September 1, 2014: Toronto Argonauts vs. Hamilton Tiger-Cats

[Neely2005]

Fumble recovery on a Hamilton First and Goal!

Interception. Ray has Not looked himself this season.

[jerrym]

That high arc pass by Ray was asking for an interception. The Argo defence has to go for the sack because with the wind Medlock would have an easy FG even if they stop the Ticats. Perhaps they won't even pass.

[dmont]

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I think it's more the O line and Slaton that can't give him any time. Add some 100% useless receivers into the mix, and what's he supposed to do? Gotta force it.

[jerrym]

When the defence has to hold to give the Argos a chance, it doesn't.

[jerrym]

Ticat fumble with 27 seconds. Unbelievable.

[Wobbler]

I don't really mind that Ray threw the ball up for grabs on the last drive. With so few things working on offense, a Hail Mary on 2nd and 18 is basically all you can do. But I really wish that he would stop taking sacks! There have been seemingly clear opportunities for him to throw the ball away, but he hasn't done it once today and I can only remember him doing it once in the last three games.

[Neely2005]

Fumble recovery. One last chance for Ricky Ray to do something positive.

[Neely2005]

What was Milanovich thinking???? PATHETIC!!!!

[jerrym]

I still say give Waters the game ball for trying. Without him, this game would have been over at halftime.

[jerrym]

Can you say losing ugly?

[dmont]

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Well, that game was a big tease. Hamilton did everything they could to lose that game, but we were so god awful that it didn't matter in the end. Those receivers and the O line should by lined up and shot.

[ArgofanIan]

That was a funny game.... Cats kept giving us one more chance..... glad the new stadium worked out .... good for the CFL in GTA...... interesting once we get our Owens and Drurie back..... and cats get their running game back.... should be a great rematch..... we will get em next time... Go ARRRRRGos !!!!

[Gill The Thrill]

Ricky Ray is not getting any better as a QB and he was a great QB and is still a pretty good QB, but if you're not getting better, there's only one way to go and you know what direction that is.

I like Ray, I think he's had a great career but his delivery is just a touch slower than it was last season and the season before, and he was never one to escape the pocket and make big plays with his feet.

I have to cringe when I hear Rod Black and Duane Ford say that if he plays another 5 seasons he may reach 80000 yds...are you kidding. He looks like he'll be lucky to play after next year. He's been getting hit a lot this season and the hits will physically start to take it's toll on him. He suffered an injury last year that derailed his season and the Argos season.

I really think the Argos better start searching for another QB for the future or start even playing Harris to see what he can do. The Argos are a dreadful team this year and will be lucky to get to 6 wins. Ray's slight diminishment in skills is no failure on his part, it is just the natural part of life to see your athletic skills slow down to the point of where you can't do the things you used to be able to do as quickly as you used to do them.

It's why I was not so appalled by some who suggested the Argos should keep Collaros as a future starter.

Sure, the O-line has contributed, but it's not just the O-line, he's thrown some interceptions that he would not have thrown in previous years even when not under pressure.

[ArgoRavi]

Ricky Ray is not getting any better as a QB and he was a great QB and is still a pretty good QB, but if you're not getting better, there's only one way to go and you know what direction that is.

I like Ray, I think he's had a great career but his delivery is just a touch slower than it was last season and the season before, and he was never one to escape the pocket and make big plays with his feet.

I have to cringe when I hear Rod Black and Duane Ford say that if he plays another 5 seasons he may reach 80000 yds...are you kidding. He looks like he'll be lucky to play after next year. He's been getting hit a lot this season and the hits will physically start to take it's toll on him. He suffered an injury last year that derailed his season and the Argos season.

I really think the Argos better start searching for another QB for the future or start even playing Harris to see what he can do. The Argos are a dreadful team this year and will be lucky to get to 6 wins. Ray's slight diminishment in skills is no failure on his part, it is just the natural part of life to see your athletic skills slow down to the point of where you can't do the things you used to be able to do as quickly as you used to do them.

It's why I was not so appalled by some who suggested the Argos should keep Collaros as a future starter.

Sure, the O-line has contributed, but it's not just the O-line, he's thrown some interceptions that he would not have thrown in previous years even when not under pressure.

You do realize, Gill, that Ray is missing almost his entire receiving corps, don't you? Don't you think that might have something with him not looking quite as good this season? His best game was at home to Saskatchewan when did have all of his weapons and his next best game was at home to Winnipeg when he seemed to be building some chemistry with some of the replacements before they too got injured.

[ArgoRavi]

Some of the negative comments about the defence in this thread are baffling to me. What more can you expect of them? If we had anything resembling an offence today, we would have won this game going away. The defence has kept this team in games this season and has gotten better each week. That is certainly not the problem with this football team.

We had one freaking good offensive drive in this entire game. We went two and out on almost every other drive. How do you win a football game doing that?

[Argo57]

You do realize, Gill, that Ray is missing almost his entire receiving corps, don't you? Don't you think that might have something with him not looking quite as good this season? His best game was at home to Saskatchewan when did have all of his weapons and his next best game was at home to Winnipeg when he seemed to be building some chemistry with some of the replacements before they too got injured.

Ray has such good chemistry with Owens and Durie that it has to be difficult with some of the stiffs they have in there now.
Having said that if he continues to play poorly when the regulars return it will be cause for concern, either way it is time to start thinking about our future at QB.
Frustrating thing is the Argos had many chances to take this game but didn't, Hamilton on the other hand barely squeaked out a win against a severely depleted Argo squad, illustrates how crappy the east division is this year!!

[ArgoGabe22]

Some of the negative comments about the defence in this thread are baffling to me. What more can you expect of them? If we had anything resembling an offence today, we would have won this game going away. The defence has kept this team in games this season and has gotten better each week. That is certainly not the problem with this football team.

We had one freaking good offensive drive in this entire game. We went two and out on almost every other drive. How do you win a football game doing that?

Defence definitely stepped up, especially guys like Jones, Agnew and Okapalugo stood out for me. But there were also times that we got lucky. I'm still seeing missed tackles and receivers left wide open but that happens to every team throughout the game. Defence is getting better, offence seems to be going backwards since Mann and Owens injured and re-injured themselves.

[Gill The Thrill]

You do realize, Gill, that Ray is missing almost his entire receiving corps, don't you? Don't you think that might have something with him not looking quite as good this season? His best game was at home to Saskatchewan when did have all of his weapons and his next best game was at home to Winnipeg when he seemed to be building some chemistry with some of the replacements before they too got injured.

I realize it, but I also notice too much dependency on Owens when he was in there. The offence is very one dimensional and I can't see them being successful unless they find a Kackert like runner who can offer Ray and the Argos a chance to divesify the offense..anyways I've started a thread on this topic so as not to take away from the game thread.


Trent Guy has speed but made some gaffs. Jason Barnes had a big catch near the end of the game but looked foolish batting a ball down while he was jumping up for a pass in the 2nd quarter...brutal. Levon Brazell was nothing much, and did not even wow me with a first impression. He had a terrible fumble that contributed to the loss and will not be around past the end of the season imo. I guess he's not as skilled as those BC Lions in 1994 who could not care less for practice but were high enough on skills to perform on gameday.

[Wobbler]

One (or more) of our receivers will need to exceed expectations today.

Sadly, that didn't happen - we got pretty much what was expected. Barnes is really just a complementary receiver at this point and can't do much without other (good) guys to create space, and none of our other receivers should be starting. Oh well. Next game should be a lot more fun!

[ArgoRavi]

After having had a bit of time to cool down, there were a couple of things late in the game that bothered me. Trent Guy brought the ball out to the 10 yard line after Medlock missed that 53 yard FG with about three minutes left. Normally, I don't have a problem with taking a shot with the return in a situation like that but given our problems on offence and with the return game this season, perhaps Guy should have conceded the single point so that we could get the ball at our own 47 yard line. Conceding a single there would have still allowed to us to win with a FG.

What bothered me a lot more was the clock management at the end of the game and this has been an issue all season. You have to get more than 3 plays off in 27 seconds. You just have to! I have complained for the last few years about poor clock management around the league but the Argos have been particularly bad with this and it drives me insane.