Tag: Grey Cup

Unlikely hero Nick Arbuckle leads Toronto Argonauts to Grey Cup victory

A career backup quarterback led the Toronto Argonauts to victory in the Grey Cup

There are unlikely heroes in sports. You can add Toronto Argonauts quarterback Nick Arbuckle high up on the list.

The Argos quarterback Chad Kelly shattered his ankle in a semifinal meaning it was up to Arbuckle on Sunday against the Winnipeg Blue Bombers in the Grey Cup.

Despite having beaten Winnipeg twice since July 27 — the Bombers’ lone two losses since that date — Toronto came in a double-digit underdog.

Nobody told Arbuckle, who threw for 252 yards and two touchdowns as Toronto won the CFL championship, 41-24. He was named Grey Cup MVP.

Why was Arbuckle such an unlikely hero?

Per the Toronto Star:

Arbuckle, 31, had started 25 games in his CFL career.

He had thrown only 1,017 regular-season passes, with 27 touchdowns and 32 interceptions, and produced an 87.0 quarterback rating over stops with Calgary, Ottawa, Toronto, Edmonton, Ottawa again, and Toronto again. He didn’t have a contract before this season and was only signed by the Argos when Kelly was suspended for half the season.

Before the Grey Cup, Arbuckle had started one playoff game … in high school.

He was a backup and played tight end that year. His chance came in the playoffs and his team lost.

“I remember that a lot,” Arbuckle told the Star.

He will remember the 2024 Grey Cup a lot more.

Argos get punt blocked by Blue Bombers in Grey Cup, keep football due to ‘loose ball interference’

Loose ball interference came into play in the Grey Cup

The rules North of the Border are different than in the NFL when it comes to the CFL.

The strangest of plays took place at the end of the third quarter on Sunday in the Grey Cup.

Winnipeg blocked a punt by Toronto. In the scramble for the loose football, a Blue Bomber blocked/pushed an Argo out of the way.

Out came the penalty flag. The officials huddled and announced that even though Winnipeg had blocked the punt and recovered it, the possession would go to Toronto.

The call was “loose ball interference.” Sounds like something out of a Toronto Raptors game.

Montreal Alouettes win Grey Cup on late touchdown pass

The Montreal Alouettes won the Grey Cup over Winnipeg

The Grey Cup was a thriller on Sunday in Hamilton and the Montreal Alouettes came away with their first CFL championship since 2010.

The Alouettes toppled the favored Winnipeg Blue Bombers, 28-24, when Cody Fajardo found Tyson Philpot with a 19-yard touchdown pass with 15 seconds left.

The Alouettes, who ended their season with eight straight wins, went 83 yards on their championship-winning march.

Fajardo was named the Grey Cup MVP. He threw for 290 yards and 3 touchdowns while completing 21 of 26 passes.

Per the Montreal Gazette:

A team that was without an owner until March and saw numerous free agents depart because of the franchise’s uncertainty, won its last eight games following a narrow mid-September defeat to Toronto. In the process, the Alouettes beat the best team in the East Division — the Argonauts in last weekend’s division final on the road — then stunned the Bombers, first in the West Division with a 14-4 record.

Those were Montreal’s only two victories against teams with winning records.

 

Doug Nussmeier officially named Chargers’ quarterbacks coach

Doug Nussmeier brings over 20 years of coaching experience into his new role as the Chargers’ quarterbacks coach.

The Chargers made several changes to their coaching staff on Monday, naming their new defensive coordinator, defensive quality control coach, and linebackers coach among other moves. But the only swap on the offensive side of the ball was Doug Nussmeier being tapped as the team’s next quarterbacks coach.

Nussmeier, a former NFL quarterback, was a fourth-round selection by the New Orleans Saints in the 1994 draft class. However, he found most of his success as a professional football player in Canada, where he was a Grey Cup champion with the BC Lions in 2000.

He has held various roles on coaching staffs in Canada, in the college ranks in the United States, and in the NFL since his playing days ended. Initially a quarterbacks coach for the BC Lions and Ottowa Renegades in the CFL in 2001 and 2002, Nussmeier eventually found his way to Michigan State in the same role in 2003 before landing his first gig as an NFL head coach with the St. Louis Rams in 2006.

Over the years, Nussmeier has held a variety of positions ranging from offensive coordinator to tight ends coach, and with his new position in Los Angeles should be primed to lend his exceptional experience to help bolster the Chargers’ offense in 2023.

Under his direction, quarterback Justin Herbert seems primed to take a step forward next season, and if the cards fall their way, Nussmeier could prove to be a key piece in Los Angeles’ quest to secure their first playoff win since 2018.

Chad Kelly, Toronto thwart Winnipeg’s bid for Grey Cup hat trick

The Toronto Argonauts are Grey Cup champions, dethroning the Blue Bombers

Grey Cup 109 had a bit of everything on Sunday.

And a name from a troubled time in college football and stint in the NFL winds up a hero.

Chad Kelly came off the bench for Toronto and led an Argonauts comeback that wound up in a 24-23 victory over Winnipeg.

McLeod Bethel-Thompson was injured and Kelly rallied the Argos, who denied the Bombers a third straight Grey Cup.

The Argonauts trailed 23-14 in the fourth quarter after a 102-yard punt return by Janorian Grant of Winnipeg.

However, Toronto scored the final 10 points.

Kelly was 4-of-6 passing for 43 yards and directed the team to the scores when it counted. He also had a 20-yard run.

The nephew of Buffalo Bills great Jim Kelly has a championship under the most unlikely of circumstances.

As time wound down in the tense contest, each team had a field goal blocked and Toronto managed to hold off Winnipeg.

 

Janarion Grant of Winnipeg with 102-yard punt return in Grey Cup

Janarion Grant with a 102-yard punt return for the Winnipeg Blue Bombers in the Grey Cup

Marcus Jones of the New England Patriots had a dramatic 84-yard punt return for a TD In the NFL on Sunday.

Janarion Grant of the Winnipeg Blue Bombers went him 16 yards better in the fourth quarter of the Grey Cup against the  Toronto Argonauts.

Toronto led 17-14 when it punted to Grant, who already had a total of 3 returns for TDs in 2022.

He picked up the ball and took off for the end zone, reaching it 102 yards later.

Grant had a short stint with the Baltimore Ravens in 2018. He played college ball at Rutgers

Winnipeg missed the PAT and led 23-14.

The Bombers were looking for a Grey Cup hat trick, having won in 2019 and 2021. The 2020 season was canceled due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

Former Patriots, CFL offensive lineman Drew Desjarlais joins Saints practice squad

The Saints practice squad added another new face: former Patriots guard Drew Desjarlais, a CFL All-Star with the Winnipeg Blue Bombers

There’s the final member of the New Orleans Saints practice squad. After initially filling 15 of the 16 vacancies on their reserve list, the Saints brought in Drew Desjarlais to round out the group. Desjarlais, 25, started all 27 games he played in college at Windsor (in Ontario), though he split his time at both left and right guard. He’s continued to do that in the NFL — the New England Patriots signed him this summer and tried him out at both spots throughout their preseason games, though it remains to be seen where the Saints want him to focus.

But before he made the move to the NFL, Desjarlais won back-to-back Grey Cup championships with the CFL’s Winnipeg Blue Bombers in 2019 and 2021 (the Canadian league suspended play for the 2020 season due to the COVID-19 pandemic), earning all-star recognition as a guard with 37 pro starts north of the border, predominately at left guard.

We’ll have to wait and see if any practice squad players are let go, but for now Desjarlais rounds out a group that includes fellow interior linemen Josh Andrews and Nick Martin, who were two of the more-experienced centers available following Tuesday’s final wave of NFL roster cuts. Having all three of them in the building provides a lot of depth behind Erik McCoy, Andrus Peat, Cesar Ruiz, Calvin Throckmorton, and Tanner Owen on the 53-man roster.

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Winnipeg downs Hamilton in OT to repeat as Grey Cup champs

The Winnipeg Blue Bombers are once again Grey Cup champions

The Winnipeg Blue Bombers have won back-to-back Grey Cups.

They rallied and defeated the Hamilton Tiger-Cats for the second straight CFL championship, 33-25, in overtime Sunday. This was Grey Cup 108.

Zach Collaros found Darvin Adams in the end zone in overtime, which is called a “mini-game.” He then connected with Rasheed Bailey for the two-point conversion.

Winnipeg picked off Jeremiah Masoli of Hamilton to end the game. Kyrie Wilson made the interception on a second-down play.

This was the fourth time the Grey Cup went to overtime. Winnipeg became the first team to go back-to-back since Montreal in 2009-10.

The overtime “mini-game” saw each team start a drive from the opponent’s 35-yard line. If a team scored, it had to go for a two-point conversion.

The CFL season in 2020 was canceled due to COVID-19.

The Bombers beat the Ti-Cats in the 2019 Grey Cup, too.

Winnipeg trailed 22-10 in the fourth quarter but had a huge wind in its favor and went on a 15-0 run. to take the lead.

Sergio Castillo kicked a 45-yard field goal with 1:52 left and added another point when the wind-aided kickoff could not be returned.

Masoli, who came on for an injured Dane Evans, led the Ti-Cats on a desperate drive into the wind.

They moved 70 yards before being stopped at the Winnipeg 5 and settling for a field goal that tied the game and forced overtime.

CFL postpones start of 2020 season until at least September

The Canadian Football League has decided to postpone the start of its 2020 regular season until at least September due to the pandemic.

The Canadian Football League, whose season normally kicks off in June, has decided to postpone the start until at least this September due to the coronavirus pandemic.

The CFL issued a statement on Wednesday, which reads in part:

“It now appears the earliest the CFL might return to play – for a shortened but meaningful season – is this September.

Of course, a final decision on whether that will indeed happen will depend on what governments tell us is safe for our players and fans.

But barring some huge development, like a vaccine for COVID-19, it now seems clear we can rule out playing games this summer. There are several reasons, including the continuing restrictions on assemblies, travel and border crossings. Notably, several provinces and municipalities have already decided to prohibit until September 1st, all sporting events featuring large gatherings.”

The NFL has not yet made any similar declarations, and in fact, some team facilities began to slowly open this week. With the start of the 2020 regular season still months away, the league has some time before any major decisions have to be made.

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