There’s little doubt that the biggest question heading into the 2024 season was how would Cameron Dukes play as the starting quarterback? If Sunday night’s game was any indication, Dukes and the Toronto Argonauts will be just fine.
The second year QB looked calm, even when the offensive line had a rare breakdown. He was able to show off his ability to prolong a play, throw on the run, spread the ball around effectively, and make the right choice on virtually every play – save a disastrous fumble that ended up in the Argo end zone.
Consider that play a coachable moment.
His final numbers were impressive: 21 of 27 passing (77.8%), 254 yards, 3 touchdowns against no interceptions, and 37 rushing yards on 5 carries, including a late touchdown to all but clinch the win.
Against a team many have picked to win the Grey Cup the Argos put up 35 points, all scored by the offence. By comparison, last year’s 16-2 team averaged 29.3 offensive points per game and 32.8 points per game when you add scoring by the defence and special teams.
Ka’Deem Carey looked like he did when he won the CFL’s rushing title two seasons ago. He carried the ball 16 times for 65 yards, adding 40 more yards on 4 catches, including an 8-yard touchdown reception to open the scoring.
There were several instances when it looked like he had next to no chance of positive yardage yet found a way to spin out of a tackle and gain extra yards.
The Argos will take over 100 yards of combined yards from Carey every time.
With players like Damonte Coxie and Dave Ungerer III out of the lineup, many observers wondered who would step up. The answer, everybody. All five starters caught at least two passes, as did Tommy Nield.
Rasheed Bailey led the way with 5 catches for 50 yards and a touchdown, while Dejon Brissett led the yardage parade with 52 and a TD on 3 catches.
For those interested in stats, the final play of the game where Dukes turned around and threw the ball several yards behind him to Brissett – who killed the remaining few seconds on the clock – is considered a kneel down, so neither the quarterback nor receiver are punished statistically.
The offensive line showed why it’s considered the best in the league. While the Lions did record a pair of first half sacks, the line kept Dukes clean for the rest of the night. The group gave the young QB ample time to work through his reads, and opened holes for the running game, which finished with 120 yards.
Defensively, the pros outweighed the cons by a considerable margin.
The defensive line looked unblockable at times. The Argos sacked Vernon Adams six times, including two by Jared Brinkman. The number could have been even higher if it wasn’t for the exceptional play of BC’s QB. He escaped what looked like certain sacks with his combination of experience and elusiveness.
Also, Jake Ceresna is good at football. His addition to an already talented group is going to provide opposing defensive coordinators many sleepless nights leading up to their game against the Argos.
The linebacking play was solid, as expected. When Jonathan Jones went down it gave Fraser Sopik a chance to play and the veteran CFLer/first-year Argo assured that the defence didn’t skip a beat.
There was some good and some bad on the back end for the team. The worst was a blown coverage in the second quarter that resulted in a pair of Lions being wide open deep downfield. Travis Fulgham was on the receiving end of the 50-yard gift touchdown.
Adams threw for 363 yards, a number the Argos would love to see reduced. Against most QBs that number would have been lower, but Adams made more than a handful of remarkable throws. He consistently fit the ball into tiny windows when it looked like the defense was providing good coverage.
It will give defensive backs coach and defensive co-coordinator Will Fields the chance to show where mistakes were made. With the Argos two starting corners entering the game with a combined one game of CFL experience, the overall result wasn’t as bad as the numbers may lead one to believe.
John Haggerty had a great night punting the ball. He pinned the Lions deep on a couple of occasions, and unloaded with a couple of bombs, including a 60-yarder into the wind late in the fourth quarter. It eventually led to a turnover on downs at the BC one-yard line, with Cameron Dukes scoring the deciding touchdown on the next play. Haggerty’s average on the night was 48.2 with an average net of an impressive 42.3 yards.
Lirim Hajrullahu hit all three of his field goal attempts, but shockingly missed a couple of conversion attempts. One of the most accurate kickers in CFL history, his 83.3% success rate ranks 7th all-time, one can consider the two miscues as a mere speed bump for the veteran.
The return game didn’t skip a beat with Janarion Grant averaging 23.0 yards per kickoff return, and an impressive 14.3 yards per punt return. The latter would have ranked third in the CFL last year.
It’s just one game, but there was a lot to be excited about. Most of the questions fans had entering the game were answered positively, especially so with the win coming against a team many have picked to win the Grey Cup.
The Argos certainly earned their bye week and the next chance to see them live is at BMO Field on Saturday, June 22 at 7:00 when the Edmonton Elks come to town.
With players like McLeod Bethel-Thompson, Kurleigh Gittens Jr., Javon Leake, and Boris Bede returning to Toronto there will be no shortage of storylines leading up to the game.
