The Toronto Argonauts extended their lead in the East Division with a 44-31 home win over the Ottawa Redblacks on Sunday night, which improved their record to 7-1.
Here are my thoughts on the game.
(Everything I do) I Do It for You
Chad Kelly’s injured ankle seems fine. Kelly showed that he’s not only the team’s best player, but possibly the best player in the CFL. Against a stingy Ottawa defence, Kelly completed 21-of-28 passes for 417 yards with four touchdowns and an interception.
Kelly was hit hard four times, each the result of a conscious decision rather than a lapse in protection. With Ottawa’s pass-rushers bearing down on him, he elected to take these hits in order to put his receivers in a better position. Three of his four touchdown passes were on such plays. It’s not hard to see why players respond to his sacrifices and unselfish play.
Kelly’s lone mistake on Sunday came when he threw a pick-six to Cariel Brooks shortly before halftime.
The Argos had two clear-out routes to Kelly’s left with Andrew Harris leaking out of the backfield on a swing route. The 29-year-old passer saw two Ottawa defenders drop to that side and no linebacker widen with Harris, so he gently tossed the ball out to his running back. However, he failed to see it was the halfback and safety who dropped. Brooks, who was assigned the flats, had never moved from his corner position as he secured the easy interception and brought it all the way back.
Somebody I Used to Know
DaVaris Daniels is a very different receiver now than he was coming out of Notre Dame eight years ago. Once considered a speed merchant, the 30-year-old has become a route-running tactician. All three of his touchdowns were the result of awareness and crisp route running. Daniels came into the game leading the league in average yards per catch at 18.6 yards, but he’ll easily extend that averaging 30 yards-per-catch in this game, surpassing 5,000 career receiving yards in the process.
Stuck in the Middle With You
Three of Toronto’s five sacks against Ottawa were registered by defensive backs as defensive coordinator Corey Mace had his unit play more disciplined up front, looking to keep mobile quarterback Dustin Crum in the pocket.
Folarin Orimolade was given a penalty for roughing the passer the one time he went wide. He and Shawn Oakman collided with Crum at the same time, causing Orimolade’s arm to hit Crum’s facemask. Mace frequently sent late pressure from the secondary up the middle, which resulted in sacks as Crum looked to step up in the pocket.
Untouchable
Javon Leake improved upon his league-leading punt return average, taking back six punts for 127 yards, including a 79-yarder for his CFL-best third punt return touchdown of the season. Leake’s touchdown was blocked beautifully with a clear path forming just as he secured the ball. He showed remarkable strength at the end of the play, fighting off Marco Dubois as he reached forward for the touchdown. It’s not hard to see why Leake was named Return Specialist of the Year at Maryland in 2019.
Everybody (Backstreet’s Back)
The Argos’ offensive line played one of their best games of the season on Sunday. They kept their quarterback from getting sacked and their run-blocking resulted in almost six yards per carry. Isiah Cage was back at left tackle since suffering a groin injury back in June, while Darius Ciraco returned at centre after missing last week’s game. This combination of Cage, Ryan Hunter, Ciraco, Peter Nicastro, and Dejon Allen, from left to right, is the team’s best offensive line grouping.
Relax
Isiah Cage was fantastic in protection but committed a penalty that appeared to be a game-changer at the time. Kelly completed a deep ball to Kurleigh Gittens Jr. who worked his way down inside the Ottawa five-yard-line, but Cage was flagged for throwing Lorenzo Mauldin IV to the ground.
The penalty was determined to have occurred while the ball was in the air, voiding the play completely and forcing the Argos to scrimmage from their own 39. This 67-yard swing turned into a possible 14-point swing when Brooks took Kelly’s interception back for a touchdown on the next play.
Cage was replaced with Shane Richards for the remainder of the first half, which appeared to enrage Cage, who engaged in what looked like a verbal altercation with head coach Ryan Dinwiddie. Cage’s fellow linemen Ryan Hunter and Gregor MacKellar pulled him away so he could cool down, and he resumed his spot at left tackle to start the second half.
The Thunder Rolls
A.J. Ouellette very quietly had an outstanding game, running for 90 yards on 14 carries, improving his league-leading yards-per-carry average among running backs while taking his only reception in for a 12-yard touchdown. Ouellette also established a new career high for rushing yards in a season and done so in only eight games.
A lot of Ouellette’s success on the night came on runs to the outside, cleverly schemed by Ryan Dinwiddie to look like plays the Argos have previously run. Prone to lowering his shoulder, Ouellette also got skinny through the line a few times and successfully hurdled a defender on his longest run of the night.
I Want to Break Free
Perhaps no receiver in the CFL has benefitted more from busts in coverage this season than Cam Phillips. I have no explanation for this, but it seems like every week he breaks free into the secondary. In this game, he ran unnoticed between two stationary Ottawa defensive backs and Chad Kelly found him for a 48-yard gain.
Greased Lightnin’
A new addition to Toronto’s offence this week was a sudden change in tempo with Chad Kelly electing to go no-huddle on seven occasions, generally following a big play. Kelly’s first touchdown to Daniels followed a no-huddle call, and Cam Dukes’ touchdown followed Kelly going quickly on consecutive plays after Cam Phillips was awarded a catch for a ball that seemed to hit the ground.
Runaway
Dustin Crum had a productive day, completing over 80 percent of his passes for 292 yards and three touchdowns, but the focus for the Argos seemed to be taking away the big play.
The rookie quarterback hit Jaelon Acklin for a 55-yard touchdown, but Toronto kept everything else in front of them. Most of Crum’s success came on passes in behind the linebackers as the threat of him running kept Toronto’s linebackers tighter to the line of scrimmage, which opened up room in front of the deep coverage.
Legs
After connecting on 24-of-25 extra points this season, the Argos had two attempts fail on Sunday. One came on a bobbled snap that resulted in an awkward intentional grounding penalty for Boris Bede, and the other came on a kick Bede simply didn’t hit cleanly. Bede redeemed himself, tying a CFL record with a 100-yard kickoff for a rouge that extended Toronto’s lead to 10 points.
Bede leads the league in kickoff average, holds the CFL record for career kickoff average, and has the four best seasons in league history in terms of kickoff average, so this record-tying kick didn’t exactly come out of nowhere.
The Safety Dance
The league may need to reevaluate their new rule regarding contact with an official.
After his interception, Chad Kelly contacted an official while chasing after Cariel Brooks. Kelly actually saw the official and deliberately took a wide path, but the official also changed direction as he followed the play and collided with Kelly. Protecting referees is important, but when there was clearly no intention and an effort was made to avoid the official, a flag seems unfair.
Downtown
Getting to BMO Field should be easy for Argos fans, in theory, as the stadium is located just west of the downtown core with plenty of parking and an attached transit station. In the summer, however, there can be issues, and this was one of those days.
Set up has commenced for the Canadian National Exhibition, the country’s largest fair, with a footprint that engulfs a significant amount of parking space. There was also a concert across the street at the 16,000-seat Budweiser Stage, while all trains to and from the east were cancelled for maintenance. This wasn’t as bad as last year’s early August game when Drake was playing across the street while Lady Gaga entertained 50,000 people at the Rogers Centre, but it was close.
Coming Home
This was the first game at BMO Field for the Argonauts since the first week of July. In yet another scheduling oddity, the team is entering its third and final bye week, while six of the CFL’s other eight teams have at least two byes remaining.
Toronto has a four-point lead in the East Division and wrapping it up early could prove helpful if the club wants to provide its starters with some much-needed rest in the final week of the regular season and the first round of the playoffs.
What’s Next
The Toronto Argonauts (7-1) now head into their third and final bye week of the season before hosting the Calgary Stampeders (3-6) on Friday, Aug. 25 at 7:30pm ET.
