Hello, Andrew Wakefield.
Congratulations on your debut as a CFL referee on Saturday night, at BC Place. Nailed that first TV moment, too, looking straight into the camera that was on you, a few hundred feet away.
As a BB fan, I was impressed with the Edmonton defense and parts of their offence. They’ve done their time in the penalty box for Jones.
However, what is it with the coaches there?
Killam in a rage about everything, following Jones ( twice), Headset destroying Maas and enraged squirrel Danny M frothing at the mouth throughout his tenure there. No blood pressure pills in town? Something in the water?
The play calling IMO was not great. Sherritt had the D blitzing almost all the time in the 2nd half, leaving the middle wide open for Rourke. On the offensive side they went away from the run game pretty quick.
As for Ford, he can’t be throwing short outlet passes way up high to his receivers. It leaves them open to big hits & the D can rally to the ball.
From the little I saw of the games, I was most impressed with the Lions & Stamps considering that we are in week 1. Argos & Elks looked like they have some work to do. Is it too early to say that a week 2 bye for the Elks is a blessing?
They could use a reset. Win or lose their opening home game has to create some excitement for the fans there. Against the Als, they need to show that they are the team fans expect them to be. Won’t be easy. You’re right about the coaching side. They got to get it together.
I should add one more thing. Being w/o Boyko, the top rated RT on PFF last year, & losing Ivez, the top rated guy on OL overall early, left 2 very big holes on offence. Hopefully for Elk fans both of the big men will be ready in 2 weeks time.
First-year DC Sherritt getting schooled by the wily vet Buck Pierce. I thought his blitzing was monotonous, predictable, and not well-disguised. You let a QB of Rourke’s calibre read hot pre-snap, he will find the open man. Guys like McInnis and Hatcher are too experienced not to run hot and find the soft spot in coverage.
Hervey can buy another team’s D-line but that doesn’t mean the defence is instantly going to be a winner.
The Tiger-Cats should have beaten Calgary with their baby defence, which should have had a shaky start with its first few steps, in the first game. ( All new players on defence in 2025 ) Therefore, I am deeply concerned that the Cats have an undefinable problem or weakness similar to last season when they couldn’t win. This week’s game against the Riders, a team harder to defeat than the rebuilding team Calgary, will test the quality of the team in Hamilton.
I actually thought given how Hervey maxed out his credit card on Free Agents on the defensive side that they kind of stunk the joint out. With that financial commitment they should have been dominant. Especially early in the season when the offences haven’t quite jelled yet. They were nothing special