August 3, 2015: Toronto Argonauts vs. Hamilton Tiger-Cats

[jerrym]

Why was Harris running sideways on third and one giving Hamilton a chance to stop him and get a turnover?

[Neely2005]

Turned over on downs, again. Embarrassing.

[argotom]

With all these stops on 3rd and short, we need a bruising type FB like a Messam or Allen.

[jerrym]

Woodson continues to make a statement against the Argos.

[jerrym]

Nice drive by Gale and catch by Hazelton for a TD but in garbage time.

[bluto]

Yes, we've been awful on penalties, flags, mental lapses, etc...

Yes, we turned it over on downs 3 freaking times...

But fairplay to the TiCats: they were full value for the win. Better than us in every phase. They didn't need us helping them win, but they got the help anyway and it became a blowout.

[jerrym]

Great short punt by Pfeffer and catch by Hazelton.

[Neely2005]

Lots to work on before our home opener on Saturday!

Like getting a lead to start the game.

[bluto]

Lots to work on before our home opener on Saturday!

Like getting a lead to start the game.

Hopefully they come out fired up and ready to wreck the Riders.

[jerrym]

Game Summary: Penalties. Penalties. Penalties. Turnovers. Turnovers. Turnovers. Heads not fully focused. However, if there had been no Argo penalties or turnovers, they probably still would have lost as the Tiger-Cats obviously wanted this game more.

[OV Argo]

Stunningly stupid move to allow a TD on an on-side punt (why have a guy who has no clue about Canadian rules back as returner???), plus the 3rd down and long gamble that came up short were the 2 biggest plays of this game IMO; that and the penalty problems; oh, and can\t cover receivers was a big problem too.

This was a chance to make a statement and claim best team in the league status; came up well short = back to the drawing board.

Nice to see Woodson have a decent game - very capable RB; Argos could use some sort of running game, but nice to see Harris throw for over 300 yards.

[OV Argo]

Once again Argo's trio of rookie International receivers (Gurley, Hazelton and Elliott) looking good as is National rookie Waud.

I'm still impressed by them, but maybe not overly - drops problems are an issue - Hazelton more than once and Elliott could have had that end zone throw; for those who said maybe Inman might not be a fit if he became available = none of those 3 rookies are near as good IMO. Stala shows he still has it as a sure hands possession receiver = he should be played more on offence IMO and not just as an emergency injury replacement.

[gilthethrill]

No Argo pre-game show on TSN1050, but Naylor did squeeze Hoagie in for a few minutes after NHL concussion talk. I thought the first football game in Southern Ontario in 2015 would get more talk. Hamilton didn't beat the Argo tonight, the Argos did. Stupid penalties, our return game sucks and why did we not use either Gale or McPherson on those short qb sneaks on 3rd down? Worst game of the year by far, but I still feel this is a solid football team.

[jerrym]

Woodson looked impressive, gaining 54 yards on 10 carries, including several at the end of the game where it was obvious he would be getting the ball.

[jerrym]

Hazelton was the most impressive Argo with 134 yards on 10 receptions and a TD, but many others did not look like they were not emotionally up for this game.

[Argo57]

I'm still impressed by them, but maybe not overly - drops problems are an issue - Hazelton more than once and Elliott could have had that end zone throw; for those who said maybe Inman might not be a fit if he became available = none of those 3 rookies are near as good IMO. Stala shows he still has it as a sure hands possession receiver = he should be played more on offence IMO and not just as an emergency injury replacement.

If Inman was available I'd be all over that.
Overall putrid game, came out in a daze and never recovered, pissed off to have to listen to the Hamilton fans tonight.
Rough night in all aspects , third and short move straight forward, not along the line of scrimmage.
Wind at your back in the first quarter and continue with the dink and dunk offence, throw downfield and give them something to think about.
Like what Harris has done overall so far this season but he often seems to underthrow his receivers on their deep patterns, perhaps not releasing the ball early enough and letting the receivers run under it.
Agree with your sentiment OV, huge opportunity to establish some dominance in the east instead we got our asses kicked, perhaps a good wake up call early in the season.
Not all gloom and doom but the Argos still have a lot of work ahead.

[Stevoman]

Tough loss, but the Ti-Cats deserved the win. My thoughts: Jefferson should have at least made a tackle or attempted to touch the guy on the special teams TD, even if you think he's in the wrong, play until the whistle blows. The DB coverage was weak mostly due to Collaros being able to scramble and find receivers. I really feel like a mobile QB exposed our weaknesses in the secondary. Having Gabriel back will make a big difference. It also seemed like the receivers and Harris alternated being out of synch. When Harris was hitting his targets, there were drops (Whitaker on the first drive and Hazelton where he could've extended the drive and put the Argos in scoring position). Harris then started making some bad throws and underthrew too many receivers. I also feel like we've started to rely too much on our new 3 receivers. Spread it around more and mix up more of the play calling. Yes, we need better returners, it's been a weak spot all season. Josey looked good on his one return though. Okapaulugo made a tremendous play on the on-side kick at the end, took out 3 guys! Short week and look forward to watching them win on Saturday!

[Argocister]

The Argos definitely played poorly tonight ( yea I could use the word sucked but I heard that way too much tonight at THF)

The o line was not effective for much of the night .Coombs was lucky in the first half that Harris wasn't banged up too much when he missed his blocks.
It's true the receiver sand Harris were out of sync.
Our D couldn't contain. We were constantly missing our assignments. How is Grant by himself in the middle of the end zone?
Our specials ... Just weren't ....
That on side punt was being outcoached .... Smart on the cats for recognizing the rookies on the field .... That was embarrassing as only Yurichuk is running for the tackle and the others are standing .. Whaaa?
So basically we were out coached, out played defensively and offensively ....and were given a clinic on specials ....

At least we bagged it all in one game and that should Hold us for the rest of the season.
I'm sure the competitiveness between Harris and Collaros will make for a better labour day classic ....

It was nice to see Stala making some plays ... Although that meant Owens and Coombs were out.

Well boys .... Gather your wits, work hard and study those plays cause you're at home this week and we don't want to loose to the Riders!

[AngeloV]

Hamilton was very fired up tonight, and the onside punt was basically a summary of the night. Their D really plays off their fans. Must be nice to have a home crowd make tons of noise on every offensive snap of the visiting team. I honestly didn't like the Argos chances going into tonight, and that is one reason I never made a prediction.

On a personal note, it was the first time I've made the trip to the hammer to watch the Argos play in about 5 years. Man was I verbally abused on my way back to the car (about a 15 minute walk). I must have heard about 50 Argos sucks chants directed at me. Such a lack of originality. I also noticed that the wife beater undershirt must be the most popular style of shirt in the area around THF.

[ArgoRavi]

No Argo pre-game show on TSN1050, but Naylor did squeeze Hoagie in for a few minutes after NHL concussion talk. I thought the first football game in Southern Ontario in 2015 would get more talk. Hamilton didn't beat the Argo tonight, the Argos did. Stupid penalties, our return game sucks and why did we not use either Gale or McPherson on those short qb sneaks on 3rd down? Worst game of the year by far, but I still feel this is a solid football team.

Hamilton played well tonight but I really don't feel as though they beat the Argos tonight. What I mean by that is that the Argos made far too many unforced errors on their own including:

- Whitaker dropping a first down pass on the first possession of the game.
- the team being unprepared for the onside punt play which Hamilton ran a few times late last season which cost the Argos a valuable 7 points.
- With the score 14-7 and the momentum clearly in Toronto's favour after Brandon Isaac's fumble recovery in the 2nd quarter, the Argos had a promising drive going when, I believe, Gurley took a crucial illegal procedure penalty on 3rd and inches.
- The ensuing punt by Pfeffer was absolutely terrible with the result being that the Argos would have been at least as well off to gamble on 3rd and 6. Hamilton, starting near midfield, promptly marched down for a TD to restore their 2 TD lead and take back the momentum that they would never relinquish (the TSN Turning Point IMO).
- Hazelton drops a potential TD pass or at least one that would have put the Argos in TD range late in the second quarter (after the delay). The Argos ended up with no points on that possession.
- Elliott had a tough but possibly makeable catch in the endzone early in the 4th quarter which he was unable to snag.

Hamilton wasn't doing anything to force all of the above errors; the Argos made them on their own and those errors were largely responsible for the margin of victory.

Am I concerned after tonight? Not really. I suspect that the Argos won't play that badly against Hamilton again this season. There were a lot of learning experiences for this young team tonight which I suspect will serve them well the rest of the season. IMO, the Ticats are almost as good as they are going to get this year while I still believe that there is a lot of untapped potential in this Argos team.

BTW, there was nothing wrong with the two third down and 1 gambles that the Argos were stopped on tonight. I like the idea of getting to the line of scrimmage quickly in those situations and just try to get Harris to sneak for the first down but the Argos did not execute those plays well enough tonight and the Ticats defended them well. Again, the Argos will learn from those plays.

If anyone said at the start of the season that the Argos would be sitting in a 3-way tie for first place at 3-2 after playing their first five games on the road, I suspect that anyone on this forum would have taken that. Now the Argos will finally get some home games and hopefully we will see a much better performance on Saturday night against the reeling Riders. I will be surprised if we don't see a strong performance.