New Year’s resolutions for the East Division

Each new year is often seen as an opportunity for self-improvement, and while that's usually about individual goals, the CFL's teams should keep it in mind as well. Here's something the East Division's four teams should work on this year, going from west to east. (West Division resolutions can be found here.)

Hamilton Tiger-Cats: Improved pass protection: After a slow start, the Tiger-Cats had an excellent 2014, going on a late-season run and making it all the way to the Grey Cup in head coach/general manager Kent Austin's first season with the team. That was in large part thanks to an effective passing offence, which was second in the league in passing yards per game (299.7), second in gain per pass (8.5 yards) and third in completion percentage (65.8 per cent). However, they didn't do a great job of protecting quarterback Henry Burris, allowing a league-high 65 sacks, five more than even much-criticized Edmonton. Hamilton threw 635 passes, a league-high number and 30 more than the Eskimos, so the frequency of dropbacks comes into that too, but their line will have to be better in pass-blocking going forward. That won't be easy, though, especially when you consider that they lost veteran centre Marwan Hage to Ottawa in the expansion draft.

Toronto Argonauts: A more efficient running game: Toronto didn't run much in 2013 (a league-low 283 times), and that's not unexpected considering that star RB Chad Kackert battled injuries all year and that quarterbacks Ricky Ray and Zach Collaros had great seasons (the Argos led the league with 300.3 passing yards per game and a 70.9 per cent completion mark). No one's saying they need to turn into Saskatchewan and carry the ball all the time. They do need to become more effective when they do choose to run, though; their average of 5.4 yards per carry was the third-worst mark in the league. A better ground game could take advantage of defences keying on the pass and open up even more holes for the passing game in the process.

Ottawa Redblacks: A long-term focus: The CFL's newest team obviously doesn't have on-the-field factors to improve on, as they haven't played a game yet, but this is something that they'll have to keep in mind. The league's given them more favourable starting conditions than the last Ottawa expansion team, but this team still is unlikely to make the playoffs in 2014 given the challenges of assembling a team from scratch and the loopholes teams were able to use to limit their expansion draft haul. The temptation in Ottawa may be to try and win as much as possible right now to keep fans happy, but this team needs to set itself up for the next few years as well, and to do that, they'll have to give young players a chance. Veterans like Kevin Glenn will have important roles to play in getting this team off the ground, but the Redblacks will also need to develop young guys for the long term.

Montreal Alouettes: An improved completion percentage: The Alouettes completed a league-low 55.7 per cent of their passes this season, and that has to improve. If veteran quarterback Anthony Calvillo does return from his concussion battle, that would definitely help, but it's looking more and more like he'll retire. Troy Smith showed a ton of promise down the stretch, making big throws down the field and demonstrating his mobility, but if he's going to be Montreal's starter going forward, he has to continue to adjust to the CFL game and become more efficient as well. With only three downs, you can't afford to waste passing attempts. Montreal will be making plenty of offensive changes in the offseason, as assistant coaches Mike Miller and Doug Berry won't be back and the team still hasn't named a new offensive coordinator (or a head coach for that matter, although it's presumed that GM Jim Popp will carry on as head coach as well), but whoever's at the controls will have to up the focus on completion percentage.

(See the West Division resolutions here.)