BATTLE OF ALBERTA - Part 3

[OzSome]

Wtf!!!! Ricky Ray had lots of time and now scored a TD run.

Two points conversion for Edmonton missed Peterson. 28-26 Calgary.

Come on offense our defense are getting tired.

[OzSome]

Touchdown!!!!! Burris 27 yard pass to Ken Yon Rambo!! Yeah baby!!!

1:52 left in the game 38-26 Calgary.

[Dion]

Thanks for all the updates OzSome!

[browna]

We win!

Not without the requiste objectionable conduct penalty from the Eskimos bench.

[moon]

Amazing that the CFL actually got the call right.

I was sure they were going to screw that up (although the Stamps did their best to try and screw it up all on their own.)

Still some major problems with the team but that was a huge win.

[Dion]

Revenge is sweet!

[jammies]

Originally Posted by arloiginla

Horrible coaching, they have no time of possession in the second half because they refuse to give Reynolds the football.

They won despite the truth of this - they really need to keep with the run, as only the Eskimos turning over the ball at the worst times (for them) won Calgary this game.

However, the defence had a huge game, even with giving up the points, as they were directly responsible for 7 points and helped the offence put up 14 more on the turnovers. The play calling was a thousand times better, and they had pressure on Ray and that made all the difference. Now it's the offence that looks to be struggling, as outside the very first TD drive, they didn't look all that good and were lucky that they got the ball on the short field so many times.

Still, a win is a win!

[troutman]

EDM sure seems to have a lot of "injuries" in the 3rd and 4th quarter. The last one looked legit, but the others seem like blatant attempts to stall.

The on-side kick rule is goofy - you should have to do more than touch the ball to get control of it.

CGY's special teams are bad (except for Sandro).

AJ Harris was the only thing working for EDM tonight, and CGY did nothing to take it away.

[jammies]

Oh yah - Curry sucks. If he is in the lineup taking punts again next game I really have to question who is making personnel decisions. I thought Rambo used to return a couple years back, try him again as Curry seems to be good only at running up the backside of his blockers.

[EldrickOnIce]

Originally Posted by troutman

AJ Harris was the only thing working for EDM tonight, and CGY did nothing to take it away.

Fair enough... but if AJ Harris is their best weapon, the Stamps will likely win every time. Better to take away everything else and leave that.

[troutman]

Why have Reynolds return kicks? He is too exhausted on first down to run the ball.

[EldrickOnIce]

Originally Posted by arloiginla

Horrible coaching, they have no time of possession in the second half because they refuse to give Reynolds the football.

And it looks to you like Reynolds is healthy???
Obviously not... which is why he never hardly saw the ball other than returns - and that is simply because the Stamps very obviously have nothing else there with Howell hurt.

[OzSome]

Calgary defense won the game. Mike Labinjo 3 QB sacks, Shannon James 1 QB sack and 1 INT, and Charles Hughes 1 QB sack was all over the Eskimos OLine. Defense were pressuring Ricky Ray all night something that was lacking last game. DBs were punishing the receivers after the catch. No wonder Kamau started dropping the balls at the end. He was scared s**t. Aside from James, the LB crew did not have a good night. AJ Harris manhandled them.

Offense did well enough to win. The guy that I was questioning in the first half (Copeland) ended up becoming a hero with his late spectacular catches and TD. He too was the reason why Edmonton did not get possessions on Edmonton's short kick. Burris with his turf toe injury were good. Joffrey Reynolds must have been hurt or something that Calgary pretty much abandoned the run, When they run the ball, they put in Jon Cornish, Hats off to Nik Lewis. To everyone who doubt this guy's courage I have to say Lewis proved you wrong. He was so banged up with his hip injury but the guy never quit blocking and running.

Great win!!

[flames_fan_down_under]

Not the greatest game by the Stampeders, but our defense really stepped it up huge, and Burris threw a major strike to Rambo near the end. I really hope Copeland has turned his season around, before this game he was terrible, but really came to play and I am happy because of it. Go Stamps!

[arloiginla]

Originally Posted by EldrickOnIce

And it looks to you like Reynolds is healthy???
Obviously not... which is why he never hardly saw the ball other than returns - and that is simply because the Stamps very obviously have nothing else there with Howell hurt.

He didn't need to be returning kicks, Jon Cornish could have been given a shot as could have Rambo. Heck, even Copeland's returned a kick for a touchdown before. Nate Curry sucks (they need to cut him) but he was around too. How about Brett Ralph? He's shiftier than he seems, has underrated speed and isn't on the field on every offensive down so he would have had the legs.

Cornish did well running the ball when called upon...its not so much a fact of using Reynolds more, its running the ball more in general...ESPECIALLY when the passing game isn't working. Start putting the d-line on its heels, make the linebackers think twice before dropping into coverage. Nik Lewis was hurt. Ryan Thelwell got injured. They had practically no one left out there to catch the ball other than Copeland and Ralph, and they insisted on forcing the ball through the air, especially of the 25-30 yard variety when what they needed to do was control the ball, the clock, and keep the tired defense off the field a little longer. Good thing Copeland came up huge, or we'd be giving up on the season already.

This team isn't close to the one we saw before Labour Day. The secondary had its best game in ages and still they gave up a ton of big plays, especially on 2nd and 10. The d-line had a great 4th quarter but the 3rd was brutal.

And the offense has dried up, the run is being underutilized and Burris is forcing the ball a little bit...looks like last year.

And we know how well last year turned out...

[OILFAN #81]

Congrats on the win. A pretty sloppy game tonight but you guys made a few more plays then us (especially in the 2nd half) and deserve credit for that. I don't think either team was anywhere near their best tonight and it showed.

[SportsJunky]

The amount of dropped passes by Calgary recievers this year baffles me.

[Flickered Flame]

What a great win last night. A good character win by the Stamps as well with Reynolds, Thelwell, Lewis, and Armour all banged up. And Henry only ran the ball once at the end when he needed to.

[cSpooge]

Originally Posted by troutman

EDM sure seems to have a lot of "injuries" in the 3rd and 4th quarter. The last one looked legit, but the others seem like blatant attempts to stall.

The on-side kick rule is goofy - you should have to do more than touch the ball to get control of it.

CGY's special teams are bad (except for Sandro).

AJ Harris was the only thing working for EDM tonight, and CGY did nothing to take it away.

its not just on onside kicks... the last team to touch the ball on any fumble/lose ball before it goes out of bounds is given possession.

[EldrickOnIce]

Originally Posted by arloiginla

He didn't need to be returning kicks, Jon Cornish could have been given a shot as could have Rambo. Heck, even Copeland's returned a kick for a touchdown before. Nate Curry sucks (they need to cut him) but he was around too. How about Brett Ralph? He's shiftier than he seems, has underrated speed and isn't on the field on every offensive down so he would have had the legs.

Fair enough - I don't disagree. However, Reynolds is leading the CFL in average yards per kickoff return and I expect they were looking for more of the same.

Cornish did well running the ball when called upon...its not so much a fact of using Reynolds more, its running the ball more in general...ESPECIALLY when the passing game isn't working. Start putting the d-line on its heels, make the linebackers think twice before dropping into coverage. Nik Lewis was hurt. Ryan Thelwell got injured. They had practically no one left out there to catch the ball other than Copeland and Ralph, and they insisted on forcing the ball through the air, especially of the 25-30 yard variety when what they needed to do was control the ball, the clock, and keep the tired defense off the field a little longer. Good thing Copeland came up huge, or we'd be giving up on the season already.

A bit over dramatic, imo. I am guessing, that aside from finishing the season in first place, the easiest road to the Cup from the West will be through the crossover.

This team isn't close to the one we saw before Labour Day. The secondary had its best game in ages and still they gave up a ton of big plays, especially on 2nd and 10. The d-line had a great 4th quarter but the 3rd was brutal.

Good offenses will make big plays.... and that is a good offense. But in the CFL when you force any teams number one offensive threat to be their running back, particularly a team like Edmonton, then you have done an outstanding job both with the defensive game plan and with the execution.

And the offense has dried up, the run is being underutilized and Burris is forcing the ball a little bit...looks like last year.

Reynolds leads the league in carries and yards... or certainly did before getting hurt on Monday and was on pace to smash his previous personal records for carries, yards and TD's. Hard to convince me that is underutilizing the running game in general.
The offese hasn't dried up - putting it in the endzone has though. Despite that, Calgary ranks right at the top of the league in nearly all offensive categories. Burris is hitting on 66% of his passes and has a QB ranking of 100. Hell, even yesterday when he was "forcing the ball" (as you say) he still had a tidy 300+ yard game with 3TD's and no int's - which I expect any quaterback in any league will take any day.

Do the Stamps have a LOT to work on and improve?
You bet.
Are they likely to win it all this year?
Probably not.
Are they headed in the right direction?
Absolutely. Except for an embarassing team performance labor day(and those things do happen) they have been getting better and better as the season goes on. That was their third straight road win - something they haven't done in a long, long time. Clearly this team is starting to come of age - and that will mean very good things going forward... but there will still be some bumps along the way.

They have played solid, entertaining football this season and I am prepared to give them a bit more time to learn from their hiccups.... as it seems to me they are - and they never, ever did under Higgins and not really since Wally was run out of town.

Cheers to a great rest of the CFL (and mostly Stampeders) season.