September 15th 2012: Toronto Argonauts vs. BC Lions

[jerrym]

I took my youngest son to the game (he's 11). After watching his second live game, he is starting to like CFL football. With regards to the game:

(1) the most striking impression, more easily seen than in a tv game, is that the offensive line simply is not up to scratch as BC was on top of Ray on most plays even when they were not blitzing;

(2) the dbs were inconsistent in their coverage doing a good job on some plays but missing or holding receivers on others - certainly not their best game;

(3) our receivers did beat BC's dbs a fair number of time but more often than is normal for professionals dropped the ball, although part of this was rushed passes by Ray due to the pressure he faced;

(4) while Argo dbs got away with some holds early in the game, the final BC TD was partly a function of 3 penalties in a row, 2 of them borderline at best in my opinion;

(5) Riggs looked good on his few running plays, usually making the first tackler miss and scratching for every yard - however giving him only 5 carries and only 1 in the second half was a big mistake because BC was quite willing to let him gain 10 yards because of his skills and focus instead on every play on getting to Ray - Milanovich needs to give the ball more to his RBs to help take the pressure off Ray, especially when he has a far from stellar offensive line protecting Ray;

(6) despite all these weaknesses the Argos made this game close at the end, so improvement in the offensive line, more consistent db play and more running plays means they could still capture Montreal and even beat BC on a very good day;
(7) the crowd noise is a 13th player like no other in the CFL - I remember when the league in the 1990s clamped down on Calgary's announcer urging the crowd to make noise and yet nothing is done now when not only the announcer but the electronic signs that surround the entire stadium from every angle encourage this, along with music blaring between every Argo play.