CFL: 2017 Grey Cup Thread

[blueandgoldguy]

I always get a chuckle out of baxterman's posts. Toronto scores a fluky 100 yard td on a pass?! lol. That was a perfect pass by Ricky Ray laying it right in there for the receiver at full speed.

Bo Levi Mitchell is a Grey Cup interception machine! 4 INTS in 2 Grey Cup games. Reilly sure didn't blow it like Mitchell did in the 2015 Grey Cup.

Even with the most egregious non-call in the game - an obvious pass interference call on Calgary that would have extended Toronto's drive deep into Calgary territory - Toronto still managed a victory.

You can really see the difference in the clutch abilities of Ricky Ray vs. Bovine Mitchell. Ray calmly leads the Argos down the field for a short field goal...the only issue I had with that drive is Ray passing it on second down...should have run it and take the clock down to 25 or so seconds after the field goal....fewer plays for Calgary.

Mitchell marches the Stamps down the field and foolishly throws into double coverage at the end of the drive to lose the game with an INT. Yes, the play was called by the OC but it's Mitchell's job to recognize there is little chance for the Stamp receiver to make the catch with the coverage. He failed and the Stamps lost end of story.

 

[Baxterman]

LOL

Ray was so clutch that if Jorden just falls down he loses by putting up one of the most pathetic offensive displays in GC history.

Yes that pass was lucky because if Campbell plays it correctly he tackles the receiver in Argo territory and the Argos punt the balk like they did all game long.

The initial pass was fine but no way it should have gone 100 yards.

 

[These Are The Days]

You're naive if you think there wouldn't be any more running plays with a 4-down game. Please don't suggest anything so silly in a CFL thread again. Maybe I should go in one of the NFL threads and tell them to change the rules so there are no yards on punts rather than having something asinine like the punting team being allowed to recover the ball.

I didn't say there would not be more running plays. I said there would still be a chance to pass the ball and to take risks on an extra down and also that changing of possession would likely be as a result of scoring. Larger field + more downs = more difficult to defend. Do that and there's bound to be scoring

 

[c9777666]

So is Bo-Levi basically Calvillo before 2009- all stats, no rings?

Until ‘09, he always seemed to be great until the big game.

 

[Baxterman]

So is Bo-Levi basically Calvillo before 2009- all stats, no rings?

Until ‘09, he always seemed to be great until the big game.

He has a ring.

Also again he was by far the best player in this game so seems kind of silly to blame him.

 

[Rhaegar Targaryen]

As much as you wanna give the winning team a lot of credit, I gotta agree with Bax here. That game was more of a Calgary loss than a Toronto win. They controlled this game, and their mistakes cost them the game.

Ricky Ray wasn’t very clutch, he wasn’t that great in this game at all.

 

[c9777666]

With all due respect to Ricky Ray, I thought Henry Burris played better in last year’s Grey Cup

 

[Kyle McMahon]

I always get a chuckle out of baxterman's posts. Toronto scores a fluky 100 yard td on a pass?! lol. That was a perfect pass by Ricky Ray laying it right in there for the receiver at full speed.

Bo Levi Mitchell is a Grey Cup interception machine! 4 INTS in 2 Grey Cup games. Reilly sure didn't blow it like Mitchell did in the 2015 Grey Cup.

Even with the most egregious non-call in the game - an obvious pass interference call on Calgary that would have extended Toronto's drive deep into Calgary territory - Toronto still managed a victory.

You can really see the difference in the clutch abilities of Ricky Ray vs. Bovine Mitchell. Ray calmly leads the Argos down the field for a short field goal...the only issue I had with that drive is Ray passing it on second down...should have run it and take the clock down to 25 or so seconds after the field goal....fewer plays for Calgary.

Mitchell marches the Stamps down the field and foolishly throws into double coverage at the end of the drive to lose the game with an INT. Yes, the play was called by the OC but it's Mitchell's job to recognize there is little chance for the Stamp receiver to make the catch with the coverage. He failed and the Stamps lost end of story.

Good summary.

I wouldn't typically wish a gut-punch collapse like that on any fan...but I think there's one exception here. After all the ridiculous trash-talk we saw out of a certain fan in here, it's fitting that Choke-Levi blows the Grey Cup with a horrendous pick. And he'd actually had a great game up until that moment. But with the game on the line, he came up small. Just like last year. Mike Reilly never throws that INT in that situation. Never.

I will agree with the sentiment that Toronto is a fairly undeserving Grey Cup winner though. Don't get me wrong, there's a huge smile on my face right now. But in 120 minutes of playoff football, Toronto showed a pulse for about 10 of them. It took a pretty unbelievable turn of events to win this game, and even the Eastern Final for that matter. Marc Trestman has stumbled ass-backward into another Grey Cup.

Not sure what's in the water down in Calgary though. Another 1st place season, another choke in the Grey Cup to a vastly inferior opponent. It's hard to fathom that they're one iffy holding penalty away from having 0 Grey Cup wins to show for a four-year run of .800 football.

 

[Kyle McMahon]

Makes me hate Maas more for his stupid decision making.

Coaching was not in fine form in the CFL post-season this year, that's for sure.

But yeah. Still burns me. I'm almost certain the Eskimos beat Toronto today if Maas had only given them the chance. The Argonauts were far from great today. Calgary gave this game away. I doubt Mike Reilly would have.

 

[Rhaegar Targaryen]

With all due respect to Ricky Ray, I thought Henry Burris played better in last year’s Grey Cup

I’m a Redblacks fan, but I feel no bias when I say I agree 100%. He threw, what, 3 TDS? Rushed in two on his own. 400+ yards. On a messed up knee. He had one of the best Grey Cups in a long time.

 

[Baxterman]

Good summary.

I wouldn't typically wish a gut-punch collapse like that on any fan...but I think there's one exception here. After all the ridiculous trash-talk we saw out of a certain fan in here, it's fitting that Choke-Levi blows the Grey Cup with a horrendous pick. And he'd actually had a great game up until that moment. But with the game on the line, he came up small. Just like last year. Mike Reilly never throws that INT in that situation. Never.

LOL

If I am the fan you are talking about save your breath, this loss doesn't bother me as I stopped caring about the team long ago. Sorry to burst your bubble but I am fine right now with a smile on my face laughing that you think I had some sort of gut-punch loss.

And the biggest reason Reilly doesn't throw that INT is because he isn't close to good enough to be in that spot in the first place.

 

[Baxterman]

Not sure what's in the water down in Calgary though. Another 1st place season, another choke in the Grey Cup to a vastly inferior opponent. It's hard to fathom that they're one iffy holding penalty away from having 0 Grey Cup wins to show for a four-year run of .800 football.

Are you talking about the blocking in the back penalty on Taylor Reed that was a textbook penalty or the 2-3 other penalties the Ti-Cats took on that play that weren't called?

Unbelievable fans still try to spin that as some ref screw job when it took 3 (at least) penalties to get Banks the TD.

 

[cutchemist42]

That game was fun.

 

[c9777666]

Not sure what's in the water down in Calgary though. Another 1st place season, another choke in the Grey Cup to a vastly inferior opponent. It's hard to fathom that they're one iffy holding penalty away from having 0 Grey Cup wins to show for a four-year run of .800 football.

Wouldn't be the first time that happened. Calgary had 1 Grey Cup amidst a 4 year run of .790 football with Doug Flutie.

 

[Kyle McMahon]

LOL

If I am the fan you are talking about save your breath, this loss doesn't bother me as I stopped caring about the team long ago. Sorry to burst your bubble but I am fine right now with a smile on my face laughing that you think I had some sort of gut-punch loss.

And the biggest reason Reilly doesn't throw that INT is because he isn't close to good enough to be in that spot in the first place.

For somebody that allegedly doesn't care about the CFL or the Stamps, you sure spent a lot of time in here this year talking junk about every other team and blaming the refs for every single thing that didn't go Calgary's way. Just sayin'...

That loss is a total gut-punch to any fan who truly cares about his football teams. I feel bad for a lot of those Stamps fans that have seen their team find a new way to blow it. Nearly 30 years of almost uninterupted regular season dominance, but only 5 Grey Cups to show for it. That's fine, but really only maybe one more than you're statistically probable to win in a mostly 8/9 team league. For many fans, the missed opportunities sting as bad as the victories feel good.

Sure don't feel sorry for a dicks like Jerome Messam though. Amusing to see McDaniel drive the bus right over top of Jordan for the fumble. The same McDaniel that could have maybe tackled Vaughn before the endzone with any reasonable effort. Or Bo-Levi, who was pointing plenty of fingers after last year's choke job. To his credit, he owned it this year.

Wonder what you do for next year if you're Hufnagel and Dickenson? The team has gone 28-6-2 the last two years. Can't get any better than that. But damn, another loss to weak Eastern team...and this one was in the bag.

 

[saskriders]

So is Bo-Levi basically Calvillo before 2009- all stats, no rings?

Until ‘09, he always seemed to be great until the big game.

Not sure what's in the water down in Calgary though. Another 1st place season, another choke in the Grey Cup to a vastly inferior opponent. It's hard to fathom that they're one iffy holding penalty away from having 0 Grey Cup wins to show for a four-year run of .800 football.

I was thinking of the parallel between the 2000s Als and the Stamps of the last ~10 years too. Both teams that were probably the best in the league during that span. But both have been chokers in the playoffs. Montreal went 3 and 5 in Grey Cups (after starting out 1 and 5 too) and since 2008 Calgary is now 2 and 3 in Grey Cups. Hell, both of them even got a Grey Cup gifted to them by the losing team taking a stupid penalty late.

Are you talking about the blocking in the back penalty on Taylor Reed that was a textbook penalty or the 2-3 other penalties the Ti-Cats took on that play that weren't called?

Unbelievable fans still try to spin that as some ref screw job when it took 3 (at least) penalties to get Banks the TD.

It was definitely a hold. But it also had no impact on the play, and the Stamps were very lucky that someone took the dumb penalty that would have likely swung the game the other way.

 

[Kyle McMahon]

Wouldn't be the first time that happened. Calgary had 1 Grey Cup amidst a 4 year run of .790 football with Doug Flutie.

Yup, this has been going on for three decades nearly. Ironic that they won that Grey Cup in 2001 with Marcus freaking Crandell at QB in what was actually one of their worst seasons since 1990.

I really do hope the CFL finally has serious talks about changing the playoff format though. While today will go down in Grey Cup lore, Toronto should not have been in this game today. They just shouldn't have. It's ridiculous that the Western teams have to scratch and claw just to make a division final while for the second year in a row an Eastern team without a winning record gets gifted a place in the Grey Cup, where as we have seen, anything can happen.

 

[c9777666]

It's ridiculous that the Western teams have to scratch and claw just to make a division final while for the second year in a row an Eastern team without a winning record gets gifted a place in the Grey Cup, where as we have seen, anything can happen.

At least they weren't below .500, so.... progress?

 

[Kyle McMahon]

I was thinking of the parallel between the 2000s Als and the Stamps of the last ~10 years too. Both teams that were probably the best in the league during that span. But both have been chokers in the playoffs. Montreal went 3 and 5 in Grey Cups (after starting out 1 and 5 too) and since 2008 Calgary is now 2 and 3 in Grey Cups. Hell, both of them even got a Grey Cup gifted to them by the losing team taking a stupid penalty late.

The one difference is, the Als lost to other great teams for the most part. They were maybe marginal favorites in 2000, 2006, and 2008. 2002, 2003 and 2005 were basically pick 'em games. I think they were solid favorites in 2009 and 2010, which they did win (as dubious as that 2009 win is).

 

[Baxterman]

For somebody that allegedly doesn't care about the CFL or the Stamps, you sure spent a lot of time in here this year talking junk about every other team and blaming the refs for every single thing that didn't go Calgary's way. Just sayin'...

I was fan until mid-late September but it was around then that I had seen so much crap from the league that I quit watching.

I care about the league as I was a fan for 20+ year s and had season tickets every year I lived in Calgary since Grade 11 but I am disgusted with both the incompetence of the league and its refs and the favouritism it shows to certain teams.

But no I am not a fan of the league now.

I was actually surprised how I wasn't that angry at the loss as much as I was about how undeserved it was for the Argos. Normally a loss like this would have me steaming for the rest of the night and longer but i didn't c are about the loss at all.

 

[Rhaegar Targaryen]

I’m a little surprised to see everybody hate on Bo Levi and Calgary for taking a shot late. I mean, it’s 1st down on the 30 and you have 20 seconds left in the Grey Cup. I’m sure every team is going to take a shot or two at the end zone before kicking the game-tying field goal.

He shouldn’t have thrown into double coverage and his throw could have been better (although you could argue there was some PI), but the actual decision to take a shot at the end zone was an easy decision IMO. Hindsight is 20/20

 

[Halla]

wow did calgary choke. brutal.

 

[Halla]

I’m a little surprised to see everybody hate on Bo Levi and Calgary for taking a shot late. I mean, it’s 1st down on the 30 and you have 20 seconds left in the Grey Cup. I’m sure every team is going to take a shot or two at the end zone before kicking the game-tying field goal.

He shouldn’t have thrown into double coverage and his throw could have been better (although you could argue there was some PI), but the actual decision to take a shot at the end zone was an easy decision IMO. Hindsight is 20/20

more than enough time for a couple passes towards the sidelines to make it more manageable.
no need to throw a hail mary at that point in double coverage. get closer to guarantee at least a FG and go from there.
terrible call. not quite as bad as the semi final FG call but pretty bad.

Nice to see a Toronto team on top again. Hopefully TFC win as well

 

[Dr Pepper]

You can add, winning the Grey Cup in your provincial rival's stadium.

I'd say Hamilton is their provincial rival, not Ottawa.

By a large margin.

 

[trentmccleary]

Ok, it's not a coin flip. Both get possession.

The question still remains. Why play for the win later when you can do it now? Why play for the tie?

Because the clock was ticking down and they'd controlled the whole game.

IMO, if Calgary is in that situation... kick the field goal and dominate overtime too. You should win.
If Toronto were in that situation... go for it! You fluked your way to this point in the game and will probably get beaten like a rented mule in overtime.

If your percentage chance in OT is 50% or less, go for it. But this wasn't a 50-50 game for Calgary, the controlled the overwhelming majority of the game.