The Toronto Argonauts are Grey Cup champions once again after delivering a stunning upset over the heavily favoured Winnipeg Blue Bombers 41-24 at BC Place in Vancouver.
Here are my thoughts on the game.
Nick Arbuckle’s moment
No one, not even Nick Arbuckle himself, could have predicted he’d be starting in the 111th Grey Cup just two weeks ago. But that’s the life of a backup quarterback — existing in a constant state of readiness. Arbuckle’s CFL career has been a rollercoaster since he first shone in relief of Bo Levi Mitchell in Calgary back in 2019. Despite the ups and downs, Arbuckle entered this Grey Cup on a high, looking as sharp as ever in his recent outings.
In what effectively amounted to a full game of play — three quarters in Toronto’s regular-season finale against Edmonton and one quarter in last week’s East Final in Montreal — Arbuckle was 28-of-40 for 451 yards with two touchdowns and one interception. That momentum carried him into Sunday’s championship where he proved his mettle on the CFL’s largest stage.
Arbuckle was named Grey Cup MVP after going 26-of-37 for 252 yards with two touchdowns and two interceptions. He was every bit the leader of the offence, looking calm in the pocket, playing with poise, and making intelligent reads.
His two touchdown passes were amazing. I’m still not sure how he was able to get the ball away to Kevin Mital, who took it in from 17 yards out. Play action to Ka’Deem Carey was supposed to take the unblocked Redha Kramdi out of the play, but Kramdi never even flinched, getting to Arbuckle just as he released the ball.
THE PRIDE OF @rougeetor!
CANADIAN ROOKIE KEVIN MITAL HAS HIS FIRST #GREYCUP TOUCHDOWN!
: TSN, CTV, RDS & CBSSN
: Stream on CFL+ pic.twitter.com/zWQbqu9o2t
— CFL (@CFL) November 18, 2024
Arbuckle’s touchdown pass to Dejon Brissett was probably his best highlight of the night. He froze halfback Nick Taylor with his eyes, knowing he had a double move on with Brisett up the right seam, but still had to throw the ball to the outside to avoid having it picked off by Taylor. It was a perfectly timed delivery in the only spot he could have put it.
Arbuckle’s two interceptions were very different from one another, and I don’t really have an issue with either of them. The first was a long bomb intended for Damonte Coxie that Terrell Bonds picked off instead. It was a go route down the right sideline and Coxie cut inside, but Arbuckle threw it outside. This is most likely a case of just not having enough reps together, but it served as an “arm punt” 50 yards downfield.
His second interception was just a freakishly athletic play by Willie Jefferson, who elevated and somehow pulled the ball out of the air despite being only five feet away from Arbuckle.
Third and goal from the one
Toronto’s first drive ended in a 13-yard field goal. On third-and-goal from the one, the Argos took a penalty trying to draw the Blue Bombers offside and then settled for three points. I almost always hate this decision, but in this case, I understood it and I think there was a good argument for being conservative. Obviously, getting a touchdown there would have been huge, but not getting any points at all could have been catastrophic.
With Nick Arbuckle making his first career playoff start, with the amount of pressure on his shoulders, three points on the opening drive had to be considered a win and an important confidence booster. Add to that the fact that Toronto’s best short-yardage quarterback is Chad Kelly, who was obviously unavailable — and even with him, the Argos were hit-and-miss from one yard out at best — and the decision made even more sense.
Lastly, there was never an expectation for this game to be high-scoring, even though that’s not how it finished, so it was fair to believe that every single point had value at that stage. Remember that in Toronto’s first matchup with Winnipeg this season, the Blue Bombers scored 14 points, then scored 11 in their second meeting.
Argo bounce
On back-to-back plays, the football ended up on the ground, and both bounced the Argos’ way. The first was swatted out of the hands of Nick Arbuckle by Willie Jefferson, but recovered by Toronto centre Peter Nicastro.
The second was a punt that popped out of Lucky Whitehead’s hands and was recovered by Toronto special teams captain Jack Cassar. This was the turning point in the game. With the score tied 10-10, if Winnipeg recovered either of those fumbles, this game could have been very different. Instead, Toronto scored a touchdown on the very next play when Arbuckle found Kevin Mital for a 17-yard touchdown, and they never looked back.
Special D-livery
Everyone knew coming into this game that without Chad Kelly, the Argos defence would have to make big contributions. They only managed one sack, but there was constant pressure in Zach Collaros’ face despite Toronto not blitzing very often, which led to opportunities for the Argos downfield. Benjie Franklin was the first to pick off Collaros, making a brilliant leaping interception deep downfield. This was Franklin’s fourth interception of the playoffs, and he just missed bringing in his fifth in the third quarter when he got both hands on a pass from Winnipeg’s backup quarterback Terry Wilson.
DaShaun Amos’ interception was probably the most athletic of the four. I’m still not sure how he made up so much ground on a wide-open Ontaria Wilson, but he somehow scrambled back and made a leaping pick, briefly looking like the Air Jordan logo.
Toronto’s third interception looked like something Toronto took away from Montreal last week. Darnell Sankey had a beautiful pick against Chad Kelly, anticipating where he was going with the ball due to the pressure Montreal was sending from that same side. In this instance, with Montreal facing a crucial third down, the Argos sent pressure from Collaros’ right. Robert Priester, off the ball, but with his heels dug in, exploded forwards anticipating the thow to that side and took it the distance for a 61-yard interception return touchdown.
The last interception belonged to defensive leader Wynton McManis, but it was set up by Jake Ceresna who altered the ball’s course. McManis almost brought it all the way back for the score. The Argonauts tied a Grey Cup record with four interceptions and their 164 return yards off those interceptions is a Grey Cup record.
Heart of a champion
Lirim Hajrullahu has the heart of a champion. After kicking his second field goal of the first half, the veteran kicker was run into as Dan Adeboboye got blocked backwards into him, causing him to roll his ankle.
Argos fans around the world held their breath the next time Hajrullahu took the field. It took him what seemed like a minute to gingerly walk onto the field and then absolutely nail a 45-yard field goal to essentially end the first half. He was clearly in a lot of pain, but unlike other players with an ankle injury, with this being his kicking leg he clearly couldn’t tape it up or have it treated in a conventional way. Hajrullahu finished a perfect four-for-four, also hitting all four of his extra-point attempts.
The ghost of Grey Cups past
Argos head coach Ryan Dinwiddie must wonder if it’s possible to navigate a Grey Cup without the quarterback position becoming a storyline. His own CFL debut as a quarterback came under extraordinary circumstances when he started the 2007 Grey Cup for Winnipeg after Kevin Glenn’s injury. As a coach, the theme has persisted. In the 2022 Grey Cup, an injured McLeod Bethel-Thompson gave way to rookie Chad Kelly, who famously helped secure the victory.
When Chad Kelly sustained a serious leg injury last week in Montreal, Dinwiddie was again faced with an emergency quarterback situation in the league’s biggest game. Fortunately for him, this Grey Cup’s outcome mirrored 2022 far more than 2007, though the Bombers, of course, lost all three games.
It was interesting in this matchup that Winnipeg had to experience a bit of what Dinwiddie has gone through, losing Zach Collaros to what looked to be a serious hand injury. It only sidelined the star quarterback for a series, but he wore a glove when he returned and clearly wasn’t the same quarterback.
Argos add to their legacy
Toronto’s win marks their 19th Grey Cup title, extending their lead as the CFL’s most decorated franchise. The Argonauts now have five more championships than the Edmonton Elks, who rank second with 14.
Amazingly, the Argos have now won eight consecutive Grey Cup appearances dating back to 1991. As impressive as that streak is, it’s not even their franchise record. Between 1921 and 1952, Toronto won nine straight appearances in the championship. However, the decades that followed were less kind to the Double Blue. Between 1953 and 1990, Toronto reached the Grey Cup just four times, managing only one victory in 1983 – an 18–17 thriller against the Lions at this very venue.
With two Grey Cup wins in three years and four straight East Final appearances, it’s still far too early to start throwing around the term ‘Dinwiddie Dynasty,’ but I still want to be the first to see it because I can certainly see a path to it becoming a reality.
The Argos have the Bombers’ number
Toronto’s Grey Cup dominance over Winnipeg is a remarkable quirk of CFL history. With this victory, the Argonauts remain undefeated in their eight championship clashes with the Blue Bombers, despite being underdogs in the last two meetings.
This stands in contrast to the closely contested nature of their all-time series, which Toronto narrowly leads 65-61-2. Interestingly, Toronto and Winnipeg’s Grey Cup histories also include their unique 1942 matchup, when the Toronto RCAF Hurricanes defeated the Winnipeg RCAF Bombers 8–5. That wartime championship, featuring Argos legend Bill Stukus at quarterback, remains a fascinating chapter in Canadian football and military history.
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