Game Thread: The CAL-GARY Stampeders at The Toronto Argonauts. The Hoedown in Hogtown!

[paulwoods13]

It was great to be back watching football at BMO after 307 days.

There was plenty of good, some bad and a bit to worry about.

Kelly is what he is: a super-confident guy with a ridiculously strong arm and at times far too much self-belief in that arm. He is capable of making great throws when he's running and doesn't have his feet set, but also capable of making terrible throws when that happens. We're very fortunate to have won a game (for the second time this year, IIRC) in which our QB threw four INTs. That rarely happens. That said, his final pass to Coxie was superb.

Coxie is an absolute beast. He fought for extra yards on almost every reception he made.

Hicks seems to erupt for one huge play pretty well every game, and yet he goes massive stretches without a touch. Miller is sooner or later gonna need to make at least a mild commitment to the run. It hasn't bitten too bad yet, but giving the feature back eight touches a game is not a recipe that many successful teams have had.

The defence had its best game of the season, especially the front four and the secondary. Pickett has stepped into McManis's role as the team leader, and Bolden isn't far behind. Bolden was a tremendous early-season pickup, and bringing back Lemon and Hendrix looks genius. Still, I counted four passes that should have been intercepted (in addition to the two that were).

Special teams were also superb. Grant is Grant, Burnip is already the best punter in the league, and Lidster shook off two early misses to make some clutch kicks, including from 52. After the second miss, I saw Miller offer some (presumably comforting) words to the kid. Good thing since I think he's our kicker the rest of the season. While Haggerty was on the sideline, there was no sign of Hajrullahu.

The early challenge was a complete waste, and could have been costly. Annoyingly, fans in the stands never got to see the play, either before or after the ruling. Is this a new league policy? If so, it's wrongheaded. Fans who pay nothing to sit at home should not get more access to stuff that can affect the game than fans in the stands.

Polk was limping pretty badly for a while but re-entered the game. Ungerer seemed to have cramps but also got back in. Otherwise no obvious injuries.

I am worried that Mital seems frustrated about his diminished role. After one pass went incomplete to a mid-level receiver in the third quarter, he very loudly started yelling at the bench as he ran back to the huddle. It seemed he was complaining that he had gotten open deep. The next pass went to him and was (predictably, I thought) picked off. I don't know if Miller was trying an immediate make-good on that one. For some reason Mital has become an afterthought in the offence since about week 3. He also hangs out on his on the sideline, standing by the equipment crates rather than sitting with his fellow receivers. I think that's just a matter of personal comfort/style rather than indicative of displeasure. He was all smiles when he congratulated Hicks for his late TD.

The building itself: the new lights were gimmicky but fun, the new sound system is way too loud, and the rest of the problems with BMO remain unfixed: only three water fountains in the entire building, at least one bathroom that floods every game, unsafe lack of lighting on the external stairwells, video boards that have great picture quality but are oriented pretty stupidly. All the World Cup gave us in the end is a bunch of expensive suites that the org couldn't even sell out.

[paulwoods13]

The Argos snapped the ball too quickly on their final two offensive plays. They should have been able to kill the clock completely. Need to clean those things up.

Yeah, that could have been a very costly couple of mistakes. Miller is still learning on the job.

[Will]

1. The defence played its second consecutive good game in a row, and this time it wasn't against the team's back-up QB. I was initially sceptical of the Shawn Lemon singing but that return has been great so far. They allowed Mills a few long runs, but kept him mostly under check and of course limiting VA3 to 159 passing yards was key.

2. Janarion Grant is back!

3. Kelly does sometimes frustrate. He throws 4 INTs, but then drops that perfect pass to Coxie to set-up the game winning FG.

4. Mital was banged up in a game earlier in the season. No evidence to suggest he is still hurting, but something could be lingering.

5. In-game production was great, but it was impossible to follow on the scoreboards how much time was left when Lidster lined up to kick his FG. Yes, what was with time management there?

[paulwoods13]

As far as I can tell after reading some Twitter comments, there is only one board displaying score, time, down and distance. Easy to see from west stands, requires turning from the field from the lower east stands, and fans in upper east are completely out of luck. The four video boards do show the score and some other "fine print," but it's way too small for anyone with normal eyesight to read.

[Will]

As far as I can tell after reading some Twitter comments, there is only one board displaying score, time, down and distance. Easy to see from west stands, requires turning from the field from the lower east stands, and fans in upper east are completely out of luck. The four video boards do show the score and some other "fine print," but it's way too small for anyone with normal eyesight to read.

I think I need to book an appointment with my optometrist.

[RichK]

Kelly is what he is: a super-confident guy with a ridiculously strong arm and at times far too much self-belief in that arm.

I see it a bit differently. I didn’t see overconfidence in those picks, I saw panic. I see a guy lacking the command and confidence he had before the injury, maybe not so much confidence in his own abilities, but definitely lacking confidence in the game plan.

Back in his MOP days, Kelly would sit down on the bench after every series with QB coach Miller, going over plays on the tablet. They clearly had a special rapport, and it obviously kept Kelly calm and focused.

I haven’t really paid attention to his interactions with the new QB coach, but “calm and focused” are not words any of us would use to describe Kelly’s play so far this year. Surely there are still lingering effects from being away from the game for 18 months. But I can’t help thinking Miller and the staff should be doing more to help this generational talent get his mojo back.

[ArgoRavi]

It was great to be back watching football at BMO after 307 days.

There was plenty of good, some bad and a bit to worry about.

Kelly is what he is: a super-confident guy with a ridiculously strong arm and at times far too much self-belief in that arm. He is capable of making great throws when he's running and doesn't have his feet set, but also capable of making terrible throws when that happens. We're very fortunate to have won a game (for the second time this year, IIRC) in which our QB threw four INTs. That rarely happens. That said, his final pass to Coxie was superb.

Coxie is an absolute beast. He fought for extra yards on almost every reception he made.

Hicks seems to erupt for one huge play pretty well every game, and yet he goes massive stretches without a touch. Miller is sooner or later gonna need to make at least a mild commitment to the run. It hasn't bitten too bad yet, but giving the feature back eight touches a game is not a recipe that many successful teams have had.

The defence had its best game of the season, especially the front four and the secondary. Pickett has stepped into McManis's role as the team leader, and Bolden isn't far behind. Bolden was a tremendous early-season pickup, and bringing back Lemon and Hendrix looks genius. Still, I counted four passes that should have been intercepted (in addition to the two that were).

Special teams were also superb. Grant is Grant, Burnip is already the best punter in the league, and Lidster shook off two early misses to make some clutch kicks, including from 52. After the second miss, I saw Miller offer some (presumably comforting) words to the kid. Good thing since I think he's our kicker the rest of the season. While Haggerty was on the sideline, there was no sign of Hajrullahu.

The early challenge was a complete waste, and could have been costly. Annoyingly, fans in the stands never got to see the play, either before or after the ruling. Is this a new league policy? If so, it's wrongheaded. Fans who pay nothing to sit at home should not get more access to stuff that can affect the game than fans in the stands.

Polk was limping pretty badly for a while but re-entered the game. Ungerer seemed to have cramps but also got back in. Otherwise no obvious injuries.

I am worried that Mital seems frustrated about his diminished role. After one pass went incomplete to a mid-level receiver in the third quarter, he very loudly started yelling at the bench as he ran back to the huddle. It seemed he was complaining that he had gotten open deep. The next pass went to him and was (predictably, I thought) picked off. I don't know if Miller was trying an immediate make-good on that one. For some reason Mital has become an afterthought in the offence since about week 3. He also hangs out on his on the sideline, standing by the equipment crates rather than sitting with his fellow receivers. I think that's just a matter of personal comfort/style rather than indicative of displeasure. He was all smiles when he congratulated Hicks for his late TD.

The building itself: the new lights were gimmicky but fun, the new sound system is way too loud, and the rest of the problems with BMO remain unfixed: only three water fountains in the entire building, at least one bathroom that floods every game, unsafe lack of lighting on the external stairwells, video boards that have great picture quality but are oriented pretty stupidly. All the World Cup gave us in the end is a bunch of expensive suites that the org couldn't even sell out.

Regarding the kicking game, as good as Haggerty has been, Burnip has been better. His hang time and placement are superb. As Obie used to say, "better is better." I guess the one concern would be losing him to the NFL after this season, which then incentivizes the Argos to keep Haggerty around. Something has definitely been going on with Hajrullahu. Maybe this is the end of the line for him?

Regarding the replay of the challenge, maybe they didn't know what to show because it was impossible to tell what was being challenged. It was an awful challenge.

[paulwoods13]

But didn’t Calgary also have a challenge? I remember seeing a big box that says Replay Challenge or something like that on the board, and I think it was up there twice without a replay being shown. Also, even if it's not obvious what's being challenged, the replay centre is looking at something, so there's no good reason fans can't see it as well. As we always used to.

[paulwoods13]

I agree to a large extent with what Rich is saying. Because the bench has moved, I can no longer see how much Kelly interacts with the QBs coach, but he does seem just a bit off despite all the yards and points he and the offence have been producing.

[ArgoRavi]

But didn’t Calgary also have a challenge? I remember seeing a big box that says Replay Challenge or something like that on the board, and I think it was up there twice without a replay being shown. Also, even if it's not obvious what's being challenged, the replay centre is looking at something, so there's no good reason fans can't see it as well. As we always used to.

Calgary didn't challenge anything last night.