Entertainment Value of Games

[Argo57]

Agreed. It wasn't like the teams weren't moving the football.

Ultimately, the entertainment value of games comes down to quarterbacking and even the almighty NFL struggles to find quality QBs. In the CFL today, we have a top tier of Collaros, Adams, and Chad Kelly (and, yes, I am willing to put him in that top tier after four CFL starts), a middle tier of Harris and Fajardo, and a lower tier of the likes of Maier, Cornelius, Shiltz, and whomever Ottawa can trot out from week to week. This isn't as good as some eras of CFL football but it is similar to others, like the mid- to late 1980s or the late 1990s.

Further, I have said this before and will say it again: It is harder being a CFL QB today than it ever has been, as the defences one faces are far more complex than ever before.

Defences are more “complex” and aggressive today and feature regular blitz packages, back in the day blitzes were an occasional tool used to pressure the QB.
To combat this offences of today feature more check downs much to the dismay of some but sure beats taking a sack.

[argolio]

Defences are more “complex” and aggressive today and feature regular blitz packages, back in the day blitzes were an occasional tool used to pressure the QB.
To combat this offences of today feature more check downs much to the dismay of some but sure beats taking a sack.

Compared to 50 years ago, emphasis has changed to speed & finesse from strength & power, rules are now much more pass-friendly, and the bigger roster allows for more substitutions. I read a story that said NFL teams stay in their starting/base defences less than 40% of the game. Down and distance determines personnel.

[ArgofanIan]

Some great games this weekend....a monster game next Friday....CFL east is getting interesting... MTL and OTT starting to play better....

[OV Argo]

Not sure I remember back-to-back CFL games on the same day with as wild, crazy & exciting finishes as the 2 games today !

[ArgoRavi]

Nothing wrong with the entertainment value of games recently. Points per game after this weekend's games have risen to 47.35 per game, which is a little lower than last year, but really not bad given the injuries that we have seen to QBs and receivers this year. Trevor Harris is the latest to go down, with what appears to be a season-ending injury.

Let's let the young guys play though and see what they can do. Both Dustin Crum and Mason Fine played well for their respective teams this weekend. Jake Maier also had his best game of the season. Everyone, including fans, needs to be patient with QB development.

[paulwoods13]

This weekend's games were unbelievably exciting. The Thursday nighter not so much, but the next three could all be considered game-of-the-year candidates.

It's really too bad we have lost two veteran QBs for the season. If Crum and Fine are able to keep up their initial good showings, the league may be better off for these injuries. But I'm gonna wait a bit to see how things unfold on that front. Lots of QBs have had bursts of early success only to be brought back down to earth.

That said, Ott's comeback was reminiscent of MBT's first start with the Argos in 2018. Like Crum yesterday, he did almost nothing in the first half, then came back with more than 200 yards passing in the second half and won the game on the final play. Crum ran a lot more than MBT did, of course (more than 100 yards total for Crum), but MBT had a bigger deficit to overcome (38-14 in the third quarter) and threw more TD passes.

[AngeloV]

It's really too bad we have lost two veteran QBs for the season. If Crum and Fine are able to keep up their initial good showings, the league may be better off for these injuries. But I'm gonna wait a bit to see how things unfold on that front. Lots of QBs have had bursts of early success only to be brought back down to earth.

I don't wish ill on anyone, but Harris really hasn't been good this year. He puts up yards, but last week his O put up 3 points in the first 58 minutes against a very bad team, and last night, his O once again put up only 3 points until he left the game. I also have not been impressed with Masoli the last few years. IMO, he hasn't been the same since his first injury in 2019. Could be the extra weight he has put on as I previously mentioned (he was listed at 239lbs on the depth chart roster last week), but overall, he hasn't been good.

Fine, is not in his 3rd or 4th year with the Riders. That is proper development for a young QB. This just might be his time.

[OV Argo]

It will be interesting to see if young Mr. Crum can continue to play well for a raw rookie QB (and like Paul said - a lot of rookie QBs come in and flash talent or win a game early but then come crashing down to earth soon after) - weak first half but then was outstanding in the 2nd half with accurate, clutch throws and his running ability and decisions to do so. He's playing in a Khari Jones same old offence with not much ground game, plus their O-line has had lots of issues in pass protection, and I won't expect smart game plans or diverse play calling to help him much, so good luck. And the run threat he has brought should keep CFL defences thinking about spying him or altering pass rush, which could set up better passing. And, that spectacular game will at least give the RedBlacks fans some hope for their QB future, after so much disappointment for some time.

Too bad ego/clown Jones in Edmonton is not willing to give Tre Ford a similar shot (and he's not some raw rookie with his year of CFL experience and playing time, plus he grew up playing Canadian football) - a way faster run threat than Crum - to give what's left of EE fans out there some hope as well. It's going to be Cornelius & Doege with their preferred passports, and a hope could be a few more losses and somebody in the EE org. has the guts to punt that over-rated idiot Jones way out of town; and hearing that it's a money issue so they can't afford to get rid of his stink is lame - so he gets to go winless for how long? Will they be down to a few thousand die hards showing up that looks so bad for image/optics in that huge stadium? Obvious that Jones is incompetent so why not give a new, smarter HC a shot right away to start building for next season? I wonder if ex-Esk Chris Morris (long time EE player and several time GC winner) who has been a HC for a number of years now with the Alberta Bears would be interested and able to jump there if called ? But the morons that hired Jones are probably more likely to hire a LaPo or Mavis Reed or Scotty M again - recycled hacks - and that will be as bad as Jones perhaps.

[ArgoRavi]

It will be interesting to see if young Mr. Crum can continue to play well for a raw rookie QB (and like Paul said - a lot of rookie QBs come in and flash talent or win a game early but then come crashing down to earth soon after) - weak first half but then was outstanding in the 2nd half with accurate, clutch throws and his running ability and decisions to do so. He's playing in a Khari Jones same old offence with not much ground game, plus their O-line has had lots of issues in pass protection, and I won't expect smart game plans or diverse play calling to help him much, so good luck. And the run threat he has brought should keep CFL defences thinking about spying him or altering pass rush, which could set up better passing. And, that spectacular game will at least give the RedBlacks fans some hope for their QB future, after so much disappointment for some time.

Too bad ego/clown Jones in Edmonton is not willing to give Tre Ford a similar shot (and he's not some raw rookie with his year of CFL experience and playing time, plus he grew up playing Canadian football) - a way faster run threat than Crum - to give what's left of EE fans out there some hope as well. It's going to be Cornelius & Doege with their preferred passports, and a hope could be a few more losses and somebody in the EE org. has the guts to punt that over-rated idiot Jones way out of town; and hearing that it's a money issue so they can't afford to get rid of his stink is lame - so he gets to go winless for how long? Will they be down to a few thousand die hards showing up that looks so bad for image/optics in that huge stadium? Obvious that Jones is incompetent so why not give a new, smarter HC a shot right away to start building for next season? I wonder if ex-Esk Chris Morris (long time EE player and several time GC winner) who has been a HC for a number of years now with the Alberta Bears would be interested and able to jump there if called ? But the morons that hired Jones are probably more likely to hire a LaPo or Mavis Reed or Scotty M again - recycled hacks - and that will be as bad as Jones perhaps.

Both NCAA and CIS head coaches seem to struggle, by and large, in making the jump to the pro level. Further, many of them don't want to leave the security of their university jobs for the insecurity of the pros.

[OV Argo]

Both NCAA and CIS head coaches seem to struggle, by and large, in making the jump to the pro level. Further, many of them don't want to leave the security of their university jobs for the insecurity of the pros.

Gee, wonder if any of them could struggle and lose more (not possible) like that recycled, same old hack Jones ?

The GOB CFL is fine with promoting ex-American players mostly, to key coaching gigs with precious little football coaching experience; they are hired cause they are yes-men to the same old system - everybody runs the same basic offence; same old Americans first roster thinking = GOBs. But you're afraid the CFL should hire some fresh guys who might inject some fresh thinking, imagination or creativity into the league in favor of recycling same old hacks? I don't get that - there are plenty of same-olds in this league; time to see at least some new faces who think differently about Canadian football.

[AngeloV]

Why does browsing this forum seem like Groundhog Day?

[jerrym]

Compared to 50 years ago, emphasis has changed to speed & finesse from strength & power, rules are now much more pass-friendly, and the bigger roster allows for more substitutions. I read a story that said NFL teams stay in their starting/base defences less than 40% of the game. Down and distance determines personnel.

Basically I agree with you, although don't tell that to Ouellette. He might run over you.

[ArgoRavi]

Another tremendous game on Sunday night in the CFL with Ottawa beating Calgary in OT. There have definitely been some challenges this year with all of the QB injuries in addition to the league simply going through a transition at the QB position as they did in the mid to late 1980s and the late 1990s/early 2000s. However, we are seeing a lot of positive signs at the QB position with the likes of Kelly, Crum and Maier emerging as the next generation of CFL QBs possibly. I am pretty sure that attendance is up so far this season, TV ratings are growing by the week and we are seeing no shortage of big plays - perhaps more big offensive plays than we have seen for a while. Things are looking up for this league IMO.

Scoring has been all over the place with some games generating fewer than 30 points and others more than 70 with Sunday night's registering a season high 84 points. The average so far this season is 47.74 points per game, which is down about a FG from last year, but still impressive given all of the QB injuries that we have seen.

[ArgoRavi]

I posted this in a thread about a Mtl game, but it seems maybe worth posting on its own and tracking through the season:

The league has good reason to be concerned about the poor entertainment value of games so far. Average winning margin of 13.5 points, and six out of 14 games so far have been 14 points or greater. Only three games with single-digit margins (7, 4 and 3). Even the relatively small margin of last week's Argo game (12 points) was deceiving as the Elks scored two late TDs including one with seconds remaining. One of the things we could count on even when scoring was going down was the likelihood of a lot of close games, but we have not had that so far this season.

The 14 games so far have averaged 44.5 points, which is down about six points per game from last year's season average. We've had three games with 70-plus points and, two in the 20s, four in the 30s, three in the 40s and two in the 50s.

After last night's Tor-BC game, we are now up to seven of 15 games with a margin of 14 points or more. The game was wildly entertaining despite the 21-point margin, and was an 11-point game that could have gone either way until fairly late. But still -- nearly half of the games have been decided by two TDs or more. Let's hope this trend abates, and soon.

I think that it's safe to say that things have improved considerably since Paul first posted his concerns. The entertainment value of games this season has been outstanding IMO, despite all of the QB injuries that we have seen. Scoring has been increasing weekly, it seems, and is now at 49.41 points per game which is only about 1 point less than a year ago. Like last year, 60% of the games have been decided in the final three minutes.

Further, one of the most exciting teams in the league, if not the most exciting, are our own Toronto Argonauts. I can't wait to see what the rest of the season brings us.

[paulwoods13]

I think that it's safe to say that things have improved considerably since Paul first posted his concerns. The entertainment value of games this season has been outstanding IMO, despite all of the QB injuries that we have seen. Scoring has been increasing weekly, it seems, and is now at 49.41 points per game which is only about 1 point less than a year ago. Like last year, 60% of the games have been decided in the final three minutes.

Further, one of the most exciting teams in the league, if not the most exciting, are our own Toronto Argonauts. I can't wait to see what the rest of the season brings us.

I agree that most games since then have been more entertaining than what we saw earlier in the season, and obviously scoring is trending up. But we have still had a lot of games decided by a wide margin -- nine decided by more than 14 points in the past nine weeks.