THE CANADIAN PRESS
In Week 16, Toronto had the ball down six with a first-and-10 on its own 41-yard-line and the clock ticking down under one minute and 30 seconds left in the game.
Ricky Ray lined up in shotgun with a running back to his immediate right and five receivers deployed, three to his left on the short side of the field. That is the side to focus on. Meanwhile, Hamilton had six defenders ready to bolt at Ray. And Ticats safety Craig Butler crept down near the line of scrimmage on his way to blitzing the Argos quarterback.
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Off the snap, seven pass-rushers burst towards Ray. On the back end Hamilton was playing ‘Cover 0’ — in layman’s terms, straight man-to-man coverage with no safety help anywhere. Chad Owens and Robert Gill were the slot receivers to Ray’s left. Working in tandem, Owens and Gill used a switch release off the line and it changed the coverage matchup. Brandon Stewart and Erik Harris reacted by exchanging coverage responsibilities. Stewart now locked on Gill and Harris the same for Owens.
Toronto’s route combination on the trips side called for John Chiles and Gill to run short hitch patterns at about five yards, with Owens heading downfield on a vertical route. And No. 2 for the Argos ran a beautiful pattern. He pressed to the inside shoulder of Harris creating more room to the sideline where he knew he was going to break on a corner route.
Ray saw the man coverage and let the ball go just as Owens was breaking to the corner before any Ticats rusher could get close to him. The Argos quarterback threw a perfect pass hitting Owens in stride, and the 2012 MOP did the rest, sprinting to the end zone.
