GAME 2 : STAMPEDERS at Toronto

[OzSome]

I don't know about Stamps playing the Argonauts for the last few seasons. I tried not to believe in bad lucks or anything but this is getting ridiculous. Everytime they play the Argos, Stamps will either lose some of the good players due to injuries or if they play healthy, they played undiscipline game. How many times did we watched the Stamps outplaying the Argos only to collapsed late in the game due to parades of stupid penalties or turnovers. I thought this season will be different but we already lost 3 of our top players. Only good thing I can think of, Stamps might play penalty-free all game to compensate on losing players due to injuries.

Game Time : 4:00pm MST in Toronto

OFFENSE :

QB Bo Levi Mitchell will start his 2nd consecutive game. BLM won all the games he started so far in his CFL career. He played well enough last game to get the win and we still a lot of potential for him to improve.

RB Matt Walter will replace the injured last season's MOP Jon Cornish who is out with concussion problem. I think this is a good move by the Stamps in not rushing him back. Season is still very early anyways so I would rather lose Cornish now than later. This is Walter's chance to shine and I hope he plays like a Dinos again. RB/Returner Jock Sanders will back him up. Stamps put Sederick Cunningham back in the lineup to replace the injured Nik Lewis and he will also back up Sanders as a returner. WR Joe West will be back in the lineup raplcing another injured top player receiver Maurice Price. Mo and Joe are supposed to be the Stamps dual threat in receiving but for some reason everytime one is playing, the other is injured and can't play. Of all the positions, I guess we can afford to lose a receiver(s) in one or two games and will not miss the beat because of our depth. We still have McDaniel, Jeff Fuller, Brad Sinopli, Anthony Parker and Campeau on our rosters.

OLine : I was very impressed with the way rookie Branden Craighead played last game. He played so well that you couldn't even tell he is a rookie. The other guy on the line that plays well last game was OG Spencer Wilson. He's been in a system for a few years now and it is starting to pay when the Stamps kept him. Looks like Dan Federkeil will be back in the lineup and that would help the Stamps OLine.

DEFENSE :

In the pre-season game against BC Lions, I was actually questioning the Stamps' defense aggressiveness. I did not see the pressure on Kevin Glenn in that pre-season game and that makes me wonder if that is Stubler's defensive style. I thought if that's his style then we are going to have a long summer for sure. In comes the regular season and defense was flying out there. Charleston Hughes to no suprise led the Stamps D. DeQuin Evans was impressive with his versatility but he needs to cool off a bit especially with that dumb penalty that he made late in the game. We missed Corey Mace last season especially against the Priders. This guy is a beast. I really like this DLIne group although we still need some more from DE Shawn Lemon or Freddie Bishop III. Once the team started double-teaming Hughes, I hope these two DE delivers. Lemon had some great moments last game though.

The linebacking crew seems to be good. Starters Juwan Simpson, Deron Mayo and Keon Raymond can be counted on all the time. I thought their backup LinJ Shell, Glenn Love, McCartney and even McDougall was good.

CB Buddy Jackson is becoming to be one of my favorite Stamps D after one game. Fred Bennett was awesome especially against OchoCinco. I don't think Ocho even caught a ball while Bennett was defending him. Bennett would have 3 INTs in the game if it wasn't for the stupid penalty by the Dlineman (I think it was Evans) and the dropped ball. All 3 was against Johnson. I couldn't really say much about safety Josh Bell's play. He didn't see a lot of balls coming his way though.

Stamps D will need to have a better game vs the Argos. QB Ricky Ray is one of the pure passers and also scrambling QB in the CFL. DLine will have to pressure him at all times and maybe punish him with the hit. If Ray gets the chance to throw, our secondary better be ready. Toronto Chad Kackert retired after last season so I am not sure if Argos RB is any better this season.

SPECIAL TEAM :

Decent game by the Special Team. Tackling and blocking was good. Sanders was not bad last game but I am hoping for a better game vs the Argos. Tackling needs to be better in this game because Stamps are playing against one of the best or even the best returner in the league Chad Owens.

PENALTIES and TURNOVERS :

Stamps need to cut down on some unnecessary penalties on both sides. With Cornish, Lewis and Price out of the game, the Stamps need to rely on the quickness and hope for sure handed catches by our receivers. Stay away from fumbles and INT. No cheap shots or retaliation on both sides to avoid stupid penalties that will give Ricky Ray another chance to score TD.

GO STAMPS GO!!!

[DOOM]

I am very interested to see how Walter does (if he gets the majority of touches) He's looked very solid as a backup to Cornish.

The D needs another performance like week one if the Stampeders are to win this game, imo.

[Bar-Down]

These early injuries suck but its good to get them out of the way now.

West will replace Price to a degree so that helps. We still have Fuller who I think is our best WR.

Having Federkiel back will improve the O-line. Micah Johnson is also back in at DT so that should give them a boost in pressuring Ricky Ray and stopping the run.

It would be nice to have Lewis but McDaniel, Sinopoli and Parker should be able to fill in. Lewis' blocking and 2nd down conversions will be missed though.

The real big loss is not having Cornish. If Walter and Sanders can do even a decent job then I like our chances.

Looking forward to the game, that bye week sucked!

[tenyardrambo]

Go Stamps!

I like to look at odds throughout the week for the Stamps games.
This week Argos have been slightly favoured but today Stamps have the edge, wondering if there is someone not playing or injured for the Argos.

[transplant99]

Originally Posted by tenyardrambo

Go Stamps!

I like to look at odds throughout the week for the Stamps games.
This week Argos have been slightly favoured but today Stamps have the edge, wondering if there is someone not playing or injured for the Argos.

Andre Durie and Jason Barnes out for them.

[OzSome]

Game Notes:

Calgary :

OUT : RB Jon Cornish(concussion), R Nik Lewis(concussion), R Maurice Price(finger), DT Junior Turner(knee), LB Alvin Bowen(knee), LB Max Caron(knee-out for the season).
DL Demonte Bolden, DL Freddie Bishop III, DB Jeremy Williams, RB Charlie Power, OL Shane Bergman.

IN : DT Micah Johnson, R Joe West, LB Yannick Carter.

Toronto :

OUT : WR Jason Barnes(knee), SB Andre Durie(broken clavicle), S Matt Black(arm), DT Marcus Thomas, DL Kyle Moore, LB Jonathan Hood, FB Zander Robinson, DB Brandon Underwood.

IN : CB Dwight Anderson.

Game starts at 4:30pm MST and will be televised on TSN.

[questionmotives]

You obviously don't just replace a Jon Cornish, but the platoon of Walter and Sanders could be the biggest storyline in this game.

Huf said this week that he expects Walter to get the majority of the touches, but don't be surprised if it is closer to even when it's all said and done.

My question is if one or both of these guys struggle, how long until Calgary abandons the run game, which in turn will hurt play action...

On top of that, Toronto has blitzed a lot in the first two weeks. Sanders is quite a bit smaller in stature than Walter so if he struggles picking up assignments he could find himself mostly just returning kicks.

He is the more dynamic of the two, but has also had ball security issues recently. This week will be a big test for him. If he can prove himself to be an (almost) every down back then the Stamps can be even more patient with Cornish's return.

On the other side of the football, this is a big test for the Stamps D-line. They looked great against Montreal in week one but Troy Smith helped their cause. If they can get to Ricky Ray early and often they have a very good chance to keep this one close.

[M*A*S*H 4077]

Those uniforms are ugly.

[jayswin]

Originally Posted by M*A*S*H 4077

Those uniforms are ugly.

The stamps? I was just going to say they look really sharp today.

[Da_Chief]

What a bull#### call. What was Lemon suppose to do there? Ray is crouching.

[nik-]

haha that penalty

[JiriHrdina]

So Ray ducks his head into the tackle and that's a 15 penalty. This league is such a joke sometimes

[OzSome]

shoot... Ricky Ray ducked that's why Shawn Lemon hit him on the helmet. That shouldn't be a penalty at all.

[OzSome]

Originally Posted by flameswin

The stamps? I was just going to say they look really sharp today.

I know, i thought it looks good.

[transplant99]

If thats truly what the league wants to call a penalty moving foward....i will stop watching.

Its no longer football at that point.

[nik-]

Originally Posted by JiriHrdina

So Ray ducks his head into the tackle and that's a 15 penalty. This league is such a joke sometimes

haha yeah, I tuned into a CFL game for the first time in a long time and that's literally the second play I see. Not exactly encouraging.

[EldrickOnIce]

If that was in fact not a terrible call, and actually is a penalty in this league now.... I'm about done.
Brutal

[M*A*S*H 4077]

Originally Posted by flameswin

The stamps? I was just going to say they look really sharp today.

They need the red helmet or black pants.

[transplant99]

Originally Posted by flameswin

The stamps? I was just going to say they look really sharp today.

If they would only lose the black lids....bring back the red ones and you have, by far, the nicest outfit in football.

[M*A*S*H 4077]

I don't like the zero tolerance rule on QBs. Heck. I hate the amount of protection they get, they should get the same protection as anyone else.