Ricky Ray’s Argos fall short in his return to Edmonton, but may still win in the end

Eric Tillman might just be the happiest man in the CFL at the moment. The Edmonton Eskimos' general manager has been dealing with criticisms of the Ricky Ray trade for months and has seen plenty of dismal predictions about his team, so Saturday's 19-15 victory over the Ray-led Toronto Argonauts has to feel pretty sweet, especially considering that two of the players he acquired for Ray, quarterback Steven Jyles and kicker Grant Shaw, played important roles in the win. However, it's far too early to start saying that this result vindicates Tillman, or that the Argonauts' hopes of a strong 2012 campaign were in vain. Yes, Ray didn't perform as well as he has in some past games, but that's not all on him, as the Argos' offensive line and receivers frequently struggled too. Moreover, although this has to be a hugely disappointing result for Toronto given the offseason hype around their makeover, there were still some very impressive signs here, particularly late in the contest. This result might signify that things won't automatically fall into place for the Argonauts despite their talent, but don't write their season or their decision to trade for Ray off just yet, and don't assume that Edmonton will be just fine without Ray.

First, let's discuss some quarterback statistics. If Player A completes 31 of 41 passes (a sky-high 75.6 per cent) for 298 yards and a touchdown, while Player B completes 21 of 36 attempts (58.3 per cent) for 236 yards, which one would you rather have as your quarterback? The answer's pretty obviously Player A, which in this case is Ray; he simply outperformed Jyles (Player B) under centre Saturday. Ray got it done on the ground as well, rushing three times for 24 yards, while Jyles' much-hyped mobility wasn't really in evidence Saturday; he only carried the ball twice for 12 yards. Some will undoubtedly claim that Jyles winding up on the right side of the scoresheet means he outplayed Ray Saturday, but wins are simply a lousy way to evaluate quarterbacks. (Funnily enough, that's an argument that's been made in defence of Jyles before, back when he was completing plenty of passes but losing games.) Jyles wasn't terrible Saturday, but he didn't play as well as Ray, so saying that this shows the Eskimos have improved at quarterback is just foolish.

What went wrong for Ray and the Argonauts? Well, they looked particularly out of sync sometimes, especially early on. The offensive line didn't give Ray a great deal of protection, and that hurt the team's ability to establish consistent offensive drives. Running back Cory Boyd did yeoman's work on the ground, picking up 48 yards on eight carries, but too often, big rushing gains by him led to incomplete passes and punts on the next play. Some of that's on him, as Boyd wasn't all that effective in the receiving game, catching 11 mostly-short passes but only collecting nine yards (although he did have a receiving touchdown), but some of it's on Ray and the rest of the offence. Another crucial issue for Toronto was the penalties; the Argonauts were penalized 17 times on the night, frequently killing drives and forcing punts.

However, it's even more remarkable that in the end, the difference on the scoreboard can be chalked up to field goals. Shaw, a throw-in in the Ray trade who hadn't proven that accurate in Toronto and was mostly used on kickoffs there, went four-for-four on field goals for the Eskimos (including a long 44-yarder), while Argonauts' kicker Noel Prefontaine (a former Eskimo) missed two of his four attempts. If Prefontaine makes both of those, that's a five-point swing (one miss went through the end zone for a single), enough to change this game's outcome. It's a hypothetical, sure, but it illustrates that the difference between the kickers' showings might have been more important than the difference between the offences here.

Although they picked up the loss here, the Argonauts have plenty of positive takeaways from this one. There was clearly rust throughout the game, perhaps part of Ray and the team still adjusting to new head coach Scott Milanovich's offence, but they looked much better in the last couple of quarters than they did early on. They got some great receiving performances too, particularly from Chad Owens (six catches for 100 yards, plus some dynamite kick returns), Andre Durie (four catches, 76 yards) and former Eskimo Jason Barnes (four catches, 59 yards), and their defence also stepped up with an impressive showing, including a spectacular interception from Jordan Younger. The team had a chance to win it on a last drive, but couldn't quite pull it together; however, unlike their preseason game against Montreal (which they actually won), they looked to be improving and getting into the flow of Milanovich's offence. Ray's revenge mission to Edmonton may have ended poorly on the scoreboard, but the strong performance he delivered and the Argonauts' promising late play suggests that it's far too early to conclude they came out on the wrong side of this trade. Tillman and the Eskimos took the first post-trade battle Saturday, but the war is anything but over.