Thoughts on the Argos at Ticats Thanksgiving Game

A little late to be talking about Monday's Ticat Argo tilt, but I have some thoughts. First C.J. Gable is turning out to be a great find for the Cats. He had 17 carries for 118 yards, for a solid 6.9 yard average and a TD. In addition he had five catches for 46 yards. Gable has a decent shot at 1,000 yards rushing this year. I'm assuming that Gable signed a two year deal plus a club option year, so potentially the Cats would have him for 2014 and 2015 as well, before he could try the NFL as a free agent. Getting rid of the possibility of option year players to sign with the NFL certainly improves things as a fan.

Luke Tasker had seven catches for 113 yards to lead the Ticats receivers. Ellingson being injured is giving Tasker a chance to make an impression. With Tasker, I wonder if Kent Austin (his coach at Cornell) didn't come back to the CFL to coach, would he have ever had had a chance to make an impression in the CFL? Maybe a team might have invited him to camp, but would they have had any faith in him? Football can be a lucky business and sometimes successful players got their initial chance through luck.

Dobson Collins also had a good game, second in receiving yards with 69 on five catches. With the success the Cats have had with a variety of receivers this year, that speaks well of both Burris, the offensive line and the offensive system.

Fantuz only had two catches for 33 yards. Is his injury still bugging him, or was he just getting a lot of double coverage. Grant only had four catches for 31 yards, so I'm assuming the Argos were putting weaker coverage on Collins and Tasker.

Burris had a great game, with 350 yards passing on 27 completed passes versus 36 attempts. A 75% completion rate is excellent against the Argos defense. One pick versus no TDs, but even Ricky Ray had a pick.

The defence had a good game as well. Bussey, in at linebacker for the injured Jamal Johnson had six tackles. The Cats had two sacks, a pick and a forced fumble which isn't bad.

Overall an excellent game against a tough opponent in a game they needed to win for any hope of home field advantage for the Eastern Final.

Quick Thoughts on Cats Victory Against Bombers

Exciting the Cats have their first victory against Winnipeg 25 to 20 at pseudo home.  Burris' stats were excellent going 26 for 32 for 362 yards with 2 TDs and no picks. Grant had 101 yards receiving on 7 catches and Giguere had a good game with 94 yards on only three catches. The Cats running was non-existent. And the Cats allowed a lot of run yards and a lot of sacks.

Still it's a win against an Eastern opponent they couldn't beat all of last year and they managed to vanquish Buck Pierce, who managed to survive healthy yet again. Unfortunately the Cats are on the road next week against the Riders who are the only 3-0 team. That's going to be tough. Hopefully Fantuz is back, although this week Burris looked like he was OK with Grant as his main guy.

The Cats also gave up to many sacks, although Burris passed so much and the Cats ran so rarely that that is almost inevitable.