So this week's game will see some starters playing, some sitting, some injured players returning to play, and some getting some additional rest, and overall means nothing in the standings. I do however, agree with another poster who wrote that "10-8 sounds much better than 9-9" but other than that, the game will not mean much.
With that said, how do the Cats game plan for the playoff game against the Als in two weeks? We have seen three games against the Als this season, the first two of which (one win, one loss) I felt the coaching staff did not do a very good job in preparing an offencive game plan. The Als blitz. The Cats did not do a great job of thwarting that blitz. In the third game, the Cats coaches devised a game plan that, at first I was stunned to see and really disliked, but as the game wore on, I realized was quite good in that it softened the effectiveness of the Als edge blitz package by pounding the ball through the middle of the Als D. The wildcat O made the Als adjust to protect against Masoli and friends running and passing up the middle which then allowed for great outside plays by Banks et. al.
So, what to do when the season is on the line? I'm very interested to hear what other fans think on this issue. Also, I'm sure that the Als will not stand pat and will have adjustments of their own.
The biggest thing is to get healthy. Ellingson got hurt in that first game against Montreal and didn't play in the other two. Delvin Breaux didn't play in any of the three games against Montreal, and not once did we have our two best tackles together against Montreal (Simmons and Figs).
Ellingson will play Saturday in the Peg!
Great news!
http://scratchingpost.thespec.com
• receiver Greg Elllingson practiced fully and will play Saturday in Winnipeg provided there is not setback. Offensive tackle Brian Simmons practiced as well but I'm less sure about him. Luke Tasker is still not practicing.
I forgot to mention the D in my original post. The past two games v. Montreal the Cats have given up points early only to seemingly tighten up on D in the second half and play some stellar, hard hitting football. But now the Als have seen the D and the adjustments for two games. What does the coaching staff do for this game? I am a believer in a "this is what we do, so try and beat us" style of defencive play so my hope is that the D is sophisticated enough that to do what worked the last game won't be too easy to scheme against for the playoffs.
Covering the short game and trying to not give up the big play seem to me to be the important factors. Also, pressure on the fairly raw QB seems a good plan.
Well apparently the game plan is a non issue. According to the TSN panel at the half tonight Montreal is awesome and the cats are very beatable. At least these guys are consistant. :roll:
Well Troy Smith I have to admit is one Jewel of a QB six years they said on the ALS nogotiating list , Jim Popp look at the job he is doing as interm coach , sorry to say I am worried next week about Henry and his Pick 6 problem as of late ? As for Smith great for our League having a Hiesman Trophy QB in the CFL , who was the last one Flutie?
Well Troy Smith I have to admit is one Jewel of a QB six years they said on the ALS nogotiating list , Jim Popp look at the job he is doing as interm coach , sorry to say I am worried next week about Henry and his Pick 6 problem as of late ? As for Smith great for our League having a Heisman Trophy QB in the CFL We have to sack yes sack not just pressure this guy he looks dangerous and is improving last two games Burris I feel has regressed the last two games Worried about next week , MR Heisman can kick our ass if he is on …,
Has there ever been an end of season weekend like this where every single game means nothing at all? It is almost as if every team - at least of the six making the playoffs, the idea is just get through this weekend with no key injuries and without giving much away of what your upcoming playoff game plans might be.
I don't know how you 'plan' for it but one thing we have to do is get a better start against Montreal on both sides of the ball compared to our last two games against them. I just don't think Montreal will let us off the hook the way they did the last game with those two first half turnovers deep in our end. We were VERY lucky we were not toast and down by 3 touchdowns or more by halftime again like we were in Montreal the week before - and my expectation is Troy Smith is only going to get better with it being his 4th start and the third time he has seen our defence.
We need to be into the game on both sides of the ball from the opening whistle or else it may be a long final afternoon for the Cats in Guelph.
He’s got the wrong OC. Berry isn’t moving the pocket around, no draw plays, no sweeps, no options. Chapdelaine or Cortez would be in heaven with a QB like Troy. I think your safe for this year anyway.
I was at tonight's game at the a Rogers Center and came away with the strong belief that Montreal is a very beatable team. They can't score. Smith is a very erratic passer. Way too many passes thrown behind receivers, into the ground, too far.... If Hamilton can score early and make Montreal play catch up, I think they can win.
If Montreal scores early, their D can win it for them.
If Montreal scores early, their D can win it for them.
An Argo-Cat fan
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Whether Montreal scores early or not, we have to find a way to stop their pass-rush. Let's face it, the defence won our last meeting and we can't always count on a stellar performance. Condell has to find ways to get around their safety blitz and stop Chip Cox etal. such as we did using different quarterbacks. Henry has to be able to stretch the field, spread their defense, and establish a running game early
If we can do that and the defense holds, we're off to TO.
Whether Montreal scores early or not, we have to find a way to stop their pass-rush. Let’s face it, the defence won our last meeting and we can’t always count on a stellar performance. Condell has to find ways to get around their safety blitz and stop Chip Cox etal. such as we did using different quarterbacks. Henry has to be able to stretch the field, spread their defense, and establish a running game early
If we can do that and the defense holds, we’re off to TO.
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I think Austin won the last game using Masoli as a “fullback” out of the Wildcat.
Whether Montreal scores early or not, we have to find a way to stop their pass-rush. Let’s face it, the defence won our last meeting and we can’t always count on a stellar performance. Condell has to find ways to get around their safety blitz and stop Chip Cox etal. such as we did using different quarterbacks. Henry has to be able to stretch the field, spread their defense, and establish a running game early
If we can do that and the defense holds, we’re off to TO.
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Have to agree with this. And in today’s game (v. Peg) the O had trouble picking up the blitz early in the game. They better fix that.
I don't think defeating our popgun offense will be a problem for you at all TBH. Our OC is an idiot and our playbook is not suited for our starting QB.
On defense, however, I don't know that I'd be too satisfied with the last game. Our D held your O to 20 points (the other 7 came off that missed FG return), we had a pick-six on you, and we only lost a four-point game because we turned the ball over a bazillion times and took every penalty under the sun. So I'd say the onus is still on Austin and Condell to find a way to deal with Montreal's defense.
All that said, I still think Hamilton wins the ESF. There are just too many things wrong with the Alouettes this year for them to pull off the upset on the road...
It's been 40 years since the als last won an east semi on the road. that was in toronto under marv levy.
I mentioned that to Jack Todd of the Montreal Gazette back in '07 and he scoffed that Popp was no Levy. comparing Marv to a Ferrari and Jim to a Pinto.
after that the als came awwwwwfully close to winning it in winnipeg so beware cat fans.
The last Heisman QB in the CFL was Eric Crouch, who backed-up Damon Allen and Michael Bishop in Toronto for roughly eighteen months in 2006 and 2007. Ricky Williams was also a Heisman winner. Runner-up to Williams? Michael Bishop.
Let's look at facts. Smith threw 8 TD passes in his three starts. IF you project that over an 18 game season it works out to 48 TD. He also has more TD passes over 35 yards in 3 games than most starters had all season this year. There is a lot to work with there.
No offense, but that’s not how stats work. Projecting 48 TDs over a season based on three games is just that – a projection, not anything close to what the reality would be. Three games is too small a sample size on which to base those kinds of projections.
Isn’t that what people do all the time with QB who have a few starts ? If one picks on his accuracy over three games why can’t you credit him for what he did well ??? Do we take away Ray’s amazing completion percentage and TDINT ratio because he only played 12 games ?
