Hogan: A Much-Needed Win

The sense of relief was palpable. Smiles were omnipresent. The post-game on-field excitement was a little more than one would expect after a win in late July.

When the Toronto Argonauts defeated the Winnipeg Blue Bombers 31-17 on Saturday night, there was a feeling of relief. The win gave the Double Blue an important two points, their weight increased by the team’s 1-5 start.

“Every win is important, especially when it ends a losing streak,” quarterback Nick Arbuckle told Argonauts.ca. “It’s a critical part of the season. We’re trying to turn things around and build some momentum, so it was important.”

Thinking about a playoff spot in July is sailing through uncharted waters for the Boatmen under Ryan Dinwiddie’s leadership, but it’s something that started happening after the club’s slow start. Saturday’s victory means the Argos can move back into a playoff spot with a win in Winnipeg on Friday.

The two points would move them into a tie with the Bombers and idle BC, eliminating a crossover.

“It was a big one,” Dinwiddie said to Argonauts.ca of the win over Winnipeg. “The way we lost the one before that (a gut-wrenching loss in Montreal), we almost had to answer and find a way to get a win. It’s good, added momentum heading into this week.”

There were several things that made the win sweet, aside from the important pair of points, but there was one sequence of the game that showed the coach a lot about the makeup of his team.

“It all started when they returned that fumble (for a touchdown) and made it 10-9,” explained Dinwiddie. “We were doing really well, and they hadn’t been doing much as far as getting yardage and our defence was rolling. Just for them to battle back and find a way when it could have been a ‘here we go again’ type of thing. Those guys fought and played a full four quarters.”

The same compliment of playing a complete game could certainly be bestowed upon Arbuckle. The quarterback completed 71% of his passes for 316 yards and two touchdowns with no interceptions, stellar numbers considering it rained, hard at times, throughout much of the game.

“I’m happy any time we win,” said the QB, quick to deflect any individual praise. “There are always plays you wish you could have back – a different ball, a different decision, whatever it is. We made the plays we needed to and made some big plays at the right moments to capture momentum back when they started to get it and that was critical.”

The club cannot afford to kick its feet up and relax. It travels to Winnipeg for a Friday rematch with another important two points on the line. A win moves them closer to the top of the East, and moves them into a playoff position, while a loss would keep them two points behind BC and out of a playoff spot.

The Bombers are facing challenges of their own. After three consecutive wins to start the season, the Winnipegers have now dropped three in a row by a combined score of 109-53. Starting quarterback Zach Collaros hasn’t finished either of the last two games, and for the first time in a half decade the Bombers don’t seem like the powerhouse they’ve been.

That said, in the eyes of the odds makers the Bombers have been listed as substantial favourites, while all the writers at CFL.ca have also selected the home side to win.

None of that matters to either team’s coaching staff, now tasked to devise a new game plan to keep their opponents honest, something that’s not particularly easy in back-to-back games against the same team.

“It’s tough to get a completely different one (game plan) on a short week, a six-day week” Dinwiddie confessed. “It’s a little bit easier to handle a short week when it’s the same opponent. You’ve got to find ways to window dress it, you can’t completely change it on a short week, but we’ll have some wrinkles for them.”

Until the Argos get on a roll and are able to bypass teams in a playoff position, each game on the schedule will have an added importance and that is certainly the case this Friday in Winnipeg.