Well it has been almost a week since the magical victory of the Cats over the Argos. I won't say that I was expecting it (considering the Cats were 10.5 point underdogs), but I did think that they had a slight chance (to beat the spread). Winning 32 - 13 sure wasn't what Vegas was expecting.
Before the game, on offence I said the Cats had to have a semblance of a running game, Printers has to have a similar completion percentage as last week, and Printers has to be able to run for some first downs. Considering the Cats ran for over 300 yards, Lumsden picking up 189 himself, obviously they had a running game. Tre Smith also picked up a lot of yards. I noticed that Printers was also able to run, including for two touchdowns. Whether the Cats will be able to do that against the defences of other teams is a question. Printers was 16 of 23 for 171 yards, for a 69.6% completion rate, which was in fact similar to last week. I guess starting three imports on the oline worked for the Cats, although I noticed they switched Peter Dyakowski in at guard when Lumsden went out. Lumsden was impressive not just on his long runs, but also when he was met at the line, he always seemed to grind out a couple of yards or sometimes even five or six. That's so important, as 2nd and 7 allows a lot more possibilities (including the QB legging it) than 2nd and 10. Someday I would like to make a chart of the percentages for making a first down for 2nd and X number of yards, but I'm guessing that would take a lot of effort.
On defence, I said how the Cats would do would depend on how the Argos QB did. Fortunately, Kerry Joseph didn't do a lot, especially in the first half. That might have a bit to do with new Argo receiver Bethel Johnson getting injured early (by his own player if I recall correctly). Johnson is another one of the former NFLers the Argos love so much and apparently really fast. Welcome to the CFL son! I also mentioned that the Cats had to stop 2nd and long (8 or more yards). I tried keeping track for both teams, but it was harder than I thought. However for the first half, the Argos didn't make a first down in any of those situations (the Cats themselves were rarely in 2nd and long situations). So obviously that's the key. Hard to tell how good the Cats defence is based on their last two outings. Moreno played ok from what I saw, but not fantastic.
Other bits, I noticed Jonta Woodard got an illegal formation call against him. Jonta seems to be good for at least one to two drive killing penalties per game. Is that worth giving up an additional sack for an inferior player? Hard calculation to make. Woodcock made at least four good grabs that I saw, often for first downs. Good pickup. Argos coach Stubler was wearing shorts, not really a good look, although I admit I prefer that to some dork on the sidelines with a suit on. Vanderjagt's placekicking was good, but his punting was mediocre. I'm guessing he will flipflop throughout the year.
Finally, as a suggestion for selling more tickets, the Argos and Cats should offer an option for their season ticket holders to receive tickets for the other team's home games against their teams (maybe even including the exhibition games). Just add on $20 or $30 per game onto the original season ticket price and call it the ultimate package or some other marketing jargon. Likely you will get a number of hardcore fans who might end up going that might not have. A bit of extra revenue for the tickets plus the concessions, plus the demand comes from those less likely in some ways to buy a ticket on the spur of the moment. One might as well take advantage of the teams being so close together.
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