Toronto Argonauts: Offence needs to step up with injuries on defence

While the offence got the job done against the Ottawa Redblacks on Monday, Marc Trestman knows that the Toronto Argonauts need more from them with the injuries starting to pile up on defence.

If the Toronto Argonauts thought Monday’s victory over the Ottawa Redblacks was tough. The next six days could be the biggest test of the season for the Double Blue with two games on tap starting on Saturday on the road against the Saskatchewan Roughriders then wrapping it up at home against the Calgary Stampeders on August 3rd.

While it was a thrilling victory against the defending Grey Cup champions it did come at a price with Victor Butler and Cleyon Laing suffering injuries that will keep them out of the lineup. Head coach Marc Trestman said after the game that he spoke to his players about the gravity of the situation and that the team needed to step up.

Now it looks like that will need to continue with a good opportunity for the Argos to add to their lead against a struggling Roughriders team and test themselves against on of the top teams in the league against Calgary. While the defence will continue to be of great importance to the Argos success, it will be the offence that will have to step up and sustain more drives to take pressure off the defensive unit.

What it will come down to is protecting Ricky Ray in the pocket and trying to establish the run game. No team in the CFL has scored a touchdown on a drive where a quarterback has been sacked so protection is vital to success. Saskatchewan only has five sacks and 22 QB pressures in four games this season but have only allowed 328 yards of net offence, the fewest rushing TDs with one and a league-low 74 first downs allowed.

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Where the Argos offence has struggled is in the red zone as they have the second most chances with 17 but a league worst 29% touchdown conversion rate in that area. In those 17 chances they have 5 TDs, 2 turnovers and have settled for field goal 10 times. They were able to improve on that against the Redblacks scoring on both of their red zone chances.

What will help the Argos is avoid taking careless penalties as they rank first in the CFL with 13 penalties on special teams, 17 on offence and 17 on defence for a total of 46 penalties for 428 yards.

No Argos receiver has more than two touchdown receptions this season with DeVier Posey leading the way. This will need to be an area of focus for the Argos especially given that they are a pass heavy offence. Anthony Coombs showed some versatility for the Argos with his running and passing ability. He is quick to react to the play and uses his speed to his advantage.

“If there’s one thing that is different it’s me being more comfortable and I don’t have to think as much out there,” Coombs said after the game on Monday. “In order to really play fast you have to know everything inside and out.”

Justin Dunk from 3downnation points out that Coombs is well on his way to having his most productive season to date. He notes that through five games, the Manitoba native has 28 catches for 253 yards with 133 coming after the catch which has him on pace for 100 receptions and over 900 receiving yards. A comparison that Dunk uses for Coombs is Andre Durie, the former Argos player that made a name for himself as a versatile threat out of the backfield. If Coombs can continue to flourish at the slotback position it could open up some opportunities for the receivers to get more open looks to make plays.

Next: Argos vs Roughriders Week 6 Preview

Saturday’s game will be the biggest test to date for the Argos as their most productive pass rushers will be out, luckily Bear Woods was able to be cleared for the game. It will be up to the players stepping to try and help Shawn Lemon sustain pressure. However, that will all be for nothing if the offence is unable to get some traction going forward.