Halfway through the season, my sense is that the defence has improved significantly over last year. We have dominated other teams on many occasions, and we no longer find ways to give up a lead in the final minute or two (@SSK excepted). We’ve held opponents to under 20 points in 5 of 9 games! One weakness may be our run defence, which has collapsed a couple of times.
What is the biggest reason for the improvement this year?
Linebackers: I was worried about the loss of 2 of our 3 starters in the off-season - both all-stars - but it seems like Simoni has picked up his game and Rico has played well. Not sure yet about Tuggle.
D-line: Possibly the most improved unit, and J.Davis could be the reason. Wynn also seems to be an upgrade. Both are in the top 5 in the league for sacks.
DBs: Only one real change with Adeleke stepping in for Daly, but they all seem to be playing better.(See separate thread for counter-argument re: Breaux.) Tight coverage, lots of knockdowns.
Coaching: Washington replaces Glanville, bringing much more CFL-specific knowledge to the table. But is Steinauer also a factor, playing a more significant role in defensive coaching than we may realize, or somehow setting a different tone?
This is the best defence we’ve had in the last five years.
By adding Davis and Wynn, our D Line is right up there with Edmonton for best in the league, IMO.
Tracy has surprised me lately. He’s looked really good at DE.
The LB’s have all made plays. There is virtually no drop off from Dean to Tuggle, IMO.
The secondary is full of playmakers. We had many pass knockdowns vs Ottawa. Blanket coverage. And they have the right mentality. If one guy gets burned, he doesn’t dwell on it, and ends up making key plays/having a stronger game later (Leonard).
Washington is the driving force here. Big upgrade from Glanville. First head coach for the Atlantic Schooners?
The defence certainly appears to be better. Even at times when the offence is sputtering; the D doesn’t look tired and gets the job done.
One caveat to this is that we haven’t played a lot of bonafide starting Qbs.
We beat Calgary, but we haven’t beaten BLM.
We beat Ottawa, but have not beaten Trevor Harris.
Sask also did not have their first string qb in the home opener; in the rematch, they beat us; as fijardo had first team reps by then.
Mike Rielly put up some good numbers against us; we stole that game against BC.(not complaining)
Only real starter we beat is Nichols- he seemed to be over throwing the ball that whole game.
When we play the Eskimos, Calgary & Winnipeg away games with their starting Qbs, facing bad weather; we’ll really know how far we have come.
Murray was a used mostly as a DB in 2015, as Harris was our starting SAM that year, but did rotate in at SAM occasionally. The next year, with Harris was off to the NFL, Murray was moved permanently to the SAM spot.
And yes, he ended up not finishing that season due to injury.
The thread about Breaux is a waste of cyber-space.
As you say, tight coverage and many pass breakups from the entire secondary. They even cover each others backs. In Ottawa I believe it was Brooks who came in to help break up a pass when the ball dropped in behind Rolle to an open receiver.
Williams and Brooks are beasts. Adeleke’s speed has really helped cut down the amount of times we get burned deep. Rolle and Leonard are solid also.
I think its been a long time since we could feel this good about our DBs.
It’s great having Daly and Adeleke . It may have been the Calgary game when we used a Tampa 2 - type defence, with two safeties. Both are excellent on the teams . Having great Canadian depth has been the goal for years and it appears that we’re finally there.
Simoni misses 2 games and Shortill fills in admirably. Teddy goes down and Brett Wade takes up that space. Thomas- Erlington goes down and Irons fills the void . Ungerer serves as backup receiver, as well as kick returner insurance . Ciraco misses a game and Okafor steps in . Kalinic ( FB/ TE) is out and Coombs gets more reps as a slot/rb . And the beat goes on . Hate the injuries but love the Canadian depth .
What’s odd is that on Saturday, there was one play where I noticed Murray lined up at the safety position. I looked around to see if Adeleke was lined up somewhere else, but didn’t see him. Doesn’t mean he wasn’t there, just that in the few seconds I had, I couldn’t find him. I also didn’t have time to see who was in at SAM.
The question is, if Adeleke was off the field for a play or two, why move Murray back instead of bringing Daly in?
He has been put on the 6 game injured list and there is a great possibility that he will stay there until he is healthy to take advantage of the cap relief
We now have 10 players listed on the 6 game I/L
Also Big Teddy and Tracy never finished last game.
