Thursday night’s opening CFL matchup looked like a mismatch, with the 5-1 West Division-leading Winnipeg Blue Bombers facing the 0-6 Toronto Argonauts. And early on, that seemed accurate, with Winnipeg jumping out to a 20-0 lead with less than five minutes left in the first half. But Toronto pulled it back to 20-10 by the break, then added a field goal, and then tied it up on quite the sequence of events. First, there was this 78-yard punt return from Chris Rainey:
After that, though, the Argos were still having trouble punching it into the end zone. And when a second-down pass fell incomplete, it looked like they’d settle for a field goal. But head coach Corey Chamblin threw a challenge flag, challenging that there was defensive pass interference (the CFL has had reviewable/challengeable pass interference since 2014), and the on-field ruling was overturned, giving Toronto a fresh set of downs and the ball at the one-yard line. Quarterback McLeod Bethel-Thompson was stopped on a quarterback sneak on first down, but on second down, he found eligible lineman Jamal Campbell on a pass:
It was still 20-20 by the end of the third quarter, but Winnipeg scored early in the fourth to make it 27-20. Toronto then got a punt single, though, and then they scored the game-winning touchdown in the final seconds.
And the team account lost its words:
https://twitter.com/TorontoArgos/status/1157110553191624704
That’s quite the amazing comeback, and quite the sequence of plays.