Week 1 Game Thread - AARRGGOOSS at Stampeders - August 7, 2021

[ArgoZ]

Shane Ray is quickly learning the CFL isn’t a league full of chumps. He still looked explosive off the line and made some tackles. A yard off the ball and lack of game play probably had something to do with it. For all the talent, I would have expected a little more pressure from the whole D line. I wasn’t even expecting a win, so no more complaints!

["Issues"Mcgee]

I forget how we celebrate a victory.

I am still trying to process what I just watched!

[Argo57]

I have great confidence that the Argos will win tonight. This looks like a solid football team to me.

As for the QB position, it's never a bad thing to have two or three guys who can play at a high level.

Welcome back Ravi, it’s been too long!

[AngeloV]

Shane Ray is quickly learning the CFL isn’t a league full of chumps. He still looked explosive off the line and made some tackles. A yard off the ball and lack of game play probably had something to do with it. For all the talent, I would have expected a little more pressure from the whole D line. I wasn’t even expecting a win, so no more complaints!

Re: lack of pass rush.2 things. BLM was getting rid of the ball quickly. Secondly, on 2nd a d long situations too often they only rushed 3. Hard for 3 to beat 5. I’ve never liked that philosophy.

But overall, considering some of the long drives Calgary had, to only give up 20 points and 1 TD? I’ll take that any time.

[Stevoman]

So great to have the Argos back and even better to get win to start the season!

[Stevoman]

I wonder if Jim Barker will be apart of the broadcast crew tonight. Can’t say I’ve been a huge fan of his two games in. Just curious what others think?

I thought he struggled with his post game commentary but I'm sure he'll get better.

[Stevoman]

The unis looked fantastic. The Argos tweeted that they will be using many looks this year (a la 2017, I guess) but I doubt we will see a combo better than this one. The Cambridge numbers and upper socks looked amazing with the Oxford pants and white jerseys.

I agree that this was a good combination and I think the boat looks great but I'm still so disappointed in these uniforms. I miss the stripe on the helmets which would tie together nicely with the stripe on the pants. Having nothing on the sleeve is boring and they've actually made these jerseys worse by making the numbers skinnier this season.

[Wobbler]

I only caught the first quarter, but I didn't notice McCoil. Where did he line up? He ended up with a lot more tackles than Judge.

[ArgoRavi]

Welcome back Ravi, it’s been too long!

Thanks! It was too depressing on here after the back-to-back 4-14 seasons and then the pandemic came and then all the XFL talk which ticked me off.

I plan to be back on more regularly from here. It was a good win tonight. There are a few issues to address but I don't see why a home playoff game, at a minimum, isn't a realistic goal for this team. Another good test coming up in Winnipeg.

[paulwoods13]

Re: lack of pass rush.2 things. BLM was getting rid of the ball quickly. Secondly, on 2nd a d long situations too often they only rushed 3. Hard for 3 to beat 5. I’ve never liked that philosophy.

But overall, considering some of the long drives Calgary had, to only give up 20 points and 1 TD? I’ll take that any time.

We got repeatedly burned by Bo when we blitzed five or six, and when we rushed just three. Didn't play enough four+eight for my taste. But yes, the defence deserves tons of credit anyway, holding the league's most dominant and intimidating team to little overall success.

[paulwoods13]

I thought he struggled with his post game commentary but I'm sure he'll get better.

Wasn't Barker the first commentator to point out the incredibly important block Rogers made to protect MBT on the Gittens TD? Insightful comment.

[paulwoods13]

I agree that this was a good combination and I think the boat looks great but I'm still so disappointed in these uniforms. I miss the stripe on the helmets which would tie together nicely with the stripe on the pants. Having nothing on the sleeve is boring and they've actually made these jerseys worse by making the numbers skinnier this season.

If the numbers are skinnier, I didn't notice. I felt the numbers looked shinier than in 2019, really sharp.

Someone on Twitter suggested, and I think it might be true, that the larger size of the boat logo makes it difficult to squeeze in a helmet stripe. On the rear of the helmets, the two logos come very close together.

Much as I have always loved piping/stripes on sleeves and the helmet, I think the all-Oxford helmet looked really sharp, and the overall uni look was outstanding. I do hope some type of striping comes back on the jersey in future seasons, but I'd take last night's look for every road game (and home game, for that matter) this season.

[paulwoods13]

I only caught the first quarter, but I didn't notice McCoil. Where did he line up? He ended up with a lot more tackles than Judge.

He wasn't super noticeable. I assume he was in whenever they went to a 3-4 look, which was fairly often. Usually when that happened, either Acheompong or Smith was on the d-line.

[paulwoods13]

It seems worth noting that, even though the majority of our "new" players are CFL veterans, the true newcomers to the league acquitted themselves well last night. Braverman looks like a valuable piece of a deep receiving corps. Allen and Nicastro were part of an o-line that for the most part protected MBT well. Allen did get burned on Lemon's late sack; Nicastro took a couple of procedure penalties but also took some snaps at centre in place of Blake. Oakman looked like a force at DT, and Ealy made one or two nice plays. Ray was nothing special, but I expect it's just a matter of time before he busts out. Robo made a tackle, and Hoyte and Cassar contributed on specials. Decoud made a play or two at the back end. They say for every rookie you start, you lose a game, but I think our rookie crop (and the first-year CFLers who don't qualify as CFL rookies) looks pretty solid.

[Will]

OFFENCE

Quarterback: Mcleod Bethel-Thompson is a controversial topic for Argos fans. However, he went 26 of 37 for 354 yards and 2 touchdowns last night. There were a 1-2 questionable decisions, but he also led a game winning drive and is a warrior! I've got confidence in him to start week #2 against the Blue Bombers.

Running Backs: White had a nice opening series and that was about it in terms of yardage, although he was solid in pass protection. The Argos only ran the ball 14 times and he only averaged 3.1/carry but he also caught 3 passes for 33 yards. Rod Smith mentioned at one point that Declan Cross got a carry, but I don't see that mentioned on CFL.ca.

Receivers: Great depth in the receiving corps so (knock on wood) that they stay healthy. It makes it difficult to pick any of them for fantasy (yes Angelo I'm going there ). Dinwiddie got tree Canadian receivers involved (Gittens, Noel, Brescacin) and they all contributed with Brescacin and Gittens getting the touchdowns. Ricky Collins Jr., had the fumble yes, but will be a valuable part of the receiving corps this year and Rogers and Daniels both had crucial catches on the game winning drive. Let's not forget that Rogers had the great blitz pick-up. I like this group, I like this group a lot.

Offensive Line: The Argos didn't run the ball enough to make a fair analysis on run protection, but this group played fairly well albeit with a few hiccups. Anytime your QB can throw for 350+ yards then your OL has done something right in pass protection. Nobody looked in over their heads.

Overall Analysis: The Argos got caught in a bit of a field position battle in the 3rd quarter that limited production somewhat. I sure some would prefer a bit of a better run-pass balance, which is fair. Overall, a promising start, maybe a bit more consistency, but we forget the team did leave as many as 13 points on the field as well.

DEFENCE

Defensive Line: They were only rushing 3 at times so it is hard to generate effective pressure. Bo Levi Mitchell also scrambled quite effectively though to get out of trouble. Both Oakman and Ealy made nice plays, but Calgary did have a bit of success running the ball at the same time. Sam Acheampong also got some playing time, but he also got hurt. I thought Charleston Hughes had a rough first game with an offside call and a RTP.

Linebackers: Henoc Muamba looks as advertised! It seemed like Judge didn't have as much playing time. This group is going to be crucial against Winnipeg.

Secondary: They were fine, Decoud got burned on the Calgary TD, but the 49-yarder to Jorden was sort of a 50/50 ball. Robertson Daniel got hurt (Boateng came in and I didn't hear his name), but he seemed to get beat a few times. Shaq Richardson had a great game!

Overall Analysis: The D came through when it counted, but I am worried a little bit about the run defence.

SPECIAL TEAMS

Coverage teams on kickoffs and punts was very good. Robbie Smith had a nice special teams tackle.

The KR/PR side is a work in progress. Braverman showed nice flashes as a receiver, but didn't really have much to work with on returns.

Bede made the kick when it counted and punted well, but you gotta make that 27-yarder at the end of the half.

OVERALL CONCLUSIONS

A road win in Calgary is always nice, and this team finally looked like a team, which isn't something we were able to say in 2018 and 2019.

I like the potential here, it just needs to be consistent and filter out some of the stupid penalties.

[Argos4Life]

It was nice to finally watch the team play a game again. Getting the win against Calgary made things all that much better!

I think this team has a lot of potential going forward. MBT is quite capable of leading the team in my opinion.

Next week will be a big test against Winning.

Let’s Go Argo’s

[argonaut11xx]

It was a very entertaining game, much sharper than i would have expected for no pre season.

Some offence that pushes the ball down the field was great to see.

No matter where the Argos finish, if all the games are this entertaining, im happy.

Oh and as Paul said above, loved the socks, and uni's

[Bleeds Double Blue]

It was a melancholy victory for me last night, For well over 50 years my best friend Stephen and I followed the Argonauts religiously. Steve was a season ticket holder on the west side not far from Paul Woods. Having lived in BC for 35 years my attendance at Argo games has been sporadic but I always got back for at least one game a year. Win, lose or draw I knew I would be hearing from Steve after the game venting more often than not from his bar stool perch at the Madison Pub. Last night the phone did not ring as my friend had passed away in January. A win is a win is a win but this one just didn't feel the same.

[AngeloV]

It was a melancholy victory for me last night, For well over 50 years my best friend Stephen and I followed the Argonauts religiously. Steve was a season ticket holder on the west side not far from Paul Woods. Having lived in BC for 35 years my attendance at Argo games has been sporadic but I always got back for at least one game a year. Win, lose or draw I knew I would be hearing from Steve after the game venting more often than not from his bar stool perch at the Madison Pub. Last night the phone did not ring as my friend had passed away in January. A win is a win is a win but this one just didn't feel the same.

Sorry to hear about your friend. I'm sure he sent good vibes down last night.

[AngeloV]

I don't think enough has been said about how well Dinwiddie used his personnel last night, especially the receiving corps. They regualarly used 7 different receivers with Braverman/Collins switching each series and the same with Gittens/Noel. This keeps the corps fresh and hungry and gets the more inexperienced receivers quality reps. Great job by the coach.