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BOMBERS, ARGOS LOOK TO STAY HOT ON FRIDAY NIGHT FOOTBALL
TORONTO — The stakes are high for both the Toronto Argonauts and Winnipeg Blue Bombers entering their Week 8 matchup on Friday night at BMO Field.
Coming off a bye week, the Argos (4-2) have one eye on first place in the East Division, while the Bombers (3-4) have won two in a row on the strength of Matt Nichols’ arm and can move back to .500 for the first time in 2016.
Winnipeg’s on a roll.
Since turning the reins over to quarterback Matt Nichols in Week 6, Mike O’Shea’s football team has won two games and posted 30 and 37 points — its two highest marks through seven games.
“He’s played great for us, he’s scored a lot of points and taken care of the football,” said O’Shea of his new starting pivot to BlueBombers.com. “He’s a big reason (for our success), that’s for sure; we’ve gotten good play out of the rest of the team, out of guys that have been waiting patiently to play football.”
Nichols has been nothing short of superb in his two starts, completing 49 of 64 passes for 550 yards and a trio of touchdowns.
“He’s winning us football games,” said O’Shea when asked about Nichols’s starter status. “Quarterbacks are in charge of winning games, and Matt’s winning games right now.”
On the defensive side of the football, the Bombers will have to face a star-studded Argos offence that’s built to protect rookie quarterback Logan Kilgore.
“They’ve got some weapons on offence — (Brandon) Whitaker is playing real well this year,” said Bombers linebacker Ian Wild, the league’s top tackler (54). “Their offence is tough because they have a lot of misdirection (and) good receivers — we have a lot to worry about.”
Wild, one of the league’s most consistent defensive performers, expects Toronto to ease Kilgore into the ballgame in much the same fashion it did two weeks ago against Ottawa.
“With Toronto’s system, they (will) try to make him play just like Ricky (Ray) plays,” said Wild. “A lot of easy passes or simple route concepts and stuff like that — they’re trying to establish the run game a bit to help him out, so maybe they’ll try to do that this week.”
The ultimate challenge for O’Shea’s group on Friday night will be trying to win all three phases of the game.
“They’ve been riddled with injuries too; they’re 4-2, and they seem to play team football,” said Coach O’Shea. “Each phase is contributing to their success; each phase is keeping them in games so they have an opportunity to win late.”
The run game, while down across the league in 2016, remains an important piece of Winnipeg’s offence with dual-threat national running back Andrew Harris. In their three wins, the Bombers have averaged 4.1 yards per carry on first down; in their four losses, just 3.3.
That same statistic is a surprisingly telling one for the Argos, too — especially in the absence of Ricky Ray. In the Argos’ four wins in 2016, they’ve averaged 6.3 on the ground on first down; in their two defeats, just 3.9.
“We’ve had our moments where we haven’t played well, but the last few weeks we have,” Head Coach Scott Milanovich told Argonauts.ca. “I felt like our defence really stepped up early (in Ottawa) and controlled the game — it’s funny, when you have a new QB, everybody seems to pick up the intensity.”
After some early-game jitters, though, that new quarterback — MTSU product Logan Kilgore — settled in against the REDBLACKS, finishing the day with over 300 passing yards and, most importantly, helping his team pick up a win.
“It was a team win and it feels great to have a full team behind you,” said Kilgore, who will make his second start this week against the Bombers. “You know that you don’t have to be Superman to win games.”
The Argos are 7-1 coming off the bye since 2012 and Toronto’s players are raring to get back on their home turf, where they’ve struggled to a 1-2 record thus far in 2016.
“Take it to 5-2, that’s the goal,” said defensive back Thomas Gordon. “(We’ve) been waiting like cabin fever, putting in work in the film room and competing in practice. I’m happy to be back out there, flying around with my defence, making plays.”
Big-time plays are something Toronto will need plenty of on Friday; the Argos sit second in the CFL in takeaways (15) and turnover ratio (plus six), and will need to create penetration on Matt Nichols to disrupt the Bombers’ resurgent passing game.
“In the Montreal (and) Ottawa games, it was more like I want to see our team: Contributing in all three phases,” said Coach Milanovich. “I was proud of the way they pulled together and got a team win, (and) it was nice to be able to spend a couple days with the family and be sitting on the win.”
By the Numbers
0 – First-quarter points allowed by Winnipeg in its last two games.
3 – 50-plus-yard field goals made by Toronto’s Lirim Hajrullahu, the most in the league.
140 – Points allowed by Toronto, the second-fewest in the CFL.
664 – All-purpose yards for Winnipeg RB Andrew Harris.
The Skinny
The critical stat to make a note of prior to any Bombers game is this: Since 2010, Winnipeg’s posted a plus-75 turnover ratio in its 38 wins, in stark contrast to a minus-122 ratio in 77 losses.
It’s no secret. To beat Winnipeg, you have to win the turnover battle.
For Winnipeg to find a third-straight win and claw back to .500, the Bombers will have to emulate what the previous teams to win at BMO — Hamilton (Week 1) and Ottawa (Week 4) — did successfully: Play defence.
The Argos managed just 296 and 300 yards respectively in those two home losses.
Whichever defence comes up with key stops and big plays more consistently will earn its team the W.
BOMBERS, ARGOS LOOK TO STAY HOT ON FRIDAY NIGHT FOOTBALL
TORONTO — The stakes are high for both the Toronto Argonauts and Winnipeg Blue Bombers entering their Week 8 matchup on Friday night at BMO Field.
Coming off a bye week, the Argos (4-2) have one eye on first place in the East Division, while the Bombers (3-4) have won two in a row on the strength of Matt Nichols’ arm and can move back to .500 for the first time in 2016.
Winnipeg’s on a roll.
Since turning the reins over to quarterback Matt Nichols in Week 6, Mike O’Shea’s football team has won two games and posted 30 and 37 points — its two highest marks through seven games.
“He’s played great for us, he’s scored a lot of points and taken care of the football,” said O’Shea of his new starting pivot to BlueBombers.com. “He’s a big reason (for our success), that’s for sure; we’ve gotten good play out of the rest of the team, out of guys that have been waiting patiently to play football.”
Nichols has been nothing short of superb in his two starts, completing 49 of 64 passes for 550 yards and a trio of touchdowns.
“He’s winning us football games,” said O’Shea when asked about Nichols’s starter status. “Quarterbacks are in charge of winning games, and Matt’s winning games right now.”
On the defensive side of the football, the Bombers will have to face a star-studded Argos offence that’s built to protect rookie quarterback Logan Kilgore.
“They’ve got some weapons on offence — (Brandon) Whitaker is playing real well this year,” said Bombers linebacker Ian Wild, the league’s top tackler (54). “Their offence is tough because they have a lot of misdirection (and) good receivers — we have a lot to worry about.”
Wild, one of the league’s most consistent defensive performers, expects Toronto to ease Kilgore into the ballgame in much the same fashion it did two weeks ago against Ottawa.
“With Toronto’s system, they (will) try to make him play just like Ricky (Ray) plays,” said Wild. “A lot of easy passes or simple route concepts and stuff like that — they’re trying to establish the run game a bit to help him out, so maybe they’ll try to do that this week.”
The ultimate challenge for O’Shea’s group on Friday night will be trying to win all three phases of the game.
“They’ve been riddled with injuries too; they’re 4-2, and they seem to play team football,” said Coach O’Shea. “Each phase is contributing to their success; each phase is keeping them in games so they have an opportunity to win late.”
The run game, while down across the league in 2016, remains an important piece of Winnipeg’s offence with dual-threat national running back Andrew Harris. In their three wins, the Bombers have averaged 4.1 yards per carry on first down; in their four losses, just 3.3.
That same statistic is a surprisingly telling one for the Argos, too — especially in the absence of Ricky Ray. In the Argos’ four wins in 2016, they’ve averaged 6.3 on the ground on first down; in their two defeats, just 3.9.
“We’ve had our moments where we haven’t played well, but the last few weeks we have,” Head Coach Scott Milanovich told Argonauts.ca. “I felt like our defence really stepped up early (in Ottawa) and controlled the game — it’s funny, when you have a new QB, everybody seems to pick up the intensity.”
After some early-game jitters, though, that new quarterback — MTSU product Logan Kilgore — settled in against the REDBLACKS, finishing the day with over 300 passing yards and, most importantly, helping his team pick up a win.
“It was a team win and it feels great to have a full team behind you,” said Kilgore, who will make his second start this week against the Bombers. “You know that you don’t have to be Superman to win games.”
The Argos are 7-1 coming off the bye since 2012 and Toronto’s players are raring to get back on their home turf, where they’ve struggled to a 1-2 record thus far in 2016.
“Take it to 5-2, that’s the goal,” said defensive back Thomas Gordon. “(We’ve) been waiting like cabin fever, putting in work in the film room and competing in practice. I’m happy to be back out there, flying around with my defence, making plays.”
Big-time plays are something Toronto will need plenty of on Friday; the Argos sit second in the CFL in takeaways (15) and turnover ratio (plus six), and will need to create penetration on Matt Nichols to disrupt the Bombers’ resurgent passing game.
“In the Montreal (and) Ottawa games, it was more like I want to see our team: Contributing in all three phases,” said Coach Milanovich. “I was proud of the way they pulled together and got a team win, (and) it was nice to be able to spend a couple days with the family and be sitting on the win.”
By the Numbers
0 – First-quarter points allowed by Winnipeg in its last two games.
3 – 50-plus-yard field goals made by Toronto’s Lirim Hajrullahu, the most in the league.
140 – Points allowed by Toronto, the second-fewest in the CFL.
664 – All-purpose yards for Winnipeg RB Andrew Harris.
The Skinny
The critical stat to make a note of prior to any Bombers game is this: Since 2010, Winnipeg’s posted a plus-75 turnover ratio in its 38 wins, in stark contrast to a minus-122 ratio in 77 losses.
It’s no secret. To beat Winnipeg, you have to win the turnover battle.
For Winnipeg to find a third-straight win and claw back to .500, the Bombers will have to emulate what the previous teams to win at BMO — Hamilton (Week 1) and Ottawa (Week 4) — did successfully: Play defence.
The Argos managed just 296 and 300 yards respectively in those two home losses.
Whichever defence comes up with key stops and big plays more consistently will earn its team the W.
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