On the heels of Saturday’s 29-24 loss at Winnipeg, one question must be asked: Can it get any worse for the Toronto Argonauts?

At 3-9, their winning percentage is worse than Vernon Wells’ batting average (.262). On Saturday night, they showed less discipline than Dennis the Menace. They face another quarterback controversy after Kerry Joseph’s decent play coming off the bench. But it’s also the way they lose games.

It’s hard to tell what’s worse: losing games they led only to give them away in the final minute (BC in Week 7, Calgary two weeks later), or being absolutely terrible for most of the game and still fall just short. They did manage to win the fourth quarter 15-0, but it was a case of too little, too late.

Running back Jamal Robertson was less than convincing, with only 42 yards on 11 carries, which included a lost fumble on the first play from scrimmage in the second half. The defence couldn’t make key stops on second down when it mattered, and two of their best players — Rob Murphy and Zeke Moreno — lost their cool and were ejected in the fourth quarter.

I’ll never call a game “a must-win” until we get to the point of mathematical elimination, but the Basement Bowl was the closest thing. Toronto is stuck at three wins, two games behind BC for the final Eastern playoff spot. Furthermore, they lost both of their matchups against the Lions this season. Winnipeg is in a decent spot. One game behind BC, they play four of their six remaining games at home, including a tilt against Wally Buono and company on October 18th.

On top of that, the Bombers, for once this season, have to be pleased with the play of their starting quarterback. Michael Bishop was very efficient, completing 23 of 32 passes with two touchdowns, but the best part of his game was between the ears. He knew when to stretch the field and when to check it down to Fred Reid, who himself was productive, with 86 total yards on 17 touches.

Before the game, I was walking through Canad Inns Stadium and saw one fan with a paper bag over his head, with black writing that read “Coach Kelly makes me drink”. Another fan came equipped with a sign that said “Gretzky can coach the Bombers”. Funny how after the game, the very same fans likely shared in the collective optimism that surrounds the city of Winnipeg.

Now it’s Toronto that faces all the questions. Could Bart Andrus start Kerry Joseph for the remainder of the season and claim that he’s looking towards 2010? Some might call that naive, seeing how Andrus should be more worried about his job security, but we’ll see how it unfolds.

So can it get worse for the Argos. Yeah, they could get shutout by Montreal next week. That would be rough…

-Marc Tessier

The first game of the post-Arland Bruce III era takes place Saturday afternoon at the Rogers Centre when the Argonauts host the Blue Bombers. While some might say that in reality that title belongs to last week’s game when Bruce was sent home, the reality is that the distraction is gone and the team can focus on football again. But are the Argos better for it?

In exchange for Bruce, the Argos acquired a third-round pick in the 2010 CFL Canadian Draft, a conditional pick in the 2011 draft and the rights to non-import defensive end Corey Mace. Mace had spent the past two seasons on the Buffalo Bills’ practice roster, dressing for one game and recording one tackle. However, TSN reported on Friday that he has signed with the Bills, meaning that though his rights still belong to Toronto, he’s a write-off for this CFL season.

So apart from the locker room distraction being out of the way, the 2009 Argonauts are not better as a result of the trade where it matters most: on the field. (Furthermore, from TSN’s Duane Forde: “Bruce clearly had his followers in the Argo room. Don’t be surprised to see one or more of them continue to follow him [out of town] in the coming weeks.”) For the record, I trust Forde’s insight…

The Argos are quickly finding out that this season won’t be like most of this decade, where they could play the season blindfolded and still coast to a second place finish behind Montreal and enjoy a home playoff game. Hamilton has clearly shown itself capable, and that’s even before Bruce makes his Ti-cat debut tonight at Ivor Wynne against BC. It’s also the understatement of the year to say that a loss tomorrow to Winnipeg wouldn’t be all too endearing to fans.

Nevertheless, I’ve always been a Kerry Joseph backer, and I think that even though the Argo receiving corps reeks of inexperience, Joseph is capable of patching up a less-than-desirable situation. I’ve always maintained that he’s a top-four quarterback in the CFL along with Ricky Ray, Anthony Calvillo and Henry Burris, and if he can lead the Argos to a few wins (especially with the Alouettes on the docket next Friday) there will start to be believers that the 2007 Kerry Joseph is back.

Find out tomorrow at 1:00, and if you can’t make it to the game, follow my updates on Twitter @YYZsportsmedia.

-Marc Tessier

Maybe it just looks bad in comparison to their Canada Day steamrolling of the Tiger-Cats, but Saturday’s 46-36 loss to Saskatchewan was a huge eye-opener for everyone sporting the Double Blue. The score wasn’t a true reflection of the outcome, as the Roughriders outscored the Argonauts 30-0 in the second quarter. New head coach Bart Andrus has been preaching discipline since training camp, and feels even more strongly about it after his Argos were reckless on the field.

Toronto took 14 penalties totaling 131 yards. Defensive tackle Adriano Belli was benched in the first quarter after taking a needless unnecessary roughness penalty for headbutting a Roughrider after the play. Andrus made it very clear that there’s a place for that behaviour, and it isn’t the gridiron.

“Do you want to be a WWE wrestler or a professional football player? It’s as simple as that,” he said. When Belli was informed of his coach’s statement, he replied with a brisk “No comment.” He half-heartedly pointed to his foot in the locker room as the reason for his removal from the game, leaving it open to interpretation.

“It’s a fine line. We’re trying to kill the quarterback [...] but play within the rules of the game,” he added. “I think everyone was a little hot.”

Quarterback Kerry Joseph wasn’t pointing any fingers, putting the onus on the entire group to be sharper.

“Overall as a team we’ve just got to be better, more disciplined. Everyone was at fault today,” said the former Saskatchewan pivot. “We can’t give yards away. Bottom line. This is a game of inches and you have to make them earn every bit of it.”

Andrus did see some positives. He pointed to Joseph passing for over 300 yards, Reggie McNeal’s 114 yard receiving performance, as well as running back Jamal Robertson eclipsing 100 total yards from scrimmage. Still, he acknowledged there’s work to be done before this team gets to where it wants to be.

“Some of [the problems] are real easy to identify right now, and some we’ll study tomorrow. That’s the only thing I know to do,” said the coach. “90% of the time, if you have a negative turnover ratio, you lose.”

Though the Riders had it in cruise control after halftime, the Argos were still able to win the second half 23-9. (The roof was open for the second half. Read into that what you will.) Andrus saw positives that can be applied to future games.

“They came out. They played,” he said of his players. “We held them to field goals and we scored touchdowns.”

The Argos visit 0-2 Calgary on Friday.

-Marc Tessier

It’s only the second week of the season, but there are countless storylines as the Double Blue prepare for to tackle Saskatchewan in their home opener tomorrow.

Are the Argonauts for real, or did they simply feast on a weak Hamilton team on Canada Day?

Will Offensive Player of the Week Jamal Robertson crack the 100-yard plateau again?

Will Arland Bruce deliver an encore?

Oh yeah, and Kerry Joseph is playing his former team. Almost forgot.

Joseph delivered the Grey Cup to Rider Nation in 2007, and was then traded to Toronto in a goodwill move by Saskatchewan after he had elected to take a substantial pay cut to stay in Regina. He couldn’t get a win in his return in week 5 amid cheering watermelon-wearing fans, and despite throwing a career-high five touchdown passes in last year’s season finale, the Argos fell after botching a fake punt after their final drive had stalled.

That was an interesting, yet understandable call by then-coach Don Matthews, what with the Argos having been eliminated from playoff contention. But that was then and this is now. Bart Andrus is the new captain of the ship, and has installed a better, brighter mindset since training camp. That was evident in his comment following last Wednesday’s win over the Tiger-Cats with regards to receiving his Gatorade shower.

“I would never want to do this job if I couldn’t have fun at it and I preach that to the players because I want them enjoying the game again. At some point when they were young they played this game because it was fun and went back the next day and played again because it was fun and we want to keep that part of it,” he said.

If the Argos can keep the momentum rolling, they’d be primed for this season’s best turnaround in the CFL, following a disastrous 4-14 campaign last year. Arland Bruce must be thrilled.

I’ll have updates throughout the game on Twitter (YYZsportsmedia) and postgame with reaction from the teams on TSM.

-Marc Tessier