Sep
The Star: Argos hit rock bottom
Courtesy Toronto Star:
The Toronto Argonauts might as well start building for next year.
While the Argos aren’t yet mathematically eliminated from the Canadian Football League season with six games left, for all intents and purposes the 2009 season ended horribly here last night.
Despite a furious late rally, the Argos lost to the team previously considered the league’s worst as the Winnipeg Blue Bombers won 29-24 before 22,446 delightfully stunned fans at CanadInns Stadium.
The Argos played horribly for three quarters in managing to lose to a team that had been the joke of the league, at least until last night.
At 3-9, and a long way from a playoff spot, the Argos now inherit the dubious mantle of the CFL’s worst team.
It was an error-filled game, with the Argos making most of the mistakes. Untimely penalties and three turnovers were enough to hand Winnipeg its first victory in four games.
To the Argos’ credit, they didn’t throw in the towel even after losing Zeke Moreno and Rob Murphy after a brawl.
Trailing 29-9 after three quarters, they got back into the game when rookie Kyle Jones blocked a punt and Andre Durie recovered it for a touchdown. Then Justin Medlock kicked a single on the ensuing kickoff.
Kerry Joseph, who replaced Cody Pickett at quarterback in the third, then marched the Argos 79 yards and scored on a four-yard run to pull the Argos within five.
But it was a matter of too little, too late.
Befitting a game involving the two worst offences in the league, there was no offence in the early going.
As was the case last week in B.C., the Argos couldn’t move the ball with any consistency and managed a paltry 127 yards of offence in the first half. Considering their inability to move the ball, they were fortunate to be down only 17-9 after 30 minutes.
Quarterback Cody Pickett had another nightmarish evening, failing to complete much more than short passes. Running back Jamal Robertson found few holes as the Winnipeg defence controlled the line of scrimmage.
The Bombers, as befitting a team quarterbacked by Michael Bishop, weren’t shy about going deep. Bishop developed an immediate kinship with newcomer Otis Amey for some big gains.
But the Bombers were 3-8 for a reason and found ways to mess up two good scoring opportunities with untimely penalties. Bishop himself gave the Argos a big break in the first quarter.
After Kevin Huntley sacked him on second down at the Argo 17, Adriano Belli was called for a foolish taunting penalty.
But Bishop blew his cool and was called for unnecessary roughness. The Bombers had to settle for an Alexis Serna field goal and a 7-3 lead.
The Bombers finally got something going in the second quarter.
Leading 7-6, they rode Bishop’s arm to the Argo 6. But Lin-J Shell and Jordan Younger broke up end-zone passes to force another Serna field goal.
Bishop wasn’t deterred and on the next Winnipeg series took the Bombers from their own 32 to the Argo 14.
After a holding penalty moved them back to the 24, Bishop hit running back Fred Reid, who ran through the Argo defence for the game’s first touchdown and a 17-6 lead.
As bad as the Argo offence was in the first half, it started the second ominously horribly when Robertson fumbled at his own 40 on the first play from scrimmage. But the defence held and Serna missed a 43-yard field goal.
On the next series, Pickett fumbled the snap on second down and was forced to throw out of bounds at the Argo 22.
Unimaginably, things got worse on the ensuing series when two unnecessary roughness penalties allowed the Bombers to keep alive a 62-yard drive that ended in a 12-yard touchdown pass to Adarius Bowman and a 24-9 lead.
Argo head coach Bart Andrus then turned over the ball to backup quarterback Kerry Joseph, who promptly turned it over to the Bombers with an interception.
