OTTAWA–In what’s becoming a yearly tradition, the 2017 Grey Cup was a classic. Six of the last seven Grey Cup games have been decided by six points or less.
In this game the underdog Toronto Argonauts won their 17th Grey Cup thanks to two record-breaking plays and a go-ahead field goal with under a minute remaining. The game included two plays in a Grey Cup by a single team of 100 yards or more for the first time ever.
The Argos are now 3-1 versus the Stampeders in the Grey Cup, including the last three meetings between the two teams. All the way back in 1971 is the last time the Stampeders beat Toronto in a Grey Cup game. Five years ago, the Argos were 9-9 and beat Calgary in the Grey Cup. The script was the same in 2017.
Here are my takeaways from the Argonauts winning the 105th Grey Cup in stunning fashion 27-24 over the Calgary Stampeders.
Ray’s day
Ricky Ray becomes the first quarterback in CFL history to win four Grey Cups surpassing nine QBs tied with three. He also doesn’t have a contract for next year. Not a bad way to get some leverage.
Retirement rumours swirled throughout the week as people wondered if the 38-year-old would walk away similar to the way Henry Burris did after winning the Grey Cup year ago. Ray was 19-for-32 for 297 yards and one touchdown in a beautifully managed game. It was surely a storybook ending in what is already a Hall-of-Fame career. Now the question is can you leave playing at such a high level?
Ray protected
Ray was sacked 38 times throughout the regular season, but only 11 of them came in the last seven weeks. The Argonauts offensive line turned a corner when offensive line coach Jonathan Himebauch was added to the staff in September.
Calgary tied for the league lead (with Toronto) with 50 sacks. The Calgary pass rush was the main reason why the Argos’ two lowest offensive games this year with Ricky Ray at quarterback were against Calgary. Despite the Stampeders’ ability to get after the passer, Ray was only sacked once in the Grey Cup. The ability to keep Ray clean was one of the determining factors in the game.
Posey put up numbers
When the Toronto Argonauts needed a big play, DeVier Posey was the guy on offence to get it done. The 100-yard catch for Posey is the longest in Grey Cup history surpassing Ottawa native Pat Woodcock’s 99-yard TD pass in the 2002 Grey Cup with Montreal. Posey was named the MOP of the game thanks to his seven receptions, 175 yards receiving and a Grey Cup-record 100-yard first half TD catch.
Upset special
Not only was this another classic Grey Cup, it was another massive upset. The Argos were 2-6 against teams with a winning record this season. The Argos entered Grey Cup week as seven-point underdogs. Not many expected them to go toe to toe with the team with the best record in the league that they lost their two regular season games to by a total of 64-31.
Not only had Calgary swept Toronto throughout the regular season, Bo Levi Mitchell had never lost to the Argos, going 8-0 as a starter versus the double blue. Going back even farther, Calgary was actually 9-1 against Toronto since the Argonauts last beat them in the 100th Grey Cup. The Stampeders lead 17-8 at halftime and controlled the game. Despite all that, the Argos erased the third largest fourth-quarter deficit in Grey Cup history after scoring the final 11 points of the game.
Game of turnovers
Surprisingly, given the weather conditions, there were no turnovers in the game until under five minutes to go. Then there were two that were both committed by the Stampeders. To make matters worse they both were in the red zone.
If they had scored a major on either drive, the game would have been over. The big-game ball security outcome was out of character for both teams. The Stampeders were plus-20 in turnovers during the season, which lead the league. Toronto’s turnover differential was minus-3, which was good for sixth in the nine team league. But Toronto got two when it mattered most and that’s why they got the Cup.
Lirim Hajrullahu loves Ottawa
Lirim Hajrullahu must feel like Ottawa is his home away from home.
The Argos place kicker hit the winning field goal from 34 yards out to give the Western Mustangs a 26-25 Yates Cup victory over an Ottawa Gee-Gees team quarterbacked by Brad Sinopoli in 2010. A day after watching his beloved Mustangs win the Vanier Cup, now as a pro, he came back to the site of the same kick and hit a 32-yarder with 49 seconds left to help Toronto win the Grey Cup.
Add that to the exceptional positional punting to keep the ball away from returner Roy Finch and Hajrullahu had another big day in the nation’s capital.
Popp gets the last laugh
Jim Popp got more than redemption after his firing a year ago. He added to his legacy of one of the best executives in the history of the CFL.
This ring might have been his most impressive because he was hired in February, two weeks after free agency began. When Popp was brought on board, Scott Milanovich had quit and went to Jacksonville Jaguars.
Popp not only hired Trestman, who has now won his third Grey Cup, but also secured defensive coordinator Corey Chamblin, who had won a Grey Cup with the Saskatchewan Roughriders and now will be a head coaching candidate for the vacancy in Montreal. Then Trestman built a roster by getting Montreal Alouettes castoffs S.J. Green, Bear Woods and added Rico Murray, Justin Tuggle, Victor Butler and Mitchell White. The Argos went literally from worst at 5-13 with no first-round draft pick in 2016 to Grey Cup champs in 2017.
Nobody has more to do than the turnaround then Popp.
[relatedlinks]
Heartbreak again for Dickenson
Dave Dickenson’s first two years as a head coach has cemented himself as the league’s best leader. In back to back years, the Stampeders have been the class of the league with the best record in the regular season.
Dickenson has a 28-6-2 regular season record as Stampeders head coach. More importantly he’s now 0-2 in the Grey Cup. It will be a long off-season for the former Grey Cup champion as a player. The Stampeders as an organization have gone 14 consecutive seasons making the playoffs, but have somehow lost twice in a row in the Grey Cup.
Continuity has been key to the success in Cowtown as 18 of the 24 starters from Calgary’s loss in the Grey Cup last year played Sunday. Can the Stamps keep this core together given the Grey Cup collapses?
Friendly Fire
Understandably, the Stampeders locker room was pretty somber place post-game. But Marquay McDaniel wasn’t exactly the softest place to land for teammate and fellow receiver Kamar Jorden.
When Stamps quarterback Bo Levi Mitchell hit Kamar Jorden on the three-yard line, Jorden fought for more yards in traffic and had the ball punched loose by Cleyon Laing who hustled from the other side of the field to be involved in the play.
“I just don’t get it,” McDaniel said about Jorden’s decision to fight for more yards. “What are you doing?”
He elaborated on the decision-making by saying, “In traffic, put two hands on the ball. Go down. At worse you get a field goal.”
Jorden and McDaniel’s lockers were close and McDaniel was in the vicinity when Jorden stepped up and talked to the media and took responsibility for the loss. A crushed Jorden painfully said, “I cost this team the game.”
It’s going to be a long off-season in Calgary.
