Game Thread: Toronto Argonauts at Saskatchewan Roughriders

[Will]

Someone reported, I believe it was David Morassutti, that Dinwiddie went to Scott against Montreal because he knew that game was out of reach and wanted to give Bryan some reps. The reason he went to Arbuckle yesterday apparently is that Dinwiddie still deemed the game to be within reach and felt that Arbuckle gave the Argos the best shot in that case.

And that makes perfect sense, IMO

Yup, the Argos stop Saskatchewan on that last drive and there was, at least in theory, an opportunity to tie the game.

[primetime321]

Some observations from last night's game:

While Dukes played well at times, at other times he looked like an inexperienced QB with the happy feet in the pocket and his ill-advised passes inside. While Coxie let him down particularly (and you could tell by Coxie's forlorn look on the sidelines), you could tell that the offensive plan wasn't changed much even with the injuries. Nield ran the same type of patterns as Dejon Brissett but doesn't have the same skillset to pull it off. Coxie was used on many inside patterns, which puzzled me because he is a much stronger receiver on the outside. They really do miss Ungerer's ability to get separation on the field side and of course Brissett to a certain degree. I also agree with those who wanted more variation out of the running game with Adeboboye and McMahon. They seemed to use Grant effectively with these types of plays. The receivers couldn't get enough separation against the Riders DB's so they should have tried something different.

I was hoping that they would go to Bryan Scott instead of Arbuckle as I thought that Scott had good velocity on his throws in garbage time against the Als. In fact, I had wished that Dinwiddie had pulled Dukes earlier to give Scott a chance when it was clear that Dukes was really struggling with the Riders coverages.

Defensively, they are not getting the same pressure and penetration as last season. Furthermore, because of this, they seem to be blitzing a bit too much, which leaves the secondary more exposed than it should. Ceresna doesn't seem to be as effective at DE as he is on the inside. I am looking forward to seeing what newcomer Jay Person can do. While McManus was an absolute beast and Sopik played well, they weren't enough to cover up some of the shortcomings of their teammates.

[RB957]

Not sure if anybody thinks Arbuckle is going to be this big upgrade over Dukes, but IMO that's total nonsense - he isn't.

If not for Coxie's stone hands the Argos coulda maybe won this game.

Dukes against a good Riders secondary vs. Patterson against a very weak Argos secondary = gee who should win when both teams can't run the ball well to have balance or diversity on offence ?

Scott would be my #2 over Arbuckle but you can't give up on Dukes after a couple tough games. He is still young and learning. There's a lot that he does that I like.

Me too, I also would go with Scott as the alternate, rather than Arbuckle who does not look impressive. And I think Dukes has alot of talent. The Argos definitely don't have the depth they had in previous seasons and with so many key players out injured at the moment, they are struggling abit.

Sorry guys... hard NO from me on Bryan Scott as the alternate to Dukes right now. IMO, he has not shown anything in the appearances he has made to merit that. And this is not a time for us to be giving time to someone who "might" pan out in the future. As strong as MTL is, we have to realistically assume that finishing in 1st place in the East is not realistic... right now. So, we need to stay competitive every game and fight Hamilton and Ottawa for the #2 seed. Despite all his shortcomings, Arbuckle has the advantage of more experience, so if I had to make a choice right now, it would be him.

I thought the Argos played decent enough against the Riders, certainly with a chance to win, but for the turnovers and missed tackles. Season is still young, no time to panic and jump overboard.

[shatto]

The team has problems with both defense and offense. The two rookie CBs have not shown they can do the job. SAM has not produced no matter who has played the position. The D line has not played that well since the 1st game. Losing Orimolade and now Ceresna as well as Oakman being allowed to walk and Knight lost because he wasn't on the one game injury list does not bode well for the future of the D line. In spite of all those things the D has not played that badly. If Adeleke can get healthy he might solve the SAM problem and that would allow Priester to play CB which is a position he is better suited to play.

The biggest question on offense is at QB. Dukes has shown promise but he has regressed in the last 2 games. He is very mobile and can extend the play with his legs. But he has trouble passing long and is now throwing too many interceptions. Coxie can be held responsible for one of those interceptions but the other 3 were on Dukes. He is now also having trouble picking out open receivers and is making bad decisions. He is not throwing as the receiver makes the break, which is allowing the DBs to move into good coverage position. He has only generated 1 TD in the last 2 games. All of which raises the question of who should start the next game. Personally, I'd vote for starting him but if he hasn't been able to move the team by mid 2nd quarter he has to be replaced. There will be strong opinions as to who should be the replacement. Though most will disagree, I'd choose Arbuckle because of his experience.

[OV Argo]

The team has problems with both defense and offense. The two rookie CBs have not shown they can do the job. SAM has not produced no matter who has played the position. The D line has not played that well since the 1st game. Losing Orimolade and now Ceresna as well as Oakman being allowed to walk and Knight lost because he wasn't on the one game injury list does not bode well for the future of the D line. In spite of all those things the D has not played that badly. If Adeleke can get healthy he might solve the SAM problem and that would allow Priester to play CB which is a position he is better suited to play.

The biggest question on offense is at QB. Dukes has shown promise but he has regressed in the last 2 games. He is very mobile and can extend the play with his legs. But he has trouble passing long and is now throwing too many interceptions. Coxie can be held responsible for one of those interceptions but the other 3 were on Dukes. He is now also having trouble picking out open receivers and is making bad decisions. He is not throwing as the receiver makes the break, which is allowing the DBs to move into good coverage position. He has only generated 1 TD in the last 2 games. All of which raises the question of who should start the next game. Personally, I'd vote for starting him but if he hasn't been able to move the team by mid 2nd quarter he has to be replaced. There will be strong opinions as to who should be the replacement. Though most will disagree, I'd choose Arbuckle because of his experience.

Agree with much of what u say - just not the only one INT being on Coxie - both were IMO - a strong hands receiver does not let a DB rip the ball away and the 2nd one may have been an inaccurate throw a bit but still catchable IMO & a good hands receiver grabs that and does not let it bounce up in the air to be picked.

And if Dukes is not up to the deep passing game like Kelly was, why not adjust the offence to feature more diversity, like banging all 3 RBs with more ground game or some screen passes ? Dukes getting lots of blame for a young QB but the offensive game plan needs to do more to help him IMO.

The defensive secondary and lack of pass rush are bigger concerns IMO; why does a mid draft pick like Hergott get zero shot to see if he can help? - when we see O'Shea and the Bombers giving this year's 8th round pick D-lineman a shot to play and he has responded with some pretty decent play. Time for some changes in the secondary - at corners especially.