Joseph returns to Regina on a roll

Canadian Press

July 22, 2008 at 6:26 PM EST

Kerry Joseph is returning to Regina on a roll.

Joseph leads the Toronto Argonauts into Saskatchewan to face the undefeated Roughriders, the same team Joseph guided to a Grey Cup title last year after being named the CFL's outstanding player.

The Roughriders traded Joseph to Toronto in the off-season after being unable to agree to a contract extension with the veteran quarterback. After struggling in his first three starts, Joseph had a breakout game Sunday when he guided the Argos to a 35-31 home victory over the Edmonton Eskimos.

Joseph engineered a sparkling 109-yard game-winning drive against Edmonton, capping it off with a strong 13-yard TD run that provided Toronto's four-point advantage. Joseph not only finished the game with 343 yards passing, he also ran for a game-high 118 yards, his first 100-yard rushing contest with the Double-Blue.

He became the first Argos quarterback to pass for more than 300 yards and run for 100 yards in a game since Doug Flutie turned the trick in '97.

But it's not like the Roughriders have floundered without their former starting quarterback.

Saskatchewan is the CFL's lone undefeated team at 4-0 and has won its last two straight contests with No. 3 quarterback Darian Durant. Although Durant has thrown for 744 yards, completed 67.5 per cent of his passes and has more than twice as many TD passes (five) than interceptions (two), there's talk the Riders could start Marcus Crandell, who backed up Joseph last year.

Crandell has missed the club's last two games with a hamstring injury.

One player the Riders won't have is defensive lineman John Chick, who is out four-to-six weeks with a knee injury. Then again, Toronto will be without linebacker Kevin Eiben, who suffered a knee injury against Edmonton.

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QUESTIONABLE TACTICS — The tactics employed by the Edmonton Eskimos' defence in Sunday's 35-31 loss to Toronto certainly left a lot of people shaking their heads.

The Eskimos appeared in good shape with Toronto on its one-yard line with roughly a minute and a half remaining and trailing 31-28.

Given the circumstance, it would've been safe to assume Toronto would go to the air in its comeback bid and quarterback Kerry Joseph probably would've looked to throw to the sidelines to allow his receiver to go out of bounds to stop the clock.

Edmonton, however, elected to keep its cornerbacks deep in zone coverage, thus allowing Joseph to not only complete his passes but give the Argos receivers the sidelines to help manage the clock.

Joseph was able to complete six-of-eight passes for 85 yards and effectively march Toronto 109 yards for the game-winning touchdown with 23 seconds to play.

Not helping Edmonton's cause defensively was losing defensive lineman Fred Perry to a broken leg and dislocated ankle.

What's more, the Eskimos are in Hamilton on Friday and the expectation is Ticats rushing leader Jesse Lumsden will be back in the lineup after missing last week's loss to Calgary with a knee injury. Lumsden is averaging 7.5 yards per carry this season and has scored four touchdowns.

And don't forget, Edmonton is 0-2 on the road this year.

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BOMBERS WOES — It's not surprising that with his club 0-4, Winnipeg Blue Bombers coach Doug Berry would elect to make a change at quarterback. Veteran Kevin Glenn, the CFL's passing leader last season, will be on the sidelines in favour of backup Ryan Dinwiddie on Friday when the Bombers face the Calgary Stampeders.

Glenn has completed 85-of-133 passes for 976 yards but has thrown eight interceptions compared to just two touchdowns for the Bombers.

Dinwiddie had a tough debut as a CFL starter, throwing three interceptions in Winnipeg's 23-19 Grey Cup loss to Saskatchewan last November. But the former Boise State star had a solid exhibition season and Berry remains high on his backup.

However, the real problem for Winnipeg's offence could be an injury-plagued offensive line. A big part of the Bombers' offensive success has been the explosiveness of running back Charles Roberts. But the perennial 1,000-yard rusher has run for just 161 yards on 39 carries (4.1-yard average) so far this season.

But Winnipeg's injury woes don't stop there.

The Bombers will be minus middle linebacker Barrin Simpson (torn pectoral muscle) against Calgary and slotback Milt Stegall won't play as he continues to recover from off-season knee surgery.

THIS 'N THAT — Joe Smith is to start at tailback Friday when the B.C. Lions take on the Montreal Alouettes. Smith missed the last two games, with youngster Stefan Logan performing very well in his absence, rushing for over 200 yards . . . Toronto Argonauts receiver Tyler Scott finished Sunday's win over Edmonton with six catches for 89 yards. But five of those receptions came on the Argos game-winning 109-yard drive that culminated with Kerry Joseph's 13-yard TD run. Teammate James Robinson finished with 194 yards receiving, 90 of which came on a TD reception. Veteran Andre Talbot, who was a late scratch from Sunday's game, is expected to suit up against Saskatchewan . . . The Hamilton Tiger-Cats might be without veteran receiver Tony Miles when they face Edmonton on Friday night. He suffered a hamstring injury against Calgary and his status remains questionable. The Ticats have signed former Calgary linebacker Cornelius Anthony, re-uniting him with defensive Denny Creehan, who held the same position last season with the Stamps. The question remains: Could Scott Coe be far behind?

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