Argonauts fall to Calgary Stampeders as offence disappears in second half

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The Argos forced turnovers, forced a quarterback change and forced the issue in the game’s opening half.

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But when an offence is unable to move the ball in critical moments, futility awaits and the Argos sealed their fate Saturday night in the first of two CNE games.

Fittingly, the Calgary Stampeders secured their win on a strip and recovery following a quarterback sack to preserve their 22-19 win.

Calgary won because it pulled its starter.

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The Argos should consider long and hard on changing their quarterback because this offence needs a major overhaul.

Only three points were scored in the second half.

Toronto reaches the mid-season point with a 4-5 record.

It’s a losing team that has now lost two in a row with Hamilton coming to town next Friday.

Two drives in the third quarter that looked promising only to come up short, execution became a major source of concern for the Argos.

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When constant pressure is applied, the need for a mobile quarterback becomes obvious and McLeod Bethel-Thompson does not have the foot speed to make plays on the run.

He got sacked on second and short that pushed the Argos out of field goal range.

A quick throw that had no chance of being completed at least led to a field goal on the next series as Toronto led 19-10.

It would quickly decrease when MBT threw one of the worst balls he’s ever thrown, which is saying a lot, over the middle and right into the hands of safety Elie Bouka, who returned the errant pass 62 yards for a touchdown.

Momentum began to shift as the Argos had too many two and outs.

Early in the fourth quarter, the Stamps tied the game on a field goal and then took the lead on another field goal.

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To make things worse, the Argos lost rush end Ja’Gared Davis because of a knee injury.

DaShaun Amos did give the Argos a much-needed lift when he recorded an interception in the end zone.

Once again, Toronto’s offence came up woefully short.

Outside of a couple of plays the Argos would want to have back, they were pretty good in the opening half.

They would force three turnovers.

Other than the game’s opening play from scrimmage, Toronto’s defence was quite good.

The issue on offence was the unit’s inability to finish, which isn’t new.

Schematically, the season-ending pec injury to Andrew Harris made the Argos much more dependent on the pass.

Once again, it was MBT’s accuracy on deep balls that left points out on the field.

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By the break, the Argos were leading 16-10, but it could have been more.

One turnover would cost the Argos additional points when A.J. Ouellette had the ball punched out of his hand from behind.

The run was mixed in occasionally into the offence with Ouellette used more as a check down receiver.

He emerged as the team’s leading receiver in the first half.

Javon Leake got his first reps in the backfield.

Toronto’s leading rusher was Chad Kelly, MBT’s backup and short yardage QB.

Kelly scored his second rushing major in as many weeks.

Bo Levi Mitchell was very pedestrian, nowhere near the marquee quarterback he has been for most of his career.

He’s not the same Bo.

Of the 149 yards he produced through the air, 80 came on one play.

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Only one penalty, 15 yards for no yards, would be committed by the Argos.

Toronto had possession for almost 20 minutes of the opening 30.

In many ways, Calgary was fortunate to be trailing by only six points.

Not surprisingly, it was Jake Maier and not Bo who went out on the field with the offence when the Stamps scrimmaged for the first time after their defence forced a quick two and out to begin the second half.

The Argos ended the night with Kelly as their leading rusher.

As well as he did in executing short yardage, there was no creativity and eventually the Stamps stopped Kelly’s outside rushes.

Toronto’s longest play from scrimmage was a 24-yard catch and run by Ouellette.

The next longest was a 21-yard run by Kelly.

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This offence is an abomination and without Harris it is too limited and too easy to defend.

Kelly won’t be the starter when the Ticats come to town.

But he might be when the Argos return to the Hammer for the Labour Day Classic.

The Argos’ situation is getting close to desperate.

And in desperate times, desperate measures must be taken.

FIRST IMPRESSIONS

Quite the style in contrasts when the game began and Calgary had first possession when the Argos won the coin toss and deferred to the second half.

On the first play from scrimmage, Levi Mitchell dropped back in the pocket amid a decent rush.

He would heave it down the far sideline as Shane Bane ran a go route.

He became the Bane of the Argos’ existence when he got behind coverage and easily beat McFadden on an 80-yard catch and run.

Calgary had to settle for a field goal as it struck first to open the game’s scoring.

In the opening 15 minutes, the Stamps generated a total of 87 yards.

On Toronto’s opening series, the Argos emptied the backfield and used the passing game to move down the field with relative ease.

A week ago in the Hammer, the Argos went 2-for-5 in red zone opportunities.

Things didn’t get any better against Calgary as Toronto had to settle for a 10-yard field goal.

The first quarter ended with the teams tied, 3-3.

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