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Posted: Fri 3:45, 30 Aug 2013 Post subject: Chad Owens keys on road to Grey Cup glory-spun4 |
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Chad Owens keys on route to Grey Cup glory
Ray, 33,[link widoczny dla zalogowanych], have been traded to the Argos in a stunning off-season move by former Eskimos GM Eric Tillman - who was seeking to free up salary and betting that father time would soon catch up with the Eskimos' franchise player.
Ray struggled mightily for a lot of the first 1 / 2 of the growing season. He even lost twice to the team with whom he had won two Grey Cups and starred for nine CFL seasons,[link widoczny dla zalogowanych]. He then got hurt when centre Jeff Keeping accidentally fell on him at the start of a Sept. 23 loss towards the Alouettes.
Ray missed the remainder of that game and subsequently three with a strained left knee. Had he torn his ACL, as first feared, his season and also the Argos' would have been over. But he recovered and also the offence started to click. He was the CFL's dominant passer down the stretch, throwing for 15 touchdowns and 1,[link widoczny dla zalogowanych],557 yards with just three interceptions in five games, winning four.
He capped the remarkable turnaround by winning his third Grey Cup, leading the Argos for their fifth straight win and 16th crown, 35-22 over the Calgary Stampeders in a sold-out Rogers Centre.
While sidelined, Ray used time to review his receivers and opposing defences. It was like a hockey player banished to the pressbox for a few games to get a fresh new perspective before returning having a flash.
Rookie head coach Scott Milanovich had asked him to operate an offence which was totally foreign to him, where every receiver was an option on every play. There have been no decoys.
Learning probably the most complicated offence of his CFL career was far more difficult than Ray had imagined. But Milanovich believed it might work, having modelled it following the one he'd used as Marc Trestman's offensive co-ordinator with QB Anthony Calvillo in Montreal.
Milanovich, 39, knew there'd be growing pains. He spent the off-season emailing plays to Ray after he became an Argo last December. With more than 300 different plays and combinations, Ray did his homework before offence became second nature.
As important as Ray's resurgence ended up being to Toronto's success, the discharge of tailback Cory Boyd in August,[link widoczny dla zalogowanych], at a time when he led the league in rushing yards, was another key.
Milanovich and Boyd clashed over his running style and blocking ability. Sources close to the team said Milanovich desired to cut Boyd before he did. Following a 19-8 loss towards the Lions, in which he gained just 23 yards on eight carries,[link widoczny dla zalogowanych], Milanovich went to GM Jim Barker and also the move is made.
Boyd's release opened the doorway for backup Chad Kackert, 26 - so that as they say, the rest is history. In eight games, he scored five TDs and gained 638 yards on 100 carries - a league-leading 6.4-yard average. Given a full season, he may have challenged Calgary's Jon Cornish for that league rushing title (1,457 yards). Kackert also caught 23 passes within the regular season for 212 yards.
The skateboarder from California took his game to another level in the playoffs with breakaway speed, demonstrating why Milanovich showed faith in him. Kackert scored two TDs in Toronto's 42-26 Eastern semifinal win over Edmonton, rushing for 88 yards and catching four passes for 51 more. He ran for 138 yards and a touchdown within the Argos' 27-20 Eastern final win over Montreal.
Then,[link widoczny dla zalogowanych], in the 100th Grey Cup game on Toronto's home field, he placed on an MVP performance: 133 yards on 20 carries, plus seven catches for 62 yards. Kackert,[link widoczny dla zalogowanych], a possible free agent on Feb. 15, is looking in a big pay hike.
Another significant storyline was the aggressive, attack-first defence implemented by defensive co-ordinator Chris Jones. He was worth it from the $5,000 fine the league imposed after Milanovich talked to him when he was still being under contract in Calgary.
Once the season began, the secondary consisted of nine-year veteran Jordan Younger and four rookies. Jones took this inexperienced group and molded it into among the CFL's toughest man-to-man pass defences - with former Dallas Cowboy Patrick Watkins earning CFL all-star honours.
The emergence of rookie defensive tackle Armond Armstead, 22, additionally a CFL all-star, and ball-hungry rookie linebacker Marcus Ball,[link widoczny dla zalogowanych], 25, the team's nominee for defensive player of the year - as well as the aggressive play of veterans linebackers Brandon Isaac and Robert McCune - made life miserable for opposing offences on the stretch. So did re-energized linemen Ejiro Kuale, Ronald Flemons,[link widoczny dla zalogowanych], Ricky Foley. Kevin Huntley and Adriano Belli, who left retirement late in the year.
Over the long term, though, perhaps no player had because an impact as receiver Chad Owens, voted the CFL's Most Outstanding Player. Because of the opportunity to be considered a featured target the very first time, he and Ray clicked right away. Owens became the first CFLer to guide the league both in receiving (1,328) and kick return (1,588) yardage. Adding in punt returns, he carried out with 3,[link widoczny dla zalogowanych],840 combined yards, breaking the record set by Argo great Mike (Pinball) Clemons.
In Toronto's rare 33-30 Labour Day Classic win over Hamilton at Ivor Wynne Stadium, Owens gained 402 combined yards, the most ever by an Argo and third-best in CFL history.
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