Argos' Amos: 'We still have that sour taste from last year'

The Toronto Argonauts are looking to play for some redemption when they begin their foray into the CFL playoffs on Saturday.

Last year, the Argonauts equalled the best record in CFL history at 16-2 and went into the Eastern Final as the heavy favourites over the Montreal Alouettes.

The Argonauts committed five turnovers in the game and were stunned with a 38-17 loss to the eventual Grey Cup-winning Alouettes.

As the team enters the East Semifinal against the Ottawa Redblacks this year, Argonauts defensive back DeShaun Amos made it very clear that they haven’t forgotten their failure from last year.

“[Last year’s loss] keeps us humble,” Amos told TSN1050’s First Up on Friday. “We were 16-2 and heavy favourites to win the Grey Cup. We didn’t really face a lot of adversity. 

“This year we probably faced the most adversity since [Ryan Dinwiddie] took over as coach. We’re hungry, ready to play and we still have that sour taste from last year.”

Amos is the Argonauts’ nominee for the Most Outstanding Defensive Player for the 2024 season. The 30-year-old defensive back recorded 25 defensive tackles with five interceptions and one touchdown over 18 games this season.

He recognizes that the Argonauts are going to need to be at their best against a Redblacks team that hasn’t made the playoffs since 2018.

“It’s their first time in the playoffs for a long time, so they’re hungry and they’re going to come out and give it their best shot,” said Amos. “They’re a great team that does a lot of movement on offence and test your discipline a lot throughout the game. 

“We’re just preparing for any and everything that they can throw our way.”

Toronto finished the season as the second-best team in the East with a 10-8 record. The two teams split their two-game season series, with the Redblacks pummeling the Argonauts 41-27 in Week 14 and then Toronto turning around and winning 38-31 on Oct. 19.

The Redblacks had been sitting in the second position in the East for most of the season, but a five-game losing streak late allowed the Argonauts to overtake them. Ottawa was able to snap their skid against the Hamilton Tiger-Cats last week, but still have something to prove in the playoffs.

In their most recent game, the Argonauts were up 38-6 going into the fourth quarter, but allowed Ottawa to recover three onside kicks to come within a touchdown of tying the game, making Argonaut fans nervous

“We can’t just show up and win, so we have to play ever down, every quarter,” said Amos. “It’s 60 minutes and sometimes there’s more than that, so we’re just ready to play a full game. The guys have been working all week to just hone in on the details and competing within ourselves because it’s going to be about us and our play come tomorrow.”