MATT CAUZ
Special To Argonauts.ca
Matt Cauz is a producer and football analyst for SUN TV. He appears regularly on the “Casino Rama Grill Room” and “Canoe Live”. Prior to joining Sun TV, he spent seven years working for TSN’s “Off The Record”. Follow Matt on Twitter @mcauz56.
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East Coast Bias Alert!!!!
I have to warn everyone reading this; I plan on spending the entire article talking about the Toronto Argonauts. I have been making fun of this team since I started writing this column, and really can anyone blame me considering the mess they’ve been the past two years?
Entering the 2010 season the majority of fans and pundits believed the Argonauts were set for another 4-6 win season.
Please allow me to revel in the team’s success.
By now most people know that I am an Argonauts fan, I’ve never hidden that. I grew up in Toronto and was in the sporting minority of fans that never really liked hockey preferring every brand of football that was out there. I can honestly say that my own personal bias never plays a part when I am writing for the CFL.
I love football, plain and simple. I’ve got favourite players on every team, there are guys I root for more than others, I was really upset that Saskatchewan lost the Grey Cup on a penalty … what I’m trying to say is I’m heavily invested in the CFL beyond what goes on here in Toronto.
Now with all that said please allow me an: ARRRRRRRRRRRGOOOOOOOOOSSSSSSSSS!
Sorry about that, I promise I will never do that again.
Right now Jim Barker has to be the leading candidate for the Annis Stukus award (Coach of the Year). Last year after seven games Toronto was 2-5, this year they are 5-2 with victories over both division leaders (Calgary and Montreal).
The 2009 squad really only dominated one statistic: most times penalized. They were so good at it they finished the year with 31 more penalties than the next highest team.
This year Barker’s team has committed the fewest penalties for the least amount of yards. His influence goes beyond the lack of yellow flags littered on the field. How about the number of come from behind wins or how well the defence responds after turnovers?
I’ve talked about it in the past with Saskatchewan, mental toughness is a skill that can be taught and right now there’s no better teacher than Barker.
The Argonauts turn around goes beyond Barker, the entire front office deserves praise for bringing in Chad Owens and Cory Boyd, by far the two biggest difference makers on the offensive side of the ball. We can all agree that Toronto got the better end of the deal when they traded a 4th round pick for Owens.
Boyd was an unknown who hadn’t played a down of real football for over two years, survived a training camp concussion and now leads the league in rushing.
Of course if the team comes out flat the next two weeks against Hamilton then the impact of their early season success will take a dramatic step back. Maybe the best thing you can say about the job that Barker & Co. has done is the Argonauts are relevant again.
The Hamilton vs. Toronto rivalry really hasn’t meant that much over the past couple years. Beyond Labour Day bragging rights neither team has made much noise in the regular season. Now their Week 8 match-up has a ton of implications in the Eastern Conference. When was the last time you could say that?
Anyway I would be remiss if I didn’t break down their 37-22 victory over Montreal. So I’ve gone through the 10 most important plays, chronologically, that led to Toronto’s upset.
1st Quarter:
(1) 8:25: Cleo Lemon’s 63 yard touchdown pass to Chad Owens. This touchdown reminded me of Cory Boyd’s 43-yard TD run last week against Edmonton. Both scores were the result of superior blocking from the wide-outs. Not to belabour my point about coaching but effective downfield blocking is not about athleticism but about football smarts and discipline. Ryan Christian (Took out Jerald Brown), Brandon Rideau (Took out Étienne Boulay), Andre Durie and Chad Lucas all played a huge part in Owens catch and run score. That sort of cohesion comes from repetition and practice.
(2) 7:05: Anthony Calvillo’s fumble is recovered by Ronald Flemons. The turnover gave Toronto a short field leading to Boyd’s one yard touchdown run. Hey when you upset a team like Montreal you have to have some luck. Calvillo’s finger is clearly not 100% healthy and that was never more evident when he fumbled away a snap that he normally would’ve handled without any problem. Good on Flemons for being in the right place at the right time and managing to do what most defensive lineman can’t: pick up a fumble and being able to run with it. Most of the time they look like a 320 pound child playing hot potato or they just flop on the ball like a lazy seal.
(3) 3:49: Avon Cobourne is tackled for a one yard gain on 2nd and two. LB Tang Bacheyie manages to hold the point of attack against RG Scott Flory allowing Jason Pottinger to scrape in and make a solid tackle forcing Montreal to punt. The Argonauts would not go on to score on their possession but by stopping Cobourne and forcing the kick Toronto keeps the Alouettes offence from getting into any sort of rhythm. They wouldn’t score a point in the 1st quarter giving Toronto the kind of lead needed to beat Montreal.
2nd Quarter:
(4) 13:10: Ryan Christian’s 110 yard touchdown. Really not much needed to be said here. Last year Toronto’s special teams would’ve been flagged for multiple holding and block in the back penalties, not this year.
(5) 5:33: Bryan Crawford’s 42 yard run on the fake punt. The play would lead to a Grant Shaw field goal and just as important, the first down would kill two more minutes off the clock before Montreal’s offence would step back on the field. By the way, I feel now is the appropriate time to heap some praise on Special Teams Coach Mike O’Shea. The team lost their best returner from 2009 (Dominique Dorsey) and their field goal kicker is a rookie, yet I’ll argue the unit as a whole is better than it was last year.
3rd Quarter:
(6) 13:37: Cleo Lemon’s 32 yard “completion” to Owens. Hey did I mention you need to be lucky to get these kinds of upset wins? Well I think we can put this play firmly in the lucky/no freakin’ way that just happened category. The ball bounced off of Rideau right into the hands of Owens who managed to stay in bounds long enough to make the catch. Yes it was lucky but at the same time let’s give some credit to Owens for his heads up play.
(7) 11:55: Andre Durie’s crazy 17 yard touchdown pass. We’ve already seen four plays over 30 yards from Toronto but this one was hands down the most impressive. It looked like David Tyree’s crazy catch helping the NY Giants upset the Patriots in the Super Bowl. This was the point where I bet most people watching were now fully convinced that Toronto could win this game. Great pattern by Durie, and an even better toss by Lemon, who was under pressure and never really got to step into the throw. Can’t blame Chip Cox for the score, he couldn’t have covered Durie any better.
(8) 3:43: Calvillo’s four yard
completion to Ben Cahoon on 2nd and six. Just an uncharacteristic play from both the quarterback and the wide receiver. Calvillo’s throw was off the target just enough to force Cahoon to make a diving catch, thus negating any chance for Cahoon to break a tackle and get the first down. On the flip side Cahoon didn’t run the most intelligent out route as he broke it off about yard away from the first down marker. Montreal has to punt and won’t get the ball back until the final play of the 3rd quarter.
4th Quarter:
(9)10:45: Once again Montreal cannot convert a short first down as Avon Cobourne is held to one yard on 2nd and two, forcing a Damon Duval field goal that he would ultimately miss. Kevin Huntley absolutely blew up this play. In three seconds Huntley managed to overpower two linemen and make a perfect tackle on Cobourne, just a force of nature on this one. By the way am I the only one wondering why Marc Trestman didn’t go for it on third down? In fact for much of the game it sure looked like Trestman was coaching a fairly conservative game.
(10) 7:20: Another perfectly placed deep ball from Cleo Lemon, this time to Chad Owens for his second touchdown of the game, this one from 40 yards out. Here is the only time I will disagree with Barker, I loved the touchdown celebration honouring Jeremaine Copeland. An ongoing theme through the game was Owens and the rest of the team doing their best to cheer up Copeland after his injury. I like those little moments. It tells me the guys generally like each other, and that team chemistry is where you want it to be.
I understand that three weeks from now everything can change. But for right now can I please enjoy the team’s success? Is that really too much to ask?