October 25, 2014: Hamilton Tiger-Cats vs. Toronto Argonauts

[Neely2005]

With the injury to Steele, the Argos once again don't seem to be able to bring capable replacements. The Argo replacement receivers were generally poor. However, other teams quite capable of doing this. Yesterday, Saskatchewan brought in Keith Toston, who looked like a beast dragging half the Calgary team for more yards. Calgary has been filling holes created by injuries all season. Hamilton adds Grigsby (yes I know a lot of you don't have much use for him on or off the field but he has shown enough to be a decent emergency replacement). Meanwhile the Argos fail to sign Greenwood or bring anyone of significance over the season.
Undoubtedly, Braley dictates with regard to the budget have really limited the Argos' options, but with many international players desperate to continue their careers, their salary demands should not be high in most cases. The offseason recruiting that led to the 2012 Grey Cup and Jones nose for talent are definitely missing.

More touches for Slaton seemed to work well.

[argonaut11xx]

More touches for Slaton seemed to work well.

I liked the guy (Slaton) ever since preseason, kinda wondered why he isn't the #1 guy. Love the way he runs the ball, and he seems to be OK with the blocking assignments that he is asked to do regularly.

Maybe this years Argo team are a new version of the "cardiac kids"???

[jerrym]

Even playing the most important game of the season and with lots of Ticat fans at the game, the attendance was only 19,258 - troubling.

While Ray and Collaros were an identical 24/36 and a nearly identical 323 yards for Ray and 335 yards for Collaros, the run game made a big difference in the game: Slaton had 16 carries for 80 yards (in addition to another 5 catches for 77 yards, while Grigsby/Madu combined for 12 yards on 9 carries, with Madu gaining another 39 yards on five catches.

The Emry detractors may not want to hear this but he led the Argos with 5 defensive tackles (in the previous 3 games he led the team in defensive tackles once and was second once).

Owens once again was the leading receiver with 6 catches and key to keeping several drives alive.

Mo Mann played as well as he has in any game and had 4 catches for 75 yards.

More touches for Slaton seemed to work well.

My comment wasn't based on a negative view of Slaton but on the lack of an alternative, something that bit Hamilton recently. Despite all the receiver injuries, the Argos have not found one new quality receiver with all their replacements. With Durie out, we would be hard put once again if Owens were to also go down. I like Slaton, but if he went down in this or a future game and if Steele is not back in the future, Argos ground game would be in trouble was my point.

[Wobbler]

The Emry detractors may not want to hear this but he led the Argos with 5 defensive tackles (in the previous 3 games he led the team in defensive tackles once and was second once).

A MLB should lead his team in tackles *every* game, not occasionally.

[argonaut11xx]

A MLB should lead his team in tackles *every* game, not occasionally.

I like Shea Emry, a decent and tough Canadian who plays MLB at a high level.

That said McCune was a freakin BEAST at MLB, even when the Argo's grabbed him as an "older player". The Argo's regressed at the position by getting Emry, thats a fact. But the Argo's could do a heck of alot worse than Emry as well.

[ArgoGabe22]

1) Was anything mentioned on the telecast on the missed Waters FG? It seemed from my view that Milanovich dropped the challenge flag but nothing happened afterwards. He was also in the referee's ear quite a bit after the missed FG.

2) Were the Ti-Cats actually serious about having Medlock attempt a 75 yard FG with what appeared to be 3 seconds on the clock. I'm not sure how it went from :03 to :08 and then back to :00.

3) Penalties galore. Every 2nd or 3rd play had some sort of penalty.

4) Nice to see more of Yurichuck on the defence. He was named a starter but I'm not sure how many reps he had in the game but it sure seemed like more than usual. I hope he got a defensive gameball with Slaton getting on the offence.

[Wobbler]

There was no discussion of the missed FG other than what you'd expect. I don't know what SM was irritated about - it looked like a straightforward miss to me.

Yurichuk wasn't a starter on the chart, but I thought he was more noticeable than Miles.

[gilthethrill]

Just finished watching the game on PVR. That time out call by Milanovich followed up by that 32 yard toss to Slaton was huge. Gotta get up for work at 4:30 am but I know I won't be able to sleep tonight.....can't wait for another shot at the One Trick Pony that is the Montreal Offence....

[ArgoGabe22]

Yurichuk wasn't a starter on the chart, but I thought he was more noticeable than Miles.

I know you're out of town Wobbler but today the defensive starters were introduced before the game and Yurichuck was named as the starter. Whiteside was also an announced starter and not Ivan Brown.

[Tau Ceti]

I'm two years following the team now and have seen eight live games at home and ten overall. I think this goes down as my single favourite for sheer entertainment and emotional value. We were superb out of the gate squeezing out points where we could and stifling them (I don't believe Collaros put up a complete pass til about 7:00 in the second quarter). A quarter-and-a-half of excruciating turnovers and penalty calls followed, with Collaros suddenly looking like the second coming. And then one of the most bizarre fourth quarters I've yet witnessed. I actually had no idea that if defence takes a penalty at third-and-one things are reset to first down. Good for the Argos! And, seriously, were they going for a field goal at the end?!

Big shout out to Steve Slaton! What a game!

[ArgoRavi]

There was no discussion of the missed FG other than what you'd expect. I don't know what SM was irritated about - it looked like a straightforward miss to me.

There was one camera angle where it looked like that FG might have gone through. The regular angle from the back of the endzone though seemed to show that it went just wide. They really should have a camera under each goalpost or on the crossbar (why do I think that they have had that at the Grey Cup at least?) which would show conclusively if the FG attempt was good or not. Milanovich was probably concerned that Waters did not miss that attempt as he only missed it by inches it seemed.

Maybe this years Argo team are a new version of the "cardiac kids"???

The argument could be made that the Argos have been the most exciting team in the league this season. Points per game league-wide are at 46.04 but Argos' games average just under 53 points per game (52.94 to be exact) which is #1 in the league. While five of the Argos' first six games were somewhat one-sided, one could argue that every game since has not been decided until the fourth quarter. The Argos have won two one-point games and another one by two points (today's game) while losing two others by one point, one game by seven (a game that the Argos led by 26 at one point) and another by only eight. I really don't think that people can say that the Argos haven't entertained so far this season.

[QBall]

And the Argos' offensive player of the game goes to: Zack Collaros. Was it because he sucked? Nope. It's because he let us tackle him in the their end zone at the beginning of the game giving us the 2 point safety, which was the margin of victory. Thanks Zack!

[Wobbler]

I know you're out of town Wobbler but today the defensive starters were introduced before the game and Yurichuck was named as the starter. Whiteside was also an announced starter and not Ivan Brown.

Huh. I know that the list submitted to the league must be accurate with respect to participation, but perhaps there is some leeway with respect to declaring your starters. I'd hate to think that we deliberately misrepresented our lineup to try to fool Hamilton.

[ArgoRavi]

Huh. I know that the list submitted to the league must be accurate with respect to participation, but perhaps there is some leeway with respect to declaring your starters. I'd hate to think that we deliberately misrepresented our lineup to try to fool Hamilton.

The only thing that matters is the roster that is submitted to the league. The depth chart really does not matter. The key point regarding the ratio is who are your three designated imports (I think that three is still the number)? That has to be declared as well but teams can do whatever they want with the depth chart as far as I know.

[Double Dare]

A win is a win ... it doesn't have to be a thing of beauty, and it's been the case of a few Argo wins as of late. Good job.

[paulwoods13]

Huh. I know that the list submitted to the league must be accurate with respect to participation, but perhaps there is some leeway with respect to declaring your starters. I'd hate to think that we deliberately misrepresented our lineup to try to fool Hamilton.

Why would you hate to think we would try to fool our opponents? That's a major part of football.

Regardless, it is fairly common for teams to have different starters than the 12 announced to the crowd. I've seen it happen many, many times in recent years. In the modern CFL with a 44-man game roster, the notion of starters is increasingly irrelevant because teams have many personnel packages, and substitute freely on pretty well every down. The Argos on offence yesterday went at times with two tight ends, one tight end, no tight end, Watt in, Bradwell in, Woodson in, and assorted INT receivers (mostly Brazill) out. On defence, there were even more packages -- four-man line with three LBs, three-man line with four LBs, four-man line with four LBs, three-man line with five (yes, five) LBs, etc. Last week they had many five-man-line packages.

One thing they did yesterday was, during commercial breaks, about 10 defensive guys would stand with Casey Creehan near the sideline, with another six or so already on the field. Then, at the last minute, the six coming in would run on and the other three or four would retreat back to the sideline. Clearly a case of trying not to show their hand to the opposition -- it's all about out-coaching the other team these days (sadly).

[AngeloV]

2) Were the Ti-Cats actually serious about having Medlock attempt a 75 yard FG with what appeared to be 3 seconds on the clock. I'm not sure how it went from :03 to :08 and then back to :00.

Another instance where the most inept ref in the league, Foxcroft blew a call. The play clock was down below 10 seconds, which means he blew the play in. There is absolutely no excuse for at that point in time stopping the play clock to allow for a Hamilton substitution, let alone a change from offence to FG team and back to offence. Hamilton were out of timeouts, and they should have been charged a time count violation. You can't just stop the play clock to allow for a substitution at that point. I've said it before, but he is the absolute worst ref in the history of the game.

I think his father must have some pull as to why he is still employed. For those that don't know, his father invented the Fox40 whistle, and has worked with both the CFL and NFL for years. Oh..and did I mention they are from Hamilton?

[gilthethrill]

Another instance where the most inept ref in the league, Foxcroft blew a call. The play clock was down below 10 seconds, which means he blew the play in. There is absolutely no excuse for at that point in time stopping the play clock to allow for a Hamilton substitution, let alone a change from offence to FG team and back to offence. Hamilton were out of timeouts, and they should have been charged a time count violation. You can't just stop the play clock to allow for a substitution at that point. I've said it before, but he is the absolute worst ref in the history of the game.

I think his father must have some pull as to why he is still employed. For those that don't know, his father invented the Fox40 whistle, and has worked with both the CFL and NFL for years. Oh..and did I mention they are from Hamilton?

My 6 year old joined me for the last part of the game. He asked about the game clock going up & down at the end. I had no explaination for him, but was impressed he too noticed. Things are nasty on the Ti-Cats forum following the game. Really am getting tired of listening to Rod Black, who happened to mention the Fox40 whistle....

And the Argos' offensive player of the game goes to: Zack Collaros. Was it because he sucked? Nope. It's because he let us tackle him in the their end zone at the beginning of the game giving us the 2 point safety, which was the margin of victory. Thanks Zack!

Collaros got away with another Intentional Grounding play later in the game as well. Speaking of safties, I was surprised the Argos were not awarded one when Brandon Banks fielded Waters punt near his own goal line.

[ArgoRedneck]

Agree. Under 20,000 is a joke. 2 games in a row I could not GIVE my 2 platinum seats away. Argos will not last until 2017 in the Roger center.

[Will]

Ravi, you were dead on about the Ticats running game as they only rushed 9 times for 12 yards according to CFL.ca. Collaros was able to have a successful day through the air though as Luke Tasker continues to be a thorn in the Argos side although his TD was a result of Suber being on the ground somewhere having fallen. Okpalaugo had another strong game. James Yurichuk also deserves credit for a great game with a sack and an interception.

Steve Slaton stepped up as the sole feature back, both rushing the ball and receiving the ball. That 2nd down pass from Ray to Slaton that helped seal the win was a thing of beauty. Mo Mann also had a solid game receiving. The fumbles, obviously, have to stop but at 16 games in I somehow doubt it is something that will be corrected unfortunately.

The special teams also deserve some credit. They contained Banks and Sinkfield limiting their returns and Smith did a fine job with the returns. Nick Rosamunda had a strong game on specials.