Bulldogs Insider #6 – Mid-Season Report Card

Each week Bulldogs wide receiver and BayToday.ca Sports Writer Matt Gordon will be giving you an insightful look at the North Bay Bulldogs. Enjoy!

Match-up: Toronto Maddogs (3-2) vs. North Bay Bulldogs (2-2) 7:00 p.m. Saturday @ Rollie Fisher Field.

Week 6 presents a very important game for the North Bay Bulldogs when it comes to the NFC standings. Their opponent will be the 4th place Toronto Maddogs who currently sit one place ahead of the Bulldogs for playoff seeding. A win on Saturday night would propel the Bulldogs ahead of the Maddogs into 4th place, a seeding that gets a first round home playoff game. A home playoff game would be a big accomplishment for this young Bulldog team; it would be the first time North Bay has hosted an NFC playoff game since a loss to the Oshawa Hawkeyes in 2003. With the lengthy travel time to North Bay for all opponents in NFC, a home playoff game would certainly help the Bulldogs chances of advancing to the second round. Combine that with the larger crowds the Bulldogs draw in comparison to most of their opponents and you have much more favourable conditions at home.

Despite the obvious playoff implications, the Bulldogs should have no need to get motivated for this Saturday’s game. The team is coming off a lopsided loss (30-7) against Tri-City and the players have had an extra week to mull over their blunders as week 5 was North Bay’s bye week. No competitive athlete likes to lose and having to dwell on a loss for an extra week will provide extra incentive for the players to come out on Saturday and redeem themselves. With a record of 2 wins and 2 losses and two games remaining against teams above .500 and two against teams below .500 in the regular season, this week will mark a turning point, either positive or negative for this football club. The Bulldogs are at the halfway point of the regular season and are coming off 2 weeks of rest; it is the perfect opportunity to do a self evaluation. Just as any good football team should do at half time of a game, the Bulldogs will need to make adjustments going into the second half of the season if they hope to be successful. Good adjustments are two-fold; you need to identify the positives in your game and do everything you can to continue them. At the same time, you have to recognize your short comings and make adjustments to avoid repeating them.

Here is my Bulldogs mid-season report card:

Offence: (D+) This group needs to step it up in the second half if the team hopes to be successful. There is a good mix of veterans and youth with a ton of talent that need to get on the same page. Several bright spots highlight the first half of the season, including a 31 point performance in Kingston, a come from behind last minute victory versus Sarnia and a strong, steady offensive line. The adjustments that need to be made are easy to point out. In their two losses the offence has had 8 turnovers compared to 4 in the two wins. Penalties have hurt the offence as well, killing drives and putting the defence in some awful field positions. Although not all penalties have been against the offence, again the statistics are clear; in the two wins the ‘Dogs had 14 penalties for 130 yards where as in the losses they had 22 penalties for a massive 210 yards.

Defence: (B+) This group has definitely been the bright spot for the Bulldogs this season. Limiting opponents to 18.5 points per game and forcing an average of 3 turnovers per game, the defence has been strong in the first half. It is no coincidence that the MVD (Most Valuable Dog) award has gone to a defender in 3 of the 4 games. The area of opportunity for the defence is in stopping the run; over the first four games, teams have rushed for an average of 160 yards/game against the Bulldogs. That not only translates into points but also time of possession. The defence will need to plug up any holes they see on film to avoid getting exploited in the second half of the season. This team will live and die by their defence, if this unit plays to their potential the Bulldogs can make a playoff run.

Special Teams: (C) There hasn’t been many bright spots for the special teams but there haven’t been many mistakes either. Kicker/Punter Jordan Firman has been steady throughout the year and with the exception of a kick return for a touchdown in game 1 the coverage teams have been doing their job. Missing return specialist Kwad Adusei for two games hasn’t helped either; look for the speedy Nipissing student to break a few long runs in the second half of the season.

Bulldogs Fans: (A++) Once again this year, the Bulldogs fans are showing why they are the best in the league. Despite venue and date changes they have showed their support all season long. Close competitors with the group in the Soo for best attendance in the league; the North Bay crowd has stuck through two 1 win seasons in the last 3 years and continue to be loyal year in and year out. The team certainly notices and appreciates the support.