GAME THREAD / Week 8 / Ottawa @ Tornoto

[Neely2005]

Me too, I couldn't make it. Good call.

Lol, yeah you two true fans made a great call there.

[Argocister]

Very exciting game in the second half.
I always feel that Trestman is very cautious and testing in the first half. Even last year with Ricky, I sometimes would wonder if we still had a QB.
It's funny to read the thread after the game .... I was at it .... What is the opposite of the rose coloured glasses .... Perhaps double blue ones .... I'm glad the team proved the naysayers wrong.

The game was definitely not a defensive forte for either side. ..... Which is generally good for the fans.
I sat beside a football coach who was complaining that when Ball fell back to safety, they played man to man ...and often got burned . Mmmmm I will have to learn some football on the Defense as now I've heard varying opinions .

I like BLT ..... That's what I would like to call him ..... Although the TSN 1150 this morning were calling him " the hyphen"
It will be an interesting battle between the two QBs . I'm assuming Trestman will give BLT a couple more games at least .....Let's not forget, Franklin won his first game too.

As for the half time show ...... It seemed okay. I think I heard a newer Argo song in there .....but it's fun to still hear the band playing the traditional song ....if only I could remember the words.

Well I'm not giving up my seasons. And hopefully I can continue to get people to come out. And hopefully the offense can build from tonight's game .... And not regress.... Teams now have film. ..... if we can put up lots of points, it gives our Defense time to gel...... Which is good in the second half of the season.

[Neely2005]

I don't need to see the rest of the game to know the best performance by someone wearing an Argo uniform - Kardinal Offishall and I don't like his style of music.

I don't know that 'washed up' SJ Green looked pretty damn good.

[Neely2005]

fire eiben and fire archer
trestman needs to be behind a desk
.
so rolling bt worked, but next play put him in poccket
.
ineman jumps, sj green offside on 2 pt convert
all on offensive coach shoulders - poor coaching

Judging from your signature didn't you already fire yourself as an Argonauts fan?

[Neely2005]

Hold on a second, B-T looking good in the 3rd and early now in the 4th. It's not over?

Yeah it's almost like it was his first ever regular season CFL start & he needed to find his rhythm.

[PullTogether73]

I'm surprised that no one has mentioned this (AFAIK), but I thought that this game was won by the Argos on the back of a plethora of REDBLACKS penalties in the second half.
The Argos would have had several offensive drives stall without ORBs penalties, which would have sealed a defeat. Of course, the trip by Rogers of his ball-carrying teammate on the way to the end zone was critical as well.

[Neely2005]

Anyone want my season tickets ?

The sense of entitlement from some Argonauts fans is amazing.

Use the option to donate them to charity.

[mchesher03]

I'm surprised that no one has mentioned this (AFAIK), but I thought that this game was won by the Argos on the back of a plethora of REDBLACKS penalties in the second half.
The Argos would have had several offensive drives stall without ORBs penalties, which would have sealed a defeat. Of course, the trip by Rogers of his ball-carrying teammate on the way to the end zone was critical as well.

Can’t recall which receiver it was, maybe ellingson but he was basically jogging at that point too. That became just a total lack of effort play from the defence at that point – it was crazy that he tripped on his own O-Lineman too, amazing.

[Shatto]

Appreciate the clarification on the "challenge" by Trestman with 33 sec left. There was no indication from the ref to the stadium crowd that it was being automatically reviewed (unless I was so wrapped in the game that I missed it)

There were several other in-stadium concernst---two interference reviews in the Argo end zone were not replayed on the screen, leaving us to guess if the calls were right, wrong or borderline. The powers that be, need to not only entertain the fans in the stadium but inform them. In other words---let us know what the heck is going on.

The delay after the 33 sec review seemed to revolve around the clock---Argo coaches and players were waving wildly and pointing to the clock while the officials took forever to come to decision. Again --the 4 seconds were added but no announcement or explanation was made.

On reflection --a couple of other comments re the game:
.MBT showed great arm strength and superb placement of his passes--the ball thrown to a spot where only the receiver had a chance at the ball
.In the 2nd half the D played very well--stopping the run and putting real pressure on Harris
.Have to say that Noel looked more impressive than Smith as a receiver
.Hope those who left early in the 4th, didn't regret it too much. Another lesson for us- in the CFL no lead is ever safe

[macspectrum]

Judging from your signature didn't you already fire yourself as an Argonauts fan?

if u really 'read' my sig, i resigned from being a 'life long fan'
i didn't realize that precluded me from supporting the team or commenting on this site, but i hope to learn...lol

[Rich]

That game was one of the damnedest things I've ever seen. I am sure I will remember it forever.

[1971GreyCup]

In the second half MBT played “Ricky Ray - like.” Must be a Sacramento thing.

[Argofan_1000]

I have to say something about MLSE. I have to admit that the game had non-stop something every minute. I do like the way they present the football game. I think it is the best I have seen in a long time. It takes someone to choreograph all of this last night - good job to who ever you are

[Neely2005]

if u really 'read' my sig, i resigned from being a 'life long fan'
i didn't realize that precluded me from supporting the team or commenting on this site, but i hope to learn...lol

Got it, you're a bandwagon fan now.

[macspectrum]

Got it, you're a bandwagon fan now.

i used to defend the cfl and argos to my friends who think that the nfl games are only way
if argos go way, i will be sad but no longer fight for them to be here
if the cfl goes away, i am not defending them to stay

[AngeloV]

Argos offence being helped immensely by the Redblacks prevent D. Garbage time QB and team.

But I thought you said Noel Thorpe was the free agent prize of the off season? hahaha.

[AngeloV]

Appreciate the clarification on the "challenge" by Trestman with 33 sec left. There was no indication from the ref to the stadium crowd that it was being automatically reviewed (unless I was so wrapped in the game that I missed it)

In they end, it didn't matter, but the officials really blew it with the game clock on that call. Once they determined that it was an incompletion, the clock should have gone back to 40 seconds from 29 as there was 40 ticks on the clock when the play ended. It ran down to 29 while the booth was overturning the call on the field as the big stupid ref blew the next play in. I have no clue in the world where they randomly decided to put it to 33 seconds.

[jerrym]

The DL is rarely able to put pressure on the QB, the OL can't create even small holes on short yardage plays, opposition receivers are almost continuously wide open, Wilder needs time to get going and therefore is repeatedly halted, the QB cannot throw long with any accuracy, and Jackson and Noel both make mental errors costing points. What one expects from what will soon be 1-6 team.

While I still think most of my half-time criticism was true, I should know it ain't over till it's over, especially in the CFL. Mea culpa. However, I don't think I was the only one thinking along these lines. Even Dunigan and Burris in their post-game analysis said they were thinking at halftime that the rest of the game would be a sleeper.

[dmont]

My mother came down to visit the family and amidst all the activity, I forgot they were playing. Can't. Believe. I. Missed. This. Game. However, this was the type of game where I probably would have been hate-posting the whole time, calling for several firings, and ultimately turned off during the 3rd quarter in disgust.

Streamed the game this morning. This game got out of reach very quickly, and coming back to win it bordered on a miracle. We always seem to spot the other team 12 - 14 points in the first four of five minutes of the first quarter. Every game, this seems to happen. Until our guys stop sleeping through the first half of the first quarter, we're not going to win a lot of games.

I actully thought the defense played a pretty good game, overall. Shutting down the run game was huge, but even the secondary was alright. The opposing receivers weren't as wide open as they usually are. Even when their receivers made a big catch, one of our guys was usually in his hip pocket. I'll take that any day over the Stubler-esque bend-and-then-break garbage we've been seeing lately. For the first time, I thought Darby was a little soft at times. Love Trumaine Washington's tackles in the open field. Defense gave up two touchdowns, but I think Abdul Kanneh was to blame for those more than the defense as a while. Although he had an interception, Kanneh was still bad. Based on Darby's reaction, I think Kanneh screwed up his assignment on the first Ottawa touchdown, and then his pull on the opposing receiver's wrist led directly to the second touchdown. Take Kanneh out of the equation, and it's a pretty good night for the defense. Better yet, take Kanneh out... period.

Blame for the first half struggles lies squarely with the offense and special teams. I noticed later in the game Wilder wasn't doing to eagle claw on his carries and I wonder if that factored into his fumble. The flubbed Martese Jackson punt reception was disheartening, though easily correctable. Eiben needs to clean up the special teams coverage. What is with this team and short yardage? I've never seen a team stopped so often on third and short. I miss Fajardo.

Great to see SJ Green come back to life. No kudos to those of you smugly saying "haw haw, you thought SJ lost a step, eh?" Sorry, Captain Hindsight; there was nothing from SJ's performance in the first six games to suggest that a night like this was in the cards, with the third-string QB, no less. I like Malcolm Williams and think he's coming along. Noel took some (deserved) flack for clock management at the end of the first half, but at least he caught the damn ball and managed to accumulate some yack yards. On this team during this season, I'll take it (just work on your timing!). Rodney Smith had a quiet game, but that's more an indication of the other receivers doing well.

Now to MacLeod Bethel-Thompson. His running ability was a big surprise; everything I read about him made him sound like a pocket passer with a cannon. Given our hot-and-cold O-line, this made me nervous. I agree with one of the earlier posters that he needs to feet-first slide more often if wants to stay healthy. I like the guy, but I'm not breaking out the champagne for a few reasons: 1) It was his first game. I remember thinking Dan LeFevour was going to be our answer at QB in 2016 after he was lights out in his first game. You've ruined my ability to trust, Dan LeFevour!!! On the other hand, he had his greatest success in the second half, so it's not like he hit the other team in the mouth when they didn't know what to expect, and then get shut down once the other team adjusted. Makes me a little more optimistic that he can be successful once the other teams have him on film. 2) Ottawa penalties (some of which looked pretty marginal on TV) kept our offense on the field a lot in the second half, which must have been a big factor in getting MBT into a rhythm. Can MBT keep the offense on the field without the ref's assistance? I don't know.... 3) There was A LOT of going for it on 3rd down in the fourth quarter, and MBT deserves some credit for keeping the drives going. However, in order to have a chance in most of our games, we need our QB to get 10 yards in two downs rather than 3. Until he does, we're always going to be trying to claw our way back in the fourth, and we might not be so lucky next time. 4) MBT needs to work on his soft touch on those 5 - 8 yrd crossing and outlet passes. A few times, the ball was thrown so hard at Edwards and Noel that the ball bounced of their hands/face and high into the air. He was lucky they didn't turn into INTs. Anyways, I like the guy and I'm happy for him, but I predict he'll have a tougher time in his next game or two.

Overall, despite the disastrous first quarters that we've come to expect from this team, they put together a good game in the final 19 minutes. Some might even say a great game. Win going into the bye against a divisional opponent was key. Hopefully we get some injured players back over the next two weeks and a suitable replacement can be found for Kanneh.

Two other notes:

1) Did anybody else notice TSN making an obvious effort to find attractive women in the crowd and give them screen time? This is along the lines of something I've been saying for years as an outside-the-box way to improve the profile of this team in the city. The Argos need more cute team merch geared towards 18 - 35 yr old women, and then get them posting those cute selfies wearing team merch to their social media. I'm convinced that this was a big help in the Blue Jays resurgence. Anybody notice that young cute girls like going to Blue Jay games? They don't just show up either, they're decked out in jays cap and top as well. And they spend a good chunk of the game taking selfies and posting on social media for all their friends to see. The Argos need to get into this business. Better merch for cute girls, and entice some of those popular female Instagram models and bloggers to come to a game and tell everybody what a great time they had. I believe it'll pay off in the long run.

2) I've detected some exasperation (particularly from Argofans.com) with the negative tone that often surfaces in the gameday threads during the game. I admit I'm probably one of the worst offenders. I hope nobody takes this as disliking or hating the team. Speaking for myself, it's a way to cope when things are going poorly. Watching the team you love playing inept football at home during important games can have lasting negative consequences for the future of this team in the city. It's hard to watch, and the critical posting helps deal with the frustration. Speaking for myself and the other sometimes-negative-nancys, we greatly appreciate having this forum as a place to congregate and experience this team, good or bad.

[OV Argo]

But I thought you said Noel Thorpe was the free agent prize of the off season? hahaha.

Thorpe is big-time over-rated IMO.

That all-rookie D-line was useless against a rookie QB when it mattered in the 2nd half. Thorpe was also trotting out a couple of rookie linebackers who aren't very good. Their secondary has a couple of big holes too (maybe not as holy as the Argos' though). Inexperience on D and lack of smart adjustments - looked good on Thorpe blowing that huge lead.