VANCOUVER — Toronto Argonauts’ quarterback went from a backup to Grey Cup Most Valuable Player in the span of eight days.
Wynton McManus and the Toronto defense was a huge part of this win.
IMHO both defenses played really well.
The difference in this game was in the play of backup QB Nick Arbuckle vs backup QB Terry Wilson… AND the fumble by kick returner Lucky Whitehead… AND the sub-par performance of QB Zach Collaros (who we’ve been lucky to have these past 5 seasons)… AND a brain fart penalty that we took after blocking a punt… AND that’s the way it goes sometimes.
Well done Toronto Argonauts!
Maxx is right on those points. The blocked punt penalty was huge. I thought the Argos had blown it until the penalty was called. I was happy for Arbuckle and his family that he finally found his place in the sun. No doubt now he will be back as the solid backup for Kelly next year and probably starting the season if Kelly hasn’t recovered from his injury. He has earned it.
I thought the Agos did a great job of taking away Demski and the run game, and that forced Zach into a pass game that Toronto wanted him to play, wide outs and deep balls.
True. Their gameplan against our offense was spot on. It’s too bad that Buck Pierce couldn’t counter with a brilliant gameplan of his own. Still, we were all knotted up at the half and if we’d played error free ball who knows? Maybe we’d have made the ending a nail-biter worth rewatching in the off season.
2 td’s 2 int’s and under 300 passing yards is now MVP worthy. I would have given it to a Toronto defensive player. It’s good to know that I still “know nothing”.
Congrats to the Argos. Hopefully they will finally use a championship to be relentless in their marketing, and sell out season tix at BMO. No more of this “pull together” stuff. Flood the Toronto media. Have a presence at the Taylor Swift concerts, Leafs and Raptors games. Put some money into creative marketing.
Arbuckle was the media feel-good story of the week. A regular Walter Mitty tale. Its not about the stats. Its the Little Engine That Could (and did). So even with mixing my literary metaphors, he deserved MVP.
A little like giving Rudy the MVP. I understand the concept but I would have been the one dissenter that people complain about all the time.
For those unfamiliar with Rudy
Nick Arbuckle looked very calm and poised throughout the 111th Grey Cup game. His fast release was on full display and he managed to spread the ball to 
different receivers. 
It never hurts to have a Grey Cup and MVP for the game on your resume. I wish Nick all the best in his football future 
Huge feeling of redemption for Arbuckle or what
No luck involved . He deserved it 100 percent.
Yup. Not spectacular but he did what they needed him to. And did the hardest thing a QB has to do…maintain composure and just play the game without panicking.
Could anyone have predicted at the start of the season that Arbuckle would be named GC MVP?
His worth just went up, don’t know if he’s up for FA but the GC win guaranteed him employment next season.
Not at all. I figured at the start of the season that if an Argo backup quarterback would be named GC MVP it would be their ace backup Cameron Dukes who filled in nicely during their previous Grey Cup victory against us.
Mind you quarterback-wise, there’s no way that I’d have predicted that Bo Levi Mitchell who was the OTHER ‘washed up QB’ would finish tops in the league while his team would finish last. And who’d have predicted fan fav Nathan Rourke’s fall from grace after returning to BC after his stint in the NFL? Then there’s Cody Fajardo’s epic decline from Grey Cup hero to ‘guy who’s suddenly expendable’ thanks to backup Davis Alexander’s undefeated status as a starter.
Remember when the CFL awarded most outstanding offensive player and most outstanding defensive player. 1974-1990. Happy for Arbuckle, Liram, Wynton and the entire Toronto team.
Arbuckle went thru a whole lot of disappointing events during his career in the CFL. Being benched by a number of teams before being released. But he stood really tall in this GC game and performed really great. He certainly deserves the GC MVP and the long over due respect of all the CFL.
