That is one of the worst performances I've ever seen from a safety.
12 games into the season and this is what Austin and Steinauer have developed thus far?
Have to agree with you; he was way out of position, and unnecessarily so, on Price's TD. Price blew past a flat footed corner (not sure if it was Davis or Breaux), the hb was over on the other side, and for some unknown reason King was shaded to the other side as well, so he couldn't get over in time to cover Price after he blew past the corner. Thought Dunnigan did a good job on the replay to demonstrate it.
Funny how it goes...
Before the season began the consensus seemed to be that KA was a genius and Steinauer a brilliant young DC with a bright future as a CFL coach.
Later, when we fell into a negative record, no one was calling for KA's head that I recall, but quite a few were ready to axe Orlondo... in over his head, doesn't really know what he's doing, all kinds of poor decisions, isn't much of a coach, etc.
Then we won a few games and all was forgiven.
Now we've lost a couple to the best team in the league and KA and OS are in the doghouse again. 'Twas ever thus.
Who was it who said (in another context, not related to football) that it's best not to get too high when things go well, or too low when things take a negative turn?
Seems to me that when we play the top teams in the CFL, our weaknesses are evident and we aren't quite good enough to beat them. We're a middle of the pack team, looks like we'll make the playoffs... and that's a good thing... but I'm not convinced we're a threat to win the Grey Cup. It's slow, but progress nevertheless. Last time we had a ".500 coach" we fired him and promptly went 6-12. Now we seem to have recovered some of that lost ground. I'll take it. I hope we don't get foolish and do silly things again. You can't have a happy career as a Ticat fan if you're always demanding instant gratification.
Please remember that Niel king is a replacement for the injured courtney stephan so we will be better when he recovers
Neil King
Mike Ingersoll
James Patrick
Terrance Parks
Justin Hilton
Courtney Greene
Ricardo Colclough
It's amazing how this keeps happening over and over again. I don't buy the injury excuse, either. These guys get into the game and are absolutely clueless, THEN get subsequently released after they've already contributed to a loss. Poor talent evaluation.
I'm not putting any of the coaches in the doghouse on this one. The play calling I found to be correct and excellent. On the offense, we had several drives that were going out way before they were punctuated by an interception. We had a mixed attack of rushing and passing, so not a lot of coaching fault there in my eyes. Sure Greg Ellingson was out, but there is ample depth at the receiver position, although why going with Tasker over Charbonneau-Campeau who could use the reps has me scratching my head, although a little less if I think that Campeau is going to be a dispersal draft target. I also like the fact that the coaches put LeFevour in, both to try to change things up and to give him reps since it was fairly clear at that point, which way the game was heading.
Defense, well a little less fault, but I mean we pretty much held Cornish well enough, which everyone seems to feel is the key to beating the Stamps. That however wasn't enough as our DBs and Safety just couldn't get it done. However, that's not outrageous to expect when you have Dee Web and Courtney Stephen out with injuries. However our DBs have long been our achilles heel, so the fact we still don't have respectable depth/scheme to compensate for this, falls somewhat on the coach.
Special teams, well Josh Bartel I think is going to result in the CFL scouting out Aussie rules Football for kickers. Holy crap were those some high punts. However Lauther, well I guess he paid for making that pose. I still think they should have let Congi work out his rut after Calgary, but since they didn't I get why they went with Lauther who was hot after the Montreal game. Problem is, he's still a young kicker. I didn't see Congi dressed on the sidelines though, not sure why. KR was decent, nothing to write home about though.
So who to blame, well I don't like blaming the QB, usually because the O.Line and lack of back blocking is often the forgotten, unseen fault in Football, as with receivers who aren't performing and is hard to track who is open. In this case, the O.Line gave Burris quite a lot of time on a lot of plays. There were also a couple of times I noticed, we had a receiver open in the far flat, which while I'll admit is a hard throw, but a QB with a rifle for an arm like Hank could has easily made them. There was also just a lot of uncatchable, bad decisions that occurred. Mr. Hyde Hank made too many tipable tosses and or tosses into coverage and those turnovers killed us.
So in conclusion Burris takes most of the blame here, followed by the DBs, the Defensive coaching and a touch of Lauther for not making one hard field goal and one easy field goal.
How else to get an accurate evaluation than by playing them ? They start, they show they’re not good enough, they’re released. That’s how it works .
Shouldn’t take that long. Rico Murray and Emmanuel Davis were cut while Patrick and Colclough started Week 1 and were evidently taken to school by Toronto in week 1. Somehow it took Austin three games (plus training camp, pre-season) to see that James Patrick couldn’t even run.
Mike Ingersoll; Replaced after two series’ in week 2 after he couldn’t even get out of his stance by the time Odell Willis was around him. How was he even on the team?
Amen to that!
Complaining about player turnover but you want players cut sooner ?
Just a question.. Did Erik Harris play on D last night or only specials? If much rather see him at Safety if Stephen can't go.. I think it really showed last night how bad we miss Stephen.. He's in on every play. Neil King trying to put a lick on the CGY receiver at our 5 yard line sealed his fate IMO.. That is just bad football IQ.
I never complained about player turnover. I want to win. That requires getting the right guys on the field.
Talent evaluation has been the bane of this teams existence for a very long time…
It should be noted that Colclough is now playing for the Argonauts…
100% correct…
Rebuilding actually takes time!!! Shocker of shockers!!!
Most rebuilding projects take on a 3 year timeline,so,if we finish 8-10 or 9-9 (considering how bad this teams defence was last year) all things considered,it’s a very good stepping stone and a foundation to build on going into next year!
We know where the weaknesses are and those are the holes that need to be filled (by the way,that includes the talent evaluation process that has held this team back for a long time)…
Lefevour = winner. That's all. :rockin:
BTW, why did we get rid of Geoff Tisdale again? :?
He is having a banner year with the Als, currently second in the league for INT's and nearing a career high in tackles.
Is a high number of tackles a good sign for a DB? Wouldn’t that indicate that the receivers he’s covering are catching their passes? Or is he bailing out his teammates?
The bottom line is that Neil King has been exposed as slow and unsure.
Middle safety is the last line of defence.
Anyone who has played Middle Safety ( even in peewee football ) knows that this position
has to know where the ball is going and be there when it arrives.
Failure to do that usually results in a long completion and often touchdowns.
Toronto will definitely be looking to take full advantage next game.
The smart move here is to replace him with an import ( with experience ) Like Eric Harris.
If they play King they must do the following.
All other secondary positions must be solid. ( replace Davis with Rico Murray & get Dee Webb back in there )
Blitz on every play. Rushing 4 or 3 will result in a quick score for Toronto.
Clutch and hold Toronto receivers at every opportunity.
I like King , He is a tough kid who tries hard but he is not ready. You can't just get by at the middle Safety position. You must be solid.
I think the team lost confidence on Saturday for three reasons
Poor field goal kicking., turnovers and an awareness that the defence was weak on the back end .
It is important to fix all three problems.
Courtney Stephen will be back at safety joined by Dee Webb against the Arblows
Drew Edwards,
NOTES: Austin said BrettLauther will handle the place-kicking duties for a third straight week, despite missing two field goals in the loss to Calgary last Saturday. Lauther said he felt he let his teammates down and was disappointed in himself after his sparkling four-for-four debut effort in Moncton. "I knew I had to be more consistent than just that one game and I wasn't," Lauther said. "Now I can't wait to get Toronto to get another shot." ... A number of players sat out practice Monday, including left tackle Brian Simmons, linebacker Jamall Johnson, special-teams ace Marc Beswick, defensive back DelvinBreaux, receiver Greg Ellingson and defensive end Louis Richardson, while defensive tackle Brian Bulcke did limited work. On the plus side, defensive backs Courtney Stephen and Dee Webb as well as fullback Dahrran Diedrick were back practising. Receiver Sam Giguère continues to work his way back from a broken finger that required surgery, but Austin didn't sound optimistic he'd play this week. "He is persistent and he really wants to play but we have to be careful," Austin said. "We need him to be there for our stretch run and the playoffs."