Huge game for both teams on route to heading into next week for the Labour Day back to back tilts - much bigger for Edmonton…can Cory Boyd shows his muster for the most part?..could be Toronto in blow out. Yikes…ect.
Next week for the Esks; Kevin Glenn/Cornish/Lewis at McMahon [Stamps are well coached] are on the rise.
Needless to say but I'll be cheering on the Argos like crazy! I want to see some distant put on between the Lions and the Eskies in the standings. The Lions did their part now it's time for the Argos to help the Lions out. This is a tough one to call. The teams seem evenly matched. Both have good weapons. If I were a betting man I'd put my chips on Ray. I think he's better than Jyles or Joseph and he has the advantage of knowing the Eskies D. It could be a see-saw battle for the entire game.
Yes and no.
Yes, he’s better than Jyles or Joseph, no argument there.
But he doesn’t have an advantage when it comes to knowing the Eskies D. He’d be familiar with the defence that Stubler ran there the past few seasons, but Mark Nelson is Edmonton’s defensive coordinator this year and he runs a very different defence compared to what Stubler ran. So Ray has no leg up there.
I ezpect to see the Eskimo’s starting the game testing the Argo’s deep, trying to created some space and then going to the running game. I also expect to see Jyles given the green light to run more, expecting the Argo’s to key on Boyd thereby giving Jyles some space.
To me, this game will be won or lost on the Eskimo’s ‘D’ getting pressure on Ray. The more time Ricky spends on his backside, the better it is for Edmonton. If Ray has time, it could be a long day for EE.
Looking forward to this tilt of course, well like all games really. Pressure on Ray very important for sure.
Can’t blame a guy for tryin to sell it. lol
With all the personnel moves between these two teams, these games are always really interesting. If Jyles can avoid turnovers and move the ball, field goals will give Edmonton a great chance to win.
Must mention the coaches - Milanovich knows his stuff, thus Mark Nelson does too. Run game may be the story.
Should be a good game...GO ARGOS!
The next few weeks are a critical point of the season for Toronto. Not so much for who the opponents are, but in how well the team makes adjustments and if they can come together or not.
On offence they have to get the OLine straightened out. Give Ricky Ray time and he'll destroy a secondary with his downfield accuracy. Problem is, I don't know if the OLine is capable of protecting him. And I'm not sure if Milanovich is going to open up the playbook with more downfield passes instead of dinkified little dump offs to Chad the Fumbler.
On defence they have to find a way to get pressure on opposing QBs. This is going to have to come from the DLine - - not the secondary. Which means Jones is going to have to modify his scheme to allow the DLine to rush the QB instead of dropping them into coverage. Forget the cute little stunt calls and just let the front four rush and win the one on one battles against the OLine.
Get those three things figured out in time for the second half of the season, and this can be a Grey Cup year for the Argos.
Yes, as they will gang up they need to be spread out early. This is essential.
VofR:
I also expect to see Jyles given the green light to run more, expecting the Argo's to key on Boyd thereby giving Jyles some space.This would be an absolutely disastrous strategy for Jyles and the offence, for they will be ganging up to key on both guys anyway. Spread them out short and long and test their weak linebacking corps for pass coverage and weak links in the secondary.
VofR:
To me, this game will be won or lost on the Eskimo's 'D' getting pressure on Ray. The more time Ricky spends on his backside, the better it is for Edmonton. If Ray has time, it could be a long day for EE.Yes, keep Ray moving when he throws and don't let him set. Get to his right side and make him have to shuffle and roll left to keep him off balance for more throws.
Great overview again Backer for sure …I’ll hold back on any predictions for next week until I see how they play on the road against this Toronto team on the rise as well …I have Toronto picked for the VGCC, so it’s either my Eskies turn up a surprise or I and a few others go 4-0 by slim margin (Montreal won on a last-second field goal) for also the first time this season for some like me.
You are damn right again MadJack. 
All the same, let’s remember in the first game that Toronto basically did themselves in with an obscene number of penalties as well as missed field goals from a kicker whom they have replaced.
My heart is in the right place, but all things considered I picked Toronto because they just need to execute their basic bread-and-butter game plan for balanced offence and moving those chains.
Toronto could also do themselves in again by playing yet another sloppy and undisciplined game, and the Eskie defence hitting and hurrying Ray early and often would give a tremendous edge to the Eskies even with Jyles going into game-management mode for ball control, field position, and field goals.
For those in the US, note that this is the first game on NBC Sports Network too, and down here in Tampa Bay in Florida thankfully we dodged a hurricane so that we would not be out of power today and tonight!
These are some great comments by CFL fans on this thread in the past few days.
Unlike down here with the NFL for sure where sadly large numbers of mindless folks either just homer their teams or parrot what any given schmoe on ESPN says for entertainment value, I can see more folks up there really studying the game to form their opinions.
Have to respectfully disagree, Toronto will be doing everything in their power to not let Boyd beat them, which would be a PR nightmare. The Toronto ‘D’ will be concentrating on Boyd so the Eskimos need to take advantage of that. As mentioned the will try to spread the Toronto defence out with the pass and I would expect they will use a lot of play action, starting off with fakes to Boyd. I also expect Jyles to role out following the fakes in order to spread the ‘D’ wide to create space in the middle. Sooner or later the Eskimos will abandon the exercise of turning Jyles into a drop back passer, I think that todays game will see Crandall giving Jyles the green light to run more.
I also expect that to continue forward next week in Calgary. Saskatchewan showed that Calgary is susceptable to the QB running the ball, I don’t think the Eskimos missed that.
Good point about the Argo LBs being a liability - - they've got a pair of undersized DBs lining up at LB. Boyd's the most physical RB in the league and if he gets past the DLine it's going to be a mismatch.
New DE EJ Kuale has had problems with being fooled by the play action and then over committing and losing contain. With a running QB like Steve Jyles that could be a problem. It’s not like Toronto has the threat of a big hitter like Joe Lobendahn at LB ready to headhunt a scrambling QB.
[quote="Area_51"With a running QB like Steve Jyles
[/quote]
Jyles has run for first down yardage once this year and averages 0.1 yards per carry more than Kevin Glenn.
[quote author=“sean mac 26”]
Jyles has run for first down yardage once this year and averages 0.1 yards per carry more than Kevin Glenn.
And Jyles averages 0.3 yards more than Ray. To point out compared to Jyles; Durant has 4.0 yards more - Burris has 2.0 yards more and Lulay has 1.0 yards per carry more. No surprise however with Durant, as he’s built solid with his runs.
Calvillo has 2.3 or there abouts more yards per carry than Jyles.
Elliott is at 0.5 yards more than Jyles.
Tell me again ... why is this game on Monday? It's impossible for me to sit down and watch (not that the CFL schedule should revolve around me of course ha-ha). Sure do miss those Friday night double-headers.
Believe I'll cheer on the Argos. My rationale being: whenever there's a game that I have no real stake in, I pull for the team that I feel "needs" the win most. The league really "needs" the Argos to have a good year, and so does Argo organization. Besides, I just love watching Ricky Ray go to work when he has a little time on his hands.