The Toronto Argonauts continued their stunning turnaround this season by defeating the Winnipeg Blue Bombers 16-8 Saturday and seizing first place in the CFL’S East Division in the process.

For a second straight game the Argos offence was held to just 16 points, but a second straight outstanding defensive effort was again the difference in an otherwise ugly game.

Toronto Argonauts quarterback Michael Bishop launches a pass during first half CFL action against the Winnipeg Blue Bombers in Toronto on Saturday.
(Frank Gunn/Canadian Press)

“It’s better to be an ugly first place than a pretty second place,” Argos coach Mike (Pinball) Clemons said. “When our offence is average, we’re scrapping, we’re battling for our lives.

“I feel we’re going to need our offence in the playoffs to win.”

Toronto’s top-ranked defence limited Winnipeg to 216 total yards and forced two turnovers. They came up big in the fourth quarter, keeping Winnipeg out of the end zone until quarterback Michael Bishop gave Toronto some breathing room by connecting on a 17-yard touchdown strike to Arland Bruce at the 7:24 mark.

Special teams also played a significant role in the win as a punt attempt from Pat Fleming was blocked by Ray Fontaine and run back to the one-yard line. John Avery then punched it in to give the Argos an 8-4 lead at halftime.

Fontaine also forced a fumble in the first half that set up the Argos only other touchdown drive in the fourth quarter.

“We want to make plays all the time so that they become average and I take that to heart,” Fontaine said of Toronto’s special-teams excellence. “Every time I’m out there I want to make a great play.

“We’ve got great athletes on this team who can make those big plays.”

The Blue Bombers (9-7-1) now find themselves going in the other direction as they continued to struggle down the stretch, losing four of their last five games.

Winnipeg’s offensive struggles on Saturday resulted in just two singles and two Troy Westwood field goals.

“Definitely, definitely a disappointing effort,” Bombers linebacker Barrin Simpson said. “We made two mistakes and that cost us two touchdowns.

“There’s no question we should’ve won the football game. It wasn’t what Toronto did to us, it’s what we did to ourselves. It’s disappointing to lose an opportunity to clinch the division but we’re a confident team. We can bounce back.”

Quarterback Kevin Glenn completed just 21 of 46 passes for 181 yards. Argos pivot Bishop wasn’t much more effective, completing 10 of 29 pass attempts for 125 yards with one interception.

“I played terrible,” Bishop said. “If I don’t get it going, we don’t get it going.

“We didn’t do enough to win a Grey Cup today, but the most important thing is we got the win.”

Toronto can clinch first place in the division and home field advantage in the East final next weekend if they can beat the Saskatchewan Roughriders in Regina. The Argos can also clinch if the Bombers lose to Montreal on Friday.

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Tags: Argos, seize, first, place, Bombers

Posted on January 28th, 2007 by Klaus Roe
Filed under: Athletics