ARGONAUTS WOES CONTINUE, LOSE TO LIONS

It’s been a rough stretch of CFL football for the Toronto Argonauts, and they may have hit rock bottom on Friday night.  The Argos appeared to be on the verge of breaking their eight game home losing streak, entering the fourth quarter with a 25-14 lead but ended up on the wrong end of a 36-28 final score that ran their streak of futility at the Rogers Centre to nine games.  It was also Toronto’s ninth consecutive loss to BC. BC improved to 3-4 with the victory, while Toronto’s record slipped to 2-5.

CFL bettors that thought taking the Argos as +4 home underdogs represented good value were left holding their losing tickets as Toronto’s ATS record also fell to 2-5.  BC’s record against the number improved to 3-4 with the triumph.  The combined 64 points easily surpassed the posted total of 46’.  It was BC’s first OVER after three straight UNDER games and left their O/U record at 4-3.  It was only Toronto’s second OVER of the season against five UNDERS and was their first in five games.

Lions head coach Wally Buono made no excuses for his team’s bad first half followed by a solid second half:

"I'm not going to apologize for playing well in the second half.  If we play any kind of football in the first half maybe we don't have to do this. That's football. Nobody asks you at the end of the day whether you stole a win, they ask you how many games did you win? The game is 60 minutes."

Lions’ QB Jarious Jackson echoed his coach’s sentiments:

"I don't feel like we stole one at all. I feel like we went out and played like we should've played in the second half. Most of the first half we were trying to manage the game, trying to see what they were doing defensively. Offensively, you definitely want to manage the game until you know what the defence is going to call in some situations. It took us the first half but I think in the second half we kind of were able to predict what they were going to do and I think we did a good job of countering it."

Despite the loss, Toronto was generally pleased with the play of their replacement starting QB Cody Pickett.  Pickett was named the starter after a dismal performance by Kerry Joseph the previous week against Montreal.  Placekicker Justin Medlock also shined in defeat, tying a team record with 7 field goals.  After the game, Pickett was less concerned about his performance than his team’s struggles:

"It's 20/20 that we needed to score another touchdown. Whatever we're doing right now isn't getting the job done."

Argos’ head coach Bart Andrus praised Pickett’s play as he lamented the loss:

"That was an ideal performance. Cody threw it well, was accurate and didn't turn it over. The bottom line is we didn't finish that one. When we do get it right for 60 minutes, it's going to be a great thing."

BC will welcome the Winnipeg Blue Bombers to Vancouver next Friday night.  Toronto has a bye week before they’ll return to action at the Rogers Centre hoping to end their home woes, with the Calgary Stampeders providing the opposition on August 28th.