Alouettes vs Toronto

There is trouble in Argo land.Owens has been given double duty ( to both catch passes and run back kicks) .This perhaps is too much for " mighty mouse". Baker is now urging him to focus on keeping the ball -" he's trying to turn every play into a TD..he's trying to do too much and and knocks the ball out of his own arms" ( see today's national post). Owens fumbled 3 times in the last game and , he was hit very hard and this showed. However, to date, he has caught 6 passes for 60 yards and says he is comfortable in his new role. Boyd will not play due to injury but, Kakert looked very good in preseason. Coach Barker has stressed that Lemon will better himself as QB this year. To date it looks like the same old Lemon. Their offense does not look good. For example in the last game the team could not obtain a first down with only 3 inches needed. The Argos defense will have to be superb to contain Calvillo and his big receivers. For their sake I hope Jyles will emerge as Argos QB later in the season.

You never know about the Argos

Their defence looked solid against Winnipeg
But their offence looked miserable

But that was Winnipeg
As much as I love the Alouettes
Our defensive squad doesn't approach the Bombers
At least that's the way things look right now.

Chad Owens will probably always fight for that extra yard
It's what makes him great
In typical Chad Owens style...his answer is to play rough with his team-mates
Dare them to strip the ball from him
Classic...

He's hurt us in the past
It's not like out ST coverage is looking any better than last year's
In fact...it may well be worse....where the heck is Giffin anyway?
And it certainly doesn't look like Owens has changed...or is likely to
He just ran into a Bomber Brick Wall
Just ask AC how that feels

Still...all the hype about Lemon being better
Is just another spring training miracle gone sour
It's looking like the same old song
Just with Kakert singing tenor.

If our run D tightens up
(and I have my worries on that score)
And the Argos don't put another "clamp" on the passing game
And we can game-plan another Chad-strategy
We should see a repeat of the East Final

Of course we don't have Cobourne to run up 231 total yards (115 rushing, 116 receiving)
When we rode little AC to the Grey Cup game
But hey...
Avon who?
Right?

Provided our special teams play is competent, I don't think this game will be close.

Als changes to the roster,as of now:

DeAndra Cobb-RB,I- is no longer on the 1 game injury list; probably released.
Sean Ortiz-DL,N- has been transferred from the active to the practice roster.
Justin Conn-LB,N- has been transferred from the practice to the active roster.
Michael Giffin-RB,N has been added to the 9 game injury list.

Richard

Ah there he is
Thx again Richard!

Argos are all smoke and mirrors...should be a laugher by halftime!

Pride goeth before the fall…

CFL transactions of the past 3 days were posted only 1.50 hours ago.

On July 11,2011, MTL added/transferred Justin Conn-LB- to the active roster from the practice roster and released Sean Ortiz-DL-; Ortiz was then added to the practice roster.

On July 12,2011, MTL released DeAndra Cobb-RB-; they transferred Mike Giffin to the 9 game injury list.

Justin Conn,who is also a long-snapper, will most probably play on special teams; Ortiz was dressed and was standing still on the sidelines. Improvement with Conn.

Richard

Nothing very surprising in those transactions. Whitaker, Marc, and Diedrick are the backs. Cobb unfortunately got injured at the wrong time during TC.

My only surprise is that we have 8 linebackers-4 imports and 4 non-imports- on the active roster. Will they all dress/play this Friday? We definitely lack depth at non-import defensive linemen and receivers. I don't think that Walter Spencer is 100% healthy; wearing a cast and his play,on special teams, is not up to par/to what we are accustomed to with him. Will he sit and Woldu dress? Time will tell.

Richard

Correction: We have 7-not 8- linebackers-3 imports and 4 non-imports- on the 46 players active roster. At the last Grey Cup game we had 5.-3 imports and 2 non-imports-

Richard

Sorry, but I think maybe your mind is starting to goeth…2 totally different class of teams from top to bottom…it should not even be close!

It would foolish to assume an instant victory. Any team can be beaten on any given day.

Exactly

There is a reason why Trestman never assumes victory
Why he goes out of his way to point out the strengths of his opponents
And it's not just a mind game
To get them thinking they have more of a chance than they should

Toronto seems to have a solid defence
At least they showed that against Winnipeg
And in beating Calgary in week 1
Not to mention...
They did beat us twice last year

Some of their strengths match up well against our weaknesses:
Especially on special teams
And some of their strengths are a question mark against our strengths
Like with our run defence

Arguably our main weakness on defence is against the pass
Whether in pressure on the quarterback
Or in the secondary
But with Lemon and his anaemic squad of unknown receivers
(for the most part)
Those two elements should cancel each other out...to our advantage

On the other side of the ball
The Argos have a decent front four
It should be a fair test of our O-Line and Brandon Whitaker
Whether it's enough to stop the Calvillo SkyShip
Is another question altogether

We'll see day after tomorrow
But it's prudent to never take your opponent for granted
whereso'er goeth his mind

You know…

It sometimes strikes me that defences are in such a bind dealing with the Calvillo/Trestman passing bonanza.
Take the deep ball away and Calvillo nickles and dimes you down the field
Take away the short game and AC beats you with the deep ball.

If I was a DC I’d do what Edmonton did a couple years back
And what some of the more successful teams have done against AC
Let your D-Line ignore the possibility of getting to AC and work on containing a possible run
Keeping your mitts up to knock down passes

Drop your linebackers to the 1st down markers and the secondary takes any deep threat
Give up the short pass…and swarm to the football
Lately that strategy has been broken to some extent by Richardson and Green
BIG guys that can break tackles and run for the 1st

But I wouldn’t be surprised if the Argos adopt something similar tomorrow
Put their best coverage guy on Green
And possibly shut AC’s flying circus down for a game

Special teams and whoever can move the ball on the ground
May win the day tomorrow
We’ll see soon enough

That’s what they do but the ball is out so fast and they move the pocket around just a bit and if you have a pvr you’ll notice AC throws from different spots behind the line all the time and he moves his running back around for extra protection, so you have two seconds to get to him, get your hand up or do whatever it is you want to do and your not sure exactly where he’s going to be at and when he senses the team is just sitting in contain, he let’s the plays develop. Pick your poison, he’s still going to do what he wants and since Trestman has arrived, he figures things out eventually.

Granted…
It’s harder sitting at home
Postulating ways an opposition might beat Anthony
Than it is for the opposition’s DC to come up with an effective defensive strategy

But we have seen AC shut down at various points
Even during the Trestman era
Simply put though
Even the most effective pass defence
Is worth nothing
If your guys can’t effectively cover a Richardson…Watkins…or Green

This has been our biggest advantage over the last few years
Against those great defenses that despite the best laid plans
Go horribly…horribly awry

With Richardson and Watkins in the stable
I’d match our O against the best
Yes even the Bombers defence

Without them
I’m not sure that a quick release
Varying release points
Or any other advantage
Will be entirely effective against one of the better defences in the league

After 2 dominant games
And 2 Grey Cup victories
It’s tempting to think of Calvillo as invulnerable
But remember…teams are spending all their waking hours trying to find ways to bring him down
We’re the team to beat
And if it’s ever going to happen
It’s when our best receivers are out with injuries

While I expect that we -Als- will win, I do think that it will be a close game. Toronto has a better defense and better special teams than we do,but we have a much better offence. Will it be enough? I do think so,unless Owens has a great game,both on offence and on special teams.

Go Als Go

Richard

Spot on. Trestman doesn’t run a static offense with static launch points and protection schemes. AC clearly has leeway to audible at the line and change up the protections based on what the stutter count is telling him. You try to do one thing and one thing only against Calvillo and he will make your life miserable for 60 minutes as he exploits you on the other thing. :wink:

One thing I notice is that Anthony is way savvier now about avoiding knockdowns than he was even a few years ago (and particularly in the 2008 Grey Cup loss, where the Stamps took away his quick passes by getting hands up at the LOS). He’s got a nice little sidearm technique usually reserved for avoiding knockdowns or when d-linemen are in his face unexpectedly. He also pump-fakes more now to draw defenders into taking those gambles before going deep. He’s matured, and our offense has matured in its fourth year.

I liked what little I saw of London last week. Hopefully he can be more involved tonight and give Green and Bratton a bit of breathing room.

He's a lot stronger then he use to be. You see it in his throws, you see it in his running. For me that is what set's him appart from others. His hard work and will makes him a better athlete today at 38 than he was at any point when he was younger. That takes incredible hours and discipline.