Double E Game #2 THE HOME OPENER!

[ben_the_eskimo]

Saw this and couldn’t actually believe he said it. Less gameplan and just play..

Your 20 points behind mate.. people will just quarters us at that point that’s why it looks like your making stuff happen

honestly I think synder would have more success staying in the gameplan than Tre

his pick was so poor and in that same post game he even said he didn’t see the underneath guy so he assumed it was an easy grab for Mathis.

gotta be better

d don’t get no let up either 2 majors on first 2 drives ain’t gonna cut it with 14 days prep

2 flags on pi’s which generated points for Montreal and sure we pressured Alexander but he was allowed to escape because we couldn’t contain

This is the first time Tre’s had to learn a new system in three years and it shows IMO, he’s thinking so much out there right now that I bet the game’s moving faster than it did for him last year.

Kinda expected it to start slow like this on O but didn’t expect the D to get shredded the way they have through two weeks.

Lotta new pieces there too tho so I do expect the D to get better.

At least ST’s looks solid in all facets.

[ben_the_eskimo]

Tough game against a tough team. I really feel like our dark days started around the time we let Maas go, we should have stuck with him as he learned and I feel the same way about JC Sherritt. He is, by all accounts, a smart coach that just needs the experience, I fully expect him to get better as the season goes. I'm not sure if our lack of pressure comes from soft coverage or lack of push from the front 4 but we have 1 sack in 2 games, which is nowhere near good enough.

Negatives:

• 5 sacks given up. Part of this is on Tre as he is escaping into coverage, instead of climbing the pocket
• 0 take aways and it didn't even feel like we were close to getting one.
• Fords interception. While it was underthrown, receivers are supposed to come back to the ball and catch it at its highest point. Mathis kept falling away instead of standing his ground and attacking the ball. I put this one on both of them.
• Fords decision making - A couple of his longer completions were throws into double coverage. The one to Dunbar down the sidelines could have been picked by the underneath man but he squeezed it over his shoulder, Also thought there was a few times where he should have thrown the ball away instead of lobbing one into the hands of Rankin.
• More stuff but I'll stop there.

Positives (there are some)

• We didn't give up
• Blatchard had a great game, both of his kicks were right down the middle
• Smith is great in the return game, he runs with no concern for his own safety, averaging 21.4 yards per kick off return vs 8.8 for Montreal
• Our special teams were good.

Its getting harder and harder to swallow these losses.

Agree on this for sure. I remember battling pretty hard on here at the time when most wanted to run him outta town on a rail…

And on that note, we’ve got a lot of youth at key positions right now (HC, DC, QB) so it might take minute for them to get their feet under them.

[dealerd]

I disagree. The problem with Ford is exactly that.

His first season, he finished it really well.

He should have been the immediate starter knowing him going through a full season of learning and taking his lumps was going to happen. Because that DIDN’T happen, we’re going through it now.

His mistakes are all young, super athletic and mobile QB stuff:

1) Escaping the pocket to the outside instead of stepping up.

2) Reading his progressions and not just 1 guy and escape.

We need to have patience with him and give him a massive chunk of this season to develop.

We don’t have the time and can’t afford to let him develop into a starting qb, in the standings or in the stands , put Ford as back up or third down back , start Cody , play Snyder more,

[ben_the_eskimo]

We don’t have the time and can’t afford to let him develop into a starting qb, in the standings or in the stands , put Ford as back up or third down back , start Cody , play Snyder more,

We can’t afford not to develop him at this point. This organization has screwed up way too much for waaay to long to be fixed overnight.

Finally we have people in place who are trying to build it back up the right way and who are committed to the process and fans want to blow it all up after two (probably three lol) losses?? This is only just the very beginning.

Ford is the type of player that creates buzz, I’ve heard people who don’t follow or even care about CFL at all talking about him being an exciting player. So he’s a guy who can bring fans to the stadium and even sell jerseys if we can get him going consistently. And this franchise desperately needs a player like that.

[widowmaker]

After the first two MTL possessions I thought that the Elks were going to get blown out.

There is still so many things to improve but I give props to the Elks for not giving up. It was game two for a rebuilding team against the best team in the league and the Elks still made it respectable. Having the Als QB knocked out the game helped too of course.

[dealerd]

We can’t afford not to develop him at this point. This organization has screwed up way too much for waaay to long to be fixed overnight.

Finally we have people in place who are trying to build it back up the right way and who are committed to the process and fans want to blow it all up after two (probably three lol) losses?? This is only just the very beginning.

Ford is the type of player that creates buzz, I’ve heard people who don’t follow or even care about CFL at all talking about him being an exciting player. So he’s a guy who can bring fans to the stadium and even sell jerseys if we can get him going consistently. And this franchise desperately needs a player like that.

We will lose a lot more than just 3 to start the season with Ford at qb , Jones said he drafted Ford as a positional player not just qb , because of his athletic ability , does he have amazing speed and athletic skill YES , does he have the ability to read defences and be a starting calibre qb in any league NO , Ford would not be starting qb with any other team in the CFL , we may not win a game by Labour Day as long as Ford is starter , by that time the season is OVER as is any hopes of making playoffs , please name any team in the CFL we could beat with Ford as our starter , EVERY team has a better starting qb

[ben_the_eskimo]

We will lose a lot more than just 3 to start the season with Ford at qb , Jones said he drafted Ford as a positional player not just qb , because of his athletic ability , does he have amazing speed and athletic skill YES , does he have the ability to read defences and be a starting calibre qb in any league NO , Ford would not be starting qb with any other team in the CFL , we may not win a game by Labour Day as long as Ford is starter , by that time the season is OVER as is any hopes of making playoffs , please name any team in the CFL we could beat with Ford as our starter , EVERY team has a better starting qb

You forget that Ford has already won more games than all other EE QB’s combined over the last three years and WAS showing progress in his passing game ability until these past two games in the new system.

Only way he’s gonna get better is to play, so we’re gonna have to live with the growing pains just like we did with Mike Reilly in 2013.

[Sectionq]

My cousin was at the game so he sent me pictures. It sure looked pretty empty in the stands. That true?

Also hearing the organization has stripped all Elks references. I saw spots where there used to be giant Elks symbols on the side of a stands gone. I saw pictures of the fire truck with Eskimos on the side. This true?

If they brought back the fire truck with Eskimos on the side, pretty big tell they are changing the name I would think.

For the game. I know they played 2 decent teams with decent offense but man giving up that many points back to back makes it pretty tough to win. I am hoping it's a combination of lots of new players trying to learn a new system and learning to play with eachother on top of a new DC learning who's he got, what they can do, figuring out what players are best where and some growing pains with a young DC. So I hope the defense can settle down.

Offense. I am hoping Ford is coming because I am not seeing the improvement in the areas I thought he needed to improve from last year. The reading defense doesn't seem to be improved yet. His decision making doesn't seem to have improved yet. His accuracy and touch hasn't improved a lot yet. I don't put much stock in them scoring a few TD's at the end. It was 28-6 going into the 4th quarter. They pulled their starting QB for MBT and it was 38-14 with maybe half the 4th left. So I don't think the Als were coming at the Elks as hard when it's garbage time which let the Elks get closer in score than the game really was. You can't be down 3 TD's going into the 4 and win.

They are going to be in real tough against the Bombers on the road so going 0-3 is a real possibility. If the game was a back and forth, each teams changing leads, super close game, then maybe you can draw some positives but it wasn't close for most of the game regardless of what the score said. I do hope Ford can get better and in a hurry because they have to win some games. If they want people to start coming, you can't keep piling up the losses at the start of the year. I don't want this to be like last year where the season wasn't even half over and it was already going to take an act of god just to be .500. If Ford keep sputtering, even next game, I would play Fajardo. They have to win right now!

[tigerdar]

My cousin was at the game so he sent me pictures. It sure looked pretty empty in the stands. That true?

Also hearing the organization has stripped all Elks references. I saw spots where there used to be giant Elks symbols on the side of a stands gone. I saw pictures of the fire truck with Eskimos on the side. This true?

If they brought back the fire truck with Eskimos on the side, pretty big tell they are changing the name I would think.

For the game. I know they played 2 decent teams with decent offense but man giving up that many points back to back makes it pretty tough to win. I am hoping it's a combination of lots of new players trying to learn a new system and learning to play with eachother on top of a new DC learning who's he got, what they can do, figuring out what players are best where and some growing pains with a young DC. So I hope the defense can settle down.

Offense. I am hoping Ford is coming because I am not seeing the improvement in the areas I thought he needed to improve from last year. The reading defense doesn't seem to be improved yet. His decision making doesn't seem to have improved yet. His accuracy and touch hasn't improved a lot yet. I don't put much stock in them scoring a few TD's at the end. It was 28-6 going into the 4th quarter. They pulled their starting QB for MBT and it was 38-14 with maybe half the 4th left. So I don't think the Als were coming at the Elks as hard when it's garbage time which let the Elks get closer in score than the game really was. You can't be down 3 TD's going into the 4 and win.

They are going to be in real tough against the Bombers on the road so going 0-3 is a real possibility. If the game was a back and forth, each teams changing leads, super close game, then maybe you can draw some positives but it wasn't close for most of the game regardless of what the score said. I do hope Ford can get better and in a hurry because they have to win some games. If they want people to start coming, you can't keep piling up the losses at the start of the year. I don't want this to be like last year where the season wasn't even half over and it was already going to take an act of god just to be .500. If Ford keep sputtering, even next game, I would play Fajardo. They have to win right now!

yep

[cmbuk]

Agree on this for sure. I remember battling pretty hard on here at the time when most wanted to run him outta town on a rail…

And on that note, we’ve got a lot of youth at key positions right now (HC, DC, QB) so it might take minute for them to get their feet under them.

Never should have let maas go.. never

[cmbuk]

yep

Just change it back and it out the way.. it’s coming.. there is no doubt

[cmbuk]

You forget that Ford has already won more games than all other EE QB’s combined over the last three years and WAS showing progress in his passing game ability until these past two games in the new system.

Only way he’s gonna get better is to play, so we’re gonna have to live with the growing pains just like we did with Mike Reilly in 2013.

The one thing I agree on with those that support Tre , critically or blindly is we have to let him start games and develop

we all like va but those early years in sask and Montreal were rough in a lot of places

my only gripe is we gotta find ways generate offence and concepts to suit tre

The 2 three and outs after the fg were dire

[eskfan152]

Love that they are trending away from the Elks brand. Only saw the symbol in one spot, on the side of the building outside of the west concession. A few hats and shirts they are selling have them. My 10 year old son noticed well before the game that Spike was nowhere to be seen and said that he figured Nanook was coming back. When the fire truck drove through onto the track with Nanook on it he just about lost his mind. I’ve heard rumours that going back to the Eskimos is a done deal for next year, but they couldn’t get it together in time for this season. If they do go back it will be high time for all of the fans that claim they will go back if the name is restored to do so! I hope it all happens.

[bone]

So as I said when being pissed at the Oilers losing Game 5 and Game 6, thank god for the Elks reminding me how fortunate we are to have the Oilers to cheer for, and thank god for the Elks reminding me within 2 days of being a low point as a Oiler fan for the year.

As for the game itself, the defense is beyond frustrating with all the all-stars and not even Canadian all-stars, but american all-stars. They've overloaded on Canadian's on offense to try and make that defense as good as it could be and the entire group, especially Sherritt have a grade of F-. Most frustrating play of the night was the 2nd ****ing play. They do a good job stopping the run on the first getting 2nd and long, but on 2nd down they let Alexander have 10 seconds in the pocket unscathed and then he eventually just runs through them for 10 yards. That should have been a quick 2 and out to start and suddenly you've got a team feeling good about its start, instead, they march down the field after that and score back to back touchdowns and the defense never really gets any traction until the game is out of reach.

Offense, I understand the Ford/offense frustrations, but really we're seeing a pretty basic play book for him early and we're seeing a pretty rare situation with 8 national starters on the Offense. They are going to take a while to gel. But on the positive, Rankin looks like he worked on his receiving and is showing that he can have a good year again if they keep him as a major part of their game plan.

Killam's emotions are looking to be a concern. His challenges appear to be emotional challenges and the short kick early in the 4th was as well. The only forgiveable part of that play is that teams may now expect that at any time which may affect how they cover the kickoff and maybe that gains a bit of advantage in getting our guys downfield. But otherwise is was beyond ****ing stupid with the team finally grabbing a bit of momentum.

Special teams, other than the absurd timing of that short kick they were by far the best group on the team. No big returns by Montreal. Positive yardage on our returns, albeit no big ones. All four kick attempts were successful for the rookie, and the rookie also executed a short kick to keep the ball on his second attempt (and actually wasn't too far off on the first one if he could have got it to go the extra three or four yards). That was an exceptional rebound game for a rookie in his third ever pro game and I'm glad Killam stuck with him and hopefully he builds off that good game and delivers a good rookie season.

Overall, the expectation going into this season was that we'd see an improvement in special teams, that the offense would have a slow start to the season but should improve gradually, and defense was meant to keep the scoring low to give the offence a chance to find itself. So far two of those 3 things are following expectations, but that defense is failing beyond failure.

[couchspud]

[QUOTE=ben_the_eskimo;

And on that note, we’ve got a lot of youth at key positions right now (HC, DC, QB) so it might take minute for them to get their feet under them. [/QUOTE]

You are correct. As painful as it is to watch the HC, DC, and QB struggle at critical times, they will get better, learning from their mistakes. There were moments when I wondered why we were playing so much soft zone. Alexander was picking us apart for easy first downs. I was impressed how much the ALS were using roll out packages to stymie our pressure. Something we would be well advised to incorporate. Maybe the deep throws could have been tried sooner just to pose that threat in the Als minds. I don’t know why we fail in so many 2nd and 7 situations. Other teams have solved that problem.
Last year we went 0 and 7 . Hope we can do better this year, I believe the talent is there.