How Do You Attack The Riders D?

[BigBlock]

You have your center tell the opposing D. Linemen "Hey, aren't you guys short one guy?" at which point the next play the 13th man makes another appearance.

That only works against Winnipeg now.

[~Banshee~]

Baseball bat to the knees? lol

[Welder]

All the above are good suggestions,even the basball bat one...

But this is how the Hamilton Tiger-Cats will attack Saskatchewan...

1st and 10...20 to 25 yard,low percentage pass...incomplete

2 and 10...10 to 15 yard pass into tight coverage...incomplete

3 and 10...Punt

There will be variations of these,of course...

The odd useless 2 yard gain on the ground by Cobb...

The odd useless 7 yard completion on 2nd down for 7 yards when we need 9...

The odd missed Field Goal...

Rinse...Repeat...

[safetyblitz]

Baseball bat to the knees? lol

When the weather starts to turn in the fall, you can string together a bunch of 2 and outs and hope their defense gets cold standing around on the sidelines.

[Katmandu]

Baseball bat to the knees? lol

We'll save that option for when they visit IW. Even make a promotion out of it. Call it Tonya Harding Night!

[~Banshee~]

Baseball bat to the knees? lol

We'll save that option for when they visit IW. Even make a promotion out of it. Call it Tonya Harding Night!

LOL I see the players wandering around the mall down here a lot. The temptation can be overwhelming.

[BobYoungFan]

I see that this week we don't have a thread that has "Saskatchewan Looks Beatable" as its title, even though the Riders did look beatable last week. And this thread seems to be the closest thing we have to that.

I have to agree with the posters above, except the "no RB no QB" guy. I would only add that, as the Riders defencive front is quite quick, if the Cats can get Cobb going (and by Cobb I really mean the runblocking) some misdirection in the backfield should be thrown in. The 2-back set with Cobb and Thigpen from the Calgary game would be a great plan. The misdirection and fake hand-offs really threw the D line off in that game.

Those who would say that the offence needs more Thiggy (and I am one of them) may have found some good news posted to Drew's blog, saying both Thiggy and Cobb have been getting reps at RB: http://scratchingpost.thespec.com/2010/ ... tice-.html

And you make a good point about Cobb being used for blocking. Cobb may not be that big, but he can block surprisingly well.

I figure if Thiggy were in Cobb's place as the starting RB, I don't know if he'd be doing much better. Thiggy's only 5'9" and 190 lbs and not the kind of RB who can push his way through the line. The coaching staff seemed to recognize that the offensive line had something to do with our lack of rushing yards. That seems to be the reason Belton Johnson will apparently start at RT and Rottier will take Hudson's place at RG. I guess they figured Rottier would be an upgrade there, and the original plan was to have Rottier at RG anyway. Thiggy may be looking to come back to haunt his former team, and hopefully the same could be said about Johnson.

After the release of James, it looks like Bauman will be used more at WR, according to this: http://scratchingpost.thespec.com/2010/ ... s-cfl.html

Bauman may not have as much speed, and has also been inconsistent. Hopefully the coaching staff knows what they are doing. Speaking of coaching, I don't know if I can be a believer in Gibson, but we are at least seeing some adjustments being made. I missed the game vs. the Als, but I understand that for some reason Cobb and Thiggy were not used together in the backfield as much. Need to go with what works.

You have your center tell the opposing D. Linemen "Hey, aren't you guys short one guy?" at which point the next play the 13th man makes another appearance.

I was waiting for that joke to be made, and was surprised it was made in the 15th post. I thought it would be made sooner.

[2EZ4ThaCats]

attack the opposite side of Omarr Morgan because Donavan Alexander will not be playing, injured hamstring

[armchair1950]

Fairly simple in my eyes. It appears that # 52 may have been one of the biggest problems with OLine. It also appears that # 2 is not what the Cats expected. That's why Blew Team let his go becuase they seem to find solid quality players and we seem to think someone other teams rejects will fit our scheme. Another issue that needs to be cleared up. At traing camp the coaches thought Cobb would be our number 1 running back. However, if you watched very closely, Demetrius Summers is a far better athelete - runner than Cobb. This also brings my thoughts about our defence - Marshall or Marcel thinking that # 19 was a quality safety is poor talent evaluation. The safety needs to bring the lumber at every opportunity. The receivers need to understand they will receive a world of hurt if they cath anything in the middle. I have said this before and I say it again - Other teams pickup players who make an impact right away. The Cats however, think that their systems are so complicated that a player needs to be on the practice roster and then play later. That is a load of bs - look at every other team and they find the superior talent and the Cats think a square peg will fit in round hole.

[CatsFaninOttawa]

And you make a good point about Cobb being used for blocking. Cobb may not be that big, but he can block surprisingly well.

Agreed. He seems to pick up the extra rusher and blocks well. Unfortunately, it appears he changes his look on the pass block, and may be tipping off the defence to the play call. I didn't notice it this last year, but I sure see it this year. And it looked like the Als were using it last week. Something was telling the linebackers when not to drop, and they were waiting in the holes (yes, there were holes in the D-line, big ones). Get those linebackers to drop, and we'll see both Cobb and Thigpen spring some big gains.

And how about some draws and screens? And throws to the RBs in the flat? We used them last year a lot, so did those pages just fall out of the playbook?

[Katmandu]

It'll be interesting to see if the Argos can hang with the Als for 3/4 like we did.

[Katmandu]

^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
Oops, wrong thread!

[BobYoungFan]

And how about some draws and screens? And throws to the RBs in the flat? We used them last year a lot, so did those pages just fall out of the playbook?

Good points. It sure does seem that way. We've seen RBs get nowhere as they run into the O line. We know that Cobb has been able to get us rec. yards, and Thiggy can do that as well. Wouldn't it be great to see what they can do when there isn't the O line in front of them, and see them get those YAC yards?

We haven't seen many play action fakes either. But then again, maybe opposing defences won't take the bait as much unless the RBs actually gain rushing yards.

[Katmandu]

Everybody and their big sister knows that you have to throw underneath. Quick short passes because they like to send the house to pressure the QB.

[disciplineandpunish]

I have said this before and I say it again - Other teams pickup players who make an impact right away. The Cats however, think that their systems are so complicated that a player needs to be on the practice roster and then play later. That is a load of bs - look at every other team and they find the superior talent and the Cats think a square peg will fit in round hole.

I don't know if I agree with this as a general rule. Yes, every team needs to find impact players who can make a difference right away; you're bang on there. However, every team also needs to have project players who slowly work their way from the PR to the roster to starting rotation to being impact players over the course of a few years. As an Als fan, I'll cite a few of my team's projects:

1. S.J. Green: Spent time on the PR, used sparingly as an injury substitute last year. This year, is becoming an impact player despite not even being an every-down receiver (splitting time with Cahoon and appearing in five-receiver sets).
2. Brian Bratton: Started out returning kicks in 2007 but has slowly become an important part of our passing attack, particularly on end arounds and lateral motion routes against the flow of the rest of the play.
3. Shea Emry: Played on special teams in his first year, took over MLB from Reggie Hunt in 2009.
4. Jermaine McElveen: Rotation player on the D-line for a couple of years, took over from Keron Williams this season.
5. Ramon Guzman: Backup / rotation linebacker last year. Is seeing more playing time this year, particularly in run support.
6. Andrew Hawkins: Played behind Bratton and Larry Taylor last year. This year, should see more opportunities when healthy, with Taylor in the NFL and Bratton possibly out with a concussion.