Marcus Ball (6) of the Toronto Argonauts during the game against the Ottawa RedBlacks at TD Place Stadium in Ottawa, On., Saturday, July 8, 2017. (Photo: Johany Jutras)
A recently-renewed rivalry meets a throwback celebration.
On Monday, July 24, the Toronto Argonauts (2-2) will play host to the East Division rival Ottawa Redblacks (1-3-1) in Monday Night Football action at BMO Field.
The Argos, coming off of a 33-25 loss to the Winnipeg Blue Bombers, will return home after playing their last two games on the road. They split the two-game road series, taking home a close win in Ottawa before the trip to Winnipeg.
The last time these teams met, the game went down to the wire, with a last second Ottawa field goal falling short, giving the Argos a 26-25 win. Ricky Ray tossed his 300th career touchdown pass in the game while S.J. Green caught 10 passes for a career-high 210 yards and a touchdown.
The defensive unit got after Trevor Harris all night, combining for five sacks and five pressures while holding the Redblacks pivot to a season-low 59.0 QUAR rating.
RICKY 300+ RAY
Heading into Week Five of CFL action, Argos QB Ricky Ray leads the CFL with 1,529 passing yards and four touchdowns on 116-of-173 passing (67.1%).
Last week vs. Winnipeg, the 15-year veteran registered his fourth consecutive game with 300+ passing yards, throwing for 330 yards on 27-of-46 passing. His four consecutive games with 300+ yards marked the fifth time that he has done so in his career and the first since the 2009 CFL season.
If Ray eclipses the 300-yard mark this week vs. Ottawa to achieve his fifth consecutive game, it will mark just the second time in his career that he has reached that mark. The last time Ray went five games with over 300 yards was June 27 to July 20, 2006.
In the Argos last meeting with the REDBLACKS, Ray went 27-of-41 passing for 366 yards and two touchdowns, including his 300th career major.
Each game, Ray inches closer to becoming the Argos outright leader in all major passing categories. With 15,881 passing yards and 90 touchdowns on 1,972 passing attempts, he needs a total of 739 yards, nine touchdowns and 62 passing attempts to reach the club’s all-time marks in each category.
ACTION JACKSON
In just his second career CFL game, Argos KR/RB Martese Jackson put his speed and elusiveness in the return game last week vs. the Winnipeg Blue Bombers.
Named a CFL Top Performer of the Week in Week 4, Jackson accumulated a total of 339 return yards (148 punt return, 191 kick return) at Investors Group Field. The Florida Atlantic alum scored his first career major on a 78-yard punt return in the first quarter, marking the Argos first punt return TD since Chad Owens’ 85-yarder in Ottawa on September 26, 2015.
Additionally, Jackson’s 339 return yards rank fourth all-time in CFL history for total kick return yards in a single-game, and second in Argos single-game history behind Bashir Levingston’s 345 yards on August 24, 2005, vs. Calgary.
After appearing in just two games this season, he currently sits third in punt return yards (155) and fifth in kickoff return yards (247) in CFL.
DREADED D
The Argonauts defence continues to rank among the league’s best heading into Week 5 of the season. Through four games, the unit has wreaked havoc on opposing offences, and more specifically, their quarterbacks. They have kept opposing offences to an average for 21.5 points per game, 0.2 points behind league leaders Montreal and BC while forcing seven turnovers (T-2 in CFL) and racking up 14 sacks.
Through four games, the Argos defence has allowed a league low five total touchdowns and another league-best 5.3 yards per offensive play. Opposing quarterbacks have a cumulative 85.9 passer efficiency when facing the Double Blue, faring worse only against the Winnipeg Blue Bombers’ unit (84.1).
The last time these two teams faced off, the Argos managed to swarm Trevor Harris for five sacks and an additional five quarterback pressures. Three of the five sacks came by way of Victor Butler who led the team with eight tackles.
QUICK HITS
- LB Bear Woods led the Argonauts defence with nine tackles last week, the most he has had in a single game since joining the club in June. The sure-handed tackler has now registered a total of 24 defensive tackles in four games and 5+ in the Argos last three outings (WK2 – 6, WK3 – 8, WK4 -9). Woods, who set the Alouettes club record for tackles in a season (126), is currently averaging 6.75 tackles a game and on pace to register 121.5 tackles this season which would break a 23-year-old club single-season record of 121 set by Calvin Tiggle in 1994.
- Argos head coach Marc Trestman was rewarded with his 61st career win the last time the Argos and Redblacks met, pushing his career record to 61-31. A win over the Redblacks on Monday would slide him into the Top 20 all-time for wins as a coach; he is currently tied with John Payne (Ssk, Ham, Ott).
- The last time the Argos and Redblacks squared off, two defensive players set career-firsts. Canadian DT Jeff Finley recorded his first two career regular-sesaon sacks while international DB Rico Murray scored his first career defensive touchdown on a fumble recovery.
- Canadian kicker Lirim Hajrullahu connected on 6-of-6 field goal attempts in just his second return to Investors Group Field last week. The Western University product’s six field goals tie a career high for field goals made in a game. Hajrullahu last converted six kicks against the BC Lions on July 7, 2016.
- Fourth-year Argo Anthony Coombs led the club and notched a career-high in catches (8) and receiving yards (94). In the Double Blue’s last meeting with Ottawa on July 8, Coombs has four catches for 42 yards, an average of 10.5 yards per catch. The Argos 2013 CFL Draft pick needs just 19 catches to reach 150 in his career.
- Argos WR SJ Green leads the CFL in receiving with 24 catches for 452 yards and a touchdown. Last week, Green slid into the Top 50 pass catchers all-time with 85 yards on five receptions. The 11-year veteran now has 468 receptions for 7,078 yards and 43 touchdowns to his name. In the Argos last matchup vs. Ottawa, Green popped off for a career-high 10 catches for 210 yards and a touchdown to assist Toronto past the REDBLACKS 30-24.
- Argos DB Jermaine Gabriel needs just two tackles against the Redblacks to reach 150 across his CFL career.