Game Thread: Saskatchewan Roughriders @ Toronto Argonauts

[RB957]

Any guesses on what attendance will be on this one?

You've now got the return of Kelly, plus a CNE game, but it is on a Thursday. Talking about it with some of the regulars in my section, we feel that there will be a slight Kelly bump. No matter what the thoughts are on Kelly, I think it would be rather unfortunate to sit and wait for one player to return no matter who the player is, especially since they have been solid without him. But enough of that..

I'm saying between 15-16K.

Right now, Ticketmaster map shows very few tickets available..... but we all know that means nothing. The map will be different tomorrow, for sure.

Green Riders always draw well, and with CNE admission thrown in, plus the Chad Kelly factor, there should be a good crowd..... I am going to say 18K.

Great crowd at over 19K... and almost all stuck around to the end. If you take out the upper east side, which is never up for sale, this was a virtual sell out. So great to seen fans in the north end bleachers. Hopefully we can continue to create some buzz, but it sucks that our next home game is a month away.

[Scooter McCray]

Wow - for a win, one of the most annoying & frustrating Argo games i have ever seen; shoulda won by 20+ points.

Gotta fix that feeble first and goal offence; why would you hand the ball to a little smurf back like McMahon into the teeth of the D; and Dukes is a shifty good runner, but a small frame QB with little power; find a big back (Adebobye might do the trick) with power, have the QB under C, and hand-off off tackle = this works 9 times out of 10, IMO. Shades of a Wally Bouno BC offence that similar laughable problems a few years back.

Kudos to the D for playing very well after Harris and the Riders O looked like they were going to walk all over them early.

And BTW, the Riders DBs got away with at least 3 blatant intereference plays: the dropped end-zone shot that got over-turned = it was dropped but obvious PI before; the flea-flicker play was also blatant PI; and late in the game down the middle to Daniels, the DB swats his hands clearly before the ball gets there = that is PI. CFL refs and CC need to be educated on what PI is.

Some good points, OV. Adeboboye was a game-time decision but I don't think he played. He would have been a good option on those plays.

I am still partial to running your regular offence in those situations rather than bringing everyone into the box.

Howard Berger was so upset with the Command Centre that he says on Twitter that he is done with the CFL. Seems like an overreaction to me.

Every league has officiating issues. Every one. Does the command centre need to get better ? YES!!!! I'm tired of people passing on the CFL and using officiating as an excuse. That was entertaining last night, and in my humble opinion blows away what passes for entertaining at Rogers Centre and a Blue Jay's game. My accounting for taste must be our in left field because I cannot understand why more people would rather watch the Jay's this year than Argos.

[DanTheFan]

Any guesses on what attendance will be on this one?

You've now got the return of Kelly, plus a CNE game, but it is on a Thursday. Talking about it with some of the regulars in my section, we feel that there will be a slight Kelly bump. No matter what the thoughts are on Kelly, I think it would be rather unfortunate to sit and wait for one player to return no matter who the player is, especially since they have been solid without him. But enough of that..

I'm saying between 15-16K.

Right now, Ticketmaster map shows very few tickets available..... but we all know that means nothing. The map will be different tomorrow, for sure.

Green Riders always draw well, and with CNE admission thrown in, plus the Chad Kelly factor, there should be a good crowd..... I am going to say 18K.

Great crowd at over 19K... and almost all stuck around to the end. If you take out the upper east side, which is never up for sale, this was a virtual sell out. So great to seen fans in the north end bleachers. Hopefully we can continue to create some buzz, but it sucks that our next home game is a month away.

Yes, the fact a third of the crowd didn't split at half time made the turnout a much better sight. I'm hoping for a strong crowd when Hamilton comes to BMO in a month, even if their fans want to show up simply to heckle Kelly.

[primetime321]

I didn't make it down in person last night but watched the game in its entirety on TV. However, my son has made the Ex Argo game into an annual event and brought down 9 other guys last night. Having met a couple of them after the game, they were all hoarse, indicative of their enthusiasm for the game.

Here are some random observations that I had from last night:

-- I wasn't terribly confident after the first quarter but man did the Argo D, especially the secondary really turn up the heat in the second quarter. Even though they are not that big in stature and have some tackling issues they have very good speed and can really get to the ball. Hopefully, we will be seeing a lot more press coverage from now on

- The officiating was off again last night (I know sounds like a broken record). The whole debacle with the Command Centre should be dealt with in the off-season but you can't change your protocols halfway through the season. There was a least a 17 point swing on three bad calls; an obvious PI on Polk in the end zone when the ball was thrown a bit late by Kelly with the official staring right at the play; a first down run by Trevor Harris that led to a FG where Flo was clearly held on the play. In fact, Flo was the contain man there so no hold, no big run; and the Daniels catch rolling into the endzone for a TD without being touched but was blown dead by the officials for whatever reason. Did the Command Centre have a say on that play also?

-- Kelly was very good last considering his layoff and makes a huge difference to the offense in many ways.

-- The team is badly in need of a short yardage specialist either at QB or RB.. Please no more Dukes or McMahon doing short yardage. They just doesn't have the strength or power to do so.

-- Speaking of McMahon, they need to scheme more open field plays for him. Currently his skills are not being maximized when running inside.

-- As much as I like Jones and McManis, I'd like to see the Argos get a true MLB like a Sankey type so that they can roam more, which is to their strengths IMO. I wouldn't mind them using Cassar more but perhaps they're reticent to do so because of his special teams prowess.

-- The Riders are a pretty good team and will challenge out west. The upcoming home-and-home with the Bombers should be something

-- Why don't the Argos and Ticats have an immediate Labour Day rematch like the Bombers-Riders and Elks-Stamps? This could be an annual event like those games and one cannot argue that the Banjo Bowl is one of the biggest dates on the CFL calendar

-- It seems that the punt block has gone the way of the dodo bird unless there is a clear blocking breakdown. With the way that Korsak was punting last night, perhaps a concerted effort to go out for a block would affect his ability to angle his punts. Joseph Zema did the same thing in the EF last season, keeping the ball away from Leake

[gilthethrill]

Class move by the Org honoring Danny Webb for his 40 years of service. Caught the game on TSN (shocked and disappointed Suitor was calling an East game), but anyone who watched the pre game show, Matt Dunnigan had an insightful, logical outlook on Kelly's situation. It was good to see " Media" finally not on a Hollier Than Though Witch Hunt.
As for the game, it should have been an ugly blowout against the Class of the West. This is a totally different team with the best QB in the CFL. Those miscues will get corrected and the D, which has been unfairly criticized will get stronger in the weeks to come with the return of some injured stars.
Enjoy the final 8 games folks, it's gonna be fun!

[AngeloV]

I

-- Why don't the Argos and Ticats have an immediate Labour Day rematch like the Bombers-Riders and Elks-Stamps? This could be an annual event like those games and one cannot argue that the Banjo Bowl is one of the biggest dates on the CFL calendar

-

Likely has to do with stadium availability. As we know Argos hands are tied, because they don't have first choice on dates, and then have to make sure there is enough time between football and soccer to allow time for the turf to "recover" or something like that. I would like to see the rematch too.

[Scooter McCray]

I

-- Why don't the Argos and Ticats have an immediate Labour Day rematch like the Bombers-Riders and Elks-Stamps? This could be an annual event like those games and one cannot argue that the Banjo Bowl is one of the biggest dates on the CFL calendar

-

Likely has to do with stadium availability. As we know Argos hands are tied, because they don't have first choice on dates, and then have to make sure there is enough time between football and soccer to allow time for the turf to "recover" or something like that. I would like to see the rematch too.

As been mentioned the Argo CNE game could be against Hamilton, and the following game is the Labour Day Classic for both teams.

[AngeloV]

I had a great time at the game last night. Atmosphere was something else, and I firmly believe those of us on Team Kelly have nothing to worry about regarding a boycott of the team.

Is it just me, or did Kelly attempt more 20+ yard balls down field last night than Dukes did in his first 8 starts? This offence is just going to get better and better every game. Welcome back to Coxie and Daniels too. Pretty easy to think they were no longer on the team in the first half of the season. Ungerer was amazing. Again, not to be a dead QB, but nice to have a QB that can reach the field side on regular basis.

Defence was amazing. I have been arguing with Adarius Pickett on twitter. I guess his ego can't admit that the defence this year is as good as it was last year. I guess he never thought that a good offence makes things easier for a defence. Secondary is picking it up too. Just like in 2022, they are getting better as they start to play regularly together.

Driving home, I listened to the Riders post game, hosted by Justin Dunk and Wes Cates. Dunk was really adding fuel to the fire asking every caller whether or not the rouge should be abolished. To their credit, most did not think so. At least unlike the last 2 games, it wasn't an all out assault on officials.

[IssuesMcgee]

Wow - for a win, one of the most annoying & frustrating Argo games i have ever seen; shoulda won by 20+ points.

Gotta fix that feeble first and goal offence; why would you hand the ball to a little smurf back like McMahon into the teeth of the D; and Dukes is a shifty good runner, but a small frame QB with little power; find a big back (Adebobye might do the trick) with power, have the QB under C, and hand-off off tackle = this works 9 times out of 10, IMO. Shades of a Wally Bouno BC offence that similar laughable problems a few years back.

Kudos to the D for playing very well after Harris and the Riders O looked like they were going to walk all over them early.

And BTW, the Riders DBs got away with at least 3 blatant intereference plays: the dropped end-zone shot that got over-turned = it was dropped but obvious PI before; the flea-flicker play was also blatant PI; and late in the game down the middle to Daniels, the DB swats his hands clearly before the ball gets there = that is PI. CFL refs and CC need to be educated on what PI is.

Some good points, OV. Adeboboye was a game-time decision but I don't think he played. He would have been a good option on those plays.

I am still partial to running your regular offence in those situations rather than bringing everyone into the box.

Howard Berger was so upset with the Command Centre that he says on Twitter that he is done with the CFL. Seems like an overreaction to me.

Every league has officiating issues. Every one. Does the command centre need to get better ? YES!!!! I'm tired of people passing on the CFL and using officiating as an excuse. That was entertaining last night, and in my humble opinion blows away what passes for entertaining at Rogers Centre and a Blue Jay's game. My accounting for taste must be our in left field because I cannot understand why more people would rather watch the Jay's this year than Argos.

Now I'm not going to look this up so my details may be fuzzy, but I seem to recall the New Orleans Saints being eliminated from the playoffs after the refs missed a blatant PI call in 2018 or 2019? I remember my jaw hit the floor when a coworker showed me a replay of it.

And then there was Bottlegate in Cleveland. The refs made a ruling that went back two or three plays, which caused a riot.

CFL officiating is no where even close to as bad as NFL officiating. It's not even debatable.

[ARGO57]

Some good points, OV. Adeboboye was a game-time decision but I don't think he played. He would have been a good option on those plays.

I am still partial to running your regular offence in those situations rather than bringing everyone into the box.

Howard Berger was so upset with the Command Centre that he says on Twitter that he is done with the CFL. Seems like an overreaction to me.

Every league has officiating issues. Every one. Does the command centre need to get better ? YES!!!! I'm tired of people passing on the CFL and using officiating as an excuse. That was entertaining last night, and in my humble opinion blows away what passes for entertaining at Rogers Centre and a Blue Jay's game. My accounting for taste must be our in left field because I cannot understand why more people would rather watch the Jay's this year than Argos.

Now I'm not going to look this up so my details may be fuzzy, but I seem to recall the New Orleans Saints being eliminated from the playoffs after the refs missed a blatant PI call in 2018 or 2019? I remember my jaw hit the floor when a coworker showed me a replay of it.

And then there was Bottlegate in Cleveland. The refs made a ruling that went back two or three plays, which caused a riot.

CFL officiating is no where even close to as bad as NFL officiating. It's not even debatable.

I would wholeheartedly disagree, the NFL has its share of bad calls but CFL officials seem to embarrass themselves almost every game.
The lack of consistency with PI calls are a major issue in the CFL.