Alouettes blow out Argos, who look like a much-worse team without Ricky Ray

The Montreal Alouettes' 31-10 win over the Toronto Argonauts in Sunday's early game may wind up being a minor footnote compared to something that happened in the first quarter. Sure, the Alouettes were pretty impressive throughout, with Victor Anderson filling in nicely (17 carries, 76 yards) for the injured Brandon Whitaker and Anthony Calvillo turning in a reasonably-solid showing (he threw for 315 yards and two touchdowns, although he also had two picks and only completed 51.7 per cent of his passes). What was especially remarkable for Montreal was the way their oft-maligned defence stepped up, forcing the Argos to settle for field goals (many of which went awry). However, the implications of all of that pale by comparison to the first-quarter injury to Toronto quarterback Ricky Ray.

The Argonauts have been much more impressive this year than last; they're .500 (6-6) even after this loss and firmly entrenched in second place in the East, a far cry from last season's campaign that saw them pick up six wins all year. Much of that improvement in Toronto is directly attributable to the offseason acquisition of Ray, as quarterback play's gone from the Argonauts' greatest weakness to arguably their greatest strength. Now that Ray's hurt, that all could change. Ray was injured in the first quarter and spent the rest of the game in street clothes, which certainly doesn't bode well for how soon he'll be able to return, and the Argonauts looked like a vastly inferior team without him. Sure, there have been some issues with Ray's play, and particularly his inability to convert in the red zone; heading into this game, he had just 12 touchdowns against 10 interceptions. On the whole, though, he's looked like one of the league's top quarterbacks, posting 3,371 yards before Sunday (second-best in the CFL heading into this week's action) and a 68.4 per cent completion rate (the best in the league amongst current starters), and this game was billed as a duel between him and Calvillo. Ray's injury meant that didn't materialize, leading to an Alouettes' blowout and concerns about the Argonauts' future.

Yes, Toronto has an experienced backup in Jarious Jackson, but experience alone isn't always enough to get the job done. Jackson is 35, hasn't been a regular CFL starter since 2008, and wasn't even all that effective then (in his two seasons where he saw the most action, 2007 and 2008, he only posted a 54.9 per cent completion rate each year). He's also barely played this year, and he definitely looked rusty when thrown into action Sunday, completing just 15 of 31 passes (48.4 per cent) for 198 yards with an interception. If Ray's out for a while, perhaps Jackson can get back into rhythm as a starter, but it's tough to imagine the Argonauts' offence being as explosive with him under centre. Sure, there's more to like about Toronto than just the quarterback, as they have a tremendous defence, an impressive running game, some solid receivers and one of the league's most explosive receivers/return men in Chad Owens. Still, this Argonauts' offence runs through Ray, and if he's out for any substantial length of time, that's going to be a substantial blow to this team's hopes of claiming the Grey Cup at home this November.