(Photo courtesy: Toronto Argonauts)
The regular season is winding down and the Argonauts are focused on maintaining their health and edge. In an earlier post I suggested that they should continue to start Chad Kelly each game but not play him more than a half. In fact if they can get into a rhythm and go up by two touchdowns they ought to pull him even earlier. There is simply no upside to him playing beyond a half, only catastrophic risk. If he sustains a serious injury it's all over but the crying.
It took two plus quarters for the offence to get into that rhythm against the Redblacks. You also saw Kelly appearing to get upset on the sideline when it looked like he might be pulled from the game. This is nothing new for Argo QBs and coaches, MBT normalized this the last couple of seasons. The Argo bench was high drama last year but, minus a few volatile personalities, not so much this season. I have to think that Dinwiddie wanted to pull Kelly earlier but was waiting for a sign of more consistency from the offence. It took longer than one might have expected against Ottawa.
Nine sacks for the Argo defence! Are you kidding me?! To be honest, I was impressed that Dustin Crum stood up as well as he did against all that pressure. I think Ottawa would be foolish to give up on him. They can't seriously expect Jeremiah Masoli to be their starter next season. Crum was arguably Ottawa's fourth string QB going into the season. Nevertheless, he has put up an admirable 90 passer rating despite being sacked a league worst 56 times going into the game versus the Argos (thanks for the lagging stats CFL). Ottawa needs to make their offensive line their top priority this off season. They actually have some depth at QB if they can ever get them healthy. Ottawa played like a rookie laden and coached team this season. Like Edmonton they let some big leads and games slip through their fingers.
Speaking of Edmonton, they did it again and managed to snatch defeat from the jaws of victory against Montreal. Once again Tre Ford made them the most exciting team to watch. In what is essentially his rookie season Ford has put up a stellar 103 passer rating and a 2 to 1 TD to INT ratio, the same as Chad Kelly. Despite the fact that Chris Jones waited far too long to put Ford on the field they actually would be in playoff position if they had a defence that could hold a lead. Like Ottawa, Edmonton has suffered from poor coaching decisions this season. The difference is that Bob Dyce has an excuse, he is a rookie head coach and should be expected to make some errors in judgement. Jones' personnel decisions at QB ruined their playoff prospects by mid season.
Great to see Dane Evans stick it to the Ti-Cats. In similarly limited action to Bo Levi Mitchell, Evans has put up a 92 passer rating this year while BLM has put up just 68. In a reversal from last season Evans has protected the ball well, tossing only three INTs while Mitchell has thrown 10 INTs against just six TDs.
Saskatchewan and Calgary were awful again. Enough said.
Don't call me on my cell phone
There has been lots of speculation over the last few years about why Drake shows no hotline bling for the Argos. He is nothing if not conscious of his brand. You can be sure that the marketing department at MLSE has suggested more than once that he lends his considerable online profile to promote the Argonauts. It is puzzling that the TO native whose neighborhood was actually "DeGrassi" growing up, can't find BMO. I couldn't help but notice that Drake's six year old son Adonis released his first single, My Man Freestyle, this week. Perhaps the Argos should skip to Degrassi, the next generation, and invite Adonis to perform at BMO for the family zone. That's if his dad can find BMO Field.