Argo makes habit out of making big plays
EDMONTON— In those crucial moments when a play just has to be made, to preserve a lead or start a comeback or alter the momentum of a game, one Argonaut is usually at the centre of things.
Defensive back Patrick Watkins is becoming something like the team’s conscience, the guy who makes the play that changes the game.
Watkins was up to his old tricks again here Saturday, making the crucial, gamewinning play as the Argonauts once again rallied late, scoring 33 unanswered points over the last 17 minutes or so in a 34-22 win over the Edmonton Eskimos.
Watkins, rushing unimpeded on a blitz, separated Eskimo quarterback Kerry Joseph from the ball and picked up the fumble that led to the game-winning score with about three minutes left in the fourth quarter.
“Play of the game,” said coach Scott Milanovich, and no one should be surprised that Watkins made it.
Toss in the two interceptions he had Saturday and his penchant for disrupting things at crucial points and it was basically business as usual.
“(It) felt like he played big all night. He had two or three or four pass breakups in addition to that and could have intercepted one there on the second-to-last drive,” the coach said.
“He’s one of our defensive captains and he’s stepping up big and making plays when we need them.”
The win, the fourth straight comefrom-behind victory for the Argos on the road, was significant in many ways.
The improbable victory clinched a playoff spot for Toronto, established a franchise record for consecutive road wins in a season at six and moved Toronto to 9-4 on the season. The Argos can clinch first place in the East as early as Friday at home against Hamilton.
They also become the first team in CFL history to win four consecutive road games in a season; only three other teams have ever had the chance to win four weeks in a row on the road in a season and none have pulled it off.
The two interceptions Saturday give Watkins five for the season, tops on the team. The six-foot-six Florida native also disrupts as many passes as he picks off.
“No.1, he’s talented, he’s got that length,” Milanovich said. “He’s a very instinctive football player playing the ball in the air.”
In what’s becoming a familiar turn of events, the Argos dug themselves a firsthalf hole Saturday with a lacklustre performance in every facet of the game.
They committed a handful of penalties that kept Eskimo scoring drives alive, failed to muster any sustained offence and the normally reliable Swayze Waters botched field goals of 43 and 28 yards.
“I did a poor job of getting (quarterback) Zach (Collaros) prepared to play football in the first half,” said Milanovich. “I put that on me. Got to get him off early in the game, we can’t be waiting until the fourth quarters to start playing football. It’ll come back to get us. That’s something we concentrate on and I think it’s my responsibility.”