Not challenging the no-catch against Weston Dressler of the Saskatchewan Rough Riders in the Hamilton Tiger Cats season opener. Not challenging S.J Green’s no-catch against the Montreal Alouettes in late August. Giving up a safety for field position, only to see the Argos score a touchdown on the ensuing drive anyway, seeing an 11-point Ti-cat lead evaporate into a Hamilton three-point loss.
These are all inexcusable lapses of judgement, and unfortunately they are not isolated events. These decisions have become commonplace for the Hamilton Tiger-Cats, decisions that rest solely on Coach George Cortez, who has made a string of ill-advised choices throughout the season. This isn’t open to interpretation. They were all decisions that are suspect at best, and have cost Hamilton a legitimate playoff run at this point in the season.
Whereas the events described above were all highly criticized, it was the last night’s performance which is the culmination of what is going down as a particularly discouraging season for the Tabbies.
I was extremely disappointed with what I saw in last night’s game in Winnipeg. The offence failed to show up against the CFL’s worst team, while the defense and special teams tried to keep the Hamilton in the game for as long as it could. It was valiant at least, but not good enough. The Blue Bombers did not score a touchdown until late in the third quarter and the Cats had excellent field position all night starting with the ball. But Cortez made another coaching blunder again (stay with me… more on that in a moment). While Burris couldn’t lead the Ticats in the endzone tonight, he certainly didn’t have any help. Fantuz fumbled while running with the ball, and had several horrendous drops. Not to be outdone, Williams missed a sure catch as well. Avon Colbourne was the only offensive player who showed up tonight, running with feist and angst reminiscent of a disgruntled, over-looked back.
And on with last night’s blunder. Late in the third quarter, the Tiger-Cats were attempting to build momentum, down by three points and driving the ball deep in Blue Bomber territory. On third down with less than a yard to go, Coach Cortez decided to kick a field goal, rather than go for the first down and keep the drive going. Even the analysts, whom I don’t always agree, felt it was a poor choice, trying to come up with some reason why he might have chosen not to go for it. Apparently Cobourne disagreed, too, as he was visibly disgruntled about not “going for it”.
Ticats kicker Luca Congi makes the field goal and tied the game, but that was what could have been a statement. Well, in a sense it was, just not the kind Tabbies’ fans were hoping for. Winnipeg Blue Bombers then marched the ball down field for the game’s touchdown and their first of three on the night, en route to a “W”.
What the hell was Coach Cortez thinking? Coaches have to give their players the best opportunity to win and let them determine the outcome of the game. Since the defensive line has to be one-yard off the line of scrimage when lining up, the offensive has the advantage of converting the first down. With a distinctive advantage, and only 3/4 of a yard to go, the statement is essentially that he does not trust his offensive line to get him 3/4 of a yard – what are the linemen to think? Even if the Cats turned the ball over on downs, Winnipeg would still start deep in their own zone, and have the better part of 110 yards to hit pay-dirt.
With this latest poor decision from Coach Cortez, he once again has proven he cannot cut it as head coach. His play calling has been questionable, too, while I’m on the subject. Why did reliable Ticat receiver Dave Stala not see any balls thrown his way tonight? Any fan will tell you he is the epitome of “clutch”, and would have been a go-to guy when all others failed. Burris did not attempt to throw the ball to him once. How is that even possible? Why then in the season opener was star defensive linebacker Marketh Knowlton, not a starter because of a ratio issue?
Play-calling and quick decisions are one thing, but what is inexcusable to me, and spells utter disaster is that Hamilton was completely unprepared for tonight’s game, and were undisciplined to boot. The Tiger Cats had 17 penalities called against them – a recipe for disaster.
All of these issues are the responsibility of the coach. Right now, I clearly don’t believe he is handling any of them very well at all. Yes, the defense has played better in recent weeks, but I still believe they are underachieving given the talent they have available. The offense, which was supposed to be explosive (and does have that potential) was deplorable, which only added to defensive woes as they were on the field for the better part of the second half. Simply, the defense was absolutely gassed by the fourth quarter and couldn’t stop anybody.
This 2012 Ti-cat Season is going quickly down the toilet. Without some drastic measures Hamilton will not make the playoffs this year, and will have some major issues to address this upcoming off-season – again. Maybe the Cats look at keeping Cortez on as offensive co-ordinator and bringing in another coach? I understand they want to keep continuity and feel a continual revolving door of coaches hinders their ability to build a winning team, a sentiment I usually agree with. But right now I feel the Hamilton Tiger Cats unfortunately will not win with Cortez as their head coach. His coaching errors, predictable playbook, lack of game preperation and poor half time adjustments do not allow this team to go out and win football games. And yes I know he is under contract for several years, but as I said, desperate times, desperate measures.
