SJ Green (19) and Armanti Edwards (10) of the Toronto Argonauts during the game against the BC Lions at BMO Field in Toronto, On., Friday, June 29, 2017. (Photo: Johany Jutras)
The Toronto Argonauts enter familiar territory heading into Week Three with a 1-1 record and a road game on tap.
This week, the Argos will travel to Ottawa for the team’s first road game of the season after a two-game homestand opened the schedule. In the Nation’s Capital, the Argos will meet a Redblacks team that is desperate for a win after coming out of a two-game series with the Calgary Stampeders with a tie and a loss.
Saturday night’s game will mark Argos Head Coach Marc Trestman’s first game in Ottawa. When Trestman first entered the league in 2008, Ottawa had officially folded as a franchise after previously being suspended in 2006. The Redblacks did not play their inaugural season until two years after Trestman had left for the NFL.
With the Argos, Trestman will lead a club that has gone 5-3 vs. the Redblacks since Ottawa’s return to the CFL in 2014. In that period, the team has gone 2-2 in road games at TD Place while also coming home with a win in a relocated home game during the 2015 season.
Coming off of a loss, Argos QB Ricky Ray is 15-11 in Double Blue, posting a .577 win percentage. For his entire career, Ray is 40-28 in 68 starts when coming off a loss.
TOP PASSING ATTACKS PREPARED TO DO BATTLE
The league’s top two quarterbacks will square off on Saturday night at TD Place, as REDBLACKS QB Trevor Harris hosts former mentor Ricky Ray.
| Player | Ricky Ray (TOR) | Trevor Harris (OTT) |
| CMP-ATT | 62-86 | 60-80 |
| CMP% | 72.1% | 75.0% |
| YDS | 833 | 725 |
| TD-INT | 2-1 | 5-1 |
| YPA | 9.7 | 9.1 |
| QB Eff. | 105.4 | 118.0 |
Ray, who kicked off the season with a career-high 506 yards in a win over Hamilton, posted another 300+ game last Friday, maintaining the league-lead in passing yards with 833. Harris sits just under 100 yards back in second place while having posted the league’s top completion percentage (75.0) through the first two weeks.
Outside of Edmonton’s Mike Reilly, who has not thrown an interception in 64 pass attempts, Ray and Harris lead all CFL starters with a 1.2% interception rate.
Both Toronto and Ottawa’s receiving corps have been exceptional to start the 2017 season, with players from both teams making up the league’s top four in receiving yards.
Argos WRs DeVier Posey (12-218-1TD) and Armanti Edwards (16-209-1TD) rank first and second league-wide in receiving yards after each has tallied back-to-back games of 70+ yards. Right behind those two, Redblacks WRs Greg Ellingson and Brad Sinopoli sit tied with identical stat lines of 15 catches for 199 yards (Sinopoli has the lone touchdown).
Besides the four league-leaders, each team features at least one other 100-yard receiver through two weeks. Toronto’s S.J. Green (9-157) and Jeff Fuller (8-140) rank 9th and 11th league-wide, while former Argo and current Redblack Diontae Spencer (6-115-1TD) ranks 19th.
DOUBLE BLUE BOOKENDS
Argos defensive ends Victor Butler and Shawn Lemon have been terrorizing opposing offences and quarterbacks in the first two weeks of the season. Together, the Argos duo has accumulated six of the team’s nine quarterback sacks.
Last week vs. BC, first-year Argo Victor Butler posted four tackles, two sacks, and a forced fumble. Butler currently leads the CFL in sacks (4), forced fumbles (2), quarterback pressures (6) and is tied for the league-lead in second down conversion stops (5).
Shawn Lemon squeezed out his first pair of ‘Lemon Drops’ last Friday, posting two tackles and two sacks. The second-year Argo now has 11 career multi-sack games, six of which have been registered since he was traded to the club from Saskatchewan on July 2, 2016.
Meanwhile, Canadian DT Cleyon Laing can be credited as the centerfold or centrepiece to this tandem. Since returning to Toronto this offseason, he has four tackles, two sacks, two fumble recoveries, one forced fumble, and two quarterback pressures.
KEEPING IT 100
The Argonauts receiving corps has been extremely productive through the first two weeks of the seasons.
Eight different players have caught passes and four different receivers have eclipsed the 100-yard mark in a single game. DeVier Posey (7-147-1), S.J. Green (7-124), and Jeff Fuller (3-104) each cracked triple digits during Week One, marking the first time since 2013 that a three-man receiving tandem accomplished the feat.
After hauling in six receptions for 78 yards in Week One, newcomer Armanti Edwards became the fourth Argo with a 100-yard performance last week. Bringing in all 10 of the passes he was targeted on, Edwards tallied a career-high 131 yards and a touchdown vs. BC.
With four receivers having eclipsed the 100-yard receiving mark in the first two weeks of the season, the Argos currently sit one shy of the team’s total of 5 (2 – Diontae Spencer, 3 – Kenny Shaw) in 2016.
DREADED D
The Argonauts defence continues to rank among the top defences in the CFL heading into Week 3 of the season. Toronto has allowed a total of 21.5 points per game and an average of just 17.0 points per game by opposing offences.
Opposing offences have managed just 5.4 yards per play, a passing efficiency of 81.1, and an average of 295.5 offensive yards per game, all three of which lead the league.
The CFL’s most tormenting defence leads all teams with four forced turnovers and two interceptions while boasting nine sacks, five more than the next CFL team (EDM & BC).
Despite the fact that sacks league-wide are down 22.5% to 4.5 per game in 2017, the Argos are on the upswing. It’s a small sample size, but the team has produced sacks at a rate that is 46.9% higher than last season. Their 38 sacks in 18 games in 2016 (2.1/game) is contrasted with nine in two games this season (4.5/game).
QUICK HITS
- Newcomer Armanti Edwards has quietly been a sure-handed target for QB Ricky Ray. The second-year CFLer has hauled in all 16 passes he’s been targeted on for 209 yards and a touchdown this season. Edwards is one of only two receivers (SSK’s Nic Demski – 14) in the CFL to have caught every pass thrown their way.
- Argos LB Marcus Ball is tied for the league-lead with Calgary’s Alex Singleton in total defensive plays with 20. Ball has notched 14 tackles (12 DT, 2 ST), two quarterback pressures, one tackle for a loss and three pass knockdowns in two games. He notched his second straight game with 5+ tackles last week (6 DT, 1 ST).
- Argos DB Johnny Sears Jr. sits third among Argonauts in tackles (9) while adding two quarterback pressures and an interception. Sears’ interception of Jonathon Jennings was the Michigan product’s first since the 2015 CFL season.
- Since missing a 49-yard field goal attempt in the third quarter during Week One, Lirim Hajrullahu has connected on his last six attempts. He went three-for-three last week vs. BC.
- Ricky Ray could hit another milestone this week as he needs just two touchdown passes to enter the 300-TD club. Ray will continue his pursit of Henry Burris (4,649) who ranks third on the CFL’s all-time completions list. He needs 114 completions to catch the former Redblacks QB.
- Ray has not played in a game at TD Place since Ottawa’s home opener on July 8, 2014. He has missed the last four occasions that the Argos have played on the road in Ottawa. In fact, the Argos have started four different QBs in the last four meetings with the Redblacks.