After another dispiriting loss on Friday night as the Winnipeg Blue Bombers ran wild in a 48-21 win to drop the Argonauts to 0-4, I wonder if former Blue Jay Shea Hillenbrand will soon be lurking in the locker room of the double blue.
Of course Hillenbrand infamously wrote “the ship is sinking” while feuding with manager John Gibbons during the 2006 season. With the boatmen’s season seriously in jeopardy as well, perhaps we’ll get a cryptic quote out of that room soon enough.
Following are my notes and thoughts on Friday’s game:
- Thank god for Ian Wild and Micah Awe. While the secondary has been a sieve for the majority of the season so far and the defensive line has been up and down, the two playmaking linebackers have been the engine for a defence who’s stats are poorer than they played due to the shear amount they’ve been on the field.
Awe was in on both turnovers they forced, recovering the fumble Wild forced in the first quarter and laying a lick on Chris Streveler as he was releasing leading to Alden Darby’s pick late in the game. Even with the game well in hand it was nice to see Awe still going full tilt as the quarterback of the defence, providing a silver lining for a unit that’s been taking a beating so far.
2. Something has to be done about the special teams unit, because it’s far and away the worst position group in the CFL right now, as evidenced by Lucky Whitehead and Charles Nelson running wild on kick and punt returns.
You know the mojo is especially bad when Tyler Crapigna, who in his last full season of kicking in 2017 went 47-for-47 on extra point attempts promptly pushes his first one wide.
While I wouldn’t expect a change with the team staying out on the road for their three game western swing, if things don’t look up special teams coordinator Cory McDiarmid’s seat could be piping hot as we get closer to Labour Day.
3. While there were signs of individual improvement on the offensive side of the ball (namely Derel Walker FINALLY arriving with 188 yards and two TD’s, although most of it came in garbage time), Jacques Chapdelaine’s unit had far too many miscommunications and breakdowns in the first half on simple execution.
There were at least five instances where the TSN broadcast cut to Chapdelaine looking either lost, perturbed or exasperated on the sideline.
Yes the line has struggled to protect the quarterback and let plays develop, but with a stable of receivers and backs as good as the Argos have, a shift needs to be made to get the ball out quicker and let their players go to work in space.
Facing a Calgary defence that hasn’t lost a step this season, it will be a must or another ugly result is on the way.
4. The all-white jerseys with the baby blue numbers absolutely POP, but next time around let’s complete the look with a white helmet, okay?
5. Somebody check on the person running the team’s social media account, they might just need a hug.
Friendly reminder that there is a person behind the twitter account who has zero effect on the game that reads all your mentions and replies 🙂 #PullTogether pic.twitter.com/xms79DrkbA
— Toronto Argonauts (@TorontoArgos) July 13, 2019
