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It was about this time last year when things started to click for the Toronto Argonauts. A middling season developed some momentum, ending in an unlikely run to a Grey Cup victory.

If the Argos have any chance at repeating such heroics this season, it had better start soon.

The sophomore season in Toronto for head coach Marc Trestman and general manager Jim Popp has been mostly disappointing, the result of injuries, subpar play at the quarterback position and a defence that hasn’t been able to find its way after the off-season departure of co-ordinator Corey Chamblin.

Those struggles have made it tough for the Argos to capitalize off the field on the attention they generated last November with their dramatic Grey Cup win.

And after letting a second-half lead slip away on Labour Day at Hamilton, the pressure is on to respond with a performance that might set a different tone the rest of the way.

It needs to start at the quarterback position, which has been a work in progress since Ricky Ray went out with a neck injury Week 2, cutting short his season after a nice bounce-back year in 2017.

Ray isn’t expected back, or at least the Argos aren’t counting on him returning anytime soon, so the offence’s fate will continue to rest with either McLeod Bethel-Thompson or James Franklin.

Bethel-Thompson, who will get his fifth consecutive start for the Argos on Saturday, began the season as the No. 3 quarterback behind Ray and Franklin but ascended to the starting role after Ray was hurt and Franklin struggled in four starts.

The two quarterbacks have similar numbers through four starts each – the biggest difference being Bethel-Thompson’s six touchdown passes to two interceptions, compared to Franklin’s three touchdown passes and six interceptions.

Bethel-Thompson has had moments where he’s looked terrific, like the second half of his first start against Ottawa, when he rallied his team from a 24-point deficit. He followed that feat with another come-from-behind win over the BC Lions the very next week.

But an unexpected loss to Montreal (the Alouettes’ first home win in more than a year) and a second-half collapse on Labour Day at Hamilton has left Toronto at 3-7 and sitting two games out of a playoff spot with eight games to play.

And while the offence needs to be better, the real concern for this team is on the defensive side of the ball.

The Argos have given up the second-most points behind Montreal and have just 12 sacks on the season. Injuries in the secondary have left them lacking experience, a problem that has been compounded by the lack of pressure they’ve been getting up front.

A loss to Hamilton this Saturday would earn the Ticats the season series tiebreaker (the Argos and Ticats have one game remaining against each other) and put the Argos in desperate straits to make the playoffs.

Toronto’s next three games are against Western opponents – at home to Saskatchewan and on the road in Calgary and B.C. ­– so it’s not hard to see why there’s a sense of urgency around the team right now.

It also might be why Trestman has backed away from his declaration that newly signed receiver Duron Carter wouldn’t play in either of the back-to-back games against Hamilton. Trestman’s original statement on Carter’s status was surprising because he made it before Carter had even practised with the team, making it seem like an attempt at letting Carter know he was being expected to earn his way on to the field with the Argos.

But with the offence sputtering and the Argos slipping in the standings, it wouldn’t be that surprising to see Carter in Double Blue this weekend. 

Update: The team has acitavted Carter, listing him as a backup on the official depth chart for Saturday’s game.

 

Post-Labour Day pressure

The Argonauts aren’t the only team that lost on Labour Day facing some pressure in the rematch.

The Edmonton Eskimos have dropped to third place in the West Division and have lost three of their past four games, with their only win in the past month coming against Montreal.

Winnipeg, meanwhile, is riding a three-game losing streak into the Banjo Bowl, with quarterback Matt Nichols struggling and the Blue Bombers having surrendered 114 points the past three games.

 

Hebert suspension unprecedented

The fact that the CFL Players’ Association chose not to appeal the two-game suspension handed out this past week to Ottawa’s Kyries Hebert may seem insignificant on the surface.

After all, a helmet-to-helmet hit on a play near the sideline delivered by a repeat offender, a player already suspended and told by the league, “You’ve got to change the way you play,” seems reasonable.

Except for the fact that it was the longest suspension ever handed down for a football play in the history of the CFL. 

Traditionally, suspensions in football have been reserved for incidents that occur after the whistle, such as a player intentionally trying to injure another by stomping on him or intentionally bending one of his limbs at the end of a play.

That has started to change in recent years and commissioner Randy Ambrosie vowed to continue that trend in an effort to make the game safer, putting players on notice before the season he was prepared to deliver suspensions for hits that put players in danger.

Player safety also happens to be the issue being championed these days by the CFLPA, which puts the union in a tricky spot when it comes to whether to appeal suspensions on behalf of its members.

The fact that it chose not to appeal the Hebert suspension suggests the players’ association understands and accepts that the line that defines what’s acceptable in the game is moving.

 

Receiver attrition

Past seasons have seen quarterbacks drop faster than one can count in the CFL, taking with them not just some of the league’s marquee talent, but also much of its entertainment value.

This is the year of the receiver injury.

And it’s not just the number of receivers who’ve been lost to injury less than two-thirds of the way through the season. It’s also the seriousness of those injuries and the star value of the players who’ve suffered them.

This week alone marked season-ending injuries to Calgary’s Kamar Jorden and Hamilton’s Jalen Saunders, plus a six-to-eight week injury to Edmonton’s Derel Walker – players who rank second, sixth and fourth in receiving yards so far this season.

Add in prior injuries to Calgary’s Eric Rodgers, the B.C.’s Manny Arceneaux and Hamilton’s Chris Williams and it’s hard to think of a time there’s been so much elite receiving talent forced to the sidelines.

Receivers aren’t as difficult to replace as quarterbacks but the CFL has to hope this recent rash of injuries doesn’t hurt its product down the stretch.

 

Als to ride hot hand of Pipkin

Ask yourself this: When the Montreal Alouettes traded for Johnny Manziel back on July 22, what were the chances that by September he’d be the backup to a player who was then sitting at home on his couch, having been released by the Alouettes a month earlier?

Not bloody likely, or so it seemed. But that’s the reality in what has been one very strange and unpredictable first season in the CFL for Manziel.

The Alouettes really have no choice, no matter how awkward the optics, with Antonio Pipkin leading Montreal to back-to-back wins and turning in three impressive performances in a row.

The playoffs remain a stretch for the 3-8 Alouettes, but they’re not out of the question. That means head coach Mike Sherman has to go with the player he feels gives his team the best chance to win.

Meanwhile, the Als are expected to continue giving reps to Manziel at practice and perhaps find instances for him to run the offence during games, understanding he may very well be the long-term answer at quarterback.

But for now, the Als’ fate is in Pipkin’s hands, as it should be.​