On a rainy Saturday afternoon in the nation’s capital, the Toronto Argonauts dropped a 41-27 decision to the Ottawa Redblacks.
The game wasn’t as close as the score indicated — this was a blowout. But at the same time, the level of play between these two teams was actually quite similar. The difference in the end was that Ottawa capitalized on Toronto’s mistakes and Toronto failed to take advantage of Ottawa’s.
Here are my thoughts on the game.
Kelly played better than you think
Judging by what I’ve seen on social media, I might be the only one who feels this way but I don’t think Chad Kelly played badly. I thought his decision-making was good, he threw the fifth most completions in team history (36) on the most attempts in team history (56), for 463 yards with three touchdowns. The yards don’t mean too much because a lot of them came with the game out of reach, but in the pouring rain, they’re impressive nonetheless.
With that said, Kelly also threw a whopping four interceptions, but let’s take a closer look at those plays. The first was on a bubble screen to Dave Ungerer III which was picked off by Damon Webb and returned for a touchdown. This was a catastrophic blocking error, not a quarterback error. Tommy Nield and Richie Sindani were supposed to double-team Webb on the snap as Ungerer curled in behind them, but neither Sindani nor Nield touched him, allowing the DB to get into the backfield, tip the ball in the air to himself and take it in for the score.
The second interception was weather-related. With the rain coming down, perhaps as hard as it did all game, Kelly threw a short slant to a wide-open Ungerer, but the ball flew out of his hand and sailed five feet over Ungerer’s head directly to Brandin Dandridge. Head coach Ryan Dinwiddie also attributed that pick to the weather. Kelly spent Ottawa’s entire next possession throwing on the sideline, trying to get a better feel for the wet ball. Four more throws sailed out of Kelly’s hand throughout the rest of the game, and Dru Brown seemed to lose a few as well, but his all fell harmlessly to the ground.
Kelly’s third interception came on a play that I initially thought was developing into an Argos touchdown. Makai Polk got separation on an in-breaking route at the Ottawa 14-yard line but appeared surprised by how quickly Kelly’s pass got on him. Polk threw out one hand and deflected the ball into the lap of Damon Webb, who took it back 96 yards for another Ottawa touchdown.
Kelly’s fourth interception was on a two-point conversion. He was looking for Richie Sindani who was open in the corner of the endzone, but Kelly’s elbow was hit as he released the ball and it floated well short of the intended target into the hands of Ottawa corner Alijah McGhee.
In the final analysis, none of the turnovers were egregious errors by the quarterback.
Where were Carey’s carries?
I think Ryan Dinwiddie is an extremely talented coach and I’ve defended him from criticism a lot this season. His offence is cleverly designed, I think he gets the most out of his players, and despite his team missing more man-games due to injury than any other team in the league and being without their starting quarterback for nine games, he’s found ways to make them competitive.
What I have criticized at times this season is his tendency to get away from the running game, and that was a problem once again on Saturday. Despite the heavy rain and the issues Chad Kelly was clearly having gripping the football, Dinwiddie called only three running plays for Ka’Deem Carey in the first half. Carey has been one of the best backs in the league this season, and the three carries the veteran back did have went for 43 yards.
Full disclosure: I once coached an entire game without calling a single running play, and my offensive line coach wanted to kill me. I stand by that decision because the opposing defensive coordinator was stacking the box and we were moving the ball well. Ottawa, however, wasn’t stacking the box. They were daring Toronto to run and they simply didn’t.
Carey finished the game with five carries for 46 yards, but I don’t take issue with his limited usage in the second half given the Argos were trailing by four touchdowns.
Security blanket
I already talked about the two passes to Dave Ungerer III that turned into interceptions, but what happened with the remaining 11 targets was impressive. Ungerer had eight receptions for 131 yards, including two spectacular catches.
The connection between Kelly and Ungerer reminds me of what McLeod Bethel-Thompson and Kurleigh Gittens Jr. had in 2021 and 2022. Kelly is extremely confident in where Ungerer will be and the throws to him –- despite often being to the far sideline -– are always timed perfectly. Most of Ungerer’s targets came on second down, and one was to convert a third-and-seven.
Ungerer also appeared to have a throwing opportunity of his own. On Toronto’s first offensive snap of the second half, Ungerer caught a backward pass and appeared to be looking to throw down the right sideline to Richie Sindani, but defensive back Deandre Lamont closed on him quickly, forcing him to tuck the ball and run for a nine-yard gain.
Human highlight reel
Damonte Coxie has sprung to life since Chad Kelly returned to the Argos lineup. In his eight games without Kelly, Coxie averaged under three catches for 43 yards per game with a total of two touchdowns. In his three games with Kelly, he’s doubled his receptions and yards per game.
On Saturday afternoon, Coxie was explosive. He hauled in an epic leaping sideline catch in double coverage for 40 yards and scored two touchdowns, including a diving catch in the endzone.
Market downturn at the sack exchange
Two of the main factors in Toronto’s regular season success last year were their ability to protect their own quarterback while getting to the opposing QB. They led the league in both categories, registering 68 sacks while surrendering only 19.
In 2024, the Argos have continued to pressure opposing quarterbacks, coming into this week second to only Saskatchewan with 27 sacks, but they’ve now allowed a league-high 33 sacks themselves. Against Ottawa, things looked bleak at the closing bell. The mighty Toronto Sack Exchange didn’t get to Dru Brown once, while Chad Kelly was sacked six times.
Moving pieces
Chad Kelly isn’t accustomed to facing the kind of pressure he was under against Ottawa, and there were times he didn’t look comfortable in the pocket, turtling on occasion and looking to scramble even when the pocket was holding up.
Kelly’s tackles are the same as they were last year, but his right guard Peter Nicastro is playing centre for the injured Darius Ciraco, 2023 eighth-round draft pick Anthon Vandal is playing right guard, and Dylan Giffen made his first start of the year at left guard in place of Ryan Hunter, who was away from the team for personal reasons. At least two of the six sacks Toronto surrendered were due to missed assignments picking up the blitz, but Ottawa was also able to generate pressure without sending the house.
No cigar
As I alluded to off the top, this game was decided by converted opportunities and missed opportunities. The Ottawa Redblacks had an opportunity to intercept four Toronto passes, and they converted all four opportunities, turning them into 17 points. Toronto, meanwhile had an opportunity to intercept three of Dru Brown’s passes and came up empty on all three occasions, the most egregious of which came down softly into halfback Mark Milton’s hands with no one around him.
Additionally, Toronto forced three fumbles, only one of which was recovered. Milton punched the ball out of Dominique Rhymes’ hands leading to a Benji Franklin recovery. Jamal Morrow’s fumble, on the other hand, bounced right into Andre Miller’s arms, and a play later, Dru Brown hit Miller with a 50-yard touchdown pass. After a different reception, Miller had the ball knocked free by Franklin, and Royce Metchie, Isaac Darkangelo, and Robbie Smith were the three closest players to it, but somehow Justin Hardy made the recovery for Ottawa. The Redblacks scored a touchdown a few plays later.
What time is it? Game time…decision
Both DaVaris Daniels and DaShaun Amos were listed as “game-time decisions” prior to this one with Daniels working through a groin injury and Amos dealing with a bad shoulder.
When describing injuries on the radio broadcast, I try to paint the picture as well as I can, but I caution listeners that I’m not a doctor and am obviously unable to run down onto the field and ask the injured player questions about their injuries. I was stunned Amos wasn’t immediately put on the six-game injured list with how bad his shoulder injury looked in Hamilton. I didn’t see Daniels get hurt against Hamilton last week, but he was a full-go at practice on Thursday, so I thought he had a good chance to play.
And yet Amos dressed and started, while Daniels was a late scratch, allowing Robert Priester to dress on defence. Tommy Nield played in Daniels’ place contributing four catches for 41 yards and a touchdown.
Digging holes
Over the past three games, Toronto has found a different way to dig increasingly larger holes for themselves to get out of.
Against Saskatchewan, the Argos punted on their first four possessions, allowing the Riders to build a 13-0 lead, though Toronto would come back to win. Against Hamilton, defensive mishaps allowed the Tiger-Cats to take a 21-3 lead into the second quarter, though Toronto was able to regain the lead early in the fourth. Against Ottawa, it was the offence directly handing the Redblacks points en route to a 31-3 deficit, and this one proved far too big to overcome.
After the game, Coach Dinwiddie commented that their plan to get out to a quick start ironically involved the very plays that led to Ottawa getting points off turnovers. He wondered (probably somewhat jokingly) if taking shots downfield might be a better approach out of the gate given how well his receivers have gone after deep balls since Kelly’s return. We’ll know how serious he was being on Toronto’s opening drive next week.
The room
I’ve seen coaches lose the room before. It happens a lot in sports, and it almost always ends in the coach being replaced. Toronto has lost two games in a row and this is the first time in the Ryan Dinwiddie era they’ve been .500 this late in the year, but anyone suggesting Toronto’s head coach has lost the room doesn’t know what to look for.
If this game wasn’t over by halftime, it was definitely over after the third quarter, and yet the Argos continued to fight. There was life on the sideline and Toronto’s star players were sacrificing their bodies to make plays right up until the final whistle. That’s not how teams act when the coach has lost the room.
Up Next
The Toronto Argonauts (6-6) finish up their three-game road trip against the B.C. Lions (7-6) on Friday, September 13 at 10:00 pm EDT.
