GAME 2: STAMPEDERS at Hamilton

[Erick Estrada]

Character win. Lot's of things didn't go right but the team hang in there and gutted it out. IMO the game ball goes to the run defense. Cobb went absolutely nowhere today and the Cats had to depend on all their yards through the air.

[OzSome]

Originally Posted by Erick Estrada

Well that terrible 2nd down call may be the Stampeders undoing. Why not just QB sneak to move the chains, run down the clock and get into FG position? Why make things so difficult. Different co-ordinator but same puzzling calls.

What?? Reynolds did what he needs to do by going down in the middle. What's wrong with that call?

[OzSome]

Rob Maver the new kicker in Cowtown ... that's what Nik Lewis said... then later on he said ...
SANDRO who??

hahaha!! Classic Nik Lewis

[flamingreen]

Originally Posted by OzSome

What?? Reynolds did what he needs to do by going down in the middle. What's wrong with that call?

He was talking about the 2nd last stamps drive when they were 2nd and 2.

[Erick Estrada]

Originally Posted by OzSome

What?? Reynolds did what he needs to do by going down in the middle. What's wrong with that call?

That post was made way back before the last drive.

[Bertuzzied]

Wow that was some vertical by Brandon Browner.

I think that Sandro might have gotten that kick with the wind behind him.

Too bad he cost the Ticats the game with his 2 earlier misses. hehehheehe

[octothorp]

Great result. If the Stamps are to have a great season, they need to win a lot of games ugly like this. Key play of the game was that first and goal stand from the 2 stand that the Stamps had.

[OzSome]

Well the Offensive Line bounced back in the 2nd half and so as the receivers. Not many mistakes either. It was a good win for the Stamps. As we all remember Stamps usually lose the game in Hamilton no matter how good or crappy the Ticats are.

I thought DB Brandon Smith did a good job playing against Aralnd Bruce today. Most of Bruce's catches came against Dwight Anderson. Stamps defense played well overall and when it counts. Big stop on the 3rd down gamble at the end zone. That was awesome because if it wasn't for that, the Ticats would have win the game.

Nice ending for the game. Sandro hit the field goal with over a minute to go. Ticats ahead by 2. Then Calgary marched the ball to where the new kicker Rob Maver will be comfortable. In front of his family and friends Rob Maver made the field goal. What a feeling for that man. Calgary ahead by 1. Last few seconds in the game, Sandro attempt to kick the field goal long range. I believed it was Brandon Browner blocked the kick. What no 'too many men' penalty?? Ooops wait, that only happens to the Riders. hehehe!

Stamps is now 2-0 for the season. Next up is against Toronto Argonauts in TO.

[Azure]

Originally Posted by Erick Estrada

I'll watch the game but it's pretty well going to be a garenteed loss. First of all the Stampeders play horribly in Ivor Wynne regardless of how competitive the Ti-Cats are. Second of all it's only game two and every season since Hank has been back the offense performs like junk until the 4/5 game mark. It was garbage again against Toronto which would have been a loss against any other CFL team and I don't see it getting into gear in these two Ontario road games.

[Erick Estrada]

Originally Posted by Azure

Let's not get ahead of ourselves. It was a win by the narrowest margins and there are still issues with special teams and on offense however hard to complain about any sort of win in this stadium.

Hopefully they can remain focussed for the short week against a beatable Argos team that actually looked pretty good last night. Lemon looks like be could become a competent CFL QB. Special teams will have to be better.

[Azure]

Its only game 2 though, and they won despite those problems, which I agree are an issue.

As time goes on they'll get better, and its a plus being 2-0 to start off the season. This will help the confidence of some of the players who have stepped up this year. Including a certain someone who kicked the winning field goal.

[Bertuzzied]

Whenever Kevin Glen starts a game the other team is automatically the favorite.

[red '00]

Did anyone else really enjoy watching DeAngelis struggle?? The guy really turned into a self-absorbed ass after his big game in the Grey Cup. Was kind of hoping Dales would give him another shiner before he left town.

As for all that stuff about leaving for Hamilton because it gave him the best chance to win another cup.... BS.... Stamps are better than the Cats, they just didn't want to pay out the ass for what was becoming a locker room cancer.

[Flickered Flame]

Couple of comments on what I have seen through 2 games this season.

First of all, the Stamps seem to be a relatively conservative offence. Lots of Reynolds, which is great, and lots of short to middle range passes. That really increases the completion percentage for Hank. They haven't taken a lot of chances deep down the field. If the receivers wouldn't have dropped 4 or 5 balls today, Hank's percentage could have been around 75% instead of the 65% that it was at today.

The defence is much better than what I thought it would be, they really haven't given up the big play. The run stopping was excellent today, I believe they held the Cats to less than 50 yards on the ground. I know that Cobb had less than 40. Hopefully they can keep playing well.

Special teams is my biggest concern. The field goal unit is fine and Maver is going to make everyone forget about Sandro in a hurry. The punt coverage team is brutal.

Sandro's missed field goal in the 3rd q today was the difference in the game. If he hits that kick the Cats go up 22-13 but instead Murphy returned the missed FG all the way to the Hamilton 15 or so and the Stamps punched it in on the next play I think. That was a 10 point swing in a matter of seconds.

The Stamps have a very good chance to be 3-0 after next Wednesday's game vs the Argos.

I wanted to add that the coaches deserve a lot of credit in this win. Whatever adjustments they made at the half to the o-line was awesome. The latter half of the 2nd q Burris was under all kinds of trouble but he wasn't pressured very much in the 2nd half.

[arloiginla]

Stamps team looks similar to the teams of the last few years. Starts the season off slowly and has all sorts of problems with red zone efficiency and special teams.

All that being said, this is a game that the Stamps of the last few years would have lost. You have to win ugly sometimes.

Anyways they are 2-0 but have a lot of work to do still as they could just as easily be 0-2. Still though great character win - it is worth them blowing my proline ticket to see them pull this one out.

[Erick Estrada]

Originally Posted by Bertuzzied

Whenever Kevin Glen starts a game the other team is automatically the favorite.

To me Kevin Glenn is a lot like Buck Pierce. At times can look really good but really not good enough to win the big games.

[browna]

Again, this is the CFL. 16 more games, and even then with a .500 record after that, you're still likley in the playoffs...from there win 2 and you're in the Grey Cup.
Plenty of football left...they're going to lose some where they look like crap, lose the odd one where they're the better team, and win a lot of games both looking good and looking average...but average is a relative term in the CFL.

[Azure]

Originally Posted by browna

Again, this is the CFL. 16 more games, and even then with a .500 record after that, you're still likley in the playoffs...from there win 2 and you're in the Grey Cup.
Plenty of football left...they're going to lose some where they look like crap, lose the odd one where they're the better team, and win a lot of games both looking good and looking average...but average is a relative term in the CFL.

True.

But better to be slightly above average and miss the quarter final game. Winning the first 2 games, when you possibly could have lost at least one for sure is good, and may make the difference at the end of the season between a berth in the semi-finals or not.