Toronto Argonauts: 3 Keys to Game against B.C. Lions in Week 18

For an entire week, the Toronto Argonauts have had to deal with the fallout of one of their roughest games of the season where they put up just two points against the Calgary Stampeders.

On Saturday, the B.C. Lions come to town looking to remain in second place in the West Division. This is a game that will test the Argos in many ways as they try to show that they are better than what their performance against Calgary showed.

For some fans, they probably erased from their memory the 44-3 loss against the Lions where Toronto certainly got a bit of a wake-up call.

On Saturday Argos can choose to go in one of two directions with first place in the East very much up for grabs:

1. They realize how crucial it is to execute their game plan at every stage and use their loss to the Stampeders as a rallying point.
2. They showed their opponents how easily things can go off the rails and they struggle to regain their form, especially on offence.

On defence, this will be the first game without Wynton McManis who was seen as a strong candidate for Defensive Player of the Year and will now be sidelined for at least a month with a knee injury. They got even worse news on Shane Ray who is done for the season with a torn bicep which is a tough blow as he led the team with six sacks.

This is a critical game in many ways for the Argos because as it looked like they were well on their way to securing first place in the East, the loss to Calgary and Montreal’s surge has them right behind them. With William Stanback returning and two games against the lowly Ottawa Redblacks, the Alouettes are in a great position.

With that being said, it’s ironic that they will be looking for help from former starting quarterback Vernon Adams Jr. who has been a tough matchup for Toronto in the past.

Here are some keys to the game for Toronto if they hope to pull away with the much-needed win.

1. Defence needs to force turnovers

While the Argos will be without McManis and Ray, they should still feel confident considering they did their best to hold off Calgary. They will need to find ways to get pressure on Adams Jr. and the team’s edge rushers (Ja’Gared Davis and Robbie Smith) need to do what they can to contain the mobile quarterback.

“I think they’re (Lions) running their zone reads like they did with Rourke, but he was getting the ball out of his hand so quick,’’ head coach Ryan Dinwiddie told Frank Zicarelli of the Toronto Sun. “Vernon isn’t that type of player. He creates plays. He’s not as great as anticipating a play, but he’s a darn good quarterback and we have to keep him in the pocket.”

With that pressure, the Argos will then need their cornerbacks to get back to forcing turnovers as they did during their winning streak. Jamal Peters will be back in the lineup after a head injury kept him out against the Stampeders.

“It’s good to have Jamal back,” Ryan Dinwiddie told the Canadian Press. “The ball finds him, he makes turnovers.

“You put him and Carnell on the boundary, that’s a pretty darn good boundary and that’s going to open up some opportunities for the guys on the field to make some plays. They’re a dominant pair.”

Expect Peters to line up against Dominique Rhymes who has been one of the leaders on the dangerous air attack for B.C. who will be without Lucky Whitehead.

2. Find ways to sustain drives early

The Argos issues on offence have been mostly self-inflicted as they have been getting off the field too easily especially in the early going. They will need to find a way to establish a rhythm and avoid coming away without points.

Javon Leake and Jeremiah Haydel will return to the lineup giving the team some different looks on offence but will also be without DaVaris Daniels who will be a tough loss a one of the top wideouts on the team.

This puts more pressure on Kurleigh Gittens Jr. to be the top playmaker which seemed like it was going in the right direction after putting up 161 yards a few weeks ago.  Since then he’s put up 41 and 36 yards but if Toronto wants any chance in this game, they will need more from the 25-year-old.

3. Don’t let James Butler be the difference maker

It’s tough to expect a team to contain the Lions running back considering he has put up 83, 61 and 89 yards on the ground over the last three weeks. Butler was struggling to get much going as teams keyed in on him with Nathan Rourke sidelined but with Vernon Adams getting more acclimated to the offence it’s giving Butler a chance to break through.

Toronto saw the 27-year-old leave the game with an injury in their matchup earlier in the season. The Argos defence also had a tough time against the Stampeders run game allowing Ka’Deem Carey to rush for 92 of Calgary’s 161 yards on the ground.

The Lions will do what they can to keep Toronto’s playmakers on defence from being the difference makers in this game and giving the ball to Butler might be the best option.