September 28, 2013: Toronto Argonauts vs. Edmonton

[Nob]

Another great comeback. Wow.....can never leave the game early, even though this was the 4th straight week I wanted to turn the game off at halftime.

A little perspective, friends:

- Watkins had a great game, but Adam Bighill of the Lions will be Defensive Player of the Week. He had a monster game last night. Watkins should be Defensive Player of the Month for September.
- Collaros has done well, but I don't see him in an Argo uniform next season. I can see him in Ottawa, or in Winnipeg. I wouldn't be surprised, or too upset, if he was traded for an asset instead of being lost in the dispersal draft. I would be thrilled if he's an Argo next year, but I don't see it.

The only thing that concerns me is how often can the team pull a game out in the second half? Good that they have the confidence, and know that they can do it, but you can't always count on it. A full 60 would be great.

4-0 on the road trip. Amazing. Nobody saw that.

[ArgoFan1]

Argo57... one of those people that leaves a CFL game with 10 minutes to go. Never watched much??? Have you watched the previous three come from behind wins by the Argos?? Never ceases to amaze me when people lose out on such a miraculous finish to a game.

[Argo57]

Argo57... one of those people that leaves a CFL game with 10 minutes to go. Never watched much??? Have you watched the previous three come from behind wins by the Argos?? Never ceases to amaze me when people lose out on such a miraculous finish to a game.

Yes Argofan1 I was out like a light and missed the 4th, the shame I feel!!!
On the contrary I have experienced several Argonaut meltdowns over my 40+ years as a fan and am emotionally scarred!!!
Honestly thought the winning streak was done, but would be nice to see the team dominate start to finish and make it easier on us!!
Hopefully ArgoRavi forgives me as well!!!

[paulwoods13]

I don't think so, he is a great punter, his kick offs have good distance. Just has to work on the field goals especially since he was decent last year.

His kickoffs certainly did not have good distance last night. I am sure SM still has confidence in him, but he is trying our patience.

[paulwoods13]

Need I say again there is no way we can let Zach go and yes if that means at the expense of trading Ricky. I am willing to do so.

Yes, there is a way we can (and will, IMO) let Zach go. There is no way RR should (or will, IMO) be traded. Collaros is a fine young QB who can definitely play in this league, but he showed last night that he has a long way to go to get to RR's level. He put together one decent drive all night. Obviously he was not helped by a terrible performance from the o-line, but he made a lot of questionable decisions.

[Argo]

Collaros will certainly not stay with the Argos to be a backup. If he wants to play instead of (at best) holding a clipboard in the NFL, he'd be wise to stay in the CFL for the next several seasons and be relatively well-paid to develop his craft.
Wherever Collaros decides to go, chances are that he'll be operating in, and have to succeed in, a lesser environment than that offered by the current Argos regime.

[Deerkeeper]

Yes Argofan1 I was out like a light and missed the 4th, the shame I feel!!!
On the contrary I have experienced several Argonaut meltdowns over my 40+ years as a fan and am emotionally scarred!!!
Honestly thought the winning streak was done, but would be nice to see the team dominate start to finish and make it easier on us!!
Hopefully ArgoRavi forgives me as well!!!

I'm the type that will stay to the bitter end, but last night, I did missed the second half. Actually I was down in Guelph watching the Ticat debacle and listened to the game on Sirius radio on the way home (1050TSN has all the broadcast power of a two watt light bulb). I was tired and didn't think the rest of the game was worth listening to. I reluctantly turned on the TV when I got home in time to catch the final score. Quite the suprise. Way to go Argos. Lets get 30k in Rogers playpen Friday night.

[BATKINSON001]

I was following on twitter off and on while I was at work. I got home in time to start the 4th quarter and it was awesome!

[Will]

6 sacks? I think many of them were in the first half, but it's still a bit disconcerting.

[Argo57]

I'm the type that will stay to the bitter end, but last night, I did missed the second half. Actually I was down in Guelph watching the Ticat debacle and listened to the game on Sirius radio on the way home (1050TSN has all the broadcast power of a two watt light bulb). I was tired and didn't think the rest of the game was worth listening to. I reluctantly turned on the TV when I got home in time to catch the final score. Quite the suprise. Way to go Argos. Lets get 30k in Rogers playpen Friday night.

I normally watch to the bitter end as well but last nights performance through the first 3 quarters was too much to take, as I posted earlier love the fact that our team is winning but we can't continuously bank on big 4th quarter comebacks to bail us out, eventually it will cost us!!

[AngeloV]

To me as Laing went in for a shot to Reilly's back as he continued to struggle forward another Argo hit him from the front. That hit forced Reilly down thus having Cleyon hitting the back of his head rather than back. This by no means was as bad as the Brackenridge hit on Kackert.

I agree with this 100%. I can't believe nobody on the broadcast mentioned this. I have no problem with the penalty being called (I understand the optics of the hit), but I truly believe that Laing didn't target Reilly's head. It was an unfortunate circumstance and Black and Forde IMO should have seen what you and I saw. Laing had already committed to the hit when another hit changed the positioning of Reilly's body. At that time, it was impossible for Laing to change his target, which was IMO, the back of Reilly.

[argotom]

Yes, there is a way we can (and will, IMO) let Zach go. There is no way RR should (or will, IMO) be traded. Collaros is a fine young QB who can definitely play in this league, but he showed last night that he has a long way to go to get to RR's level. He put together one decent drive all night. Obviously he was not helped by a terrible performance from the o-line, but he made a lot of questionable decisions.

So are you telling me how Ricky had no bad games? I recall the first half of the season he was terrible averaging between bad to brutal, poor reading of coverages and equally bad throws all the underneath stuff the dinks and dunks.

[Tau Ceti]

Yes, there is a way we can (and will, IMO) let Zach go. There is no way RR should (or will, IMO) be traded. Collaros is a fine young QB who can definitely play in this league, but he showed last night that he has a long way to go to get to RR's level. He put together one decent drive all night. Obviously he was not helped by a terrible performance from the o-line, but he made a lot of questionable decisions.

I agree, at least in terms of this game. ZC had just 152 yards passing, which is his worst performance to date. He was saved by the stupendous running game from Kackert in the second half and some favourable bounces. Still a great game to watch. Very impressed with the Argos resilience this month -- most successful road trip in CFL history!

I hope all is well with Reilly. Totally irresponsible trying to get him back in the game.

[flafson]

We clearly had more gas left at the tank than Eskimos and thankfully that is all we needed.

[hugoagogo]

Collaros will certainly not stay with the Argos to be a backup.

Definitely not. If I was Barker, I'd leverage a trade with Winnipeg before the expansion draft. Get a first round pick for him (maybe more). Winnipeg needs some hope for next year and right now they have ziltch! Bombers would sign him to a big deal & protect him against Ottawa in a heartbeat.

By the way, congrats on the win Argo fans. It was a frustrating one as an Esks fan. Excellent adjustments (especially in getting Kackert the ball) by the Argo coaches. Make sure you're all out there on Friday night showing your team some love as they kick the Tiger-Cat's asses!

[bluto]

thanks Hugo. hopefully Reilly is back soon so you don't have to deal with KJ at the helm while you're trying to get ahead of the Larks. i suppose that Hervey has to keep Kavis for at least as long as there's hope of the Esks making the playoffs...

[ArgoRavi]

A win Friday night clinches first place with four weeks to go -- who'da thunk it?

That isn't quite true yet, Paul, but close. The Argos can clinch a home playoff game with a win on Friday night but after Montreal's win over the Riders today, the Als would still have the faintest of hope of catching the Argos. The Als would have to win all of their remaining games, the Argos would have to lose all of theirs and this includes a Montreal win by more than 21 over Toronto on the final weekend of the season.

[1argoholic]

Collaros might turn out to be a star in this league but he's no Ricky Ray at this point. Ray is your qb going forward and you hope that you can somehow keep Collaros but it's worth trading him rather than losing him to Ottawa. Some people seem to only see his good side. He was oh so very close to tossing a third pick in the endzone if not for one Esk knocking from another ones hands. I like the guy but due to this unusual case of the Ottawa draft you can't just let him get grabbed for squat.

[Will]

That isn't quite true yet, Paul, but close. The Argos can clinch a home playoff game with a win on Friday night but after Montreal's win over the Riders today, the Als would still have the faintest of hope of catching the Argos. The Als would have to win all of their remaining games, the Argos would have to lose all of theirs and this includes a Montreal win by more than 21 over Toronto on the final weekend of the season.

I was wondering this myself. Thanks for clarifying this.

[paulwoods13]

So are you telling me how Ricky had no bad games? I recall the first half of the season he was terrible averaging between bad to brutal, poor reading of coverages and equally bad throws all the underneath stuff the dinks and dunks.

I'm sorry -- Ricky Ray was "bad to brutal" THIS SEASON? The guy who has thrown 15 TD passes, no INTs, completed 78% of his passes for an average of close to 10 yards per pass -- per pass, not per completion -- and has a QB rating of 134? You have completely lost me. Do we even watch the same league?