After stunning comeback, Wilder believes Argos have ‘turned the ship around’

James Wilder Jr. wouldn’t call it a crazy game.

“Those type of games feel so GOOD,” the Toronto Argonauts running back said, with a 17-carry, 73-yard rushing game with four catches for 42 yards and a touchdown under his belt.

“Those type of games feel so good because it’s not just a win. It shows what your team is about. We were getting smacked. We were getting smacked around for a little bit.”

With all due respect to Wilder and the Argos, their 24-point comeback and last-second win over Ottawa was crazy.

It also saved their season.

Through the first 30 minutes of play on Thursday night, the Argos offered the game on a platter to the REDBLACKS. The defence allowed a touchdown on Ottawa’s first drive. McLeod Bethel-Thompson threw an interception on his second drive of the game. Returner Martese Jackson had a ball go off of his shoulder, into the end zone and watched as Anthony Cioffi fell on it for another Ottawa major. Wilder fumbled the ball away, the REDBLACKS got back on the field and needed one Trevor Harris pass to get back to the end zone. It was a dizzying calamity that had the fans at BMO booing them into the locker room at halftime, down 28-7.

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“There was no energy. We didn’t have very many successful plays on offence in the first half,” said S.J. Green. We didn’t have very many special (teams) plays. I’ll keep saying it. Bethel Thompson led this group, he kept us positive, kept us together, kept us uplifted.”

McLeod shook off what had been a forgettable debut and started looking for Green (134 yards) in the second half. With each pass, he looked more comfortable. And while Ottawa scored two more touchdowns in the second half that could have put the game away, the Argos wouldn’t back down.

“It was comfortable. It was no blinking. Quiet eye,” Thompson-McLeod said, after making 25 of 37 passes for 302 yards with four touchdowns and the one interception. “Everyone knew what was at stake. We have some grown men in that huddle.”

No one would outright say it, but staring down a 1-6 start to the season, the Argos knew their season was slipping away from them. A win like this — the second-biggest comeback in team history — can make players believers and can make a coaching staff’s words carry weight. A team only has a capacity for so many deflating losses. The Argos had already taken three. Had the REDBLACKS completed the job, more questions would have been raised around every facet of this team.

“You don’t like losing. It doesn’t feel good,” Bethel-Thompson said. “We needed this win.”

“Not necessarily save the season but a major turning point,” Green offered.

“We’d been up and down this entire season. The offence hasn’t been consistent as far as doing the right things and making the plays and it’s just been all over the place.

“Tonight feels good because in clutch situations, in moments when you have to have it, in season-defining moments, game-defining moments we overcame adversity. We were able to make plays that we had to make.”

The second-half Argos managed to put all of those first-half gaffes behind them. No one embodied that more than Jackson. His return fumble that led to a touchdown was a crushing play, but he didn’t let it affect him. His 70-yard punt return put the Argos in position to score the touchdown that got them within five points with 3:26 left to play. He finished the night with 231 combined return yards.

“I think it shows a little bit about him. His character and his grit,” Argos coach Marc Trestman said.

“We always talk about it. The players never meet their enemy on the sideline. We see how hard he works and the commitment he has to our football team. He had an opportunity to make amends.”

The Argos go into a bye week with things to build on. They got their best quarterbacking game of the season and got a tough win with contributions from all three phases of their team.

“We turned the ship around,” Wilder said. “We know that every game is the biggest game but right here this is an Eastern opponent.

“I think it was the perfect time to turn around that ship and go from there. We have a lot to look over.”