Game thread - Sask "at" Toronto, July 16, 2022

[AngeloV]

That was a great play by the defender. Not sure what Banks could do there. As if it is so easy to make that catch.

Watch it again Gabe. The issue was that Banks let the ball hit his shoulder pad before getting a hand on it. That is terrible receiver play. Banks had 3 catches on 10 targets today. MBT was around 80% going to other receivers. Time to admit his signing was a mistake and go in another direction. He is not a good receiver at this stage.

[Stevoman]

Where to begin...

Was I the only one who saw two heated exchanges between macbeth and Dinwiddie in the first half?

I saw one of them. It looked like it came after a drive where Dinwiddie called a time out. My guess is MBT wanted to keep being aggressive and not allowing the D a chance to rest.

[dmont]

Well it's important that your son learns early that it's painful to be an Argonauts fan! Ha!!

That scream came on McMannis's pick-six, so it was a good kind of scream... but given how a lot of argo games have gone during his lifetime, I think his mistake is understandable

[kellynjk]

That scream came on McMannis's pick-six, so it was a good kind of scream... but given how a lot of argo games have gone during his lifetime, I think his mistake is understandable

Ha, ha, ha!!!!!!

[paulwoods13]

I'll have more to say about the game later, but as for Banks:

1. He is playing the wrong position, and there is no obvious reason as to why. That's on the coach.

2. He catches with his body, not his hands. It cost us a turnover last week when he "fumbled" the ball to Wpg at the goal-line. He's been around so long that he is unlikely to start catching with his hands, unfortunately.

3. I am just about positive he runs the wrong pass patterns a lot of the time. There was one today where he ran short and MBT threw deep -- that has to be on the receiver, and from the look on MBT's face, it was.

4. Despite all that, I see little chance he gets cut. If we ever decide Rogers and Brescacin are healthy enough to play, maybe he gets rotated out for a bit. But I'm not in favour of cutting him outright in favour of AJ Richardson or Demonte Coxie, neither of whom has played a down in this league. Anyone got a more viable plan than those guys for replacing him?

[ArgoZ]

I'll have more to say about the game later, but as for Banks:

1. He is playing the wrong position, and there is no obvious reason as to why. That's on the coach.

2. He catches with his body, not his hands. It cost us a turnover last week when he "fumbled" the ball to Wpg at the goal-line. He's been around so long that he is unlikely to start catching with his hands, unfortunately.

3. I am just about positive he runs the wrong pass patterns a lot of the time. There was one today where he ran short and MBT threw deep -- that has to be on the receiver, and from the look on MBT's face, it was.

4. Despite all that, I see little chance he gets cut. If we ever decide Rogers and Brescacin are healthy enough to play, maybe he gets rotated out for a bit. But I'm not in favour of cutting him outright in favour of AJ Richardson or Demonte Coxie, neither of whom has played a down in this league. Anyone got a more viable plan than those guys for replacing him?

The reason why MBT targets Banks is because he is open, simple. He still runs good routes and often gets behind coverage. Problem is that MBT often under throws, allowing the defender to make a play. If they just get the timing right, they can be dangerous. He is still a big play/deep threat and it is keeping the defence honest. We will lose that, just like when we lost Worthy. There is not enough burners on this team. If we can forgive MBTs lack of accuracy to Banks, then we can forgive a few drops. Most importantly, they have only played 4 games! Banks will have time to shine against the Cats soon enough.

[paulwoods13]

The reason why MBT targets Banks is because he is open, simple. He still runs good routes and often gets behind coverage. Problem is that MBT often under throws, allowing the defender to make a play. If they just get the timing right, they can be dangerous. He is still a big play/deep threat and it is keeping the defence honest. We will lose that, just like when we lost Worthy. There is not enough burners on this team. If we can forgive MBTs lack of accuracy to Banks, then we can forgive a few drops. Most importantly, they have only played 4 games! Banks will have time to shine against the Cats soon enough.

It is common for fans to assume the QB is responsible when a ball does not get to a receiver -- and sometimes it's even true. But the receiver is also half the equation. The QB generally throws where he expects the receiver to be. I would bet a lot of money that on some (and possibly many) of the passes to Banks this season, he was not where the route dictated he was supposed to be. I include last week's crazy TD reception in that group.

That said, I do not want him cut (in part because there is no viable alternative), and I do want to see what he might do against the Ticats.

[gilthethrill]

Great “Home” win today. The negativity towards the team after a hard fought victory is puzzling to put it nicely.

[ArgoRavi]

It is alleged that Duke Williams spat in Shaq Richardson's face prior to the helmet swinging incident.

And Williams allegedly spit at Richardson again in the 4th quarter which preceded Richardson going ballistic.

[Argo57]

And Williams allegedly spit at Richardson again in the 4th quarter which preceded Richardson going ballistic.

Williams is a class act!

[ArgoRavi]

Williams is a class act!

Let's not forget that Williams allegedly spat at Shawn Lemon in last year's West semi-final and also poked Winnipeg's Brandon Alexander in the eye.

[ArgoFan1]

Banks is so full of $hit. Not even close to PI.

The interference happened elsewhere on the field. Banks was pointing to where the interference happened. I saw it clearly. An Argo receiver was hauled down right in the middle of the field. There was no interference on Banks.

[gilthethrill]

The interference happened elsewhere on the field. Banks was pointing to where the interference happened. I saw it clearly. An Argo receiver was hauled down right in the middle of the field. There was no interference on Banks.

There was absolutely nothing preventing Dinwiddie from confirming it before issuing his ill fated challenge. I think what happened to the Argo receiver who was turfed was Illegal Contact which is not challengeable.

[paulwoods13]

There was absolutely nothing preventing Dinwiddie from confirming it before issuing his ill fated challenge. I think what happened to the Argo receiver who was turfed was Illegal Contact which is not challengeable.

That's correct -- you cannot challenge for illegal contact. Interference can be called only on a player who's covering the intended target of a pass.

It seems just a bit unlikely that Banks would have noticed (and called the coaches to challenge for) illegal contact somewhere else on the field at the same time as he was trying to catch a pass against a DB twice his size.

[paulwoods13]

General comments:

Pass blocking was outstanding, run blocking not so much. At least we eventually tried Harris on some runs that weren't straight into the middle of the line, and one Jet sweep late. Need more variety in the running game.

No doubt Lawrence is trying his hardest, but the inconsistency in his snapping is becoming really costly. When and if Churchill is healthy enough to play, I wonder if we will try him at LG and move Blake to centre. I fear Nicastro is still a couple of months away from being ready.

MBT's inconsistency is his consistency, it seems. (Or vice versa.) It was good to see him attempt more long throws, and connect on a couple, but he also missed some mid-range easy completions that should have been gimmes.

Our d-line made life difficult for the immobile Fajardo. The secondary also had a pretty strong game but there were four or five troubling breakdowns. McManis is having an all-star season, and Muamba is not far off that pace.

If we had lost this game, the biggest cause IMO would have been kicking issues. Bede's missed kickoff and Haggerty's rouge punt both gave Sask field position that resulted in touchdowns, and Bede's missed FG late in the game could have been a killing blow. I still have tons of faith in Bede, but I'm starting to wonder if he needs MBT as his holder. Jury's out on Haggerty but I'm confident he will sort his punting issues out.

[gilthethrill]

General comments:

Pass blocking was outstanding, run blocking not so much. At least we eventually tried Harris on some runs that weren't straight into the middle of the line, and one Jet sweep late. Need more variety in the running game.

No doubt Lawrence is trying his hardest, but the inconsistency in his snapping is becoming really costly. When and if Churchill is healthy enough to play, I wonder if we will try him at LG and move Blake to centre. I fear Nicastro is still a couple of months away from being ready.

MBT's inconsistency is his consistency, it seems. (Or vice versa.) It was good to see him attempt more long throws, and connect on a couple, but he also missed some mid-range easy completions that should have been gimmes.

Our d-line made life difficult for the immobile Fajardo. The secondary also had a pretty strong game but there were four or five troubling breakdowns. McManis is having an all-star season, and Muamba is not far off that pace.

If we had lost this game, the biggest cause IMO would have been kicking issues. Bede's missed kickoff and Haggerty's rouge punt both gave Sask field position that resulted in touchdowns, and Bede's missed FG late in the game could have been a killing blow. I still have tons of faith in Bede, but I'm starting to wonder if he needs MBT as his holder. Jury's out on Haggerty but I'm confident he will sort his punting issues out.

What do you do with the return game or lack there of?

[Will]

General comments:

Pass blocking was outstanding, run blocking not so much. At least we eventually tried Harris on some runs that weren't straight into the middle of the line, and one Jet sweep late. Need more variety in the running game.

No doubt Lawrence is trying his hardest, but the inconsistency in his snapping is becoming really costly. When and if Churchill is healthy enough to play, I wonder if we will try him at LG and move Blake to centre. I fear Nicastro is still a couple of months away from being ready.

MBT's inconsistency is his consistency, it seems. (Or vice versa.) It was good to see him attempt more long throws, and connect on a couple, but he also missed some mid-range easy completions that should have been gimmes.

Our d-line made life difficult for the immobile Fajardo. The secondary also had a pretty strong game but there were four or five troubling breakdowns. McManis is having an all-star season, and Muamba is not far off that pace.

If we had lost this game, the biggest cause IMO would have been kicking issues. Bede's missed kickoff and Haggerty's rouge punt both gave Sask field position that resulted in touchdowns, and Bede's missed FG late in the game could have been a killing blow. I still have tons of faith in Bede, but I'm starting to wonder if he needs MBT as his holder. Jury's out on Haggerty but I'm confident he will sort his punting issues out.

I noted that Harris was the only RB who had a carry. Dinwiddie likes running on first down, but when it became evident that it was going to be tough sledding against the Riders defense I was wondering why they didn't insert Adeboboye or Ouelette (whoever was dressed) to try and give a different look.

Agreed on the kicking, though it should be noted that Saskatchewan also had a kickoff go out of bounds just before the half which the Argos got a FG from. The wind in Wolfville was significant from what I undertand.

[Will]

What do you do with the return game or lack there of?

It's not just a question of having a dynamic returner back there. It is hard to generate decent returns when the opposing team has guys downfield ready to make the tackle. The blocking scheme on returns is lacking.

[Will]

Here is the Xs and Argos podcast for this game:

https://twitter.com/XsAndArgos/statu...fK6dYv9Tns734w

Here is Mike Mitchell's grades for this game:

https://cflnewshub.com/cfl-news/toro...=62d40b7c08b1b

[paulwoods13]

It's not just a question of having a dynamic returner back there. It is hard to generate decent returns when the opposing team has guys downfield ready to make the tackle. The blocking scheme on returns is lacking.

Four games in, there seems little question we don't have schemes that lead to big returns. We also don't have a strong returner, although Leake might become one if/when he gets healthy and back in the lineup. Brissett protected the ball, which is about all I was hoping for yesterday. Banks did nothing on his one return.