The Missouri Tigers haven’t had a winning season in the last two years. They can return to their winning ways by doing a few simple things.
Consistency is the biggest method to winning games. It’s an overarching statement that includes every faction of Missouri’s game plan. If the Tigers can stay consistent from play-to-play and from game-to-game, they will earn more wins.
In order for the Tigers to improve their consistency, that means they need to fine-tune all the little things: Passing accuracy, catching easy passes, making positive gains on offense, defending the pass, and not allowing the quarterback to become comfortable in the pocket can change the outcome of games for Mizzou.
If Missouri is able to fine tune the little things, then the bigger plays will be more explosive and will allow the offense and the defense to play off of each others’ strengths.
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Maintaining consistency can be challenging, and that consistency can fall either way – consistently good, or consistently poor. If Missouri trends toward performing poorly with consistency, then it will be another long year for the Tigers.
Persistence goes along with consistency, because to stay consistent, a team must persevere. That means the Tigers have to keep up a winning mentality, even during the difficult times.
Mistakes happen, but to learn from them, the team must be supportive of each other and persevere through the next play.
Speaking of mistakes, the Tigers have to become experts at eliminating bone-headed, costly mistakes. There is no team that can consistently play a perfect, mistake-free game, but eliminating false start penalties will go a long way.
Finally, Missouri must play to its strengths. For now, the defense is an unknown. We can be sure that the defensive line will be ready for the start of the season, but questions still surround the defensive secondary.
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Missouri’s strengths on offense are seemingly limitless, as the Tigers return a number of starters, and tout one of the top backfields in the SEC. Mizzou must use its play-makers effectively, and play to its strengths, while playing mistake-free football.