Call me a fair weather fan, call me a pessimist. But after watching Hamilton dust Winnipeg last night, there's a distinct possibility that the Als, a team with an offence that insists on only playing half a game, will finish last in the east in 2007.
Hamilton is improving by leaps and bounds. Winnipeg has Kevin Glenn, who is now arguably the best QB in the league. Once the Argos get the QBs back, they will be winning games.
The Als, on the other hand, are stagnant.
I think you can do better. AC looks like he can still get it done, but the system isn't suited to him or the CFL. If you want to compete I think the O has to be re-organized.
Hope things turn around. The league is better when every team can do the job.
Our team isn't going anywhere. Our coaches cannot make halftime adjustments. So regardless of how well we do in the first half, we blow in the second half. Other teams figure out what we're doing and adjust. We just keep doing the same thing over and over.
Well, the only thing that last night's game showed me was that the East is completely up for grabs. I can see any one of those teams making noise. Every single one of those teams has shown me flashes of brilliance at times and complete inneptitude at others.
Crimson, I agree that the East is a complete toss-up this year, but that has more to do with the division's weakness than anything else. Regardless of which Eastern team makes it to the Grey Cup final, that team is going to get annihilated by the Western division finalist.
I'll say this for our Als, though: they're finding ways to win despite a ton of really important injuries:
Strickland
Chiu
Watkins
Vilimek (done for the season)
Charbonneau (never played a down for us, done for the season)
Imoh
Fritz
Sanchez
http://www.rds.ca/alouettes/chroniques/234192.html
Oh yeah, and RDS is reporting that Calvillo is injured.
Well, I would have to agree with that. I would be quite surprised if the East beats the West for the Grey Cup this year if things stay like this but in a one game, winner takes all, anything can happen.
B.C barely beat Toronto, Toronto split a series with Calgary, and they decimated Calgary the week before. Saskatchewan barely beat Montreal, and Winnipeg tied Edmonton and lost.
Judging by the paperwork, by points/game, standings, team rosters, etc, the East stands no chance against the Western teams. But when you see them head to head of the football field, the West doesn't look all that dominant over the East teams.
Really-- AC can get it done? Six games into the season and I don’t think he has come close to completing a pass over 20 yards long. Yes the system is geared to 2 yard passes, but that may be all he can throw. He certainly can’t throw downfield anymore.
Losing Fritz and Watkins is a bonus.
It'll be interesting when Watkins returns to see who sits down. Can't replace Cahoon, Thurmon, Ashlan Davis, or Bratton. Only ones replaceable are Desriveaux and Deslauriers, but there are ratio concerns here.
If Watkins returns, bench Avon Cobourne. This guy has shown me very little and I have no idea why he keeps getting dressed.
Well, he has done pretty well at RB when stepping in for Payton on a few plays.
Discipline you got your wish. Take a look at the Als' depth chart and roster for today, Watkins is in and Cobourne is now on the "injured" list.
Yeah, I saw that too, MadJack. I just feel that Cobourne doesn’t do anything particularly well. He’s not that fast, he doesn’t have good moves, he’s not a power runner, and he’s not a particularly intelligent player. It seems like the only reason he stayed was because he’s good on special teams, but that is NOT a legitimate reason to keep an import around in my book.
Totally agreed, I do seem to recall that I posted elsewhere once some time ago that Cobourne never had impressed me (ah yes, now I recall, it was just before preseason that I posted that, and then he promptly went out and ran a missed FG or a punt back for a long TD in one of the exhibition games).