I was going to post this in the "Will this teach Austin a lesson" thread, but after typing it, thought it deserved its own thread instead, so here goes....
Regarding Mathews I have one thing to say. You should be judged, not by the adversity you faced (2 pick sixes), but, rather how you respond to that adversity - on Oct 2.
Those who have come right out and said he stinks (on this forum and others) should give their collective heads a shake. While we have enjoyed having arguably the best QB in the league up until now, this team has the talent to compete with anybody, as long as we have a (inexperienced) QB - Mathews - who can manage the game successfully. I still have great faith in Austin and Condell in getting Mathews ready to start. I, in fact, remember him absolutely shredding the REDBLACKS in the pre-season game. He looked unstoppable from a QB perspective. My only fear is that last night he lost his confidence. I, for one sincerely hope he hasn't.
Last night was a tough loss, but, Mathews has the chance on Oct 2 to show how he responds to adversity. I, for one, will be pulling for him to play smart and do the right things to manage the game and to earn a victory.
Jeff, if you read this, know that this fan, and hopefully others, will have your back on Oct 2. Take a deep breath, forget last night even happened, and listen to your coaches, and play well. I know you can.
I consider myself to be a reasonable judge of talent, I played college football and Rugby and I watched Mathews in camp this spring on a couple of ocassions. I feel he has all the talents to be a regular starter in this league and with the right coaching he will. His response to adversity will make or break him on Oct 2nd.
He made a couple of bad choices yesterday. That's all. I was very impressed with his passing for the most part. As far as I'm concerned he couldn't have a better coach than KA right now. And Mathews said he was going to stick around during the off days. That was good to hear.
I have no doubts that Austin will have Mathews ready in 2 weeks time to face CGY.
It is the perfect time for a "Bye" week(as in Buying time)
Veterans Bomben, Bakari, perhaps even Fantuz should be back.
Shhh!!! don't tell anybody, but, I bet Mathews will be over to the Condell residence for dinner a lot this week.
Everyone can have a bad game, and backup QBs are no exception to this. He was up against the statistically best defense in the CFL and it's not going to shock me if he was as shaken up as Zach was.
I know a lot of people want to second guess Austin on how many reps Matthews has gotten, especially with how many blowouts we've had, but I'm not going to go down that road. Kent got us to the Grey Cup twice and he's probably forgotten more about Football then I'll ever know. A lot of people don't realize that Zach himself is still developing, with only 3 years of CFL experience. Being 1st in the league in so many QB categories, it's easy to forget that.
Given how Harris performed, Matthews deserves another shot at the job. He's looked good in every other outing and looked good in the preseason. He's green, he needs work, he needs a rushing game to alleviate some pressure off of him but this season is not a write off and I have faith that Matthews is going to put the work in and move forward.
What I want to see is, what did he learn from the last game. How will he use that to improve in the next game. I’m sure he has learned not to force things to take what’s there and generally protect the football.
IMO Harris looked like a deer in the headlights on Saturday, that IMO is much more of an issue to me than the poor decision making on a few plays showed by Matthews.
He’s going to be good QB but We really needed a Vet Behind Zach who’s won in the CFL
Maybe We can Trade for McPherson Cause Ray would cost us too much …
If you’re looking for a vet QB “saviour” to lead the team to the Grey Cup “promised land” AND win, I’m not sure that McPherson or any other experienced pivot who might be available is the answer. It took an experienced Ricky Ray half a season to become comfortable in a new system when he first went to Toronto. Ticats don’t have that much time for a new QB to get up to speed enough to win a championship. Just my opinion, of course.
After the fiasco of a performance, he has nowhere else to go but up.
I still think, despite his problems last year, Masoli has a greater upside and should start depending on the practice.
Totally agree with your thread, we have the best young, talented QB’s in the CFL in Collaro’s, and Mathews and if our starter is out for any period of time Jeff Mathews is capable of replacing and getting the job done.
I feel the same way with Harris and both Mathews and Harris have the ability to scramble and move the pocket, the big advantage for Mathews is knowing the system well of Austin/Condell now he just needs the first team reps to get his timing down with receivers.
I have all the confidence in the world in Jeff Mathews like many fans do and was glad he was signed as a Tiger-Cat.
As we wait the news on Collaros, if Zach does miss a few games or longer without doubt he would be tough to replace but Mathews could get it done.
Just gotta get the ball into the right hands and our receivers will do the rest.
Some extra playing time may have changed Saturdays outcome, but down the stretch before us, it's what he does in practice that'll have the most bearing on games.
This really is a good post.
The booing and reaction in the stadium as well as what ive heard in Tim Hortons and read on Facebook really is a joke. The guy was put in a really tough spot, and hes a rookie, with very limited reps.
We really need to get behind him, this team is still good enough to win the Grey Cup.
Running another backup out of town wont help anything.
LOL! Good luck with that. Are you sure Cleo Lemon wouldn't be better :lol:
Just heard Austin on TSN1150's MarshandMilton - he's not naming a starter yet but in true Austin-style says that they have confidence in Mathews, Harris and Masoli. The coaches will figure it out, I have no doubt.
