Quote:
Originally Posted by troutman
Yup. Henry has to take a sack or throw it away. Forcing things results in turn-overs.
CGY didn't deserve to be in that game. Only special teams and the rain kept it close. MTL was moving the ball at will, whenever it wasn't raining.
Joffrey needs more touches. Defence will take time to gel. O-Line was missing two key players.
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Fully agree with the Hank comment, disagree about the Joffrey touches comments in the sense that I don't believe that they intended to pass so often going into the game. When you're down 20 points before your second series on offense, it dramatically changes the playbook in favor of the pass. I would argue that he would have touched the ball way more times in a situation where they didn't start so behind the 8-ball.
I rack up the loss to two things:
1. Flat start, The defence got man-handled by MTL in the first half because they simply were not as intense and failed to match the 'compete-level intensity' that the Als were displaying early on. Sometimes when you beat a team all three times you played them the previous year including in the Grey Cup final it serves only to make the opposition more determined and the Stamps more complacent. Once the Stamps pulled within a touchdown the defence started hitting hard and playing better on the line.
2. The reason why they had the best record in the CFL and won the Grey Cup last year over contenders like BC and MTL is because the Stamps simplified the game and focused on execution. The result was dramatically lower turnovers and other less-prepared teams made more costly mistakes. (Last night Montreal provided the Stamps with 2 blocked punts, and a touchdown kick return, one fumble inside field goal range and an interception at mid-field, even a useless offense that didn't turn over the football would have won last night. Burris really needs to settle down and not try to do too much. Often in the CFL the other team will beat themselves if you give them enough rope to hang themselves. The key is to not beat them to the noose.)
Another beef: Last night, what does the team do it's first offensive possesion of the season? A brand new never before tried in a game situation 'Wild Cat' formation that results in a botched snap for a 13 yard loss.
RANT Start
WTF is Cortez thinking: You're already down 7-0, these guys have been practicing less than a month and some of the guys are brand new CFL football let alone to the team and you're running an unconventional gadget play the first play of the 2009 season? Killed any second down attempt being 23 yards from the marker and spotted Montreal good field position against a shell-shocked defense less than 2 minutes after they gave up an easy touchdown. I thought this set the tone for what followed.
RANT END
