July 18, 2014: Toronto Argonauts vs. Ottawa RedBlacks

[Argo]

He knew what he was doing. The ball was already well beyond the receiver when he made that hit. It was a terrible penalty to take. It would have been 2nd and 25 as Ottawa had taken 2 penalties to start the possession, and that penalty resulted in Ottawa extending a drive that led to a FG. When you lose by 1 point, a play like that stands out as a game changer. He's a loose cannon. If he keeps taking stupid penalties (he also had a horrible PI call last week--on a jump ball with 3 db's vs 1 receiver and he still interferes??) I would say bye bye.

IMO, (only) a couple of idiot penalties a season are tolerable if the miscreant otherwise adds significant value to the team. At the rate of one per game --> adios.
In any case you don't really want to have to put up with more than one loose cannon on your team. (Although I'd let Johnny Rogers eat a hotdog on the sidelines every game.)

[AngeloV]

In any case you don't really want to have to put up with more than one loose cannon on your team. (Although I'd let Johnny Rogers eat a hotdog on the sidelines every game.)

You and me both. LOL!!

[ArgoRavi]

IMO, (only) a couple of idiot penalties a season are tolerable if the miscreant otherwise adds significant value to the team. At the rate of one per game --> adios.
In any case you don't really want to have to put up with more than one loose cannon on your team. (Although I'd let Johnny Rogers eat a hotdog on the sidelines every game.)

Speaking of eating a hot dog on the sidelines, I remember reading a story of Moe Elewonibi ordering a hot dog while the Lions were playing the Argos at SkyDome in 1999. Elewonibi was in uniform when he did this. Of course, we all later discovered that he spent that season doing all kinds of drugs with 3rd string QB Todd Marinovich.

As for Anderson, that did turn out to be a huge penalty, as AngeloV said. The Argos really could have kept the RedBlacks to less than 10 points that night if it weren't for a few costly errors. It is understandable why Milanovich was so angry with his team for letting a very winnable game slip away.

[gilthethrill]

My overall take on the game:

John Chiles really disappointed me. The last drop was huge, and he appeared to give up or lose the ball on a couple of corner routes which I thought were well thrown.
Nice first game for Steve Slaton.
I thought Jalil Carter looked very good on the corner. Yes, he was beaten late on the deep ball, but he had good coverage on the play. Perfect throw and nice over the shoulder catch. That's just good football.
Nice game for Tristan Okpalaugo. I thought he played great against Saskatchewan, and again last night. I honestly don't remember if he played last week, because I saw Aston Whiteside in his place most of the game. I think we have a keeper in Okpalaugo.
Waters is having a great start to the season.
Ovearall, this loss was tough to take, but considering all the injured bodies, and knowing how pumped Ottawa must have been in front of a full house for their first ever home game, not surprised with the result.
Hoping the Argos can somehow go 3-2 over the next 5. I think 4-5 in the first half puts them in pretty good shape to finish strong with a (hopefully) healthy line-up and heavy home schedule to finish the season.

Okpalaugo appeared to be playing with an injured shoulder during his great effort. I anticipate he will join Owens & Durie on IR. Not only did the Argos have to contend with that franchise home opener, I expect Tim Hortons Field will not be ready until Labour Day, so the Argos will most likely have to endure two stadium openings this season.

[Will]

At the end of the day, the RedBlacks winning their home opener was good for their franchise. However, the way the Argos lost that game does leave a sour taste in my mouth. You sit there and think that if Chad Owens, Andre Durie and Jason Barnes were healthy that the Argos likely would have won that game. But, the receivers who have been called upon to replace them haven't proven to be up to the task. The amount of throws that went right through one of our receivers' hands was frustrating. If Chiles catches that one pass there then the game is over. Instead, the Argos have to kick a FG. Then the defense which had played well the entire night makes one little mistake and all of a sudden the RedBlacks are in chip shot range to win the game.

The stadium itself is quite nice with a few kinks to iron out in terms of game day experience (concessions, PA announcer, etc.) but overall it seems that the return of CFL football to Ottawa is a success in the early going.

[tennyis]

You're looking needing a 65 yard punt and no return to get that single point.

You mean like the 65 yard punt for a single he made earlier in the game?????? I'll take my chances with waters on a 65 yarder then a WR on a 50 yard punt!

also as was mentioned Waters had the tee out

[ArgoRavi]

You mean like the 65 yard punt for a single he made earlier in the game?????? I'll take my chances with waters on a 65 yarder then a WR on a 50 yard punt!

also as was mentioned Waters had the tee out

What exactly did you want Waters to do? Did you want him to try a 66 yard field goal or try to somehow nail a 60 yard punt so that it would end up in the endzone and would not be returned? The chances of either of those things happening was close to 0.0, especially without any kind of wind behind him.

[AngeloV]

You mean like the 65 yard punt for a single he made earlier in the game?????? I'll take my chances with waters on a 65 yarder then a WR on a 50 yard punt!

also as was mentioned Waters had the tee out

Wow. Sorry to be so blunt, but you truly have no clue what you are talking about. His single earlier in the game, did not reach the endzone in flight. The retruner let it roll into the endzone to avoid starting in brutal field position. As for the FG option, would have been a 67 or 68 yard FG. Making one with no rush for a youtube video is one thing. But making it in a game situation with no wind, is nearly impossible. There has never been one that long made in pro football history.

[Mulder]

You mean like the 65 yard punt for a single he made earlier in the game?????? I'll take my chances with waters on a 65 yarder then a WR on a 50 yard punt!

also as was mentioned Waters had the tee out

Watt makes that catch (on the 45) & pitches it back to Coobs (on the 50). Coobs has at least 10 yards before he has to punt, he had ALOT of running room. It was the right call.

[Qman]

last friday's game is the replay game tuesday night on tsn2