passing game. We keep grinding. We feel like we’re definitely a very talented group and if we can get the consistency to go along with that talent, it’s just going to make us that much better.
“It’s exciting, because we know that once we get this thing rolling, we know that we can be something very good,” adds Burris. “We know that we have the capabilities of having a very good team here, but it’s all about guys doing their jobs and holding their own. We know that we’re as talented – if not more so – than any other team in this league. It’s all about doing the little things. It’s not anything physical, it’s all mental.”
Translating their adjustments into success on Saturday will be no easy task for the Black and Gold’s attackers, as they face an Argo group constructed and masterminded by defensive guru Chris Jones. Ticat Head Coach and Director of Football Operations George Cortez is complimentary of Jones and his consistently fearsome defensive squads.
“They’ve always been very successful,” says Cortez of Jones’ groups. “They do a good job of game planning and if you look at their first two games, their structure is similar, but they played a lot of different coverages from the first game to the second. Sometimes they blitz, and sometimes they just have the illusion of blitz. One of the key things of all consistent defences is that they try not to be patterned, and I think they do a good job of that.”
Jones has been known to employ a fair amount of pressure in his defensive packages, but as Cortez warns, the Argos have been far from predictable in their schemes thus far this season.
“Well you’d like to block them, first and foremost,” says the Ticat coach of the approach to the blitz. “There’s more than one way to combat pressure. You either block them or you throw hot or make it hard for them to figure out who they’re covering by moving guys around a lot. While they did bring a lot of pressure against Edmonton, they brought much less against Calgary. They brought a lot against Montreal in the preseason. So they’ve been on a scheme where you don’t know for sure whether they’re pressuring or defending. Against Calgary, they defended and played three double cloud, which is the ultimate defend coverage.”
One advantage that the Ticats may have as they look to dissect the Toronto defence is the relative familiarity they gained with their opponents’ personnel after a preseason encounter in June. Williams argues that while such exhibition experience does little to expose schematics, it does demonstrate the tendencies of individual defenders.
“We got to see them in the preseason, so that was a plus,” says the receiver of the Argonaut defence. “We kind of got a feel for what they do. I know that it was pretty vanilla at that point, but you got to see some of the guys live and got to know what their capabilities are. So now we can hopefully take that and have a good game plan and go to work.”
The quest for consistent offence is ongoing, and the next stage of that journey falls on Saturday night, as the Ticats and Argos renew their age-old rivalry for yet another season.
