The Argonauts stepped up in class on Saturday night at McMahon Stadium in Calgary and wound up being outclassed.
A 29-2 loss to a very good Stampeders team is one thing — especially when four wins in a row heading into the night were produced — but losing defensive stalwarts in linebacker Wynton McManis and rush end Shane Ray to injuries could prove devastating as the battle for first place in the East with the Montreal Alouettes is now officially on the clock.
Following Saturday’s loss, Argos head coach Ryan Dinwiddie said McManis hurt his MCL and might be out for at least a month. As for Ray, the coach said the former Super Bowl champion tore his bicep. Both will undergo imaging once the Argos return home to determine the extent of their injuries.
Toronto’s defence was not the issue on this night. Even with two of its stars sidelined, the defence kept the visitors in the game … that is until Stamps linebacker, and former Argo, Cameron Judge picked off quarterback McLeod Bethel-Thompson and returned it 71 yards for a touchdown in the fourth quarter.
Dinwiddie pulled no punches when summing up his offence, which mustered just 296 total yards.
“Horrible,’’ he said.
He was right. When plays were available, the Argos failed to execute. Quarterback McLeod Bethel-Thompson was just 19-for-38 for 195 yards with two interceptions and had no rhythm with his receivers, especially former Stampeder DaVaris Daniels. MBT was finally replaced by little-used backup Chad Kelly following Judge’s pick-six.
The Argos offence looked fine when playing the likes of Hamilton and Ottawa in previous weeks. Against Calgary, it needed to be very good, at times even elite, but never came even remotely close to reaching any level of competence.
While the Stamps’ defence is very good, it was inexcusable how the Argos gave up sacks when Calgary used only a three-man rush.
“They just physically beat us,’’ added Dinwiddie, whose team dropped to 8-6 on the season.
The Argos defence did its best to rescue the game. Linebacker Henoc Muamba produced a pair of interceptions and the Boatmen nearly came up with a pick-six of their own when another ex-Stamp, DeShaun Amos, couldn’t secure the football in the third quarter.
It was an eye-opening loss for the Argos, who must now know that unless their best game is being summoned, they are not good enough to beat the likes of Calgary, Winnipeg and B.C. Against the Bombers, Leos and Stamps, the Argos are 0-4.
Dinwiddie felt his team was too emotional following last week’s win in Ottawa that clinched a playoff berth for the Argos.
“I think guys were feeling a certain way, but we just have to focus,’’ said Dinwiddie. “I know guys were excited when we got into the playoffs, but they can’t hang their hat on it.”
“We’ve got to put more work in,’’ added Dinwiddie, who doesn’t believe the gap between the Argos and Stamps is big.
“But obviously it was today,’’ he admitted. “We played horrible today. We’re capable of playing a lot better. We’re nowhere near where we need to be to get to our goal.
“We just can’t pat ourselves on the back for getting into the playoffs. There’s still more work to do.”
The loss, along with the Alouettes’ win over the Edmoton Elks earlier in the day, means that all of a sudden, the Argos aren’t looking so good when it comes to winning the East. Following this Saturday’s home game versus the Lions — Toronto’s first appearance at BMO Field since Aug. 26 — the Argos return to Alberta in two weeks to play the Elks on Oct. 15. By that time, they might be in a first-place tie in the East with the Als, who are now eyeing a home-and-home set against last-place Ottawa, which just fired its head coach.
The Argos and Alouettes end the season with their own home-and-home set, two games that will likely decide the division.
HURTING STARTS EARLY
The injury setbacks to Toronto’s roster began on the game’s opening kickoff when special teams demon Ben Adeboboye was hurt. The rookie would return.
Trevor Hoyte moved into the starter’s role at weak side linebacker for McManis, while fellow Canadian Robbie Smith took more reps at rush end with Ray sidelined. Smith produced a sack, the first surrendered by Calgary in 13 quarters.
It says a lot when the Argos had more punts (3) than rushing attempts (2) in the game’s opening 15 minutes, which couldn’t produce a point by either team.
The Argos opened the scoring in the second quarter on a John Haggerty punt single. But then came the game’s momentum swing when MBT made a terrible throw under pressure that led to an interception, marking the sixth game in a row in which he’s been picked off. The Stamps capitalized on the turnover with the game’s first touchdown.
The Argos responded to the Stamps’ salvo by engineering a decent drive, punctuated by the run game with A.J. Ouellette. But rather than go for it on third and one, the Argos had Boris Bede attempt a field goal from 46 yards. He missed it and the single point was all the scoring the Boatmen could manage the rest of the night.
SPEEDY ON SPECIALS
The Argos had veteran Brandon (Speedy) Banks back as the primary returner. He assumed the full-time role when Jeremiah Haydel was moved to the practice roster after handling the return duties the previous few weeks.
The one positive about Haydel is he at least secured the ball, but at the same time wasn’t able to break loose for a meaningful gain. Toronto’s return game hasn’t created any big, explosive plays this season.
Banks averaged 8.2 yards on five first-half returns. But he made a mental mistake in the fourth quarter by fielding a punt inside Toronto’s five yard line. Banks should have allowed the ball to go into the end zone for a single
He ended the night by averaging 7.6 yards on nine returns.
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