Toronto Argonauts set CFL time of possession record in win over Edmonton Elks

Photo: Jonathan Patlan/3DownNation. All rights reserved.

The Toronto Argonauts made history with their 24-19 win over the Edmonton Elks on Saturday.

The Double Blue recorded only 21:15 in time of possession, which CFL statistician Steve Daniel has confirmed to 3DownNation is the least ever recorded by a winning team.

There is a caveat at play, as the league only has official time of possession data dating back to 1994. Prior to that, statistics crews didn’t always record time of possession the same way, as the process was done manually.

Regardless, according to the official figures, the Argonauts set a new league record this past week.

The previous record for lowest time of possession in a victory was 23:02, which was set by the B.C. Lions in a 27-21 win over the Saskatchewan Roughriders in 2025.

Toronto also came close to breaking another league record, as the club rushed for minus-one yard in its win over Edmonton.

Daniel confirmed that this was just the second time in modern CFL history that a team rushed for negative yardage in a victory.

The previous win was recorded by the Birmingham Barracudas in 1995, when they rushed for minus-two yards in a 29-28 win over the Shreveport Pirates.

As such, one could say that Toronto has become the first-ever non-American CFL team to rush for negative yardage in a win.

Isaiah Smith started at running back for the Boatmen on Saturday, and rushed three times for minus-eight yards. Qualan Jones recorded two carries for one yard, while Chad Kelly rushed once for six yards. In total, they recorded six carries for minus-one yard.

The Argonauts ran the ball terribly this past week, and they rarely had possession of the ball. However, it’s tough to argue with a win, which is exactly what Toronto got as they clinched a home playoff game.

The Toronto Argonauts (8-6) will visit the Winnipeg Blue Bombers (7-6) on Friday, September 25 with kickoff scheduled for 8:00 p.m. EDT. The Blue Bombers were on bye last week, while the Argonauts upset the Edmonton Elks by a score of 24-19.

The game will be broadcast on TSN and RDS in Canada, CBS Sports Network in the United States, and CFL+ internationally. Radio listeners can tune-in on TSN 1050 in Toronto or 680 CJOB in Winnipeg.