The
Apostle Paul wrote, “When I was a child, I spoke like a child, I thought like a
child, I reasoned like a child”; and the same can be said of me. There was a
time, in my younger days, when I would get excited about two pre-season wins.
“This will surely be a great year,” I would exclaim, predicting a first-place
finish to the season and a berth in the Grey Cup as veritable certainties.
Paul goes
on to say, “When I became an adult, I put an end to childish ways.” And, alas,
many years ago, I too became an adult. Pre-season victories don’t mean to me
what they once did, as I learned some time ago that the purpose of these games
is to evaluate players and to prepare the eventual starters for the regular
season. The big numbers on the scoreboard are not nearly as important as the
miniscule subtleties of a player’s performance, hidden to all but the camera
and those whose job it is to look for them.
Don’t get
me wrong: as a fan, I would rather watch my team win one of these games than
watch them lose. But I learned long ago, and had it reinforced in my mind in
these past two years, that a perfect pre-season is anything but a promise of a
perfect season. This is the Cats’ third straight perfect exhibition season, but
in each of the previous two, they failed to make the playoffs. A combined
pre-season record of 6-0, accompanied by a regular-season record of 7-29 in
that same time period, has done nothing to instil confidence in my team’s
prospects.
Of
course, this doesn’t mean that two pre-season wins is a bad omen for the
regular season, either; only that one has nothing to do with the other.
Yet the
ticket price for pre-season games are the same as for the others, so is there
nothing we can take from them? Without the game film, and lacking the knowledge
of the game plan that would allow us to assess whether each player was in their
proper position or made the blocks that were expected of them, all we have to
go on is what we as fans see. And I saw some good things, and some things that
concern me.
First,
both Timmy Chang and Quinton Porter did well with their limited playing time,
each engineering a winning touchdown drive. Casey Printers and Richie Williams
played well enough to keep the Cats in the game, though they will have to pick
up their level of play in the regular season. All of them showed they can move
the sticks with their feet if necessary.
The
receiving corps seemed more consistent than last year. With a couple of
exceptions, there weren’t nearly as many dropped passes as we’ve seen in past.
And unlike previous years, second-down passes were caught beyond or near the
first down marker, instead of the four-yard out pattern on second and eleven
that became so predictable in these last few seasons that the statisticians
could have had the play tabulated before the ball was snapped.
The Cats
had promised to focus on the run, but seemed to abandon that promise in this
exhibition season. Admittedly, they needed to get a good look at a number of
receivers, so I choose to believe that this is the reason for their play
selection. In spite of few running plays by the team, Tre Smith made things
interesting as he racked up huge rushing numbers, scored a touchdown, and
nearly scored another on a kick return. The team will have to make a tough
decision between him and Terry Caulley, though I’m sure they’ll find a way to
keep them both on the roster.
Defensively,
there weren’t many positives to take from the pre-season games. Sure they held
Winnipeg’s offence - sans Kevin Glenn, Charles Roberts and Milt Stegall - to a
mere ten points, but given that those three are ninety percent of the Bombers’
attack, that isn’t necessarily a giant feat. And they held Toronto’s offence to
just 14 points, and held the Michael Bishop-led squad completely scoreless in
the second half; but Kerry Joseph and his crew seemed to move effortlessly down
the field. It was a credit to the Cats’ defence that the Argos managed just two
scores in the first half.
The team
needs to get more pressure on the quarterback. As one of many Ticat fans who
remember both Grover Covington and Joe Montford, I have become accustomed to a
style of football where, if the quarterback’s first read is covered, he either
throws it anyway or is force-fed a steady diet of pigskin. There is nothing
more frustrating than watching an opposing quarterback sit in the pocket,
leisurely selecting an open receiver like an eight-year-old choosing sundae
toppings.
One
bright spot is that Sandy Beveridge, after several seasons as a backup, appears
ready to take the reins as the starting safety. On at least two occasions
against Toronto, he made up substantial ground to knock down one pass and
intercept another. The fact that the receiver was wide open to begin with is a
concern for the secondary, though whose fault that was needs to be determined
by the coaches. As the safety, it is unlikely that Beveridge was the player
assigned to cover those players, but it was his job to cover for whomever it
was who failed to do so. This he did very well.
Nick
Setta’s kicking appears to be solid again. A couple of misses on long attempts
against Toronto, and a goalpost-rattler last week, don’t worry me at all. His
punting was excellent, with all kinds of hang time and perfect placement to
allow the cover team to limit the return. The only exception - a touchdown
scored by an Argo returner - came after a bobbled snap forced him to come out
of his normal motion and send a line drive beyond the reach of the cover team.
The
pre-season can be boring, due to the very fact that the games don’t count in
the standings. But as an adult, I believe that, as a result of these pre-season
games, the team has gained valuable insight into the players. As a result, they
will be able to make informed decisions, and I am confident that they will make
the correct choices and field the best team possible.
Though, I must
admit, there is still a child inside of me, shouting, “This will be our year!”