Johany Jutras/Argonauts.ca
While reading Pat Steinberg’s MMQB, I came across a line in the middle of his analysis of the annual power imbalance between the West and the East. He was mentioning that the upcoming Ottawa REDBLACKS vs. Toronto Argonauts game could provide a litmus test about whether or not an Eastern team will pose a real threat come Grey Cup time.
Well, with the season a quarter of the way done, I figured, let’s take a deep dive in that wildly entertaining 27-24 game to see if either squad would be able to hang with the big boys out west come Nov. 26. Now, before I continue, let’s get this out of the way: Ottawa was the better team last Grey Cup but we can all agree that Calgary had the far superior season. This is not taking away from what the REDBLACKS did, they deserved to win but if they played that game 10 times, Calgary wins at least six out of 10 times (Ottawa, stop yelling at me. Henry Burris’ performance was the best single game I’ve ever seen played by a quarterback).
Here is my short answer to the issue of whether can these teams slay the West: I can’t take too much out of what Ottawa did considering the REDBLACKS played twice in one week and three times in 11 days. I will go into greater detail in a moment but they put on a heroic display despite losing. As for Toronto, so much will come down to the health of Bear Woods, Victor Butler and Cleyong Laing. If those guys are healthy then yes, I give the Argonauts a chance. As the cliché goes, defence travels and what is going on with the Argonauts defence is nothing short of a minor miracle.
The Argos’ defence has been among the CFL’s best in the early going of 2017 (David Chidley/CFL.ca)
I know the instinct is to focus on the wonderful (and often empty calorie) passing numbers of Ricky Ray –who has looked far better than I expected — but don’t forget the job that Argonauts management and the coaching staff has done on the defence. In 2016, Toronto was last in both points and yards given up. This year only Edmonton has given up fewer yards while Toronto leads the CFL in fewest yards per play given up. Considering how much chaos this team looked to be in before the arrival of Marc Trestman and Jim Popp, I would say that most of us experts (not me), pundits (again, not me), writers (sort of me) and gas bags (that’s me) got this Argonauts team completely wrong.
As for the offence, there are two things Toronto needs to do better to have a chance to match up against the West. The first is to find a way to make James Wilder Jr. a consistently relevant part of the offence. Toronto ranks dead last in rushing yards, meanwhile is it any coincidence that the three best teams in the West (Edmonton, BC and Calgary) rank second, third and fourth in that category? Wilder Jr. had 13 touches for 75 yards in Monday’s win and touched the ball six times on Toronto’s long touchdown drive that gave the team a 24-17 lead in the fourth quarter.
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More importantly is Toronto needs to find a way to score touchdowns. So far, Ricky Ray and the offence have produced only seven offensive touchdowns. The only team with fewer is the winless Hamilton Tiger-Cats. On the flip side, Toronto has attempted 24 field goals, which is eight higher than the next best team! You can get away with settling for field goals in the regular season but against elite post-season competition you need more sevens and threes.
Oh one final point before I get into what really jumped out at me from Toronto’s win over Ottawa is that Michael “Pinball” Clemons does not age! Did you see him during the broadcast? He looked like he could have caught lined up at running back for the team. Seriously, could someone find out what his secret is and relay it back to me?
3 thoughts on Ottawa
1. A total gold star to DL Ettore Lattanzio, Zack Evans and Jake Ceresna for all selling out on that third and less than a yard play that almost led to an Ottawa upset win. Less than three minutes to go and Toronto has a chance to put the game away, up 24-17 and running out the clock. All they need is a couple chain links but QB Cody Fajardo is stood up by those three Ottawa defenders. This team was running on fumes and these sorts of conversions are almost a gimme. Instead they manage to shoot out, hold the line and give Trevor Harris a chance to win. If Ottawa had found a way to win, that play would have been the turning point.
Despite his team’s slow start, Trevor Harris has been a bright spot in Ottawa (The Canadian Press)
2. I was impressed with an incomplete pass in the first quarter. On their third possession on first down Harris rolls out to his right, he has Joshua Stangby open on the flat for a short gain but he goes deep to Brad Sinopoli instead. The two could not connect but I like seeing that sort of aggressive play from my quarterback.
3. DB Corey Tindal looked comfortable filling in for A.J. Jefferson. If he was out of position then I missed it but what I did see was a great close out on Armanti Edwards to bat away what would have been a 20-yard catch early on, then later he managed to stay with Jeff Fuller on a jump ball to force a punt.
Three Thoughts on Toronto
1. Wow was Toronto’s defence flying! They held Trevor Harris to 184 yards, picked him off once and sacked him three times. Ottawa’s offence was rarely in a rhythm. Their first touchdown drive was with them starting on the Toronto 41-yard line while Harris’ late touchdown throw to Greg Ellingson was nearly knocked away by Akwasi Owusu Ansah. No defence is stopping that throw from Harris.
Ricky Ray continues his torrid pace early in 2017 for the 3-2 Argos (David Chidley/CFL.ca)
2. Ricky Ray was great when it counted. I said that some of Ricky Ray’s yards were “empty calorie” and the reason for this was that despite all his fantastic fantasy numbers, it didn’t really translate on the scoreboard. Toronto has 290 yards passing from Ray and 17 first downs but only 17 points after three quarters. This goes back to my earlier point of fewer field goals and more touchdowns. But Ray and the offence fully delivered on that final drive with Ray going 6-of-6 for 51 yards to set up the winning field goal. The team was not at all deflated after their game-changing failed third down conversion followed by the 34-yard Ellingson touchdown catch to tie the game at 24. Instead, Ray did what he has done so much, calmly running the offence to put his team in a position to win.
3. The defensive replacements step up at some critical times. Justin Tuggle who came into the game for Bear Woods displayed excellent coverage instincts with a perfect break on the ball for a pass attempted for Ellingson late in the third quarter. Ottawa was forced to punt. Then, in the fourth quarter, another REDBLACKS punt was the result of Toronto’s depth. Troy Davis, replacing Victor Butler, gets a sack in the fourth quarter, forcing a second and long situation for Ottawa. Brett Maher would be called out to punt soon afterwards.
As of today, Toronto is the best team in the East and if injury news breaks right they could be a great team in 2017. Of course I’m not going to count out Ottawa, we all remember what happened the last time we did that.
