Toronto Argonauts squander golden opportunity in loss to Eskimos

The Toronto Argonauts now officially have their backs against the wall, and find themselves in a virtual must-win the rest of the season.

The Toronto Argonauts had a chance last night to do something special, in more ways than one.

They had a chance to win the game in the fourth quarter, down one possession with the ball in hand. And they also had a chance to close the gap on the teams ahead of them, in a week where Ottawa and Montreal look prime to stumble.

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Unfortunately for the Argos, their defence failed to get the stop they needed, and Toronto fell to Edmonton 41-26. It was a tough day for both defences, a game which did not see its first punt until midway through the second quarter.

Both Toronto and Edmonton regularly moved the ball down the field throughout the game, providing exciting drive-after-drive entertainment for the 16 thousand in attendance.

For Mcleod Bethel-Thompson, the failures of this game were simple – blown chances early in the first, when the Argos left points on the board.

"“Too many field goals., The Argos QB said post-game, referring to Toronto’s first four scoring drives ending in 3 points. “If we score touchdowns instead of field goals [on those drives], we win the game.”"

A frustrated Bethel-Thompson was adamant that the usual issues that have plagued the Argos this season did not last night, compounding the team’s frustration as they lost their seventh game of the season.

"“ I thought we started fine. Like I said, we just need to get in the end zone on those drives. [We] can’t settle for field goals.”"

Now, the focus shifts to the Argos upcoming stretch, where they play their next three games against eastern conference opponents. That fact was not lost on the Argos quarterback.

"“These sort of count as two in the standings,” Bethel-Thompson said. “A win for you, and a loss for them. No more runway now, we need to win.”"

No more runway indeed.

With seven divisional games remaining, and the Argos holding only one victory through week 10, they pretty much need to run the table in those division games to have any shot at the playoffs.

Is that impossible? No. But when one considers how this team has struggled to put the perfect game-plan together for sixty minutes, it seems an almost insurmountable task.

Coach Corey Chamblin was dismissive of the idea that the important stretch is on the way, instead, focusing on the struggles that these Argos have dealt with.

"“They’re all critical,” Chamblin said in his post-game press conference, after being asked about the upcoming divisional games.“At the end of the day you got to find a way to win games… So there is no conciliation that we are about to head to the East. Whether it’s East, West, I don’t care about that. We just need to win games.”"

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Bottom line, this team just hasn’t been good enough so far, and it has shown in their record.

Each game, one aspect of the game has let the team down, and until the Argos can put all that together, it won’t matter who the opponent is – they will continue to struggle.

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