Arbuckle, defence leads Toronto Argonauts to 2024 Grey Cup victory
A fourth quarter explosion saw Toronto defeat the Blue Bombers.
For the second time in three years, the Toronto Argonauts are Grey Cup champions.
The Argos won the 111th Grey Cup 41-24 over the Winnipeg Blue Bombers on Sunday night, dominating the fourth quarter to be named Canadian Football League champions at Vancouver’s BC Place.
After the Bombers were forced to punt on the first drive of the game, the Argos charged up the field on their first drive, all the way to the one yard line. They settled for a field goal to put three early points on the board, before stopping the Bombers again on their second opportunity.
Quarterback Nick Arbuckle, making his first career CFL Playoff start after Chad Kelly fractured his right tibia and fibula in the East Final last week, wasn’t able to lead the Argos down the field to extend their advantage, but settled into the game quickly and did an impressive job of limiting mistakes throughout the biggest game of his career.
His counterpart Zach Collaros, starting his fifth-straight Grey Cup, made his first big impact on the game with a pinpoint 49-yard pass up the field into the arms of Ontaria Wilson to move quickly toward the Argos end zone. A couple of plays later, backup quarterback Terry Wilson pushed his way into the end zone from a couple of yards out to give Winnipeg the lead, before Sergio Castillo converted the extra point to give the Bombers a 7-3 lead.
Castillo made another important kick in the second quarter as well, nailing a 20-yard field goal to extend Winnipeg’s lead to 10-3. Toronto responded with a field goal of their own, with Lirim Hajrullahu converting his attempt from 35 yards to make it 10-6. Hajrullahu appeared to be injured on the play after another player collided with him, but he was able to continue playing, albeit gingerly.
As Winnipeg began their drive back down the field, Toronto claimed the ball back instantly, with Benjie Franklin picking off a deep throw down the field from Collaros. After the Argos worked their way back up the field, Hajrullahu stepped up and fired a 45-yard field goal through the posts to bring Toronto back within one point.
The first half ended 10-9, before the Jonas Brothers took to the stage to entertain the crowd in Vancouver during the break.
The Argos tied it up at 10-10 after play resumed, with a rouge. John Haggerty placed a punt into the end zone, and it was picked up by a Bombers player, but he opted not to try and run it back out, giving the Argos the tying point.
On their next drive, the Argos were forced to punt again, and when Haggerty fired the ball down the field it was fumbled by the Bombers returner and recovered by Toronto. Arbuckle got the ball back and on the very next play he threw it out wide to Kevin Mital, who hurdled a defender on his way into the end zone for his first CFL touchdown, giving his team a 16-10 lead. Hajrullahu then extended the lead to seven points with another successful kick.
After another short and unsuccessful drive from Winnipeg, Toronto had an opportunity to put a buffer between the two teams, but the first play from Nick Arbuckle was intercepted on an attempted deep throw to a wide receiver. The Blue Bombers cut the lead by three on the ensuing series, with Castillo making another field goal, this time from 40 yards. Zach Collaros was injured on his final involvement of that drive, with the index finger of his throwing hand leaking blood before he sprinted down the tunnel to get some repairs in the locker room.
In the meantime, the Argonauts were forced to punt on their next series, and the punt was blocked by Michael Ayers. What should have been a great play for Winnipeg deep in the Toronto half ended up being a break for the Argos as Kyrie Wilson committed a foul, giving the ball back to Toronto and bailing them out. It didn’t matter in the end, as on the second play after the chaos, Bombers defender Willie Jefferson made an interception, giving the ball back to Winnipeg anyway.
With Collaros still out, Terry Wilson was tasked with trying to get Winnipeg back on the board, and got them within 15 yards of the end zone before Castillo came back out to kick another field goal. Another successful attempt got the Bombers back within a single point.
Toronto responded with a touchdown, opening up an eight-point lead after another strong drive from Arbuckle. After several plays got them within 20 yards, the Argos quarterback picked out Dejon Brissett in the end zone for his second touchdown pass of the night.
Zach Collaros came back out, wearing a glove on his throwing hand for the first time in his Bombers career after the cut on his finger earlier in the game, and on his very first play threw an interception to Toronto’s DaShaun Amos. A couple of plays later Hajrullahu placed another field goal attempt through the posts to make it 27-16 to Toronto, before the lead was extended further.
Robert Priester caught the ball for an interception that he ran all the way back into the Winnipeg end zone, a few minutes before Collaros also threw an interception to Wynton McManis, who ran it to the Winnipeg four yard line. That was quickly turned into another touchdown for Toronto, ran in by Ka'Deem Carey. Collaros threw four interceptions on the night — and they proved to be the difference as the Bombers collapsed late for the third Grey Cup in a row.
In the blink of an eye Toronto opened up a huge 41-16 lead, and their defence in particular put on a clinic.
Winnipeg picked up some late points as Brady Oliveira ran in a touchdown, but it was too little, too late to have a significant impact on the result.
The final moments of the game came and went, and Toronto held on to win the Grey Cup for a record-extending 19th time and the second time in three seasons. Nick Arbuckle took home the Most Valuable Player award, and Dejon Brissett won the Most Valuable Canadian — adding another championship to the family trophy cabinet after his brother Oshae won the NBA title with the Boston Celtics earlier this year.
Toronto has now won eight Grey Cup appearances in a row going back to 1991, and have won 19 of their 25 all-time championship games. The Blue Bombers have made it to five straight Grey Cups, but have now lost each of the last three — two of them to this Toronto team.
The next Grey Cup will be played in Winnipeg at Princess Auto Stadium, set for November 16, 2025.
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