Game 2. @ Lions

[Zontar]

From the frying pan into....

Love to say burn the tape of last game but they needed to keep it so they can study what a disaster looks like.

Who knows what difference MK would have made last game, probably very little if any, but Eiben pays the price and defense can revert to its usual LB corps.

Cats have done surprisingly well in Vancouver in the recent past but they'll need all the luck they can get. Have to prove some progress has been made and deficiencies addresed.
DBs will have hands full with GS and AB. D-line cant humilate itself again or it'll be another nightmare.

Offense too isnt above blame. It was dominated along the line too a QB and recs need more work and time. Fri. night would be a great place to start. Stala should be motivated.

Have to establish the run from the beginning.

[BobYoungFan]

I believe that whether or not last game's tapes should be burned depends on whether or not this team has learned lessons from last week and has fixed what problems that can be seen when viewing those tapes.

Once again, the decision on whether or not Knowlton and Stala will be starters was a topic of discussion. It looks like those who wanted to see them start will get what they want. I'm not sure how much difference that would have made last week, though.

It won't be easy for the D to go up against Simon and AB3 with last year's MOP throwing it to them. Even though the BC O line will be missing at least two starters, the D may get torched again. It may be best to keep their offence off the field as long as possible. Walker did not have many carries last week. But now that Hage is at or near being at 100%, could Walker or Cobourne get more carries? And hopefully increase our time of possession numbers?

After a very disappointing start, let's see how this team that was supposed to be a Grey Cup contender will respond.

[BobYoungFan]

BC 39, Hamilton 36.

Well, that was an improvement on what we saw last week. But there is still some room for improvement here. That's all I have to say about this game for now.

[Zontar]

A loss is a loss but could and should have been so much worse.

Defense played well into second half but all the two and outs by the offense and having to chase Lulay around really opened them up against the rush.

Had the offense showed up in the two and half QTRs and and bad tackling on STS a win wasnt out of the question.

Saw a glimmer of what team can do when all things are working - still work to do, obviously.

Team could have bailed after giving up ST touchdown but showed some stones right to the end.

[ty_pex]

A work in progress.

It may not be enough for some fans who expected this team to fly out of the gate, but how they deal with that is their problem.

So many positives balanced by a lot of negatives, which are mainly little mistakes - the dropped pass that should have been caught for a first down, the missed assignment that puts the opposing defender or receiver in position to make a play, the missed tackle that lets a guy make a long run or return. Be more disciplined about some of those, and this team can show a lot better.

Cortez is still on a learning curve too - gotta pick your moments with the challenge flag, George.

And let's not forget BC is still the best team in the league until proven otherwise. They do the little things that add up to consistent good play, and take advantage when other teams don't do them. To THAT is what the Ticats must aspire.

[BobYoungFan]

A work in progress.

It may not be enough for some fans who expected this team to fly out of the gate, but how they deal with that is their problem.

So many positives balanced by a lot of negatives, which are mainly little mistakes - the dropped pass that should have been caught for a first down, the missed assignment that puts the opposing defender or receiver in position to make a play, the missed tackle that lets a guy make a long run or return. Be more disciplined about some of those, and this team can show a lot better.

Cortez is still on a learning curve too - gotta pick your moments with the challenge flag, George.

And let's not forget BC is still the best team in the league until proven otherwise. They do the little things that add up to consistent good play, and take advantage when other teams don't do them. To THAT is what the Ticats must aspire.

There certainly were some positives, and some reasons to believe that this team will be as good as some thought it could be. The defence seemed to be much better this week, 14 of BC's points came from special teams and from what might as well have been a pick-six. Perhaps having McElveen take Boudreaux's place and having Ronnell Brown start at DT were good moves. And it was good to have Knowlton starting again. I would also like to mention that Matt Bucknor has been a pleasant surprise.

Those who wanted to see Stala start again got what they wanted, and we saw that as asked for, aside from that fumble. While it was a good idea to have him start, I'm not sure what Cortez was thinking in challenging that fumble in which Sticky did not quite live up to his nickname. Was he thinking that he made a bad decision to not challenge that Dressler catch the week before, and tried too hard to ensure that would not happen again? I would also like to know why he's not doing something that worked well for us last season. Why is Porter not being used in short yardage situations? Does Cortez not know why Porter had that many rushing TDs last year? It's like he's fixing something that is far from being broken.

Mistakes can be costly, and it was good to hear Ike Brown admit to missing tackles on special teams. It is important that this team cut back on mistakes, and that seems to be something that this team is already doing. So I hope Rider fans did not let that blowout win get to their watermelon-covered heads. Although their D held the Esks to one point, but I digress.

We have seen plenty of mistakes from this team in these first two weeks. It has sometimes looked like this team needed at least two more preseason games, as this team has sometimes looked preseason-ish. But there is time to work out the kinks. Grey Cups are neither won nor lost in July.