CFL.ca/Adam Gagnon
CFL.ca Staff
TORONTO — With the 2014 calendar year coming to a close and the focus shifting to the off-season, CFL.ca takes a league-wide look at what went down in 2014 — one team at a time. Next up is the Toronto Argonauts.
The Argos’ most recent campaign may be the toughest in the CFL to sum up, after they won five of their last seven games and finished just a game out of first in the East Division – only to watch helplessly as a Ticat win over Montreal ended their season.
That’s how close it was in the East, and whether you blame injuries or a transition phase on defence, the Argos came up short in the end. The question heading into the off-season: are the Argos trending upwards after a hot finish, or downwards after a disappointing overall season?
| CFL.ca Season Rewind |
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 The Stampeders are champions after a season full of peaks and valleys for every team in the CFL. Follow along as CFL.ca takes a look at the season that was and looks ahead to 2015 where every team hopes to stand at the top of the heap in Winnipeg. CFL.ca Season Rewind |
Overview:
While the entire East Division got off to a slow start, the Argos’ was the most surprising. Hamilton, Montreal and Ottawa entered 2014 with major changes to their team, whether at quarterback, head coach or in Ottawa’s case, everywhere.
The Argos, while operating under a new defensive coordinator and scheme, were expected to lead the East out of the gate thanks to a deadly-efficient offence led by the masterful Ricky Ray.
A 45-21 loss to Winnipeg in the season opener highlighted a 1-4 start for the Boatmen, while injuries to Chad Owens, Andre Durie, John Chiles and Jason Barnes added to the team’s defensive woes in the first year under Tim Burke.
Back-to-back wins over Montreal and Winnipeg by a combined score of 69-26 (21.5 points the average margin of victory for each game) seemingly had the Argos back on track, as the defence settled in while Ray returned to his 2013 form – but another losing streak hit the team hard, one that culminated with a loss to Calgary in which the Argos surrendered a 26-point first-half lead.
A spirited late-season comeback saw the Argos tackle the lions in BC and win three of four straight at home, including two over the hated Tiger-Cats – but two late-season losses to the Alouettes, the Argos’ only blemish in their final seven games, caused their eventual demise.
The Good:
The defence got better as the season went on under the team’s first-year coordinator Tim Burke, while the offence settled in down the stretch after relative health was restored with the return of Chad Owens and Jason Barnes.
Ricky Ray may not have looked like himself when his number one targets were the likes of Robert Gill, Terrell Sinkfield and Darvin Adams, as none of which had time to build chemistry with Ray and the offence before facing live bullets – but he led the league with 28 touchdown passes for the first time in his career while also finishing first in passing yards.
When healthy, the Argos looked like a Grey Cup-contending team down the final stretch of the season, topping contenders like Edmonton and twice Hamilton while almost taking down Calgary on the road (that 26-point lead the Argos blew may have sparked the 5-2 run to close out the season).
Swayze Waters was another bright spot for the Argos, leading the league in kicking points and punting average and earning Most Outstanding Special Teams Player at the year-end awards.
Finally, the Argos’ future has a little more certainty as well after a year in which many young players made meaningful contributions. 2014 third overall pick Anthony Coombs was a go-to threat in the Argo offence as a rookie before a season-ending injury, while Tristan Okpalaugo reached double-digit sacks.
Trevor Harris meanwhile won his first career CFL start, throwing for 281 yards and two touchdowns in a 23-5 victory over the Ottawa REDBLACKS.
The Bad:
After a tough start, the Argo defence wound up ranking among the top four teams in the league in the majority of defensive categories. With a sixth-place finish with 331 net yards per game however, that area can still be identified as a weakness for the Argos.
Tim Burke’s unit featured mostly new starters in 2014 without any CFL experience, so a work in progress was to be expected. The worst of it came in the season opener, when Drew Willy made his Bomber debut by torching the Argo secondary to the tune of four touchdown passes and more than 300 passing yards in a blowout win for the Blue and Gold.
While the defence played a role in the team’s absence from the 2014 Grey Cup Playoffs, the Argo ground game didn’t help matters. The Argos have never been known as a dominant rushing team under Scott Milanovich, but the off-season retirement of Chad Kackert made matters worse.
The Argos finished third-worst in the league in both rushing yards and attempts, as they struggled to establish their backfield through most of the season. By the time rookie CFL runner Steve Slaton emerged from the pack and provided stability to the Toronto backfield, the Argos were in a hole they just couldn’t climb out of.
Highlight of the Season:
With a high-octane offence and a number of thrilling last-minute finishes in 2014, Argos fans enjoyed no shortage of highlights this season. The best likely came during an early October clash with the Ticats in Toronto, as the Argos needed a win to keep their season alive against their hated rival.
Poor field position and penalties haunted the Argos throughout the first three quarters, while former Argo pivot Zach Collaros ran wild against the Toronto defence to lead Hamilton to a 30-13 lead through 45 minutes.
Something changed heading into the fourth, as the future Hall of Famer Ricky Ray and the veteran Argo offence rose to the occasion. A touchdown pass to Steve Slaton and then with less than five minutes remaining a one-yard plunge by Ray put the Argos within six, before a defensive stop set-up an eventual game-winning 69-yard touchdown pass to Chad Owens.
Ray finished with 431 yards and three touchdown passes, while the Argos were in full sail towards their bid for a trip to the post-season, pulling off a third straight win entering a pivotal battle with Montreal.
Potential Departures:
Argos GM Jim Barker has some tough decisions on his plate, as some key members of the Argo offence are set to hit free agency. The Argos already spend big on their offensive core consisting of Ray, Owens and Durie, and the question this off-season will be whether they look to lock up other key pieces of their offence like Jason Barnes, John Chiles, Tyler Holmes, Spencer Watt and Curtis Steele.
In particular, they may look to lock up Chiles and Barnes, two of Ray’s vital weapons on offence, as well as some important Canadian content in Spencer Watt and Tyler Holmes.
Here’s the list of Argos due to hit free agency on Feb. 10, 2015:
| CFL.ca Argos Columnist |
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Don Landry |
Darvin Adams, WR, International
Jason Barnes, SB, International
Ivan Brown, DL, National
Jalil Carter, DB, International
John Chiles, WR, International
Tyler Holmes, OL, National
Jarriel King, OL, International
Maurice Mann, WR, International
Evan McCollough, DB, International
SirVincent Rogers, OL, International
Curtis Steele, RB, International
Marcus Thomas, DL, International
Herye Tonye-Tonye, LB, National
Matt Ware, DB, International
Spencer Watt, WR, National
Anthony Woodson, RB, National
Why they’ll win the Grey Cup in 2015:
The Argos are just two years removed from winning a Grey Cup and one year from winning the East Division, still boasting most of that same offensive core from two years ago.
Defensive changes led by the departure of Chris Jones likely caused the team’s downfall in 2014, but that unit should see marked improvement entering a second season under Tim Burke. Meanwhile, the Argo offence should be better than ever, heading into a fourth season under offensive whiz Scott Milanovich and star quarterback Ricky Ray.
Jason Maas departed to Ottawa to become the offensive coordinator, but the Argo brain trust on offence remains mostly intact. With any better luck in the injury department this year, the Argos should be as diabolical and difficult to handle as ever on the offensive side of the ball, while the defence may begin to hit stride.
The Argos never had their two-headed monster of Andre Durie and Chad Owens together in 2014, changing the identity of an offence that thrives on high efficiency and yards after the catch. With both of them on the offence, a healthy Anthony Coombs and a more experienced Steve Slaton, that unit could explode.
We forecast the Argos to be more like the 2013 version that won the East Division rather than the 2014 one.
