Ticat Recap: Montreal Game

A bit late getting a post up about the Montreal game, but it has been a hectic week in Tigercatatonia. Montreal is still head and shoulders above the rest of the league, so the Cats losing in Montreal 21 to 8 is no great shame (especially considering we've been the worst team in the league for how many years?). Losing by thirteen points is actually impressive considering the whippings that Montreal has given the other three teams they played. Allowing only three points in the second half to Montreal was also impressive.

Somewhat disappointing was Porter's play, especially in the second quarter where Montreal scored the majority of their points. Going 12 for 21 for 155 yards with one interception isn't going to get it done (although admittedly it is a lot better than Stefan LeFors). Kevin Glenn coming on in the second half was only marginally better, going 12 for 19 for 198 yards. Personally I thought a bit of a turning point in the game was when the team was deep in Montreal's end in the first half and ended up only coming up with field goal to make it 6-0. Getting a TD in that situation would have made it 10-0 and would have put more pressure on Montreal and kept the Cats within striking distance. Good teams finish drives and take advantage of opportunities presented to them.

On defence, I was a bit disappointed at how well Montreal was able to turn relatively short completions into first downs, but I was impressed by how the defence played in the second half while down. I didn't think Haley played a particularly great game in at middle linebacker, however his interception in the second half when Montreal was deep in Hamilton's end probably kept him on the roster (although he did make nine tackles, so maybe I don't know what I'm talking about). Sad to see that defensive tackle Darrell Adams was injured. That changed the game a bit, as often gets a good push going in the middle which would make things tougher on Anthony Calvillo. McIntyre was decent at end in for the injured Khari Long. They basically seem interchangeable, but unfortunately we don't really have anyone good backing him up or ready to step in.

Nice to see the local boy Dave Stala catch seven passes for a team leading 86 yards. Maybe 1000 yards in his future this year, the first time for a non-import receiver since Morreale. Chris Bauman was bit MIA, catching no passes. Good effort by McDaniel with seven catches for 68 yards and Cobb with 3 for 51 yards. Prechae caught 3 for 71, but there were several passes he could have caught that could have turned around the game. I like Rodriguez going deep, but I also would like him to use his height to make those critical first downs.

Cobb rushing for 16 yards on seven carries was disappointing, but Montreal does have a good defence.

Hopefully things will be easier this week with Hamilton at home to Montreal.

I saw on the Scratching Post that the Cats were considering blacking out the game this week in BC, but having checked Drew Edward's blog again, apparently the Cats aren't blocking it. Which is a good thing. I've made the point before that I don't think that it is in the Cats interest to black out any games. Probably the best reason is that it doesn't really seem to add to attendance anyways. Fans should go to games for the game day experience, not because they can't watch it on TSN. Plus there's a lot of fans that just can't go for one reason or another and wouldn't buy a ticket anyways, like a frail senior or a kid who can't get a ticket for whatever reason. They're still an integral part of your fanbase, and obviously for the kids potential customers down the line who never have the NFL blocked out for them. Giving up what is in effect free advertising for your team isn't worth the meager extra dollars a blackout would bring. Plus for a long suffering team, blacking out a game when things are looking up seems especially short sighted, even for the Cats.

Looks like the Lions are currently 2.5 point favourites on the road against the Cats, which is a bit surprising, considering the ass whipping they received from Calgary at home last week. The Lions are also coming off the shorter week and have to come east, so I would think the Cats would at least be even at home. The Cats do have a legacy of suck to disprove though, so maybe the odds makers are a bit gunshy for favouring the Ticats