2015 RedBlacks = 1982 Argos?

[ArgoRavi]

Does anyone else see some similarities between this year's RedBlacks and the '82 Argos? As I see how excited people in Ottawa appear to be about their football team, it reminds me of the resurgence of interest in the Argos that took place in '82. In 1982, the Argos had gone 11 years since their most recent Grey Cup appearance and 30 years since their last Grey Cup win. Ottawa has gone 34 years since their last Grey Cup appearance and 39 years since their last Grey Cup win although the city did not have a CFL franchise for 13 years during that span.

The Argos were coming off a 2-14 season; the RedBlacks are coming off of a 2-16 season. The Argos were led by a veteran QB in Condredge Holloway who was coming off one of his worst seasons while the RedBlacks are being led by a veteran in Henry Burris who was written off by many after last season. Ottawa has a dynamic offence led by a first year CFL offensive coordinator in Jason Maas just as the Argos were led by Mouse Davis's offence in '82. The fans flooded the field after Ottawa clinched first place a week and a half ago just like fans flooded the field on occasion after big Toronto victories in '82. The only difference is that, I believe, the fans were actually allowed on the field in Ottawa.

Can the RedBlacks follow the '82 Argos' lead and make it to the Grey Cup this Sunday? I am betting that they will.

[AngeloV]

Perhaps, but they better not be looking to win it next year as the Argos did in '83. I will not have it. 2016 is the Argos year.

[Will]

Ottawa's defense this season is better than what the Argos had in 1982, no?

[AngeloV]

Hard to say. Argos D started the year off a little rough, but improved considerably as the year went on.

[OV Argo]

Great year for the RedBlacks and yes some similarities there to the 82 Argos - so nice job Ravi !

And I'll bet Ottawa just kills Hamilton this Sunday - BUT, only because the Ticats are down to inexperienced 3rd or 4th string type QBs. IMO - the Ticats, with the way Collaros was playing this season, were the best team in the East by far and probably best in the league and would have beat Ottawa late in the season and ended up in 1st place. They have a league best type defence, a very accurate FG kicker and a dangerous return game; if you added Collaros and a healthy receiving corps there (Tasker, Fantuz, Sinkfield all playing), they would be a match for or even better than Ottawa's big passing attack with Burris and those 5 new receivers - Collaros was flat-out better than still inconsistent or mistake prone Blank Burris this season.

So, IMO - the stars have kind of alligned for the RedBlacks this season - the Ticats are without a decent QB for the play-offs (plus D star Norwood now out) and the Argos - who owned Ottawa this year - go and crap the bed in the East semi. Gotta give lots of credit to that Ottawa team and their coaching staff - what a turn-around from a 2 & 16 season! But - some luck on their side it seems when they need it.

[Scooter McCray]

Hamilton will put up a good fight and game should be close. Most of these guys have lost 2 championships in a row. They want to get back, and they have the defence and special teams to do it. Plus they are well coached. It will come down to Hamilton QBs effectiveness against a very aggressive Ottawa D that is rested. Ottawa should see the opportunity in front of them with Collaros out, and win in a close game. Burris wants to pay Austin back for getting rid of him 2 years ago.

Calgary has too many injuries on the O-Line to face the best defence in the league well rested. Calgary should keep it close too, but Edmonton knows the opportunity in front of them too. I hope Commonwealth is packed. Sets up throwback Grey Cup Edmonton vs. Ottawa. Will be a good game, can't wait.

[OV Argo]

Hamilton will put up a good fight and game should be close. Most of these guys have lost 2 championships in a row. They want to get back, and they have the defence and special teams to do it. Plus they are well coached. It will come down to Hamilton QBs effectiveness against a very aggressive Ottawa D that is rested. Ottawa should see the opportunity in front of them with Collaros out, and win in a close game. Burris wants to pay Austin back for getting rid of him 2 years ago.

Calgary has too many injuries on the O-Line to face the best defence in the league well rested. Calgary should keep it close too, but Edmonton knows the opportunity in front of them too. I hope Commonwealth is packed. Sets up throwback Grey Cup Edmonton vs. Ottawa. Will be a good game, can't wait.


Season of Ottawa Football Revenge ! ?

Last home play-off game for an Ottawa CFL team - i believe was 84 ... and vs. the Hamilton Tiger-Cats - who were QB'd by Dieter Brock - I was at that game at Lansdowne and it was a close game, but the Pussycats won (and the next season Brock went to the NFL's LA Rams - and set their single season QB completion % mark and led them to the NFC final where they lost to that powerhouse Bears team that won the SB).

AND - last GC appearance by an Ottawa CFL team ? - 81 - and hey, I wuz at that game too - very cold in the concrete bowl Big Owe in Montreal and i had run out of spending (beer) money by game time - where the Rough Riders almost, shoulda upset that Esks GC Dynasty team with Warren Moon (& Tom Wilkinson) at QB

Chance to avenge both those losses for this new Ottawa team.

:p

[paulwoods13]

The 1982 comparison is indeed valid, and OV is right that without Collaros the Ticats are probably sunk against a pretty strong Redblacks team. I think Ott's defence is better than 1982 Argos, whose defence was up and down most of the year (with most of the players being replaced in 1983). I expect Redblacks to lose pretty decisively to the Esks or Stamps, as happened to Argos in 1982. Like AV I'd prefer if they somehow won this season to ensure they get winning it all out of their system quickly.

[Will]

I believe that Brock's primary job with the 1985 Los Angeles Rams was to hand the ball off to Eric Dickerson and stay out of his way.

[paulwoods13]

He threw about 24 passes a game that year, which was fairly high by NFL standards of the time. His playoff stats are pretty bizarre: two games (win and a loss), 15 completions in 53 attempts (30%) for 116 yards (avg of 2.2 yards/attempt, adjusted down to 1.6 y/a when sacks factored in). No wonder he was out of football the following season.

[OV Argo]

He threw about 24 passes a game that year, which was fairly high by NFL standards of the time. His playoff stats are pretty bizarre: two games (win and a loss), 15 completions in 53 attempts (30%) for 116 yards (avg of 2.2 yards/attempt, adjusted down to 1.6 y/a when sacks factored in). No wonder he was out of football the following season.

His play-off stats included the game against the Bears whose defence annihilated a lot of NFL offences that year. The |Rams - and yes with Dickerson carrying the load on offence - gave the Bears their toughest game, easily, of the play-offs that year.

Brock was injured some by the end of year or beginning of next TC and got written off by the Rams and the rest of the NFL, and he was already 30 some years old i believe. He did set the Rams single season completion percentage mark and as an NFL rookie QB - is that hard for some to grasp or maybe it's better to think like the dork fans in Los Angeles who didn't like Brock because he was a short nobody CFL reject and not some all-american hero 1st round draft pick - even though he was about a 10 x better QB than all sorts of other NFL starters before him with the Rams and in the league overall. The Rams owner/GM/HC signed him to a big NFL contract at the time and basically annointed him starter for that season - and he rewarded them with taking them to the NFC title game - a lot better than they had done before or would do for years after.

[OV Argo]

Ottawa's defence isn't that good - they have a good D-line and led the league in sacks; but their linebacking corps outside of Pruneau is average at best and their D-backfield is full of pretty inexperienced and not so great players who get burnt often (though Johnson is a vet leader and Kanneh is a good aggressive DB) - they are ultra weak down the middle at MLB and safety IMO. I don't think they are better than the Argos 82 D - maybe around the same level though.

[ArgoRavi]

Season of Ottawa Football Revenge ! ?

Last home play-off game for an Ottawa CFL team - i believe was 84 ... and vs. the Hamilton Tiger-Cats - who were QB'd by Dieter Brock - I was at that game at Lansdowne and it was a close game, but the Pussycats won (and the next season Brock went to the NFL's LA Rams - and set their single season QB completion % mark and led them to the NFC final where they lost to that powerhouse Bears team that won the SB).

AND - last GC appearance by an Ottawa CFL team ? - 81 - and hey, I wuz at that game too - very cold in the concrete bowl Big Owe in Montreal and i had run out of spending (beer) money by game time - where the Rough Riders almost, shoulda upset that Esks GC Dynasty team with Warren Moon (& Tom Wilkinson) at QB

Chance to avenge both those losses for this new Ottawa team.

:p

You are off by only one year, OV. The last time Ottawa hosted a playoff game was in 1983 against Dieter Brock's Ticats. Brock and Austin Collie's father, Scott, had big games that day as the Ticats won a heartbreaker before over 28k fans at Lansdowne Park. The Ticats then went on to play the Argos in the East Final in, arguably, the finest CFL playoff game ever played. The Ticats were 6-9-1 the next season but managed to upset the 9-6-1 Argos in the '84 East Final in OT before getting blown out, after a promising start, to Tom Clements, John Hufnagel and the Blue Bombers. That was Brock's final CFL game and was his only Grey Cup appearance.

[OV Argo]

You are off by only one year, OV. The last time Ottawa hosted a playoff game was in 1983 against Dieter Brock's Ticats. Brock and Austin Collie's father, Scott, had big games that day as the Ticats won a heartbreaker before over 28k fans at Lansdowne Park. The Ticats then went on to play the Argos in the East Final in, arguably, the finest CFL playoff game ever played. The Ticats were 6-9-1 the next season but managed to upset the 9-6-1 Argos in the '84 East Final in OT before getting blown out, after a promising start, to Tom Clements, John Hufnagel and the Blue Bombers. That was Brock's final CFL game and was his only Grey Cup appearance.

Correct you are Ravi - Brock went down to the NFL after the 84 CFL season and losing in that GC game to the Bombers.

I was at the 83 play-off game at Lansdowne and i recall it fairly well (though Scott Collie played ?); funny i only have a vague memory of that 83 play-off game Ticats/ Argos that you are calling one of the finest CFL play-off games ever; but i do recall where i was watching the Argos GC win that year in a great game to finally bring home the Cup where it belongs after so many years of frustration !

[argolio]

For the record, Brock was 34 in his year with the Rams. It's a minor miracle for a CFL player to make an NFL roster and start at that advanced age.

[OV Argo]

For the record, Brock was 34 in his year with the Rams. It's a minor miracle for a CFL player to make an NFL roster and start at that advanced age.

What I find a tad amusing is how some CFL fans seem to want to disparge or disrespect Brock's accomplishments in just one year in the NFL. As a first year starter there he broke the team's single season QB completion % mark AND QB's them to the Conference Championship game; yet to some this was some sort of no big deal /it was all Eric Dickerson thing? How many 1st year starting NFL QBs have accomplished those 2 things ? And Brock was able to accomplish this IMO because he was a seasoned pro veteran (with a gun for an arm) QB who had learned lots in a big passing league (called the CFL); and so what if some clueless NFL fans had no respect for the guy and he only lasted one year in the NFL? He was given big NFL bucks at the time to become the Rams starter and it paid off for them big-time; if he was some hyped NCAA star QB / 1st round draft pick type those accomplishments would have been lauded and respected by many; but because he was this short, no-name CFL player, he gets no respect ?

That's typical NFL fandom hype-sucking lack of football knowledge, AND maybe also typical Canadian/CFL football inferiority complex bs when it comes to outstanding CFL players and their NFL possibilities.

[Will]

The Rams had the 28th ranked passing attack in the National Football League in 1985 with Brock throwing for 2,658 yards in 15 starts that season. Brock was an effective game manager, but the Rams were traditionally a running team until Dickerson was traded to Indianapolis and Jim Everett arrived.

[Will]

Dieter Brock: Mythbusting NFL's last 7-0 rookie QB (http://sports.yahoo.com/news/dieter-brock-mythbusting-nfls-last-142415363--nfl.html)