Eastern Final: Montreal Alouettes @ Toronto Argonauts

[under30ArgosFan]

I was so happy to see a big crowd at long last at BMO, a lot of younger folks in section 109 and we shat the bed. I know a bunch of people in my age bracket (late 20s, early 30s) who don't ever watch the CFL telling me they saw the game on TV and were disappointed. Massive missed opportunity and this game sets us back years in term of relevance in the market. This loss is going to hurt. I'm going to be bitter all off-season.

[Shatto]

After taking time to reflect on yesterday's debacle, here are some thoughts:

.Montreal was a disciplined team and it showed even before the game began. In the pre-game ceremonies Montreal players were lined up at attention whereas the Argo players were milling around on the sidelines. Did that disciplined attitude make a difference--I don't know but it was very obvious.

.This will be the making of Kelly, if he learns from the experience. But he must learn from it.

.The D played very well and deserved to see the team win but the offense and special teams let them down.

.One had the feeling if the team had scored a t.d. on that first drive, the result would have been very different. I suspect if Kelly had been injured on the 1st play, the team would have rallied around Dukes and the team would have won the game.

.Dukes has been very good on short yardage and has been getting better as he gained experience---so why was Kelly in for the early short yardage plays?

.Regardless of the game's result, the team had a great season. They have great personnel and with a few (very few) changes next year should be just as good. But ---this time the goal has to be the Grey Cup not just a winning season --take a lesson from the Blue bombers.

[ArgoRavi]

There is no doubt in my mind that Kelly will rebound next season and it will be something to watch. He ain't going to be another Gilbert Renfroe.

[AngeloV]

Well, the result was definitely disappointing, but I for one, am not angry. This was a great season, and I had more fun attending games this year as I have in a very long time. This is one of the most likeable teams we have seen, and I thing that's because Pinball put it together. Character matters to him. I am very confident we will see a long string of contending teams over the rest of this decade. It all starts with great management. Seeing a big crowd was awesome, and I will refrain from making a comment like one I see above in an earlier post. I'm getting too old to get angry over an on field performance. I love this team, and that will never change. Not taking shots at anyone.

On a side note, the last couple of seasons since Argo57 and his sons moved their seats to sit with me and my group, as well as gilthethriill who just lives to damn far away to come to more games, have been awesome. I thank Will and this forum for giving me the opportunity to meet a couple of new, hopefully life long friends through our love of the Argonauts.

[ArgoGabe22]

I think I’m more upset over the fact that they can’t prove the naysayers wrong that the Argos got lucky last year and weren’t deserving. Going back to back would shut the Western homers up.

[Argo57]

Well, the result was definitely disappointing, but I for one, am not angry. This was a great season, and I had more fun attending games this year as I have in a very long time. This is one of the most likeable teams we have seen, and I thing that's because Pinball put it together. Character matters to him. I am very confident we will see a long string of contending teams over the rest of this decade. It all starts with great management. Seeing a big crowd was awesome, and I will refrain from making a comment like one I see above in an earlier post. I'm getting too old to get angry over an on field performance. I love this team, and that will never change. Not taking shots at anyone.

On a side note, the last couple of seasons since Argo57 and his sons moved their seats to sit with me and my group, as well as gilthethriill who just lives to damn far away to come to more games, have been awesome. I thank Will and this forum for giving me the opportunity to meet a couple of new, hopefully life long friends through our love of the Argonauts.

Right back at you Angelo, you guys are the best!
Always look forward to seeing all of you, it sucks we now have to wait over 6 months to do it again.
Kudos to our good friend gilthethrill for making the trip down to the Eastern Final, shame the team couldn’t produce a better result but life goes on.

[Will]

I think I’m more upset over the fact that they can’t prove the naysayers wrong that the Argos got lucky last year and weren’t deserving. Going back to back would shut the Western homers up.

The naysayers would have found something else to harp on, but yes, I see where you're coming from.

[Fan Since 70]

Well stated Angelo V. I agree 100% with your comments re the fun I also had attending the games this season. I really feel the culture that Pinball and others have established is first class and I am proud to be associated with it. I can't wait to get back at it in 2024.

[TICATS SUCK !]

Well, where to begin. All the talk prior to this game about this year's Argos being the greatest Argo/CFL team of all time was obviously premature. Because of all the chatter, I was nervous going into this game, thinking it might jinx the team. It's one thing to lose; but to lose in this fashion was totally unexpected, extremely disheartening, frustrating, and embarrassing. For what it's worth Shatto brought up a good point about how the teams lined up before kick-off. Perhaps this lead to bad karma. Seeing the Argos march the ball down the field with ease on their opening drive, only to result in a 14 point swing (assuming the Argos scored the major), foreshadowed how the rest of the game would play out.

The defence was tremendous, keeping the Argos in the game for some time. I have to give some credit to Montreal. They took care of the ball and did a great job of keeping the ball away from Javon Leake, especially on punts. The question now is, after three consecutive winning seasons/first place finishes, can the Argos sustain (to some extent) this level of on field success. History tells us that the answer is no. Hopefully that will change, and perhaps the Argo fan base will continue to increase after some growth this season.

[Will]

Did Edmonton not replace Warren Moon with Tom Wilkinson briefly in the 1981 Grey Cup? Edmonton was down 20-1 or something like that to the Rough Riders. Moon came back in and led Edmonton back. The 2023 Alouettes > 1981 Rough Riders, however, there is a precedent for the backup coming in briefly to allow the starter to collect themselves in that situation. I appreciate that Wilkinson is a HOFer and Dukes is not, however, I think Dukes showed enough this season to have made me confident that he wouldn't have infinitely fucked things up either.

[gilthethrill]

Its taken me a few days to digest what exactly happened Saturday, which happened to be my 40th anniversary of my first Argos game (83 EF). I seem to be able to make just 1 game a year now and was able to bring a buddy to his first Argo game.

Thanks to AV for making it happen.

Plain and simple Chad Kelly inexplicably imploded. If he has a bad game the Argos cruise over Montreal, but he was worse than that. Having said that, I have no concerns about this team not contending for years to come. Thanks to MLSE for allowing the superb front office staff to do their job.

Enjoy the offseason folks, it was a historic season.

[AngeloV]

Its taken me a few days to digest what exactly happened Saturday, which happened to be my 40th anniversary of my first Argos game (83 EF). I seem to be able to make just 1 game a year now and was able to bring a buddy to his first Argo game.

Thanks to AV for making it happen.

Plain and simple Chad Kelly inexplicably imploded. If he has a bad game the Argos cruise over Montreal, but he was worse than that. Having said that, I have no concerns about this team not contending for years to come. Thanks to MLSE for allowing the superb front office staff to do their job.

Enjoy the offseason folks, it was a historic season.

So glad you guys were able to make the game. Hopefully we can squeeze in a couple of more next season.

[Rich]

I was so happy to see a big crowd at long last at BMO, a lot of younger folks in section 109 and we shat the bed. I know a bunch of people in my age bracket (late 20s, early 30s) who don't ever watch the CFL telling me they saw the game on TV and were disappointed. Massive missed opportunity and this game sets us back years in term of relevance in the market. This loss is going to hurt. I'm going to be bitter all off-season.

Anyone who watched their first Argo game on TV Saturday didn’t see a very good game, but they did see a stadium packed with Argo fans. That is a positive impression the likes of which haven’t been seen for a long time.

[Rich]

.Dukes has been very good on short yardage and has been getting better as he gained experience---so why was Kelly in for the early short yardage plays?

Early in the season RD decided to use Dukes in SY situations in order to save the wear and tear on Kelly. But he never fully committed to the idea, and he would go back to Kelly if it was a more important situation, because everyone can see that Kelly is better suited for it than Dukes.

The problem is that Kelly doesn’t have the SY reps this year, and timing is huge on SY plays, and we saw the results on Saturday. Go with Kelly or go with Dukes, but it’s dumb to use both.

Going forward I say go with the guy who’s better at it. It helps keeps his head in the game.

[paulwoods13]

I suspect fans have no idea how much work and prep goes into making short-yardage plays successful. Even though only inches are needed, they are the opposite of throwaway plays. Kelly seemed to handle them too casually, probably because he wasn't expecting to run them and/or hadn't practised them lately. RD has had on-and-off problems managing short-yardage calls and execution in all three of his seasons as head coach.

[Will]

I was so happy to see a big crowd at long last at BMO, a lot of younger folks in section 109 and we shat the bed. I know a bunch of people in my age bracket (late 20s, early 30s) who don't ever watch the CFL telling me they saw the game on TV and were disappointed. Massive missed opportunity and this game sets us back years in term of relevance in the market. This loss is going to hurt. I'm going to be bitter all off-season.

On the one hand, I'm disappointed at how fickle fans can be in Toronto, but on the other hand, it's the reality we are dealing with.

[ArgoRavi]

I suspect fans have no idea how much work and prep goes into making short-yardage plays successful. Even though only inches are needed, they are the opposite of throwaway plays. Kelly seemed to handle them too casually, probably because he wasn't expecting to run them and/or hadn't practised them lately. RD has had on-and-off problems managing short-yardage calls and execution in all three of his seasons as head coach.

The biggest issue IMO was the call to do a QB sneak on 3rd and 2 inside the Montreal 5 yard line. That's too far at that point on the field to try a QB sneak.

[AngeloV]

I suspect fans have no idea how much work and prep goes into making short-yardage plays successful. Even though only inches are needed, they are the opposite of throwaway plays. Kelly seemed to handle them too casually, probably because he wasn't expecting to run them and/or hadn't practised them lately. RD has had on-and-off problems managing short-yardage calls and execution in all three of his seasons as head coach.

I thought the Argos erred in going fast tempo on the sneaks, rather than take your time and look for the soft spot. Kelly also seemed to not get low enough on either of his attempts, but I think the fast tempo was a bigger problem.

[ArgoRavi]

I thought the Argos erred in going fast tempo on the sneaks, rather than take your time and look for the soft spot. Kelly also seemed to not get low enough on either of his attempts, but I think the fast tempo was a bigger problem.

Good suggestion. I also think they should have gone with a fast tempo, in general, earlier in the game to try to kick-start the offence and prevent defensive substitutions. I am surprised that teams don't do this more.

[Stevoman]

https://3downnation.com/2023/11/15/t...ng-east-final/

Could this have happened on one of the sneaks? Is this just an attempt to blame a concussion for the poor performance?