GDT Mtl at Cgy, Thu July 24, 8:00PM

[TecnoGenius]

you have mills and your dont run for the first down?

Mills was getting stuffed on 1st most of 2nd H.  And royally getting stuffed on 1st when Walker came in.  As in 0 yards on most plays.

I think Dickenson called it correctly.  He just had a green QB who clearly had no idea what he was doing.

We've found CGY's achilles heel: VAJ to IR means no winna da gamez.  They spent the whole budget on all the star (mostly D) players and OL.  Nothing leftover for even a Strev-level backup QB.

[TecnoGenius]

Great kick by Maltos. Als with a 2 point lead late.

Maltos needs a most-improved label.  In his 1st season he missed like everything and couldn't make a kick from beyond the 40 to save his life.  It was embarrassing.

This season he's been money, maybe the best FG avg in the league?  Good for him.

[TecnoGenius]

They've got some dirtbags on that team.

CGY is clearly "pulling a SSK" by having the players poke & prod & pull at piles after whistles.  Goading opponents into losing their temper.  It's so obvious it isn't even funny.

Gotta just ignore them.

[TecnoGenius]

I'm wondering now if Calgary was a much better team than they showed in the past few years. Maybe the difference is moving on from Maier and picking up Vernon Adams.

VAJ is half the puzzle.  Their D is vastly improved though.  And their REC corps is superb compared to last year.  Oh ya, and when that normal RT is in I think they are the best OL.  Miles above ours.

Those over-6'2 RECs (3 of them?  4?) are making a huge difference.  That Alford guy is money, and costs them nothing.  If he's hammy-IR it could put a dent in their points-for.

That's the problem with over 6'4 RECs: they get hurt all the time in weird ways.  Their bodies just break.  Think Eric Rogers.

[TecnoGenius]

We don't have anyone who's 6'5", but Schoen, Wheatfall, Clercius, are all 6'1" or higher and Demski is shorter but stocky as hell. Our receiver height is not an issue.

It is when other teams are fielding taller DBs.  And it's even worse when our shorter DBs (we never hire on height for DBs) are 5 to 10" shorter than opponent RECs.

AND even worse than that when their tall RECs are stocky/heavy and can just out-muscle body-block the DBs and catch in front of them, like Eric Rogers always used to do to us.

[TecnoGenius]

VAJ looked concussed and messed up ankle (from the 1st half).  However, he looked no worse than Zach with his last hit, so he'll probably be back.  If he takes 1-3 games off (which CGY can afford to do), then that will really help us keep pace in the W.

[Pigskin]

The number 1 and 2 Ds battling it out was nice to watch. I don't think Walker is the answer if VA is out for an extended period of time.

[Jesse]

It is when other teams are fielding taller DBs.  And it's even worse when our shorter DBs (we never hire on height for DBs) are 5 to 10" shorter than opponent RECs.

AND even worse than that when their tall RECs are stocky/heavy and can just out-muscle body-block the DBs and catch in front of them, like Eric Rogers always used to do to us. tryin

I feel like that's more narrative than what we've seen to be true. This year has been a struggle so we're trying to find reasons, but going back many seasons, we've always had an elite pass defence and our DBs weren't any bigger.

And this conversation was about our receivers, and Calgary fielding multiple guys 5'9" and shorter who played critical roles in the game. We're trying to find easy solutions to difficult problems but this ain't it, imo.

[TBURGESS]

Montreal is better than we are, even with their backup QB. 
If Toronto can hang with Montreal for the whole game, then they are much better than their record. 
I'm starting to worry about this game. 

[markf]

He's sometime on the bad side, but

When he's on M. Bethel Thompson  can really see the field, adjust, and throw the ball.

hitting receivers in stride, not locking on one player...

He did a great head fake last night, looking right looking right, then.... quick throw to the left.

Too bad he seems to lose focus now and then. 

I'd say Jason Maas /calvillo know a lot about quarterbacks.. and how to get the most out of a given player.

I was hoping we'd have that with Jarious,

[Throw Long Bannatyne]

I feel like that's more narrative than what we've seen to be true. This year has been a struggle so we're trying to find reasons, but going back many seasons, we've always had an elite pass defence and our DBs weren't any bigger.

And this conversation was about our receivers, and Calgary fielding multiple guys 5'9" and shorter who played critical roles in the game. We're trying to find easy solutions to difficult problems but this ain't it, imo.

That Snead is currently the best little receiver in the league, he's got Dressler down.

[TecnoGenius]

That Snead is currently the best little receiver in the league, he's got Dressler down.

Ya, did you see that lay out for the too-far-thrown ball for a completion?  Used to be a daily thing back in the days of Dressler, among many RECs.  No, not so much.

(Cough cough Schoen, cough.  Rename him to Never Lay Out Schoen.)

[TecnoGenius]

Montreal is better than we are, even with their backup QB.
If Toronto can hang with Montreal for the whole game, then they are much better than their record.
I'm starting to worry about this game.

Ya, no poop.  Add in to that that these 2 games are kind of "must win" for TOR.  They ar falling so far behind in the East when they probably would be #1 (certainly #2) with Kelly.

TOR will be whipping them up into a frenzy for this one and I expect them to smash us in the mouth from play 1.  Sure, we could try to smash back, but we have no morale and no momentum.

I think if we're extremely lucky (or find solutions) we can win the @home game, but this away game may be a bridge too far.

Vegas has picked WPG to win handily, if you're into that sort of thing... I guess it'll take another 2 losses in 3 games for Vegas to realize we suck.

[TecnoGenius]

I feel like that's more narrative than what we've seen to be true. This year has been a struggle so we're trying to find reasons, but going back many seasons, we've always had an elite pass defence and our DBs weren't any bigger.

Ya, but the RECs we were facing weren't giants last year.  McInnis and Cottoy were probably the biggest "famous" ones, and we figured them out (because they aren't that good and basically run the same 3 routes over and over).  That other tall guy in CGY Jones wasn't being used right.  And Rhymes was somewhere else and neutered (looked done, really).

Hmm, maybe it's not so much the RECs are giants as Dave Dickeson really knows how to utilize a big body and the other teams don't?  But now it's like he has 3 Eric Rogers all starting.  It's going to be tough to defeat when VAJ is slinging it.

As for DBs, short or otherwise, the main problem is if you have just one struggling, your whole D game is doomed.  Because smart OCs will send every mid/deep shot that direction.

We did much better in previous years because our worst DB was still ok.  Even Bonds early in '24 was doing better than Bridges, and he wasn't exactly great.  Still isn't.

[GOLDMEMBER]

Ya, did you see that lay out for the too-far-thrown ball for a completion?  Used to be a daily thing back in the days of Dressler, among many RECs.  No, not so much.

(Cough cough Schoen, cough.  Rename him to Never Lay Out Schoen.)

bless you