Sorry, couldn't resist. But it is kind of funny how lethal the offense has been through the first two games of the season. Green is showing why Cahoon had become a bit of an afterthought in our offense. London and Baker both showed promise last night filling in for Watkins; Bratton also stepped up. Heck, even Maypray had a TD! And Whitaker is going to be fine once he's recovered from the concussion. He's a great pass-catcher, he runs hard, and so far, there haven't been any issues with his pass protection. Sure, we're not running the ball a great deal, but is that news to anyone by now? Trestman and Milanovich live and die on the pass.
Richard, given the start the offense has had, I'm curious to know whether you still think Watkins will be traded.
I don't want to be a party-pooper
I too was impressed by the Alouettes output today
But watching the league this weekend...a note or two of caution is warranted:
As great it was to beat up on our arch-rivals
Saskatchewan looks to have some glaring weaknesses on defence
The Alouettes have yet to confront some of the more formidable squads in the league
Winnipeg and Toronto both seemed pretty strong this weekend (defensively)
Edmonton is surprising...and I wouldn't be surprised to see a rebirth of the Calvillo/Ray shoot-outs of the past
Our run defence seems a lot more porous than last year
Again...good running teams like Toronto, Winnipeg and Calgary might just take advantage
And of course our special teams....Oy Veh!!!
Anyway...the point is:
We barely squeaked by the Lions last week
And we beat up a questionable Saskatchewan defensive squad
There will come a time when our lack of balance is going to hurt us (unfortunately)
When the over-emphasis on the pass may lead to a sack-fest (Winnipeg again?)
It's great to see AC bust those records up
But I'm hoping it doesn't eventually come at too high a cost.
I, too, am hopeful this year - AC is a beast! I also think that Whitaker, barring serious injury, is capable of ripping off a few for long gains. If we build running plays into the mix, that will make an already potent O even more deadly for the opposing D's; they won't know who to key on. After all, isn't that the very objective of a potent O?
On D, however, there are issues. I'm not going to repeat what has been discussed ad nauseum about the STs and the seeming lack of attention thereto. The pass-rush and the secondary are areas of concern. That said, the Als aren't likely (although it isn't impossible!) to go 18-0 on the season. Opposing teams study Montreal's games and the respective coaching staffs devise ways to beat us; they will have a degree of success. In a close game, the execution on D will be the key to a W or a L.
So far, we have a "bend but don't break" defence; they come up strong when they have to. That was certainly the case in the BC game; less so yesterday as the O had build up a sufficient lead. Consistency, however, will be the key.
I agree with Senior that other teams appear to have improved several areas of their game. With the Argos, however, the O is not always consistent, and I'm still not convinced about Lemon. Keeping pressure on him, therefore,is the key. Their D, however is quite good. RR in Edmonton is looking like the RR of old - so far so good for the Esks. Calgary is hot and cold at the moment, but I believe they will come on strong as the season progresses.
So, it's going to be a dogfight right to the finish, methinks.
The Lions are a good team, Lulay is third in the league passing after playing Calgary and Montreal, Durant is no pushover and we held the teams to an average of around 16 points a game on defense. With Brown and Brouillette out and Proux retired. I think that is a great start.
Calvillo never, ever looked this good passing downfield. His arm is the strongest and the most accurate pas 20 yards it has ever been. Watkins will come back, the kids are building confidence… and we are averaging better than 30 points a game.
While yes Winnipeg and Toronto have better defenses right now, even Edmonton is very, very tough and athletic and different than anything else out there. I think the Als are the team to beat and even down a bunch of points they are very dangerous. Edmonton could be very dangerous team but they have no depth especialy on oline. They are playing non imports at Tackle and when their import tackles come out they will have to make choices, basically they can’t sustain any injuries on their oline or Dline or they are in big, big trouble.
All in all the most impressive thing with Montreal in two games is how few mistakes they make, even AC’s interception yesterday was a steal on Green, nothing to do with the throw. To beat Montreal you need to play perfect football for 60 minutes and execute… not easy…
Something I keep track of is results year to year for the same matchups.
2010 after playin in Saskatchewan and Lions at home
we were 0-2 with 78 points scored and allowing 92 points for a differential of -14
2011 we are 2-0 after those two matchups allowing 51 points and scoring 69 for a differential of +18
So we are 4 points ahead of last season and ± 32 points.
Agreed about Calvillo. You'd never think this guy is recovering from cancer or that he'd had his thyroid removed. He is just sizzling out there and his arm looks better than at any point I can recall.
I would not go that far. The offense depends a lot (too much?) on Green and Richardson. Baker has 1 reception for 6 yards in 2 games. London has been a bit better. But, Watkins would provide a lot more at that position; a lot more consistent production. If either one of Green or Richardson is injured, the offense would slow down. I want to see Watkins back ASAP. The offense will be that much better with him. Defenses will go crazy trying to cover Green, Richardson and Watkins!
On another note, I wonder if Avon is having fun with the Tiger Cats?
Calvillo seems to be getting better with every season! The way he is playing, he could probably play another 3 years or more. I agree that his arm for the deep ball seems stronger than it has ever been; extremely accurate to.
Calvillo passed for 400+ yards to 8 different receivers yesterday:
Richardson: 9 for 114
Green: 4 for 78
Bratton: 5 for 76
Maypray: 1 for a very memorable 55
London: 3 for 47
Whitaker: 5 for 40
Baker: 1 for 6
Diedrick: 1 for 2
It’s almost the textbook definition of spreading the offense. Yes, we rely on Richardson … just like Edmonton relies on Stamps, BC relies on Simon, and so on. Richardson is our marquee receiver, nothing wrong with getting him the ball as early and as often as possible (think Hamilton isn’t regretting doing the same with Bruce?).
Are you expecting a better performance than 39 points, 400+ passing yards, and 5 TDs? Sure, if one or both of our top two receivers goes down, our production will dip. Name me a team where that wouldn’t be the case.
I think your expectations of our offense are a bit unrealistic.
In the 2010-2011 off-season, I realy thought/was convinced that we would trade Kerry Watkins to BC for K/P McCallum or Whyte; if McCallum,which was my preference, I also felt that Bc would have to add/give draft choice,because of his age. Another reason why I felt that a trade would be made was because of salary cap; I wondered if,money or cap wise, we could afford Green,Richardson and Watkins given that we had signed Anderson and that players such as Brown,Guzman,Cox,etc..had received substantial salary increases.
Such a trade never happened and,instead, we traded for Whyte,giving a 1st round draft choice in 2012; Kerry Watkins is on the 9 game injury list and,therefore, there is no issue with salary cap,since salaries of players on 9 game injury list don't count against the cap.
Could Watkins be traded? What will happen to him? BC Lions are still in needs of a good WR and could be interested in Watkins; if trade,it would be for draft choice(s). Given our depth in import receivers, I would not be surprised if Kerry Watkins remain on the 9 game injury list for the 9 games; if injuries to our import receivers occur,he could be transferred to the active roster,since there is no cap issues; hence, with Brown,Robershaw,Desriveaux and Brouillette on 9 game injury list,Watkins could come off.
In summary, I think that Watkins will remain with the Als in 2011 and will come off the 9 game injury list,before end of 9 games,only if injuries occur to our import receivers. We don't need him,now.
If the offense continues to play like this, I think Watkins is gone in the offseason. We can save his salary against the cap, fill his spot with London, and not miss a beat. Let someone else throw big money at him as he enters the downside of his career.
Should Wakins retain his past performances, without doubt he is a greater receiving threat than Baker and London combined. I like Brattons performance and, would chose him also against Baker and London. I had thought that Watkins might have been picked up by needier teams while a free agent. Should he be fit I would believe he will add strength to our receiving team,perhaps only this year. As D+P noted, he could be on a downside in his career. I do hope our scouts are active with the CIS this season. This team would benefit from developing a NI receiver.
No doubt, but (and I’m sure you know this) the question isn’t: who’s the absolute best player at that short-side WR position? The question is: who can we afford under the cap? Does it make sense to carry so much salary in receiver when the offense looks razor-sharp even without Watkins? A good GM knows when to keep a veteran and when to replace him with a younger, cheaper body. Watkins has given us great service, but he’s in his early '30s and we’re better off spending his money to improve at other positions (defensive tackle, defensive back).
Think we mentioned this in the past on this topic. True Als have some 's tied up in the players you mentioned. However they saved a few when Cahoon, Lambert and Proulx retired. ( I believe the first two were the bigger 's).
Voià de justes observations. En même temps, je crois que notre équipe va encore s’améliorer. Concernant l’attaque, elle semble beaucoup mieux commencer 2011 qu’elle ne l’a fait en 2010.
La défensive des Lions n’était pas mauvaise et nous avons réussi à la traverser en première demie. Elle nous stoppé en deuxième demie, mais l’avance prise a survécu.
La défensive des Argonauts est un très gros morceau. Elle est très bonne dans tous ses morceaux, particulièrement la ligne avec Wroten, Foley, Flemmons et Huntley. Ce sera le premier gros test pour notre offensive, et je persiste à croire que la courte passe et la passe intermédiaire seront des outils importants. Leur poursuite du quart est très impressionnante et il faudra s’attendre à ce que Calvillo ait très peu de temps pour lancer le ballon. On devrait utiliser un peu plus Carter comme bloqueur-receveur et Bratton sur des tracés moyens. Il faudra utiliser Whitaker pour mettre la défensive adverse sur le qui-vive, mais je doute que nous ayons de grands succès au sol contre les Argonauts. Le jeu aérien demeurera la différence entre la victoire et la défaite. Je me répête en disant qu’on devrait faire jouer Deslauriers à la place de Baker.
Le ligne offensive des Argonauts fait du bon travail et s’ils ont pu gagner 2 parties, c’est malgré Lemon et non grâce à Lemon. Leur jeu au sol est impressionnant, mais dès que Boyd est sorti du terrain, ils sont beaucoup moins dangereux. Je crois que nos secondeurs devront se réveiller contre eux pour contribuer à contenir le jeu au sol. Si cela réussit, Lemon va finir par forcer le jeu et faire des erreurs dont il faudra profiter.
Finalement, ce le jeu de nos nullités spéciales devra être grandement amélioré, car c’est par là que les Argonauts ont les meilleures chances de nous couler.
Tu écris que les Argos ont gagnée 2 parties: ils sont 1-1. Nous? 2-0
Tu es positif envers leur ligne offensive: ils ont alloué 8 sacs du quart,après 2 parties.Nous? 2
Tu mentionnes comme impressionnant leur jeu au sol: ils ont gagné seulement 175 verges au sol.après 2 parties. Nous? 214
Je ne prends pas les Argos à la légère, mais on devrait les vaincre. Leur offensive est pourrie. La majorité de leurs meilleurs "oeufs"/joueurs non-canadiens/éléments est à la défensive. Oui,ils ont alloué seulement 43 points mais ils en ont compté que 39. Nous? Comptés: 69; alloués: 51.
The way Anthony is distributing the ball right now, I don't think even the Argo D can stop us. The key to winning will be the other phases of the game. Can we contain Cory Boyd? Our run D hasn't been great so far. Can we pull it together on special teams? You know Owens is going to want to atone for his subpar performance in the first two games of the season. If we take away the run on D and play competently (not flashy, not spectacularly, just no big plays given up) on ST, we should win handily.