ARGONAUTS.CA STAFF
After a heart-breaking loss to the Winnipeg Blue Bombers, the Double Blue are not letting panic settle in as they face the East’s top club on Friday.
The Argos seemingly had the Bombers right where they wanted them for the majority of the second half on Saturday. With only 10 points allowed and opposing quarterback Michael Bishop cooling off after coming out solid in the first quarter, many could argue that the Argos were poised to complete the sweep of the two-week mini-series.
However, despite moving the ball effectively offensively, stalled drives and costly turnovers eventually led to the Boatmen’s demise.
Eventhough the Argos committed a season-high 7 turnovers, both the coaching staff and those on the field are looking for a silver lining in a game that was a hit goalpost away from a win.
“At the end of the day, we were in a position to have a chance to win the game with a minus seven turnover ratio. That in itself is pretty phenomenal because it doesn’t happen that often”, said Head Coach Bart Andrus moments after the game concluded.
Argos QB Kerry Joseph, who had two dropped balls aid his misleading interception total, echoes Coach Andrus’ approach and states that there is no need for the Argos to panic this early in the season, “We are getting some bad breaks right now but all we can do is continue to focus in and continue to work. It’s week five but we have to cut the turnovers down. The man that’s driving this ship is very positive. He’s going to keep us positive, we are going to stay positive and we’ve got to keep believing in each other”.
Joseph is working in an offence that has seen drastic changes in its receiving corps over the last two weeks and despite the offences’ inability to capitalize on chances when in the red zone, the veteran leader is encouraged by what he saw in his two newest receivers WR Chad Lucas and SB Cory Rodgers, “They did a good job. It was a new group out there and the guys came in and made some plays. I think that the more reps we get together the better we are going to be. We communicated well and we knew we would have some mistakes, but the more reps that they get, the more reps that we get and the better we will be”.
Andrus was equally as optimistic about the debuts of his two newest receivers, “I thought our receivers played pretty well. The two guys that were playing their first game as Argonauts combined for 10 receptions for 118 yards – that’s not too bad so I was encouraged by that”.
On the opposite side of the ball, veteran LB Willie Pile understands that although the defence held the opposition to only 13 points, wins and losses are defined by the team and not only one facet of the game, “That’s our job (as a defence) and when it’s the reverse, we are going to need them (the offence) to pick us up as well. We are going to continue to do that because we are a team. We are going to ride together, we are going to win together and we are going to lose together”.