Kyle Myers
Ticats.ca
A CFL team’s success is often linked to the success of their quarterback, and a quarterback’s ability to succeed is inextricably tied to the protection afforded to him by his offensive line.
This week, the Tiger-Cats face the Winnipeg Blue Bombers, who currently lead the CFL in quarterback sacks, including nine from the four starters on the defensive line.
But Coach Austin is less concerned about the opponent the Ticats face, and instead is focusing on the things he, and his offensive line, can control.
“We’re always concerned with protecting the quarterback in a league that has a lot of pressure packages,” he said. “It doesn’t matter who’s up front on defence, we start with protection first.”
Austin also made it clear that he and his coaching staff will make as many changes as he deems necessary, even at a position like the O-Line, where chemistry is a necessity.
“We will make whatever changes we see fit to protect our quarterback,” he said after practice Wednesday.
Brian Simmons, an import tackle who is playing in his third year with the Tiger-Cats as a starter, was slightly more straightforward with his opinion on how the Ticats offensive line can step up to the challenge this weekend.
“We just need to man up,” he said. “We have to come prepared with a high intensity, and be more physical. The more physical team will win on Saturday.”
Simmons also gave credit to the Winnipeg defensive line, and stressed the importance of fundamentals in weathering their strong front four.
“They have very athletic lineman, and they believe they can beat you with the front four, they don’t need any help,” he said. “We need to eliminate the little errors, and be more assertive in our field awareness. We believe in what Coach Austin and Coach Rudolph are teaching us, we just need to pay more attention to detail.”
The Tiger-Cats will get a bit of a break this weekend as CFL sacks leader Bryant Turner has already been ruled out of week three. Still, the team would do well to be wary of a defence who put Alouettes quarterback Anthony Calvillo on the ground seven times in week two.
