Photo: Argonauts.ca
TORONTO — Once the celebration of a fifth straight win at home and a playoff birth wore off, McLeod Bethel-Thompson was left thinking what more could have been done.
After stringing together back-to-back scoring drives in the opening quarter of the game, the Argos’ offence took a backseat to their defence and special teams play. Though they managed to score 31 points in their overtime win over the BC Lions, 15 of those points came off the foot of Boris Bede.
The chances were there for the Argos, but given the weather and some untimely errors, the Lions crept back into the game. With all that went right and wrong in Saturday’s rainy contest, Bethel-Thompson believes that he and the Argos’ offence as a whole are still on the cusp of something special.
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“It’s exciting that we’re hitting our stride,” said Bethel-Thompson to the media. “I know we’re not seeing it on the scoreboard necessarily, but we’re creeping our way up there and when we put this thing together, we’re going to be as dangerous as our defence is.”
As for his performance, Bethel-Thompson was honest as he believed that he didn’t have the greatest game, especially when it came to connecting on the deep ball.
“They literally had created 10-yards of separation if not more,” said Bethel-Thompson. “You can’t overthrow receivers at that point so just put it on their head and give them a shot. You can use all the excuses in the world, but I won’t do that. I know what I have to do and it’s just unacceptable.”
One area Bethel-Thompson thrived in was his ability to shake off earlier plays and come into overtime with his full, undivided attention on getting the win. After the Lions deferred their possession, Bethel-Thompson’s calm nature allowed them to work their way to the goal line, setting Antonio Pipkin up for the touchdown. Bethel-Thompson’s successful two-point conversion was the deciding factor in their win as Michael Reilly was not able to connect on the Lions’ attempt following their touchdown.
“You’ve just got to take it one play at a time,” said Bethel-Thompson. “Once it’s past, there’s no point in beating yourself up. You just move on to the next play.”
With the game now behind him and important games down the stretch ahead of him, Bethel-Thompson is hungry to get back into the lab and hone his craft
“With each snap, I feel like I’m getting better,” said Bethel-Thompson. “I haven’t played a lot of football. Even though I’m considered a veteran, a lot of those times in the league — six years I spent in the NFL — I wasn’t playing football. I was practising or getting a couple of snaps in practice; it wasn’t game reps, it wasn’t live and for a quarterback, that’s super vital. I’m hungry to get as many snaps as I can and get as many reps as I can and I feel with each rep, I’m going to be a better football player.”
While Bethel Thompson did not have glowing reviews of how he thought he played, Ryan Dinwiddie believed that his quarterback showed a lot on the field.
“He missed a few throws, I know he was upset with that,” said Dinwiddie to the media. “He showed his mental toughness, he battled back and made the plays he needed to at the end. Without him doing that, we don’t win the football game so kudos to him for staying mentally tough and sticking to it and finding a way to get us a W.”
Next up for the Argos will be a trip out to Ottawa to take on the REDBLACKS next Saturday at 4:00 p.m. ET.
