Fraser Caldwell
Ticats.ca
The Tiger-Cats’ defensive unit refuses to live on peaks or valleys, to allow their previous results to impact on their current preparations. Resolute in the face of the negativity that followed losses to the Roughriders and Lions, the squad is equally grounded in the midst of this week’s post-win optimism.
“Everybody’s pumped up, and it’s always good to win,” says veteran Tiger-Cat linebacker Markeith Knowlton. “But you shouldn’t let that affect your game, because we’ve got to win again regardless of whether we won last week. We’ve got to continue to get better. I see us as a defence getting better every week. I think we’re all excited for the win, but we’ve got to put that behind us and move on to the next game.”
Defensive back Dee Webb explains that moving on is easy to do when the team is forced to confront yet another divisional opponent, against which results are particularly important.
“There’s a bit more attitude but we’ve got to win this second one,” says Webb in the wake of his team’s first victory. “It’s another division game and you’ve got to win all of these division games and set yourself up for the postseason. So there’s a little attitude change, because we know that this is like playoff time for us.”
Notching that important win will be no simple matter, confronted as the Ticats’ defenders are by one of the greatest quarterbacks to ever grace the ranks of the CFL. That man of course is Alouette offensive mastermind Anthony Calvillo, already the most prolific pivot in league history.
Eager to meet the challenge of Calvillo, Webb speaks of the need to combat him with varied schematics and persistent physicality on Saturday.
“You’ve got to show him different things,” says the Tiger-Cat defensive back. “Most importantly, you’ve got to be physical with his receivers and knock his timing off with those receivers. Everybody that I know when they play Calvillo, they want to get to the quarterback early and show him different fronts and schemes and disrupt his timing with his receivers. If we can do that, it’s going to help us out a lot.”
Knowlton confirms the necessity of varied play calling, but cautions that Montreal’s quarterbacking legend is bound to enjoy some measure of success. It is the duty of the linebacker and his teammates to remain focused and poised when such inevitabilities present themselves.
“He’s a good quarterback. You can’t take that away from him,” says Knowlton of Calvillo. “Some things you do and it doesn’t matter, because he’s good and he’s been playing for a while. But we’re working on a few things. People always say that press coverage is good, but you’ve got to mix a little bit of everything and try to throw him off a little bit. That way, his reads are off and he’s not reading as fast.
“He’s going to complete passes regardless of what you do. I mean, he’s been doing it for this long and there’s a reason why. You can’t get down. Those guys get paid just like us, so there are going to be plays that they make and plays that we make. We just need to make more.”
Looking to rein in Calvillo and his cohort of receivers, the Tiger-Cats are aided by the experience of their more seasoned members, who have tangled with the Alouettes on more than one occasion. Webb admits that the knowledge that he and his fellow veterans have amassed over years of competition is extremely useful in preparing younger players for the task at hand.
“It helps a lot, knowing what they like to do and what their strengths and weaknesses are,” says the Ticat cover man. “We try to take advantage of our strengths and limit our weaknesses, and make that match up work for ourselves. We try to tell the guys that 18 (Jamel Richardson) and 19 (S.J. Green) are going to make that offence go.
“Wherever they’re at, just know where they are on the field and that’s pretty much it. It’s like taking candy from a baby from there. That’s their two go-to threats in the passing game. (Brandon) Whitaker is their running threat, but you’ve just got to take what he wants in the passing game away from him and I think we’ll be alright.”
Gearing up to confront an undoubtedly talented opponent, both Knowlton and Webb acknowledge that the early establishment of a physical presence will be one of their unit’s top priorities on Saturday. The Tiger-Cat defenders believe that being able to effectively bully the visitors should put a damper on their performances.
“You’ve got to get the atmosphere on your side. Especially being at home, the fans get up a lot and it’s a big crowd,” says Knowlton. “You’ve got to come out hitting hard and let [Montreal] know what they’re going to be up against for the entire game.
“You always want to get the receivers and quarterback those ‘gator arms’,” Webb adds. “You want to be disturbing their timing and letting them know that when they come across those hashes, there’s going to be a force to be reckoned with. That’s always the key: hit early and often.”
