Western road swing fruitful for Argos
The Toronto Argonauts returned home from an extended Western road trip Friday with all the important boxes checked off.
They won both their games, adding a 25-14 win over the B.C. Lions on Thursday to their victory a week ago over the Saskatchewan Roughriders. Sitting at 2-1 on the season, they’ll work a short week to chase their third in a row, against the Ottawa Redblacks on Wednesday at BMO Field.
Here are five things that jumped out about the Argos’ impressive win over the Lions:
LEMON FORCES TURNOVER
Shawn Lemon’s debut with the Argos was a success. The six-foot-two, 257-pound defensive lineman had two tackles, but most impressively had a forced fumble in the second quarter that gave the Lions their sec- ond turnover in a span of five minutes. Lemon’s greatest skill on the field might be his ability to knock the ball loose and he’s continued to demonstrate that even as his sixth season in the CFL unfolded in strange fashion, being traded by the Riders to the Argos last weekend.
STRONG DEFENSIVE GAME
Lemon was just one part of a good night for the Argos’ defence. After Thursday’s win, Argos coach Scott Milanovich told reporters that for the second week in a row, his team won the turnover battle and “that was the difference.” The Lions had four turnovers in their loss, losing two possessions off of fumbles and with quarterbacks Jonathan Jennings and Travis Lulay each throwing interceptions. DB Keon Raymond was active all over the field, with four tackles, an interception and one of the Argos’ four sacks on the night.
KICKER COMES UP BIG
The Argos lost one of the CFL’s premier kickers in the off-season, when Swayze Waters signed with the Carolina Panthers. GM Jim Barker signed Lirim Hajrullahu away from Winnipeg and the 26-year-old has been an almost perfect fill-in. He was 6-of-7 on field goal attempts in B.C., providing some key points on a night when touchdowns were hard to come by. Hajrullahu’s miss — a 49-yard attempt in the second quarter — was just his first of the season and has him at 11-12 on the year.
RUNNING GAME
Their early deficit in their Week1loss eliminated it and it wasn’t a factor in a Week 2 win that the Argos controlled most of the way. On Thursday, certainly to Brandon Whitaker’s delight, the Argos looked to their running back often and he produced his best game of the season in response.
Whitaker had 13 carries for 97 yards, more than double the 42 yards rushing he had coming into the game. Long known as a two-way threat, Whitaker also caught seven passes for 55 yards Thursday.
He had seven for 59 coming into Week 3.
RICKY RAY
His line wasn’t astronomical Thursday — 23-for-32 passing for 283 yards, a touchdown pass and zero interceptions — but Ray was his usual patient self and played his way through a strong Lions’ defence.