Game Thread: Hamilton Tiger-Cats @ Toronto Argonauts

[AngeloV]

I wonder if Ja'Gared Davis has found his jock strap yet after the move Kelly put on him for his first TD.

[Argo57]

Good to see our friends we sit with, great bunch of guys!!
Argos came out of the gate strong, Kelly looked very poised and played a great game.
Kelly’s deep ball to Coxie was perfectly executed, Dinwiddie did a nice job mixing the pass and run game.
The Argonauts D was relentless against the run and the secondary looked very solid, love the way they pursue the football.
Quan’tez Stiggers is a keeper and looks to have a good future in the CFL.
Chris Edwards did a good job with the Argos but I believe Adarius Pickett is an upgrade at LB (without all of the melodrama).
Always nice to get a win against your arch rival!

[Will]

Adarius Pickett had 11 total tackles (8 DT, 3 ST).

[paulwoods13]

What a fantastic way to start the 150th anniversary season! The whole thing -- the rings, pre-game ceremony, and the game itself -- was joyous.

As for the game, almost nothing bad to say about Argos' performance. Kelly looked smooth and comfortable, and showed nice mobility whenever the o-line let pass rushers through. Coxie is a player, and I imagine it will be Phillips who comes out when Ambles returns to the lineup. Ouellette is a beast, and Harris is a tremendous change of pace/backup.

Orimolade and Pickett were huge forces out there. Stiggers is definitely a player, and Argos will need to find a way to protect him when Peters is ready to play -- you can't put him on the practice roster because the Ticats (or another team) would be sure to snap him up. There were four designated Americans last night -- two of them (Bede and Leake) are definitely not coming off the roster. That means to keep Stiggers active along with Peters, either Jones (unlikely) or Barlow (less unlikely) would have to be deactivated. I could see Barlow sitting, especially if and when Acheampong returns to the lineup. But otherwise, someone in the secondary will need to sit. Daniel, Amos and McFadden all played well (McFadden threw two hellacious hits) -- could it be that Peters will sit again next week?

Ticats are not getting their money's worth out of some of their signings. Duke looked good, and Butler was OK, but Figueroa got destroyed by Argo defensive ends, and Bo does not look like 2018 Bo. He was able to effectively pick up a couple of poorly disguised blitzes, but otherwise showed little.

[bluto]

It was a good enough performance that any critiques which I could offer would feel nit-picky and ungrateful. And I am feeling grateful this morning. It's been over 200 days and I couldn't be happier to have Argo football back. Particularly, Winning-Argo-Football!

It was only Game 1 and Week 2, so keeping even-keeled about this ought to be the order of the day. I doubt that the Cats will look that bad all year (and imo, they look bad). And it would serve us to remember that they marched downfield and had passes into our End Zone that if they'd been caught by TiCats receivers instead of Argo defenders it all would've been very different.

But on the morning, my cautiously optimistic outlook is that with good health, good roster management and steady improvement, you'd have to make us favorites to host the East final.

[gilthethrill]

Good to see our friends we sit with, great bunch of guys!!
Argos came out of the gate strong, Kelly looked very poised and played a great game.
Kelly’s deep ball to Coxie was perfectly executed, Dinwiddie did a nice job mixing the pass and run game.
The Argonauts D was relentless against the run and the secondary looked very solid, love the way they pursue the football.
Quan’tez Stiggers is a keeper and looks to have a good future in the CFL.
Chris Edwards did a good job with the Argos but I believe Adarius Pickett is an upgrade at LB (without all of the melodrama).
Always nice to get a win against your arch rival!

Pickett also dropped a sure pick 6 from BLM to start the 3rd. I was openly skeptical about signing DE Folorian O (sorry I will get the name right eventually) for a ton of $$$, but seeing him last night he appeared even quicker than Shane Rae. Robertson Daniel had a good game and appeared healthy at its conclusion.

Great way to start the season by beating an already quarrelling Hamilton team.

[OV Argo]

Pickett also dropped a sure pick 6 from BLM to start the 3rd. I was openly skeptical about signing DE Folorian O (sorry I will get the name right eventually) for a ton of $$$, but seeing him last night he appeared even quicker than Shane Rae. Robertson Daniel had a good game and appeared healthy at its conclusion.

Great way to start the season by beating an already quarrelling Hamilton team.

Orimolade and Costigan (knew he was very good in his first EE appearances) are younger and more upside DEs IMO than either of J. Davis (looked over-weight and not near his previous CFL best for the Argos last season IMO), and NFL veteran Ray - Argo pass rush & D-line should be solid to outstanding IMO and Mace likes lots of rotation there (CFL trend now but Argos likely lead the way); D. Knight had some reps at DT and looked quick & strong. Robbie Smith played as usual and was very strong as usual, and Dunigan mentioned it (not to nit pick and it's more a symbolic thing with all the rotation, but why would Argo vet and GC hero Robbie not be named a starter over the 2 new guys? IMO he's earned it, and is as good or better than those 2, and should be playing the highest majority of reps of all the DEs - do the Argos thinkers feel a need to be GOB 7 only like with their starting line-up? - same thing could be said about Andrew Harris & Ouellette i guess, but AJ has earned a starter designation with his Argo service and GC heroics).


Pussycats fans in full melt-down / crisis mode. Bow the team up already ! Not lacking in talent there, but IMO their coaching and game plans are weak and the notion that signing a bunch of veteran FAs was a big ticket to success was a big mistake (Bo, Figueroa, Butler, Duke are all IMO either faded or very over-rated); seeing White blow-up at a team-mate for missing a block (like that never happens) is an indicator of some TEAM issues there maybe. On the positive side however - 2 lightly regarded receivers in Godwin (spectacular one-handed grab) and Ternowski (superb toe tap effort on his TD reception followed up by a nice route and catch for the 2 point convert) made 2 of the best catches likely to be seen on the entire season. They have plenty of talent on D, but their O might be the big problem.

["Issues"Mcgee]

I was secretly hoping, for the banner raising, the team was just going to release that Argos spy balloon into the sky and let it go where it goes.

That would have been hilarious.

[shayman]

I was secretly hoping, for the banner raising, the team was just going to release that Argos spy balloon into the sky and let it go where it goes.

That would have been hilarious.

I was wondering if Ticat fans were going to wander over there where the balloon was relaxing in the northwest corner - and casually snip the ropes.

[Will]

I was quite pleased to see Stiggers, at least for one game, prove me wrong. He looked like he belonged out there!

[AngeloV]

And it would serve us to remember that they marched downfield and had passes into our End Zone that if they'd been caught by TiCats receivers instead of Argo defenders it all would've been very different.

].

Wouldn’t that have required a Ti-Cats receiver to be somewhere in the neighborhood of the throw?

[Will]

I was wondering if Ticat fans were going to wander over there where the balloon was relaxing in the northwest corner - and casually snip the ropes.

I had visions of the tethering becoming loose and the thing flying away. It would be hilarious and disturbing all at the same time.

[AngeloV]

It's really nice to see an Argo friendly article in 3DN. Props to Ben Grant.

https://3downnation.com/2023/06/19/c...over-hamilton/

The last part of his write up made me happy. Had to be said:

Turf war

TFC fans spend an inordinate amount of time blaming the Toronto Argonauts for poor field conditions at BMO Field. In truth, the field is generally in great condition, and the Argos have very little to do with field degradation as they practice at nearby Lamport Stadium and generally use the natural grass at BMO Field once every two weeks during the season.

Aside from a short walkthrough yesterday, Sunday’s game was the first time they’d played on the grass this season, yet it looked to be in rough shape before the players even took the field. It’s clear that TFC has far more to do with the grass conditions than the Argos.

[Will]

It's really nice to see an Argo friendly article in 3DN. Props to Ben Grant.

https://3downnation.com/2023/06/19/c...over-hamilton/

The last part of his write up made me happy. Had to be said:

Turf war

TFC fans spend an inordinate amount of time blaming the Toronto Argonauts for poor field conditions at BMO Field. In truth, the field is generally in great condition, and the Argos have very little to do with field degradation as they practice at nearby Lamport Stadium and generally use the natural grass at BMO Field once every two weeks during the season.

Aside from a short walkthrough yesterday, Sunday’s game was the first time they’d played on the grass this season, yet it looked to be in rough shape before the players even took the field. It’s clear that TFC has far more to do with the grass conditions than the Argos.

I was actually quite surprised by the state of the field. The BMO grounds crew is generally excellent.

[Scooter McCray]

It's really nice to see an Argo friendly article in 3DN. Props to Ben Grant.

https://3downnation.com/2023/06/19/c...over-hamilton/

The last part of his write up made me happy. Had to be said:

Turf war

TFC fans spend an inordinate amount of time blaming the Toronto Argonauts for poor field conditions at BMO Field. In truth, the field is generally in great condition, and the Argos have very little to do with field degradation as they practice at nearby Lamport Stadium and generally use the natural grass at BMO Field once every two weeks during the season.

Aside from a short walkthrough yesterday, Sunday’s game was the first time they’d played on the grass this season, yet it looked to be in rough shape before the players even took the field. It’s clear that TFC has far more to do with the grass conditions than the Argos.

Great comment. Our group of four at the game commented on this as well. The Argos play 8 games per year plus a playoff game. They are not responsible for the state of disrepair of the field. And the Argonauts have earned a full grass end zone which has put player safety at risk for these past 5 years.

[AngeloV]

More brilliance from Josh the idiot Smith at 3DN.
I get he's a Ti-Cat fan, but the night and day difference between what he writes and what Ben Grant writes just shoes how amateurish he is. Can't even pretend to hide his bias. What part of the fact that the Argos offence played to the score does he not get?



Get me off the hype train

I know I’m going to take heat for this but Chad Kelly was just fine against the Ticats. He certainly wasn’t bad but he didn’t show me anything that diminished my skepticism of him going into the season. He was plum average.

He completed 14-of-23 passes for 213 yards and didn’t throw for any touchdowns or interceptions. He made one very impressive deep throw to Coxie and rushed for three touchdowns, with two of them coming on plunges from the one-yard line. It was a fine performance but nothing special.

Could he be better than I thought? Sure. But after taking a 22-6 lead into halftime, the Argos did nothing offensively during the third quarter. Kelly led the Argos to just one first down and never got the ball beyond his own 41-yard line. Against a competent team with a functional offence, that type of lull would have been a death sentence.

I get that he’s the golden boy and everyone wants to anoint him as the league’s next big star but let’s ratchet the hype down just a tad.

[Argo57]

More brilliance from Josh the idiot Smith at 3DN.
I get he's a Ti-Cat fan, but the night and day difference between what he writes and what Ben Grant writes just shoes how amateurish he is. Can't even pretend to hide his bias. What part of the fact that the Argos offence played to the score does he not get?



Get me off the hype train

I know I’m going to take heat for this but Chad Kelly was just fine against the Ticats. He certainly wasn’t bad but he didn’t show me anything that diminished my skepticism of him going into the season. He was plum average.

He completed 14-of-23 passes for 213 yards and didn’t throw for any touchdowns or interceptions. He made one very impressive deep throw to Coxie and rushed for three touchdowns, with two of them coming on plunges from the one-yard line. It was a fine performance but nothing special.

Could he be better than I thought? Sure. But after taking a 22-6 lead into halftime, the Argos did nothing offensively during the third quarter. Kelly led the Argos to just one first down and never got the ball beyond his own 41-yard line. Against a competent team with a functional offence, that type of lull would have been a death sentence.

I get that he’s the golden boy and everyone wants to anoint him as the league’s next big star but let’s ratchet the hype down just a tad.

Just read his article, this guy comes off like a bitter pant load with absolutely no objectivity.

["Issues"Mcgee]

Just read his article, this guy comes off like a bitter pant load with absolutely no objectivity.

I don't take any stock into what he is saying because it is clearly coming from a point of misery.

With that mentality, he could be in for a long season.

["Issues"Mcgee]

I had visions of the tethering becoming loose and the thing flying away. It would be hilarious and disturbing all at the same time.

It would have flown over Hamilton, Ottawa and Montreal so they could enjoy it too.

[ArgoZ]

If Chad Kelly was on any other team, especially the Cats, Josh Smith would be anointing him the next Dieter Brock. I don’t understand why so many are undermining Kelly. I think his expectations have been tempered, we all know he’s got a big task ahead of him and there’s bound to be some struggles, yet we’re all excited it’s been good so far.