After returning to the post-season a year ago, the Hamilton Tiger-Cats entered the 2010 campaign looking to take the next step and challenge for a Grey Cup. However, the beginning of the season hasn't been kind to the Ticats, who find themselves sitting at the bottom of the East Division heading into Week 5.
Part of the team's struggles rests with their inability to generate yards through the running game, a charge that rests squarely on the shoulders of running back DeAndra' Cobb and his offensive line.
"The most frustrating part of it is our record. We're not playing as well as we should be playing right now," stated Cobb. "You just have to take it and come to practice and get better and make sure you turn the season around."
The speedy back broke into the league in 2009 rushing for 1,217 yards and five touchdowns, while adding 542 receiving yards and three scores through the air. Through four games this season, Cobb has accumulated 137 yards on the ground and seen his yards per carry fall from 5.6 to 3.5.
"It's a combination of things," explained head coach Marcel Bellefeuille. "The first thing is he's the back that makes decisions on the other side of the line of scrimmage. We need to make more of a push for him and eliminate the penetration so that he doesn't have to stop and start his feet.
"The second thing is when there aren't yards there. He did a better job in Montreal of making people miss in the hole and creating yards on his own. I think that's been positive. The third thing is he's going to need some opportunities. We're going to have to be in a situation where we can give him opportunities and that will be on us as a coaching staff to make sure he gets the touches he needs to be successful."
Veteran quarterback Kevin Glenn understands that the blame doesn't fall on one individual and believes the team needs to utilize the passing game to prevent defences from stacking the box against the Hamilton attack.
"Eventually if you keep knocking at the door it's going to open," said Glenn. "We're playing hard, we're doing all the extra things and sometimes it's just not going our way.
I think [Cobb] has been very patient and very positive. He's trying to figure out what he needs to do extra in order to get it going. It's the same thing with the offensive line too. It's not something that we don't already know, so we are trying to do certain things to get it going."
Cobb and the rest of the Tiger-Cats offence will get a chance to rebound this Saturday when they head to Saskatchewan to face the Roughriders at 6:30pm et/3:30pm pt on TSN and TSN HD.
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