Our Ticats broke down in every aspect of the game in Regina. For me, the greatest letdown is our offensive line which I have been registering complaints about for a couple of years now. Kent Austin is an offensive minded coach/manager/ president of Football Operations. His failure to upgrade his “O” Line, however, puzzles me. Surely he could see his team’s inadequacies at
training camp and in pre season, yet I see no attempts being made to upgrade this area. As a former QB, he would have been on his ass a lot with our current “O” line in place because I don’t think he possessed the maneuverability that Collaros or Buris have. These guys did well to escape some of the seige from opposing offenses that they did. Ten sacks against Saskatchewan and about seven (I think) in the last pre season game. I realize that Dyakowski’s loss is a tough one, but why on earth did we lose Marwan Hage with no one to replace him? Our current offensive centre appears to be invisible to opposing defenses. People tend to run right through him. Can we get this situation fixed? Its actually quite embarrassing. :oops:
The long snapping was atrocious too.
The problems with the “O” Line is more complex than you think. The QB needs drop back and release the ball quickly
with hot routes. I am not 100 % sure but I believe Simmons and Figerola are playing out of position. I could be wrong, however other teams loose players and plug and play backups and there is no issue. I am hopeful Austin will fix the problem before the Edmonton game. What bothers me is the most is the lack of pressure from our “D” Line and run stop from the Mack Linebacker and Defensive Tackles. I guess time will tell…
Marwin Hage to the rescue???????
The Ti-Cats had no choice with Marwan Hage...he was lost to the Ottawa Redblacks in the expansion draft...I don't think Hage wanted to play for Ottawa so he retired....
Can’t he unretired?
yes, Marwan can un-retire but unfortunately the Stamps hold his rights via a trade with Ottawa back in May.
There is nothing I’d like better than to see Marwan back with the Ticats…HOWEVER, this was a team effort and every part of it was not functioning. I think Marwan would help.
I’m sure that if Marwan said he would come back, then the Ticats would trade to get him back. He was a very good leader on the O’line. It would take him some time to get back in game-shape, but YES, I’d welcome him back in a heartbeat. 
I look forward to our next game and hopefully a better result.
The truth of the matter is that if we had lost by a single point, it was still a loss…a humiliating loss, but a loss non the less.
We could very easily go 0 and 4 to start…THAT would be even further Humiliation to lose our home opener, to our former QB. :thdn: Let’s get this trainwreck, “ON TRACK” NOW.
Sad to say, but that is the first Cats game I have ever stopped watching, about half way through the 4th. All parts need more work, QB needs to release the ball much faster (much) or dump it to the sideline. Just sad. 
I did enjoy the Sports Illustrated guy, King I think, "this kid has gotten the crap knocked out of him". :thup:
This was a team meltdown. The whole team, players and coaches, were soundly beaten. They didn't appear to be prepared to play and that's on Austin and his staff. The players didn't execute--penalties, fumbles, bad passes, zero pass rush, no QB protection, etc. etc. Two yards of total offence in the first half was a sick joke.
I can't argue with the thread--unprepared and talentless, but the whole team failed to show up.
An Argo-Cat fan
All of the inadequacies you note here are duely noted but despite all of them, the “O” line remains the biggest problem on this team. All other areas require attention as well, but none more than the “O” line. Ten sacks in a football game is unforgivable and unforgettable. If the “O” line doesn’t perform, the world’s greatest QBs haven’t got a prayer. You can bet they will get frustrated and scramble aimlessly looking for open receivers.
The “O” lone needs to be at the top of the cleanup list.
First thing is switch Simmons and Figueroa back to their original positions,next get Myddelton out of the starting rotation,for a guy who was supposedly a prized FA signing,he has been absolutely brutal so far this season.I'm not sure just how hurt Joel Reinders is at the moment being on the 1 gm,but if he is healthy enough why not try him out at the guard spot ? Reinders is a human tree at 6' 8" and going at 312 lbs,he has 5 more inches in height than Myddelton and 7 lbs more than Myddelton. If he is healthy and good to go than get him in there ASAP can't be any worse than what we have now at LG. As for O'Neill at centre and Wojt at RG not really sure what the problem is so far,perhaps in Wojt's case he is more nicked up than the team is leading on about as he did miss both pre season games and perhaps isn't playing at 100%.O'Neill on the other hand has played center and guard his two season's here and I'm not exactly sure so far about his shoddy play in the opener,but he was also brutal in that game and can obviously perform better than what he showed.The main problem though right now as I see it is that there is very little wiggle room to make major changes at this time,the two back-ups on the 44 against the Riders were Rockhill and Rice who between them both spent all of last season on the pr and have virtually no game day experience to speak of as the Rider game was the first game that either of them suited up for the Cats in their CFL careers. Mike Filer is in a walking boot and on the 6 game as well as back up OT Marc Dile also.The only other O-Lineman on the roster is American rookie Dominic Alford who played out of position at RG in the Argo pre season game and looked absolutely out of his league and was totally schooled all game.The main problem is our best OL Peter Dyakowski is out until at least Labour Day or perhaps even later and our reserves we have currently on the roster are outside of Reinders totally lacking in experience and are clearly not ready to step in as capable starters.
At this time,outside of perhaps bringing in some new bodies,somehow Austin and OL coach Allen Rudolph have to fix this problem from within and if it's not fixed and soon and if there is not a marked improvement in the next few games,my guess is that it could be a long season here in the Hammer.
Until the O Line issues are corrected it's going to be like blood in the water to a shark.
Every team will bring pressure - with or without a blitz - and our receivers will be jammed at the line. No time to get down field and no time for Sack Collaras to set up.
Only hope he stays healthy while avoiding the sharks!!!
O-Line, a lot of folks on here were stating that the O-L could be one of our strengths this year !!
Little did we all know at that time. <!-- s:roll: -->:roll:<!-- s:roll: -->Reinders has size in his favour but what about his skill level? There’s a reason why the Argos outright released him after only about one year with the team.
His height lends itself more to the tackle position but I suspect he may lack the agility and athleticism to be effective at tackle at this level. If you try him at guard, he will need to adjust to a new position and do you want a 6’ 8" “building” blocking the over-the-middle throwing lanes for your (barely) 6 foot tall QB?
Not sure what happened to former Eskimo guard Scott Mitchell who the Argos touted as an important free agent signing in February but then released outright at the beginning of training camp. He was the top-rated prospect in the 2011 draft and was selected 2nd overall by Edmonton and spent three years there. If the guy still wants to play football, the Ti-Cats should look into it.
Austin will get the O-line fixed. It may take another import, oops international, but it will improve.
Reinders would need no adjusting from OT to OG,as he was listed on the depth chart in the pre season game against Montreal at the left Guard position and was also listed at guard on last year’s depth charts when he dressed for games.
As for his skill level,he was deemed good enough to be signed with the NFL’s Browns in 2010 and with the NY Giants in 2012 on both occasions he made it through all of training camp only to be one of the final cuts on both occasions. As for Mitchell,not exactly sure what happened to him in Toronto,but agreed,if he is available and still wants to play by all means let’s bring him in and see what he can do.
New "O" Lineman added!!! D.J. Young out of Michigan State.
[url=http://www.ticats.ca/article/ticats-add-offensive-lineman-dj-young]http://www.ticats.ca/article/ticats-add ... n-dj-young[/url]Why does everyone always suggest an international to replace a national. Simmons and Figueroa had just as rough of a day as Myddelton, O’Neill, and Wojt. It takes time for an Oline to gel. All five of the rider offensive have been together for a year, that’s how they became good.
These guys are supposed to be professional football players. While I realize it takes time for a line to gel, I can’t recall any Ticat line that ever allowed 10 sacks in one game.
I can be sympathetic that these players in many cases, are new to this team and to their team mates, but how does one justify their pathetic performance in this one game. Did they not learn anything in training camp. Many other teams have gone through similar circumstances without our team’s horrible results.
No sympathy from me. :thdn: