Week 1: Hamilton TigerCats @ Toronto Argonauts, June 23, 2016 @ BMO FIELD Game Thread

[Antwon]

Ricky Ray is 36. The MOP last year was 40. I really don't see Ray being the problem. As I've been saying for years we need to establish a run game. Right now our opposition knows that we're almost always going to pass. It's almost as predictable as the Kerwin Bell days.

Correct about last years MOP....but the last two Grey Cup winning QB's are the young bloods!

[shayman]

How was the atmosphere before we started to crap out? Those stands look horrible when people bail early.

Unbelievably great atmosphere at the beginning. Blue T-shirts covered all the seats, that was amazing. Looked like the whole stadium had been repainted! Check out this great picture from @sportsnag on twitter - I couldn't actually see this "A" from where we were in the end zone but what a great look to show the people on the west side.

https://twitter.com/sportsnag/status...751616/photo/1

It was OUR place! Of course when people left early the red showed through and that didn't look great.

[KCargosfan]

and i agree about rome not being built in a day. Ticats fans are like Senators fans, they're so flippin worried about talking Argos all the time they fail to realize a lot of the time that their team is legit. i have two buddies that have tabbies seasons and they both commented to me it wasn't a sellout, typical. who gives a flying f*ck i signed into work this morning and have got several emails asking about the game and how fun it looked, when the next game is, etc. That has NEVER happened before and it's not like I hide the fact I'm a fan let's just say!

The crowd and atmosphere looked great on TV.

[R.J]

Positives:
Tailgate and Shipyard
Pre game was a little long, but I appreciated what the were trying to do.
Atmosphere
Home feeling
Isiah Green
Greenwood, McFadden, Raymond
Bryan Hall
Receiving Core
Lirim Hajrullahu

Negatives:
Offensive line (Watman and Van Roten especially IMO)
Ray (looked terrible even when he had time)
Whitaker
Defensive line (pretty much zero push)
Defensive backfield
Ansah was in mid season form. Someone please try and tell me again that he's a good player.
Coaches - Milanovich and Stubler were out coached and that's putting it mildly IMO.
BMO Security - first guy only got caught because the guy did what he needed too and was done for the night. Second dude (follower - probably only did it because the first guy got away with it). Zero chance that BMO security will ever catch one of these people; people in better shape need to apply.

[ArgoGabe22]

I didn't watch much but McFadden only made one tackle. That's a positive?

[mchesher03]

has hell frozen over? i flipped over to sportsnet.ca (i never check that site for anything typically) to see what negative spin would be on the game. The write-up was overwhelming positive in my opinion. very little about the actual game though but still - take it for what it's worth they weren't trying to poke holes in the whole thing:

http://www.sportsnet.ca/football/cfl...auts-game-now/

[R.J]

I didn't watch much but McFadden only made one tackle. That's a positive?

I thought he was in good position for the most part. The Linebacking corps was not the problem last night.

[Downtownfan]

has hell frozen over? i flipped over to sportsnet.ca (i never check that site for anything typically) to see what negative spin would be on the game. The write-up was overwhelming positive in my opinion. very little about the actual game though but still - take it for what it's worth they weren't trying to poke holes in the whole thing:

http://www.sportsnet.ca/football/cfl...auts-game-now/

I was just going to post the exact same sentiment with this link. WTF? A positive article in Sportsnet about the Argos? Hell may have indeed frozen over. This isn't just a good article, its a great one:


"But was it ever awesome.


If Thursday’s first-ever CFL game at BMO Field was any indication, football is going to be an event in this city again. It’s back."

[tennyis]

Well said, Wobbler! I hope everyone remembers that the season is a marathon and not a sprint. The Argos dominated Edmonton a year ago in the opener but the Esks were the ones who went on to win the Grey Cup. Obviously, I expected the Argos to be further ahead and the Ticats to not be as far ahead in their respective development but realize that Hamilton is likely the team that the Argos will have to beat to get to the Grey Cup and they have some work to do to make up the ground between the two teams. However, I am still confident that the Argos will win in November when they have to.

i hope you are right but I think the Ticats and Redblacks will be in the East final... I'll be chearing on the Argos like crazy but those two teams are going to be very good!

[Wobbler]

I think we'll be better next week, on the road (with less pressure). "Pre-season game #3" revealed some problems to be sure, but there are a lot of good players on this team.

With Elliott's injury I guess I'll stop griping about our high receiver count; we'll be OK without him.

If it turns out that teams can get to Ray with just a four man rush, which happened a lot last night, we're in trouble. I'm sure McEwan (and perhaps Smith) will go in when he's healthy, and that may help, but what should we do in the meantime? I guess Ray could roll out *a bit*, but do we need to have two guys in the backfield more often?

[gee]

Awesome! As a westerner this is great to see. Super excited that all the eastern teams have great looking venues. It's great to see the type of game day activities the Argos are pumping out. I like that Lcbo worked to address tailgating concerns - I hope once our liquor crown sees that we can get a similar tailgating setup here in Winnipeg. Hope the Argos win more than they lose for a few years so they can solidify their place in such a busy sports market.

[AngeloV]

I am still worried about Ray's arm strength. In the first half I don't think he threw one well thrown ball and he missed open receivers due to lack of strength. I love Ray, but we know he is a pocket passer and as such needs to have a strong arm and make all of the throws including the deep ball. His throws in the second half seemed a little better. I hope this was his preseason game. Ticats played a solid game on D and we're swarming to the ball and Ray.

I thought his arm strength was fine. He just looked uncomfortable throughout the entire first half.

On a side note, anyone remember what Edmonton did in their first game last year?

[AngeloV]

Positives:

Ansah was in mid season form. Someone please try and tell me again that he's a good player.

I'll tell you he's a good player. He was beat once last night, and that was a result of the lack of rush. There are only so many hooks you can allow before being beaten by a double move. It was a bad scheme last night. I love Stubler, but there are some QB's you just have to bring the house more often than what the Argos did, and IMO Masoli is one of them.

[AngeloV]

Correct about last years MOP....but the last two Grey Cup winning QB's are the young bloods!

Reilly is 31...5 years younger than Ray, but not exactly a young blood.

[AngeloV]

I didn't watch much but McFadden only made one tackle. That's a positive?

He did a good job covering Gable out of the backfield too.

[R.J]

I'll tell you he's a good player. He was beat once last night, and that was a result of the lack of rush. There are only so many hooks you can allow before being beaten by a double move. It was a bad scheme last night. I love Stubler, but there are some QB's you just have to bring the house more often than what the Argos did, and IMO Masoli is one of them.

I disagree about Ansah, but we've been down this road too many times lol

Agreed about Stubler and the scheme. As I pointed out in my post - the Argonauts were out coached. It's only one game though, so we've still got lots of time.

[AngeloV]

It's only one game though, so we've still got lots of time.

That is the key. I really thought that Ray was super rusty at the start. That's why they really needed their D to get off the field. They should have put pressure on Masoli. All the hooks all night were making me sick. Way too easy. But, perhaps he too is still trying to learn his personnel.

[R.J]

That is the key. I really thought that Ray was super rusty at the start. That's why they really needed their D to get off the field. They should have put pressure on Masoli. All the hooks all night were making me sick. Way too easy. But, perhaps he too is still trying to learn his personnel.

Yeah, Ray did look rusty (probably should have played a lot more in the pre season), but the Oline and Whitaker didn't help him at all. I'd give Watman one more game, but he reminded me of Sewell's first start - he was that bad IMO. McEwen needs to be ready very soon or we could be in trouble. Hamilton is known for using a lot of hooks and for me what drove me nuts was how open their receivers were all night. Too much cushion at times and at other times our defense looked confused - as in they didn't seem to know who their guy was.

[ArgoGabe22]

Check out Marshall Ferguson's Twitter feed. He's bang on with the anti-CFL comments which started with the ever positive Arash Madani.

[gilthethrill]

has hell frozen over? i flipped over to sportsnet.ca (i never check that site for anything typically) to see what negative spin would be on the game. The write-up was overwhelming positive in my opinion. very little about the actual game though but still - take it for what it's worth they weren't trying to poke holes in the whole thing:

http://www.sportsnet.ca/football/cfl...auts-game-now/

She has since been fire by Rogers SportsNet. Haha