Blue ready for a fight

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Still life in woeful Argos, but Bombers can finish them off




The Toronto Argonauts have scored the fewest points (277) and allowed the most (459) this season.

They've been outscored 176-68 during their current five-game losing streak, which means they're losing every week by an average score of 35-14.

They have yet to win in four games with Don Matthews, the CFL's winningest coach, at the helm.

They did, however, come close to winning last week, losing 24-20 to the B.C. Lions, who just so happen to be the hottest team in the league. So while Toronto may appear to be the worst team in the three-down loop, the Winnipeg Blue Bombers are going to be ready for a fight tonight when the teams collide at Canad Inns Stadium.

"I played for coach Matthews," said Bombers slotback Terrence Edwards, who was with The Don in Montreal. "He's the winningest coach in CFL history, so those old-type coaches kind of break you down and build you back up the way they want.


"I don't know how long it's going to take, but he's going to right the ship. I have no doubt about that. Hopefully ... it's not this week."

If the Bombers (5-9) win tonight they will all but wrap up second place in the East Division and the accompanying home playoff game. A triumph would push the Bombers four points up on the Argos (4-10) with three games to play, and it would also give them the tiebreaker.

If the Argos are victorious they would move into a second-place tie with the Bombers and also grab the tiebreaker (winning the season series 3-1), but they would still have some work to do.

Toronto's three remaining games are all against squads that currently boast league-leading 9-5 records. Winnipeg, meanwhile, has two of those 9-5 teams on the slate in Calgary and Montreal, but its last contest is a home date with the hapless Hamilton Tiger-Cats.

So even though the Argos are undergoing a major renovation with their new coach, Bombers linebacker Cam Hall doesn't believe all the hammering is going to be a distraction for the Boatmen. When your season is on the line, it tends to trump everything else.

"This is a playoff game, and they're going to treat it like it," Hall said. "The last couple weeks they've tried to throw in a few new wrinkles on every side of the ball, but they're going to come in with the same intensity we are.

"They gotta come in and get a win, just like we do."

The Bombers waltzed all over the Argos 39-9 four weeks ago in Toronto, but Hall said it had little to do with the fact that it was Matthews' debut.

"They were trying to find a little bit of an identity. They still are to a certain extent," he said. "They definitely were just struggling that game to really get anything started, and that's kind of a credit to us.

"They've got a lot of good athletes, so the reason they didn't get started is because our guys did their job and made sure we didn't let them get started. If you have guys like Arland Bruce get hot, it can get ugly quick. We did our job and made sure we took care of them early."

The Bombers will look to do the same thing tonight against an Argo squad that is reeling, hungry for a win and looking to impress The Don.

"They're going to play fast, they're going to play hard, and they're going to play knowing that their jobs are on the line," Edwards said, "because he's a guy that, if you're not playing well, he's going to get rid of you and find somebody else."

 

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Bombers wary of Joseph on eve of biggest game of season




Doug Brown has been watching film of the Toronto Argonauts this past week and might have caught something that's not evident to the naked eye.

"His potential, his ability has not gone anywhere," the Winnipeg Blue Bombers defensive tackle said, referring to Argos quarterback Kerry Joseph.

"He is a big-game player and this is a big game. It's one of those deals where we have to make sure he is not a multi-dimensional threat. He is one of their most formidable weapons and we have to take that into account."

So much for in-your-face opinions on the eve of the biggest CFL game of the season for the Argos and the Blue Bombers. Rather than make any bold declarations, players on both sides kept it neat and tidy yesterday, refusing to put their names on bulletin-board material. Of the importance of this one, however, there is no doubt.

Argos lose, they have to win their remaining three games and Winnipeg would have to lose its final three for Toronto to go to the playoffs. Argos win, they move into second place in the East Division and suddenly a season that seemingly has been lost for weeks gets a shot in the heart.


And there probably is no one on either side who wants to win more than Joseph, a player who would rather forget most of what he has done in an Argos uniform. He concurred that he has not played in a more crucial game since the 2007 Grey Cup, when his Saskatchewan Roughriders beat the Blue Bombers in Toronto.

"It would help to win, it would really help," Joseph said. "There's a lot involved. At this point, I would say it is the biggest and it just happens to be against Winnipeg."

As they did during a Bombers rout in Toronto on Sept. 12, the clubs will wear retro uniforms in recognition of the 1950s CFL. The Argos will try to conjure a more recent time, such as the two wins they recorded against the Bombers earlier this season. Receiver P.K. Sam, who hurt a groin more than a week ago, has been added to the roster and should give Joseph a solid option. But in what could be another sign that the defence is changing into something much different, linebacker Kevin Eiben, who started as late as last week against the B.C. Lions, did not make the trip, despite being listed on the starting roster.

The forecast was calling for light rain, wind, and a high of 6 C, and if it holds true, expect both sides to rely more on their running backs.

The Argos' defence was better versus B.C., holding the Lions to 371 yards, the lowest total against Toronto in more than two months. Head coach Don Matthews picked up the 4-3 defence that former coach Rich Stubler had began to use, and the new approach is sinking in.

"The great thing about our guys is their spirit is really remarkable," Matthews said. "They bought into this knowing it's a project that is going to turn around on a moment's notice. As we do every week, we hope it is this week."