August 18th 2012: Toronto Argonauts vs. Calgary Stampeders

[1argoholic]

The ball came out tonight and then the whiste blew. I was going to mention that hopefully Waters can stick. He's been great! American kicker or not he must be our future kicker. It'll just force Barker to look for more quality Canadian talent like Lee. You can never count out the heart of a Canadian. How about Johnson on that long run. We need more Johnson and cowbell. haha.

[Stevoman]

Turn those 3's into 7's and Calgary was out of this game by a long shot. Hopefully that can happen soon enough. Great special teams and defence!

[Will]

Great special teams tonight although Chad Owens didn't seem to be able to get much going on returns. Waters is continuing to kick the ball well, and as we know that's vital for the Argos although I wish it didn't have to be so vital, but I digress. He had an impressive 50.8 yards per punt tonight aided by a strong wind.

Fine game by the defense, Coach Jones had done a great job.

How 'bout Lewis' yapping getting him a 15-yard penalty? Priceless!

[Wobbler]

Great special teams tonight although Chad Owens didn't seem to be able to get much going on returns.

He didn't break any big ones, but his average was excellent and he protected the ball. Owens (and his cover team) significantly outperformed Larry Taylor (and his cover team) on the road, and that merits praise.

[ArgoRavi]

If you're speaking of the 2003 east final there was no review booth and even if there was the whistle does end the play. sorree. It was indeed a fumble before the goal line when seen in super duper slo-mo. You got your revenge in 2004.

I am talking about the game three weeks or so ago when Calvillo fumbled near the end of the game and the Argos recovered. He clearly fumbled but there was no review by Jake Ireland for some reason (this was in the final minute of the game when only the league can initiate a review). I still don't understand why it wasn't ruled Argo football on that play which would not have allowed Whyte to get a chance to tie the game on the final play.

[argolio]

I am so confused about that now after seeing the play tonight and the Calvillo "fumble" late in the Montreal game that wasn't even reviewed presumably because the whistle had already gone.

As I understand the current rules, the timing of the whistle doesn't matter determining a fumble review unless a ball carrier is in a scrum where it's ruled forward progress is stopped, which wasn't a factor in Chad's fumble. I think the non-review of that Calvillo play was a screw-up by the command centre since it happened in the last three minutes.

Considering the pressure on the team in general and Kackert in particular heading into this game, I have no complaints. Great effort all around.

Also, I don't get all the comments here about how we suddenly unveiled tight end formations in this game. We've been doing it all season.

He didn't break any big ones, but his average was excellent and he protected the ball. Owens (and his cover team) significantly outperformed Larry Taylor (and his cover team) on the road, and that merits praise.

We hit Taylor pretty hard early on, and I think that intimidation limited his effectiveness. The guys did a good job staying in their lanes and hustling on kick coverage.

[LLB997]

The ball came out tonight and then the whiste blew. I was going to mention that hopefully Waters can stick. He's been great! American kicker or not he must be our future kicker. It'll just force Barker to look for more quality Canadian talent like Lee. You can never count out the heart of a Canadian. How about Johnson on that long run. We need more Johnson and cowbell. haha.

Great observations as usual Argoholic. I really want to see Waters stick. There are challenges holding on to an import kicker but the dude is guaranteed points game in game out. Bring on the Eskies.

[anthonyrussell]

Considering the pressure on the team in general and Kackert in particular heading into this game, I have no complaints. Great effort all around.

Seconded, obviously it would have been nice to get a few more majors on the board. 2nd down completions are important but the boys were a bit more gutsy in their performance than the Stamps and it got them the win. Sometimes it doesn't matter how you win, just that you do.

[Gill The Thrill]

The Argos really kicked Calgary's ass all over the field...strong defensive effort. The score was actually flattering for Calgary as the Argos played a soft zone on that last drive and gave them 8 points.

David Lee had a noticeable first half and made some solid tackles and showed quickness. Swayze Waters was money in the kicking department, both placekicking and punting. Kackert was solid and proved that he could be a starter in the league with some big runs, and terrific second effort. What I love about this guy is that he seems to get stronger as the game wears on, and that's a great trait for a back. I remember his game last season in Edmonton when he got a lot of his yds in the 2nd half, he did the same tonight.

This is one of the most complete games I've seen the Argos play in about 7 years. Although they could've finished with a few more TD's, they also did not stupidly turn the ball over by trying to force it into the end zone and cashed in those field goals.

[gilthethrill]

Watching Washington at LT, he kept his man away from Ray most of the night. Special teams coverage was awesome & the D slapped around Calgary all night long. Kevin Glenn, as promised, delivered his 4th quarter pic right on schedule. My only question is this: what benefit did going into a prevent D near the end serve the Argos? The D was not going to allow Calgary back in the game, so why did Jones have the players ease up considerably?

Kackert? No surprise there....

[paulwoods13]

My only question is this: what benefit did going into a prevent D near the end serve the Argos? The D was not going to allow Calgary back in the game, so why did Jones have the players ease up considerably?

By allowing Calgary to complete stuff underneath and in the centre of the field, they also allowed the clock to run down. If you play a more aggressive style in that situation, there's a risk Calgary makes one big play and still has enough time on the clock to get a second possession. I would have loved to hold them to six points total, but that was good coaching by Jones to work the clock.

[gilthethrill]

By allowing Calgary to complete stuff underneath and in the centre of the field, they also allowed the clock to run down. If you play a more aggressive style in that situation, there's a risk Calgary makes one big play and still has enough time on the clock to get a second possession. I would have loved to hold them to six points total, but that was good coaching by Jones to work the clock.

Thanks Paul. I just thought if the Argos kept playing D the way they were, Calgary was not going to suddenly start having success on offence. I breathed a sigh of relief when Durie recovered that onside kick.

[Rich]

Also, I don't get all the comments here about how we suddenly unveiled tight end formations in this game. We've been doing it all season.

I don't remember seeing Durie and Johnson line up there before. In the past they've used Rempel and extra o-linemen. A nice wrinkle.

[Nob]

Just watched the game, courtesy of the technology of the pvr. Solid game. Need to finish off drives, still.

Somebody mentioned it in a earlier post - David Lee impressed. Another London, Ontario boy doing well in football (along with Butler in Sask, Stephenson in Hamilton, Pasztor in Minnesota, And many, many others in CIS and NCAA).

What an amazing turn around for the special teams. O'Shea has done a fantastic job there. Perhaps too good - I'm afraid other teams will notice and take him off our staff as a new Head Coach somewhere else.........lol, although he would be deserving. Now that he has fixed the coverage units I imagine it's only a matter of time before we see some new wrinkles and bigger returns.

Would still like to see a game-changing receiver on offence. I would rate the receiver play as good, not great. Yes Owens and JJ made a couple of big plays, but the Argos need a guy that can be a threat for a 10-catch day, or an automatic go-to guy in any down and distance. I'm not sure that they have that yet.

[1argoholic]

The best thing I can say about this team is that they adjust and fix the issues. Our first game was a gongshow of penalties and we corrected that. We've had serious cover issues and have corrected that. They wanted more from the rb position and Kackert looked very good in both running and catching. Breaks some tackles and shows tons of heart. O line was better. I love the way Milanovich doesn't fool around and let issues linger. It makes one as a fan have hope for more good things to come.

Did anyone notice how excited Mo Mann was on the sideline after a few big plays came in his direction. He was in a light blue t and he'd run up and jump around and pat the players on the head. That's the kind of team player you want. It would be nice to see him get some time.

[Wobbler]

Also, I don't get all the comments here about how we suddenly unveiled tight end formations in this game. We've been doing it all season.

We've been doing it all season on short yardage, but this is the first game where we used it several times on normal downs and also the first time we've used receivers at TE (as Rich pointed out).

[ArgoRavi]

I was reading the Stamps' fan forum last night after the game and it is interesting to read their perspective of the game. They were accusing the Argos of being a dirty team and are not happy with the likes of Chris Jones and Brandon Isaac who they see as having abandoned them. They, not surprisingly, were quite unhappy with their team's performance as well.

[Will]

I was reading the Stamps' fan forum last night after the game and it is interesting to read their perspective of the game. They were accusing the Argos of being a dirty team and are not happy with the likes of Chris Jones and Brandon Isaac who they see as having abandoned them. They, not surprisingly, were quite unhappy with their team's performance as well.

My parents were at the game in Calgary and said that they were listening to the post-game show on the QR77 and people were going after Isaac. They also were harping on the Ricky Ray conspiracy theory a lot as well.

I'll say this again, Nik Lewis was running his mouth and I'm glad it cost him and his team.

[gilthethrill]

I was reading the Stamps' fan forum last night after the game and it is interesting to read their perspective of the game. They were accusing the Argos of being a dirty team and are not happy with the likes of Chris Jones and Brandon Isaac who they see as having abandoned them. They, not surprisingly, were quite unhappy with their team's performance as well.

I too enjoy going on other teams fan forums after Argo games. The refs are also to blame by not calling anything on Toronto.


Did Isaac have to hit Cornish away from the play? I wasn't sure about the legality of that play.

[jerrym]

O'Shea has done a fantastic job there. Perhaps too good - I'm afraid other teams will notice and take him off our staff as a new Head Coach somewhere else.........lol, although he would be deserving. Now that he has fixed the coverage units I imagine it's only a matter of time before we see some new wrinkles and bigger returns.

I think there is a real danger that we could lose O'Shea and/or Jones next year to team/s looking for new head coach/es after they have displayed how much they can improve special teams/defences. What a pity for the Argos if it happens but lets it enjoy them as long as it lasts. Who knows, we might get very lucky and keep both for a while.