The Good, the Bad and the Ugly

[pjrocksmb]

Still need to do the rewatch, but I wanted to mention right away:

7 hoggie OL schemes -- LOVIN' IT!  Wow, that clock-killing massive all-run drive was so much fun to watch.  Many sets with all 7 hoggies in.  Some looks with Gray out on end.  One with Gray half back to the QB!?!?  Zany.  Our run game was simply unstoppable for that drive.  I literally could not put down the binoculars; just chuckling and watching substitutions and schemes for 10 mins, calling all the weird stuff out to my son, and all the rest of the crowd around who probably thought I was nuts.

Now I see where Buck and co have been putting all their brain energy.  It's clock-killing and run plays.  Tons of new wrinkles vs last year.  Gonna be so much fun to rewatch on TV.  I hope they do it justice with lots of pre-snap views and angles.

Heaven help every other team if we get up by 10+ on them in the 2nd half.  Now, can we do the same for the quality of our passing game and pass pro...

Jumbo worked ace.  They knew we would run 4th Q but couldn't stop it.  When the snow flies if our run game is like this, can't touch us!

[TecnoGenius]

Does it seem like to anyone else that there's a lot of aggressive and poor sportsmanship from every defence we've played this year? Our offence must be doing an amazing job of really irritating opposing defences.
Still though Micah Awe of the Stamps didn't need to run around into the backfield on a kneel down to take a shot. its completely unnecessary in victory formation situations. Just straight poor sportsmanship.

I'm torn on this one.  I think we started V formation with 48s left?  Coaches have said on TSN the magic number is 44s.  Beyond that your have goof around a bit to eat up the extra few seconds (see Zach's final dance).

So Stamps not "respecting" the V formation is somewhat valid.  Technically they should have been able to get the ball back for a few secs.  In the past I've seen Dickenson The Greater yelling at his guys to get after the ball in V formation.  He doesn't want them to give any "freebies" to the other team.

Anyhow, what he did is not UR or misconduct in any manner.  It's football, it's a live ball, the O will have to waste extra seconds, you don't have to sit there and take it if you don't want to.  This is why it wasn't flagged.

This situation is a bit more controversial maybe because Stamps were behind by an impossible score.  So that makes it a bit douche-ier.

But if people don't like it, the only way I see to fix it is to have the league make a rule.  Codify the "magic number" for a (no timeout) V, and forbid contact.  If you want to screw around above that magic number, you can't complain about hits.

[TecnoGenius]

But that?s Micah Awe , he?s always been a cheap ,dirty player, I d expect nothing different from him

That is true.  Awe has been a nasty player for over 5 years.  Part of the reason I didn't want to sign him.  But I wouldn't go so far as to put him in the same "dirty" category as Simoni or Marino.  He's more like somewhere between Loffler and Diallo.

[dd]

I certainly would put him in the Marino category. He?s always head hunting guys and making dangerous hits to the head. I just don?t like the dude and having him come on your team compromises the integrity of your team and am surprised Calgary signed him, I thought they had more class than that

[Throw Long Bannatyne]

That is true.  Awe has been a nasty player for over 5 years.  Part of the reason I didn't want to sign him.  But I wouldn't go so far as to put him in the same "dirty" category as Simoni or Marino.  He's more like somewhere between Loffler and Diallo.

I would never mention Loffler a dirty player, he hit hard but within the rules and always maintained his composure, intimidating yes, but he was no more dirty than BA.

[TecnoGenius]

I would never mention Loffler a dirty player, he hit hard but within the rules and always maintained his composure, intimidating yes, but he was no more dirty than BA.

I never said Loffler was dirty, I said he was more on the nasty side of the sliding scale.

If you think Loffler was of equal nastiness as BA, you're not remembering the insane number of penalties Loffler took.  He definitely played more on the edge than BA.  Loffler is part of the reason the CFL kept tightening up the UR rules and interpretations.

And I loved Loffler, and thought most of his hits were ok, but that's just me.  This isn't a dig on Loffler, I was just using the popular players that came to mind I thought best represented my idea of a scale/ranking.

[dd]

I would never mention Loffler a dirty player, he hit hard but within the rules and always maintained his composure, intimidating yes, but he was no more dirty than BA.

Loffler was a hard hitting safety that crossed line line frequently. I remember his helmet to helmet hit on manny arsenault and that was about as bad as they could get for hits to the head.

[Sir Blue and Gold]

Loffler was a hard hitting safety that crossed line line frequently. I remember his helmet to helmet hit on manny arsenault and that was about as bad as they could get for hits to the head.

Loffler just needed to play the game 20 years ago.

[theaardvark]

The ugly was running your injury prone 157lb league all star returner between the tackles.  Sorry, Buck, but that was a very bad move.  Demski, sure.  Even McCrae, he's an RB used to being in there.  But Grant?  Just no.  Fly sweep, pass in the flat in space, sure.  Use him on O.  But between the tackles?  Ouch.

[Pigskin]

The ugly was running your injury prone 157lb league all star returner between the tackles.  Sorry, Buck, but that was a very bad move.  Demski, sure.  Even McCrae, he's an RB used to being in there.  But Grant?  Just no.  Fly sweep, pass in the flat in space, sure.  Use him on O.  But between the tackles?  Ouch.

I think everyone in the stadium knows when Grant lines up as a receiver we are running a sweep. Need to fake it a few times to make that work. 

[Blue In BC]

The ugly was running your injury prone 157lb league all star returner between the tackles.  Sorry, Buck, but that was a very bad move.  Demski, sure.  Even McCrae, he's an RB used to being in there.  But Grant?  Just no.  Fly sweep, pass in the flat in space, sure.  Use him on O.  But between the tackles?  Ouch.

Maybe. Players get injured all the time. Have you seen the hits Grant has taken at full speed as a returner?  Receivers and offensive players running sweeps get clocked at times as well.

Contact sport. Expect injuries.

[theaardvark]

Maybe. Players get injured all the time. Have you seen the hits Grant has taken at full speed as a returner?  Receivers and offensive players running sweeps get clocked at times as well.

Contact sport. Expect injuries.

No issues with the hits he takes as a returner.  Few are delivered by 300+ pound linemen.  And rarely is the opportunity for a 300+ pounder to "roll up on him"

My issue is the play call putting him in proximity of a battlezone of behemoths.  Like I said, McCrae is used to that, and its where he has made his living.  Grant is a pure speed guy, and plowing through giants is not his game.  That he got injured doing this is a bad play call, and I hope it was at the very least a learning moment for Buck.

[Blue In BC]

No issues with the hits he takes as a returner.  Few are delivered by 300+ pound linemen.  And rarely is the opportunity for a 300+ pounder to "roll up on him"

My issue is the play call putting him in proximity of a battlezone of behemoths.  Like I said, McCrae is used to that, and its where he has made his living.  Grant is a pure speed guy, and plowing through giants is not his game.  That he got injured doing this is a bad play call, and I hope it was at the very least a learning moment for Buck.

There are few 300 lb defensive players.

[LXTSN]

I actually like him getting the sweep runs to mix it up a bit.
But the runs straight up the gut, I don't really understand...

[Throw Long Bannatyne]

No issues with the hits he takes as a returner.  Few are delivered by 300+ pound linemen.  And rarely is the opportunity for a 300+ pounder to "roll up on him"

My issue is the play call putting him in proximity of a battlezone of behemoths.  Like I said, McCrae is used to that, and its where he has made his living.  Grant is a pure speed guy, and plowing through giants is not his game.  That he got injured doing this is a bad play call, and I hope it was at the very least a learning moment for Buck.

Agree, that particular play call was needless and dumb, Grant has spent a good bit of time on the IR during his career, it's important to limit the potential for damage as he's exceptionally valuable to the team as a returner.  It's the same reason teams try not to use starting QB's for 3rd down sneaks, it adds no benefit and increases the chance of a key player getting injured.