October 13, 2017

Ferguson: A break down of the turn around in Tiger Town

The Canadian Press

In Week 6 of the 2017 CFL season Hamilton Tiger-Cats starting quarterback Zach Collaros, Head Coach Kent Austin and Defensive Coordinator Jeff Reinebold travelled with the rest of the black and gold to Calgary.

The then 0-4 Tiger-Cats were in tough against the CFL’s undisputed front runners, the Calgary Stampeders.

The game went sideways, quickly. Andrew Buckley played the entire second half for the Stamps as they ran away with a 60-1 blowout victory.

A couple weeks later nearly EVERYTHING in Hamilton changed.

June Jones became the head coach, Jeremiah Masoli was named starting quarterback and the defensive coordinator role shifted to Philip Lolley, who was previously linebackers coach.

No one change can turn around a season that started as poorly as the Tiger-Cats did in 2017. In fact, I believe no series of moves is responsible for improved performance and record. It is the sum of every roster move, depth chart decision, in-game tweak and off-field meeting that determines the successes and failures of a franchise.

With that being said, credit has to go somewhere for the Ticats current 4-2 stretch since June Jones became Head Coach. The defence has been remarkably improved and special teams, with a core of talented young Canadians covering kicks, continues to be one of the bright spots of this season in Hamilton but the offence gets all the attention so I decided to look at the aspects of the black and gold attack to see what, if any changes have occurred over the last six games and whether those changes can prevent a similar Hamilton-Calgary outcome from Week 6 at McMahon.

The most important element of the Tiger-Cats offensive improvement has to be the rededication to the ground game. In Week 1, the Ticats called a pass play on 90.2% of their offensive snaps in a deflating loss to the Argos. In the last six games that one sided philosophy has disappeared. What has emerged is one of the CFL’s most consistent mid-season rushing attacks.

While Alex Green, and now former Ticats running back C.J. Gable, changed the tenor of the run vs pass conversation in Hamilton, the true difference maker is the threat of a quarterback run. In the first eight games of the season Collaros ran just six times in 420 offensive snaps calling his own number on 0.014% of plays. In the last six games Masoli has run 34 times in 305 offensive snaps (11.14%).

Another aspect of the Ticats improved offence is their downfield passing aggression and ability to find receivers in stride allowing extra yards after the catch. Three of the Ticats top five downfield passing days have come under the direction of Masoli and Jones.

Once the ball is in playmaker’s hands the Ticats are now gaining more yards after the catch than during their 0-8 start. Four of Hamilton’s best six yards after the catch performances have come in the last six weeks.

In June Jones’ new system Jeremiah Masoli has become a more effective and efficient passer. One of the side effects of this is comfort in and out of the pocket which finds Masoli putting four of his six starts this year in the top six accuracy outings by a Ticats quarterback this season.

I also created a number system for every offensive snap run this year to determine offensive production. The scale goes from zero to five with the low end being a turnover and the high end representing a touchdown scored with the points in between defined as a first down (4), a gain of yards (3), a play with no yards gained (2) and and the offence leaving the field without points in a non-turnover situation (1).

All of that is to say that the Ticats offensive production grades speak for themselves since making the change at quarterback and head coach.

Perhaps the most surprising aspect of the Tiger-Cats turnaround in the second half has been Brandon Banks emerging as a legitimate receiver with big play ability and every down dependability. Here are Banks’ stats and targets from the first eight games of the year.

Speedy B was still primarily a return man at that point and was targeted only once on a pass over twenty yards down the field. Compare that with Banks receiving numbers and tendencies in the last six games with Masoli and Jones.

With the increased opportunity Banks has flourished in both the quick screen game and as a vertical threat with fifteen targets over twenty yards downfield. One interesting and unintended finding in looking at Banks’ targets and catches is the lopsided difference between Masoli’s success finding Banks outside the hash marks to the left vs. the right. On passes of fifteen yards or more to the left Masoli is 4 of 10. To the right he is just 2 of 8.

Regardless of tendencies it is easy to see Banks has exploded onto the scene as a frequently used offensive weapon. Who saw that coming?!

The truly damning statistic of the early 2017 Tiger-Cats was their CFL low second down conversion rate (38%). The offence couldn’t stay on the field, maintain a respectable time of possession or allow their defence to remain fresh into the fourth quarter.

In the last month the Tiger-Cats are suddenly running more offensive plays from scrimmage due to an increased tempo

in combination with an improved second down conversion rate.

June Jones and his staff deserve a lot of credit for the recent turnaround in vibe and performance but at the same time it is impossible to ignore the resurgence of Luke Tasker back to where he belongs as one of the CFL’s best second down threats and the return of the Ticats ultimate calming force, Andy Fantuz from his 2016 ACL injury along with Larry Dean stepping up big and Richard Leonard being one of the CFL’s best ball hawking defensive backs.

Much has changed since the Stamps and Ticats met in Week 6. How much will that matter Friday night in Hamilton?