2015 Toronto Argonauts = 1986 Toronto Argonauts

[Will]

Both teams finished with identical records at 10-8 and, unfortunately, both teams lost to Hamilton in the playoffs. The 1986 team did finish in first place in the division as Ottawa and Montreal were horrible. But, I do not think the comparisons end there:

(1) Both teams despite their 10-8 records actually ended up giving up more points than they scored. The 1986 team scored 417 points and surrendered 441 points while the 2015 team scored 438 points and surrendered 499 points.

(2) The majority of the team's wins in 1986 and 2015 were by small margins. Of the 10 wins in 1986, the Argos only defeated their opponents by 10 or more points on 4 occasions (07/26 @ SASK 27-17, 08/29 @ OTT 25-12, 10/19 vs OTT 35-21 and 11/09 @ MTL 37-16) whereas the 2015 Argos only defeated two of their opponents by 10 or more points (06/27 vs. EDM 26-11 and 11/06 vs. WPG 21-11)

(3) Both years marked a transition at QB for the Argonauts. In 1986, Condredge Holloway was starting towards the end of his career as some suggest Ricky Ray might be. Both yielded time to J.C Watts and Trevor Harris respectively. Now the difference here is that some people in 2015 view Trevor Harris as a future QB for the Argos, but I do not know if that was the case with J.C Watts inn 1986. I do know, however, that the 1987 Argonauts did not feature J.C Watts at QB. The 1986 Argos also hosted several other forgettable QB's such as Norman Gibbs, Tim Cowan and David Bates. I think moving forward, some combination of Ray/Harris will be better than the Renfroe/Congemi/Barrett trio.

(4) It was a bit of a transition at receiver for the Argos in 1986 as well. You had rookies such as Darrell Smith and Ken Joiner show promise for the future while a guy like Chris Woods was also a promising receiver while Paul Pearson maintained a steady veteran presence a la Chad Owens. The Argos currently feature four promising receivers in Gurley, Elliott, Hazelton and Spencer. Woods left the Argos after the '86 season, Joiner suffered an injury in '87 that ended his CFL career while Pearson retired after the '87 season. Smith did become an all-time Argo receiver, and the Argos were able to fill the void with Jeff Boyd, etc., but the hope here is that the four current Argos become a part of the passing attack for several years to come.

(5) The 1986 team was notorious for its offensive line which gave up 103 sacks. The 2015 team gave up 58 sacks (3rd highest in the league), but you could see that they were struggling both years. The good news is that the Argos OL from 1987 to 1991 was pretty good so I'm hopeful that things can be turned around.

(6) The 1986 team also featured promising DL like Rodney Harding and Jerald Baylis whereas the 2015 team featured promising DL like Tristan Okpalaugo, Cleyon Laing and Euclid Cummings. I'll hold off comparisons about the 2015 LB corps because Don Moen is an all-time Argo and Willie Pless is considered one of the best LB's in the history of the CFL.

(7) The secondary is an interesting topic as well. I am unsure where the '86 team ranked in terms of passing yards allowed relative to the CFL, but I do know that while some personnel carried over to the start of the '87 team by the time the '87 season had ended the Argos featured a solid secondary that (aside from Darnell Clash) was thin on CFL experience. So while may of this year's DBs might be brought back that doesn't necessarily mean they'll be around for the entirety of next year. It would be nice if the team could get it right though

[timlb01]

Good comparison but that playoff game no way as bad as the 1986 two game total point debacle. That depressed me months. I remember the drive home with my Dad... no one said a word the entire way. I cried myself to sleep that night! Brutal.

[argolio]

A big part of the '86 Argos was constantly winning field position battles thanks to Hank Ilesic's monster year. It's a crime he's not in the Hall of Fame.

Jearld Baylis was underrated as a DT, and even more so when he played NT. Also played great for Saskatchewan and Baltimore, and earned All-Canadian honours with all three teams. He, too, should be in the Hall of Fame.

Dan Rashovich was cut loose after being considered the goat of the home playoff game. He went on to have 13 productive years in Regina.

[ArgoRavi]

Good comparison but that playoff game no way as bad as the 1986 two game total point debacle. That depressed me months. I remember the drive home with my Dad... no one said a word the entire way. I cried myself to sleep that night! Brutal.

I remember listening to Suneel Joshi's show on CFRB that night and a woman called in to say that she had given her husband a birthday present of a trip to the Grey Cup as she was sure that the Argos would be there. That made a depressing night even more depressing.