Good or Bad?
I only want to know one thing: do
we here in Hamilton have a good football team, or a bad one?
The last few years,
the answer has been obvious. An inability to score points, and an inability to
prevent other teams from scoring, have led to consecutive records of 5-13, 4-14,
and 3-15. In other words, we had a bad team.
This year, there were
improvements. More experienced assistant coaches, upgrades in the defensive
secondary, and starting the year with one of the league’s best quarterbacks
gave us reason for optimism. And what team wouldn’t want a healthy Jesse Lumsden in their backfield?
Game one was, for
lack of a better word, bad. But it was a new team, and few people expected them
to start winning right out of the gate. There were some positive things to take
from that game, though not many, and some lessons were learned. With seventeen
games remaining, it hardly seemed time to panic.
Game two was
tremendous. The Argos’ allegedly powerful offence was held to a mere 13 points,
and the Ticats dominated the second half. Lumsden almost single-handedly gave
Hamilton a rare win in Toronto, and gave us all reason to hope for a win at
home the following week.
Game three was a
terrific game, the type that makes the CFL so great. Hamilton fell behind, but
stayed close throughout, finally taking the lead with just minutes left before
surrendering the lead in the final minute. Though disappointed with the loss,
this game even more than the previous one showed that this team would not give
up, and had the talent to play with the big boys.
Then came game four.
Calgary 43, Hamilton 16. Admittedly they were going in without Lumsden, the
league’s leading rusher and Outstanding Canadian the previous two weeks. But
rookie Tre Smith had looked pretty good filling in for Jesse in previous games,
so there was no reason to abandon our running game. Starting an import at the
tailback spot meant that the Cats had to shuffle their offensive line, so that
would explain some of the pressure that Casey Printers faced.
Hamilton’s defence,
as I’ve said in previous articles, is not where it needs to be, but it is ahead
of where most people expect it to be. Calgary took advantage of those defensive
inadequacies early and often. I still believe they are improving, and that they
have a lot of room for improvement. For example, when your team is trying to
mount a comeback in a game that is still winnable, a touchdown scored by your
offence is not a permit for you to allow one on the following drive.
It’s hard to say what
aspect of the game produced the disastrous result. But it is safe to assume
that no one, on either side of the ball for either team, expected six
turnovers. This is a definite weak spot for this team, and one that needs to be
rectified sooner rather than later. With Edmonton coming to town on Friday, the
Cats’ record is 1-3. Fortunately, in the weaker East Division, that puts them
just one game out of first place; however, it also puts them just one game out
of fourth. A loss to Edmonton could put the team in a bad situation.
As far as we know right now,
Lumsden will be back for that game. I expect to see a lot of running, and a
defence that is more careful than they were last week. And I don’t want to see
any turnovers by the Cats, unless they open a neighbourhood bakery. They need
to show the league, their fans, and more importantly, themselves, that they are
a good team.