Argonauts.ca
According to the Argonauts’ Ricky Foley, the East Division is ‘wide open’.
Is the always captivating defensive end talking tough or is there something to his assertion that Toronto is just as dangerous come playoff time as the Hamilton Tiger-Cats and Ottawa REDBLACKS?
The latter two teams will decide on Saturday who gets to host the East Final and who gets to host the Argos in the East Semi-Final.
The home and home set between these Ontario rivals has the Argonauts fading into the background.
But when you match the Argos up with their Ontario counterparts, you can start to see what Foley sees.
With the Hamilton Tiger-Cats now down to their third string quarterback, with no guarantee Jeff Mathews will be ready for the playoffs, the best team for the first half of the season is starting to wear down.
Hamilton is 0-4 against teams who will be in the playoffs since Zach Collaros’ injury. Their only wins have come against Saskatchewan and Montreal since their quarterback’s season ended in against Edmonton on September 19th.
Toronto has never gotten to play a Hamilton team this year without Collaros, who helped the Tiger-Cats score 111 points in three games against the Argos this season.
For the REDBLACKS, they are a team who can’t seem to break the Argos. Toronto is 3-0 against Ottawa, mind you those were games when Trevor Harris was at his best and long before Ricky Ray was ready to come off the bench.
But for the Argonauts to knock off two straight upsets on the road, including once at Tim Hortons Field, where they are yet to win in two seasons, they have things to smooth over.
Of course, they have to settle on a quarterback for the playoffs and they need Ricky Ray to really impress on Friday against Winnipeg or they could have a full blown QB controversy on their hands at the worst time of year.
Trevor Harris’ first half of the season had him in the MOP conversation and now that Ray is back, there is little doubt which quarterback knows how to get it done in November.
Head Coach Scott Milanovich will have to be able to answer the question soon after Friday’s game on who his starter will be to not create such a controversy for the media and fans to chew on in the week heading into the playoffs.
Although, it will likely happen anyway.
The fewer distractions the better for any team before the playoffs.
The coach also needs his team to stay disciplined. They are the second highest penalized team in the CFL and Milanovich has already benched players for penalties this season but the message needs to start being heard.
But the biggest job may be that of defensive coordinator Casey Creehan to get the Argonauts to go on the road and upset the apple cart in the East Division.
Creehan’s defence has allowed the second most points in the league and when it comes to defending the pass, they are also second last. Only the Saskatchewan Roughriders trail on the defensive side of the ball.
The turnaround will have start up front with a leader like Foley. He truly will have to walk to walk after talking the talk going into the playoffs.
Opposing quarterbacks are completing 70% of their passes and a pass rush led by Foley will be imperative to make things a little more difficult in the pocket for Henry Burris and whoever is throwing the ball in Hamilton come playoff time.
But you certainly shouldn’t sleep on Toronto come playoff time.
With weapons that start with young receivers like Tori Gurley, Kevin Elliott, Vidal Hazelton and the veteran presence of Chad Owens and Dave Stala.
And you can’t forget about the veteran presence and double threat out of the backfield with Brandon Whitaker, both running and receiving the ball.
If the Argonauts can start to get the quarterbacking they had earlier in the season, there is no doubt they will be able to put up the points necessary to beat Hamilton and Ottawa come playoff time.
Yes, Mr. Foley, I agree with you.
The East Division is wide open.
