Canadians, special teams and defence lead the way in Argos' championship
Today at 09:50 AM
TORONTO — Defence is the name of the game, or is it special teams? Maybe National players?
The Toronto Argonauts beat the Winnipeg Blue Bombers 41-24 on Sunday to claim their 19th Grey Cup title in franchise history. The final score suggests the offences were the main story of the game, but a closer look might suggest otherwise.
“They showed up, and they did exactly that,” said Henoc Muamba to Donnovan Bennett in this week’s edition of The Waggle Podcast about the Argos defensive line finding a way to pressure the quarterback. “That defence just made Zach Collaros uncomfortable. That d-line made him uncomfortable. And you know that with the four interceptions, it’s just a recipe for disaster. For anybody facing a team that has four turnovers, it’s hard to win. So you talk about what really helped the Toronto Argonauts. It starts on defence. It starts with Wynton McManis, but more than anything, it’s the turnovers that made it possible.”
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Muamba, of course, knows a thing or two about defence AND about Argos and Bombers, having played with both franchises, including winning a Grey Cup with Toronto in 2019 and being named the game’s Most Valuable Player (and Canadian).
It wasn’t only the defensive unit that led the Boatmen to another championship, of course. The offence did its job with quarterback Nick Arbuckle being named MVP and Dejon Brissett MVC. Finally, the special teams unit also led a pristine operation, with former Blue Bomber Janarion Grant giving Toronto good field position in their first drive of the game to set the tone for the afternoon at BC Place while the unit as a whole forced a crucial punt that swung momentum back to the Boatmen.
“For me, the big differentiator is who’s better on special teams and who has better Canadians,” said Bennett. “The amount of Canadians and really from U Sports schools that were on this Argonauts roster. When you look at the schools that are represented, you get Arizona and some big schools from the U.S., but it’s a lot of Alberta, Calgary, St. FX, Laurier, Montreal, Laval, the University of Western Ontario, Carlton.
“I started taking notes, this is going to matter.”
And matter it did.
Winnipeg seemed to be claiming momentum in the second half, down by a single point in what had been a tight battle, before a trio of Canadian from U Sport schools made play after play to break open the score for the Double Blue.
“Momentum is swinging the way of Winnipeg, (the Bombers) look like they’re going to be able to get control of the game. Fraser Sopik (Western) on the punt knocks the ball loose from Lucky Whitehead, Jack Cassar (Carlton) jumps on it immediately,” said Bennett. “What happens next? Kevin Mital (Laval) catches in the flat, hurdles a dude, house call. And so you have the big play on specials, and you have the Canadians stepping up.”
That’s not to mention kicker Lirim Hajrullahu, who suffered an injury after kicking his second field goal of the game but still finished a perfect four-for-four on field goals and extra points.
“Absolutely I hear it,” said Muamba. “You talk about the way that this team was just set up, I think you totally hit it on the nail. The Canadians played their part. They did their job, and then just the makeup of the team made it so that a was conducive for a win in a big game.”
