Toronto Argonauts take down Blue Bombers (& seven other thoughts)

Photo: Samantha Keen/3DownNation. All rights reserved.

The Toronto Argonauts made their second trip to Winnipeg this season, but unlike their first visit to Princess Auto Stadium, they walked away with a 30–28 victory over the Blue Bombers.

Here are my thoughts on the game.

Can Kelly hit 6,000?

When Chad Kelly is your quarterback, you can bet on there being plenty of boom-or-bust plays. Friday night was more of the same, as Kelly hit Damonte Coxie and Tyler Kahmann for explosive touchdowns, while also committing a couple of turnovers.

The 32-year-old finished the game completing 22-of-31 passes for 290 yards, two touchdowns, and two interceptions.

Despite the mixed performance, Kelly moved into sixth place on the Argonauts’ all-time single-season passing list and surpassed 5,000 passing yards for the year. With three games remaining and 933 yards needed to reach the 6,000-yard mark, the milestone remains within reach.

Kelly knows it’s possible, but when asked postgame if he believed he could accomplish it, he kept his answer simple.

“I’m focused on winning,” he said. “That’s all that matters to me.”

Head coach Mike Miller, when asked about the same milestone, echoed a similar sentiment.

“Anything’s possible, I’ll say, but our goal is to win football games,” he said. “That’s what Chad’s first and foremost goal is.”

Special teams plays special

The way this game was going, the Argonauts looked dead in the water, down 21–7 with their only spark coming from Janarion Grant’s 128-yard missed field-goal return for a touchdown. The play moved him into sole possession of second place on the all-time list for kick return touchdowns at 16.

It was going to take a total team effort to pull off the win, and special teams coordinator Mickey Donovan went deep inside his bag of tricks. This included a game-changing trick play on the game-winning drive.

On a key punt return, Janarion Grant threw a long lateral to Dave Ungerer III, who returned the ball to the Winnipeg 46-yard line. The play set-up the game-winning 36-yard field goal from Lirim Hajrullahu.

We’ve seen this throughout the year. When all three phases of the Argonauts are in sync, the sky’s the limit.

Run the dang ball

The Argonauts’ run game got a shake-up when Sam Hicks was promoted to the active roster behind Isaiah Smith as the No. 2 running back.

Toronto’s ground game was far from dominant, but it was much better than last week when it managed negative yardage.

Hicks seemed to spark things, as he rushed five times for 41 yards, including a 20-yard gain that stood as the longest run by any Argonaut on the night. Smith had four carries for just eight yards.

This begs the question why Hicks was relegated to the practice roster instead of securing a role in the regular running back rotation. If the team continues to lean on Hicks down the stretch and into the playoffs, he can help them win games at the most important time of the season.

Took the foot off the gas

The Argonauts entered this game riding a three-game winning streak and hadn’t lost since August 29. At times, it looked as though that run would come to an end, ruining a perfect September.

Toronto’s defence offered little resistance for the first 20 minutes of the game, giving up two touchdown passes and a rushing touchdown to Dru Brown.

However, when all seemed lost, Toronto rallied to outscore the Blue Bombers 23–7, sending a message that this team won’t stop until the clock hits zero.

The defence was excellent after making some key adjustments, forcing two takeaways and making Brown look ordinary after a torrid start.

Was this Toronto’s best game of the year? No, but resilience of this nature, and wins like this in an environment as hostile as Princess Auto Stadium, can only help the Argonauts as they flip the calendar to October and look to keep improving as the playoffs approach.

Four receivers over 1k

The Argonauts’ receiving corps entered Friday’s game with Damonte Coxie, Tyler Kahmann, Dave Ungerer III, and Kevin Mital all within striking distance of 1,000 receiving yards on the season. They’d become first team to accomplish that feat since Ottawa in 2016.

Toronto also welcomed another weapon back to the lineup as Maki Polk returned after missing time since Week 10. While Polk didn’t put up a particularly strong stat line in his return, finishing with only five receptions for 24 yards, he did make a key 14-yard grab in the fourth quarter to help move the Argonauts into field goal range for the game-winning kick.

Once again, it was the usual suspects who delivered for Toronto. Coxie hauled in seven passes for 149 yards, including an explosive 84-yard touchdown from Kelly. Kahmann added three catches for 67 yards, highlighted by a 56-yard touchdown that gave Toronto new life.

Can they catch the Alouettes?

With the Argonauts riding a four-game winning streak and going 6-2 since returning to BMO Field, I’ve been wondering: if Toronto continues to play this way, can they catch the Montreal Alouettes in the standings? They have a head-to-head meeting in Week 21.

At this point in the season, anything is possible for the Argonauts, including beating the Elks while setting a CFL record for the lowest time of possession in a victory. However, it will take a total team effort if they hope to catch and potentially defeat the Alouettes in what would be the East Final, earning the right to travel to Calgary as the East Division representative.

As for whether they think they can catch the Alouettes in the standings, Miller kept it simple. It’s all about what’s next.

“Our focus right now is to watch the film from this game, learn from it,” Miller said postgame. “Then we’ve got a really good B.C. team coming in next week, and we’re going to take them one day at a time.”

“It’s just one play at a time, one game at a time,” Kelly echoed. “That’s all we’re focused on.”

East Semi-Final preview?

Coming off a game that was billed as a potential East Semi-Final preview, the Argonauts will begin October by welcoming the B.C. Lions to BMO Field on Saturday, October 3 at 3:00 p.m. EDT.

This matchup will look very different from Toronto’s 26-12 win back in July, when Chase Brice started at quarterback. Nathan Rourke is back and he’s led B.C. to six wins in their last seven games.

The Lions, meanwhile, are looking to secure their first win at BMO Field since 2019. With both Rourke and Kelly slated to start, this game should feature plenty of entertaining plays, as the Argonauts have scored at least 30 points in each of their last three matchups against the Leos at home.