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Preview: Argonauts at Lions
The BC Lions opened this season like they finished the last one: with a loss to the Calgary Stampeders. The Lions (0-1) will attempt to put that season-opening setback behind them when they host the defending Grey Cup champion Toronto Argonauts (1-0) on Thursday. Lions quarterback Travis Lulay finished Week 1 with three touchdown passes on 283 passing yards and added 55 rushing yards, but BC could not overcome a 25-point first-half deficit en route to a 44-32 loss.
Toronto posted a 39-34 triumph over the Hamilton Tiger-Cats to open its season after raising the banner for its Grey Cup victory. Quarterback Ricky Ray’s 368 passing yards and four touchdown tosses paced the Argonauts, who also received 112 rushing yards from Grey Cup Most Outstanding Player Chad Kackert. Toronto’s defence allowed just three points in the second half of Friday’s victory.
TV: 10 p.m. ET, TSN
ABOUT THE ARGONAUTS (1-0): Chad Owens, who set a professional football record for all-purpose yards last season with 3,863, amassed 235 combined yards in Week 1. Fellow slotback Jason Barnes caught two touchdown passes to go with 85 total yards and wide receiver Spencer Watt scored his fourth career touchdow, giving Toronto depth in its receiving corps. Kicker Swayze Waters is expected to miss at least two weeks with an injury suffered on Friday, leading the Argonauts to re-sign veteran Noel Prefontaine.
ABOUT THE LIONS (0-1): Wide receiver Emmanuel Arceneaux led the team with 103 receiving yards, surpassing the 2,000-yard plateau in his career to start his third CFL season. Arceneaux, who last played for BC in 2010, spent three seasons trying to earn a spot on an NFL team, trying out with Minnesota, Washington and the New York Jets. Arceneaux’s return helped blunt the loss of CFL all-time receiving yards leader Geroy Simon, who was traded in the off-season. K Hugh O’Neill missed an extra point attempt in the first half of Week 1, but converted the next two and made a 40-yard field goal in the fourth quarter.
EXTRA POINTS
1. Toronto, which finished 6-4 against West Division last year, was the only East Division team to secure a winning record versus the West.
2. The Lions were 8-1 at home last year en route to a league-best 13-5 regular-season record.
3. Kackert, who recorded 638 rushing yards on 100 attempts last year, has already surpassed his longest career regular-season run with a 57-yard touchdown dash on Friday.
PREDICTION: Lions 34, Argonauts 24
