{"id":192486,"date":"2025-10-06T04:26:16","date_gmt":"2025-10-06T04:26:16","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/192486\/"},"modified":"2025-10-06T04:26:16","modified_gmt":"2025-10-06T04:26:16","slug":"toronto-argonauts-mauled-by-tiger-cats-to-end-playoff-fantasy-seven-other-thoughts","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/192486\/","title":{"rendered":"Toronto Argonauts mauled by Tiger-Cats to end playoff fantasy (& seven other thoughts)"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"\"<\/a>Photo courtesy: Kevin Sousa\/CFL.ca<\/p>\n

In their home finale for the 2025 season \u2014 and their last home game until well into next summer \u2014 the Toronto Argonauts fell 47-29 to the Hamilton Tiger-Cats in front of 19,846 fans on Saturday afternoon.<\/p>\n

Here are my thoughts on the game.<\/p>\n

Growing pains for Toronto\u2019s QB<\/p>\n

When Nick Arbuckle went down early with an injury to his right arm, Jarret Doege was thrust into action to lead the Argonauts. While he showed some bright spots, completing 34-of-49 passes for 323 yards and two touchdowns, he also threw four interceptions. That painful stat only added salt to the wound of yet another Argonauts loss.<\/p>\n

Doege will likely be the Argonauts\u2019 starter for the remainder of the 2025 season. At this point, it\u2019s largely about him playing for himself and the pride of his team. However, he will face two teams fighting to secure their playoff berths, and the Argonauts can still play spoiler.<\/p>\n

\u201cI think when you don\u2019t make the playoffs, you\u2019re really playing for your jobs,\u201d Doege said post-game.<\/p>\n

\u201cEvery week you\u2019re playing for your job, but then you really see who wants to be a part of the team, who wants to keep their job, and who wants to go out there really with nothing to play for.\u201d<\/p>\n

Protection issues plague Argonauts again<\/p>\n

Once again, the offensive line did little to support Doege.<\/p>\n

Despite committing fewer penalties than last week, the unit still made both of their quarterbacks\u2019 lives difficult in the pocket, allowing nine sacks this afternoon. The poor performance of this offensive line in 2025 cannot be overstated, and it clearly needs a serious overhaul to have any chance of success in 2026.<\/p>\n

The lone bright spot came when Peter Nicastro scooped up a fumble by Doege after a sack and managed to gain a few yards before handing it off to Jake Herslow.<\/p>\n

\u201cJust trying to get as many yards as possible,\u201d Nicastro said of the play. \u201cObviously, I\u2019m not used to having the ball in my hand.\u201c<\/p>\n

Carved up like a Thanksgiving turkey\u00a0<\/p>\n

Thanksgiving may still be a week away, but the Hamilton Tiger-Cats\u2019 defence wasted no time carving up the Argonauts like a holiday turkey. They relentlessly exploited a vulnerable Toronto defence early and often, scoring two long touchdowns that set the tone for the game.<\/p>\n

Bo Levi Mitchell dominated the airwaves, throwing for 320 yards and four touchdowns, including key connections with Kenny Lawler, who caught two majors. This crushing defensive performance effectively ended the Argonauts\u2019 playoff hopes and left fans with a bitter taste after what was supposed to be a memorable home finale.<\/p>\n

Despite a valiant Toronto comeback effort in the third quarter, the visiting Tiger-Cats maintained control and cemented their status at the top of the East Division.<\/p>\n

Season-ending injury sidelines Arbuckle<\/p>\n

On the team\u2019s first offensive drive, Nick Arbuckle was sacked and fumbled the ball. He later left the game and spent the remainder of the contest on the sidelines wearing a sling. After the game, it was revealed that Arbuckle requires additional testing, effectively ending his season with two games remaining. The team is also officially eliminated from the 2025 playoffs.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe don\u2019t know exactly what it is. He\u2019s got to get some imaging done,\u201d head coach Ryan Dinwiddie told me.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt looks like his season\u2019s probably going to be over. Unfortunately, it happened that early. I feel for Nick. He was trying to make a play early on, and we lose him there. It\u2019s tough, but I\u2019m proud of Nick\u2019s performance all season.\u201d<\/p>\n

Argonauts and Bills unite to inspire youth football<\/p>\n

The Argonauts celebrated their new partnership with the NFL\u2019s Buffalo Bills on Saturday with an event dubbed the \u201cFuture of Football\u201d game. This initiative aims to grow the sport in the GTA and Southern Ontario, with Pro Football Hall of Famer and Bills legend Jim Kelly in attendance, alongside Argonauts and CFL legend Doug Flutie.<\/p>\n

This partnership benefits both organizations by expanding the Bills\u2019 reach into a new market to grow the \u201cBills Mafia,\u201d while giving the Argonauts increased exposure in the GTA. Together, they hope to attract more fans and develop football at the youth grassroots level.<\/p>\n

MLSee you next summer\u00a0<\/p>\n

With the Argonauts\u2019 2025 home season and playoff hopes now over, this game marked their last true home contest at BMO Field until at least late July 2026 due to the FIFA World Cup. The performance fell far short of the send-off that the 19,000-plus fans in attendance were hoping for, as the team\u2019s 5-11 overall record and 3-6 home mark delivered a harsh blow.<\/p>\n

Even with playoff baseball taking place less than five kilometres away, it was encouraging to see a strong turnout at BMO Field, though a large majority wore the black and yellow of the Hamilton Tiger-Cats and left after a rousing rendition of the famed Oskee-Wee-Wee chant.<\/p>\n

Standing by the Argonauts to the end<\/p>\n

Now that the Argonauts\u2019 playoff dreams have been dashed, they have two games remaining. The next one is in six days, on October 10, when they travel to Regina to face the Saskatchewan Roughriders. I\u2019ll still be here to share my thoughts on the game, so stay tuned, Argonauts fans.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Photo courtesy: Kevin Sousa\/CFL.ca In their home finale for the 2025 season \u2014 and their last home game…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":192487,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[437],"tags":[49,48,521,522,520,82],"class_list":{"0":"post-192486","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-cfl","8":"tag-ca","9":"tag-canada","10":"tag-canadian-football-league","11":"tag-canadianfootballleague","12":"tag-cfl","13":"tag-sports"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/192486","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=192486"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/192486\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/192487"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=192486"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=192486"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=192486"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}