Landry: Gears starting to turn defensively for Ticats

Don Landry

CFL.ca

@CFLLandry

In a perfect world, Hamilton Tiger-Cats quarterback Dane Evans would step in for injured starter Jeremiah Masoli and tear it up, and the CFL’s next star quarterback would be born in a glorious bonfire of touchdown passes.

In a less than perfect world, a more likely one, that is not the case.

At least not right away.

If so, the Hamilton Ticats’ defence will need to take on a bigger load in the coming few weeks, a load that would include as many drive-ending turnovers as they can muster and a consistent denying of opposition points.

That is often what it takes when you’re breaking in a young quarterback.

If the Hamilton offence does indeed take a stride or two in the wrong direction, it will be the defence that shoulders an even greater responsibility in keeping the ‘Cats in games.

The good news is that the unit sure looked the part in its most recent outing, a gritty 23-15 win over the Winnipeg Blue Bombers last Friday night.

In slamming the door on the Bombers’ offence, and really coming to the fore after Masoli went down late in the first quarter, the Ticats’ defence enjoyed its best overall performance of the season.

They hassled quarterback Matt Nichols with immense pressure. They forced eight punts on the night and ended three other Winnipeg possessions with interceptions, including Jumal Rolle’s pick-and-near-six, to the Winnipeg one-yard line.

After the Bombers crammed a 106-yard touchdown drive down their throats in the second quarter, the Ticats’ defence barely gave Winnipeg a whiff, holding them to a couple of field goals the rest of the way. They capped the night with a turnover on downs, with defensive end Adrian Tracy sacking Nichols at the Winnipeg 20 yard line.

“We’re finally seeing the fruits of that labour,” said Tracy, pointing to hard work as a factor leading to a magnificent defensive night for him and his mates.

If there is pressure to ensure that magnificence continues in light of the hit the Hamilton offence has taken with the injury to Masoli, Tracy won’t admit it, nor will middle linebacker Justin Tuggle. There’s just a job to do, is all. A job to do well regardless of circumstance.

“When we touch that field we know we gotta handle business,” said Tuggle after practice on Monday. “No matter what’s goin’ on, what’s happening on that side of the ball. And that’s what we plan on doing.”

Tracy agreed with those thoughts. I asked him if the defence would feel more pressure going forward. He talked about the team concept and pointed out that all three phases – offence, defence and special teams – need to perform.

Hamilton Tiger-Cats defensive end Adrian Tracy celebrates following a play against the Winnipeg Blue Bombers (Shannon Vizniowski/CFL.ca)

I asked him a second time, in a different fashion. There is extra pressure, right? He beat the same drum.

“It’s gonna be a requirement that everybody – no matter what twelve-step on the field – do their job at a high level,” he said.

“Other teams have lost their starting quarterback and other people had to step in,” he continued. “But it wasn’t just on that back-up to come in and play well. It was on the team as a whole and that starts with the coaching staff, all the way down to us as players on the field.”

Guys like Tracy and Tuggle – most all defensive players, really – don’t like to admit that they might need to take on more of a burden and they walk the company line on that one, even given the immensity of the loss of a crucial, talented player like Masoli.

However, defences do, from time to time and sometimes for long stretches, need to keep a team’s fortunes afloat.

Can the Hamilton defence do it if need be?

So far, the season-long numbers show a defence that is not dominating, even though they are solid in a lot of categories (the exception being rushing, where they stand a league-worst with an average of 5.8 yards given up per attempt, and seventh in rushing yards yielded per game at 111).

Passing yards? Middle of the pack. Net offence allowed? Same thing.

Where the unit has really been shining is in the change of momentum categories with eight interceptions (3rd), six fumble recoveries (2nd) and 17 total turnovers forced (3rd).

And in the all-important category of points given up, the Ticats’ defence ranks third in the CFL, at 17.5 per game.

Good numbers, basically, charting upwards if Friday night’s game is any indication at all.

And it seems to be keyed by a coming together of a dominant front four.

With Tracy and tackle Ted Laurent as mainstays on that line, this season the Ticats added former Argo Dylan Wynn at tackle and former Stampeder Ja’Gared Davis at end. On paper, that looks like an evil, evil foursome.

Now, it’s not just on paper. The gears are meshing, according to Tracy.

“It was just a matter of us getting our timing, working together,” he said. “Knowing our strengths and weaknesses. Knowing how we would play with each other on the field.”

“We believe that everything starts up front,” Tracy continued. “And that’s the offensive line as well. If we play strong on both lines of scrimmage, we feel that we put our team in a good situation to win.”

It’s a reality the Ticats almost certainly will have to face: that with Masoli out, their offence will not run so smoothly as it has, at least for a few games and there’s even the chance it might not for the balance of the season.

Partly that’s because the Ticats offence has relied so heavily on the special talents of Masoli; His ability to backpedal to his right and still plant and fire a well-targeted looper over to the far left. Or to strong-arm one over the middle, off his back foot, with the pocket collapsing more quickly than it should. Or his spinning, ducking escape abilities, which have allowed him to avoid likely sacks and keep plays alive long enough for him to spot a hole that he could run through, or for his receivers to freelance into a helpful opening.

Partly it’s because it’s not so reasonable to expect Evans to look like a polished starter from the get-go. If he does, terrific. No beats will be skipped in Tigertown. If, though, the probabilities play out the way a person would logically, coldly predict, it’s going to take some time for a dominant Evans to emerge – if he does at all.

He’ll be asked to do more than just play ball control – “we’re gonna call plays and expect them to be executed,” said Head Coach Orlondo Steinauer of Evans – and that will be a stern test for the young quarterback as he takes on an aggressive, confident bunch of Saskatchewan defenders in his debut as a starter, Thursday night, in Regina.

Hamilton Tiger-Cats linebacker Justin Tuggle smiles after making a defensive stop against the Toronto Argonauts (Geoff Robins/CFL.ca)

If he handles being pressed into the role the way Cody Fajardo has, or Nick Arbuckle, or Vernon Adams, then the Ticats’ defence can breathe easy, knowing they need only to do carry their third of the load. If not, the team’s defensive saddlebags get packed to their limits.

“He’s crafty,” said Tuggle of Evans. “I think he’s ready to take it on.”

Tracy sees not just Evans, but the whole team as ready to take on the challenge.

“What happened to Jeremiah is unfortunate but it’s an opportunity, not only for Dane to step up but for the rest of this team to do so,” he said.

“Everybody in this room understands that we’re only better together.”

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