It was a tale of two special teams for the Winnipeg Blue Bombers on Friday night, as the Blue and Gold fell to the Toronto Argonauts 27-20 at Investors Group Field in Winnipeg.

On the one side of the football, there was Lirim Hajrullahu. The Bombers kicker accounted for more than half of Winnipeg's total offense on his own, going a perfect four for four in field goal attempts. These included two 53 yard conversions, his longest of the season.

On the other end, the Blue Bombers' gave up their second punt return touchdown of the season, which is the most in the CFL. The Bombers were leading the game 17-14 in the 4th quarter when A.J. Harrison returned a Hajrullahu punt 70 yards for the score. On the ensuing Bombers drive, Winnipeg coughed up the football when Rory Kohlert fumbled a pass that was recovered by the Toronto defense. That play led to an Argonauts touchdown to seal the deal.

"This one's gonna sting through the bye week," said a surly Bombers' head coach Mike O'Shea after Friday's loss. "We played a pretty gritty game, and then we let it out of our hands."

A big provider of that grit for the Bombers was quarterback Robert Marve. Marve started in the place of Drew Willy, who is out for the next 6 to 8 weeks with a tear in the PCL in his knee, and went 18-29 with 203 passing yards, one touchdown pass in the first half, and an interception. Marve also showed off his rushing game with 37 rushing yards.

"He provided some energy, moved the ball a bit, extended plays, got some yards with his feet," said O'Shea of his quarterback. "He met expectations."

Winnipeg's lone touchdown was a 56 yard connection from Marve to running back Cameron Marshall, who was slotted in place of the injured Paris Cotton, who is out with a broken arm. Marshall finished the game with 84 passing yards along with 55 rushing yards on 14 carries. The offense also got a huge boost with the return of slotback Nick Moore, who had 44 passing yards in the game.

Argonauts quarterback Trevor Harris threw for two touchdowns and no pickoffs, and went 18-24 on the field with 168 yards. Friday also saw the return of the CFL's Most Valuable Player in 2012, running back Chad Kackert, who had not played since October of 2013. Kackert ran for 73 yards on 12 carries.

With the win, the Argonauts improve to 5-2 on the season, which is good enough for first place in the CFL's east division. Meanwhile, the Bombers, who started the season 2-1, now sit at 3-5.

Coach O'Shea indicated that the Bombers, who have a bye week coming up, will spend it analyzing all aspects of play on the field, and figure out what they can do to win in the final 10 games of the season.

"There are plays that we all want back. That's just the way it is with a loss - there's nothing good about it."

"3-5 is not good enough."

 

Quotes taken from audio from BlueBombers.ca.