Mike Miller, Nick Arbuckle defend Toronto Argonauts’ late-game clock management in loss to Ottawa

Photo: Tanner Piper/Piper Sports Photography/3DownNation. All rights reserved.

The Toronto Argonauts will live in infamy as the first team to lose to the Ottawa Redblacks in 2026, but it all could have been avoided if they weren’t in such a hurry.

A 20-yard run by Isaiah Smith set up the Argos with first-and-goal from the four-yard line with 33 seconds remaining, trailing by just two points. Rather than running a couple of plays to wind down the clock and set up Lirim Hajrullahu for a short field goal, the Toronto offence waltzed into the end zone untouched and gave their opponents a chance.

“When we got to 33 seconds left after the first run play, they called a timeout, so we couldn’t milk it anymore at that point on that play. It was a discussion during that timeout,” quarterback Nick Arbuckle recalled post-game. “I went over to (head coach Mike Miller), and we talked about should we center the ball or should we try to run it. We decided on let’s try to run it on the first one because no matter how short your field goal is, it’s not going to be guaranteed. So many things can happen on a field goal that could cause it not to be made, whether or not the kick is a good kick, it gets blocked, and things like that.”

Smith took his next carry in for a score with 30 seconds left. Defensive lineman Jalen Bell lined up at fullback and powered in the two-point conversion attempt to take a six-point lead, but it wouldn’t be enough. Led by rookie quarterback Bryson Barnes, who was making his first career start, Ottawa took advantage of a short kickoff and mounted a three-play, 52-yard drive to score the winning touchdown.

Speaking after the 40-39 upset, Redblacks head coach Ryan Dinwiddie confirmed that he told his defence not to contest the goal-to-go scenario in order to provide enough time for a comeback.

“They get all the way down there; we told the defence, ‘Hey, let them score,'” he said. “They would have ran down the clock, and had a chip shot. So let him score; we can go win it with a touchdown.”

The only flaw in Dinwiddie’s logic? Toronto never intended to end things with a kick. That also appeared to surprise acting Redblacks defensive coordinator Jeff Reinebold, who responded “FACTS!” to a post on X from reporter Arash Madani calling Miller’s handling of the situation “a combination of coaching malpractice and downright incompetence.”

While they may well have won had Arbuckle simply knelt down twice, Miller indicated that he won’t lose sleep over the choice to chase the major.

“We’re playing hard. I liked where we were at, and no, I don’t regret that,” he said. “It’s unfortunate it didn’t work out for us, but when I look at that again, I’m always trying to analyze and reanalyze game management. I felt, at that point, I liked where we were momentum-wise and wanted to give our guys an opportunity.”

Arbuckle, who completed 27-of-35 passes (77.1 percent) for 315 yards, two touchdowns, and one interception, also defended his coach’s handling of the situation.

“Analytically, I’ll leave it to the mathematicians to decide whether you have a better chance of holding the other team from getting a touchdown with 20 seconds left or making a field goal. At the end of the day, I don’t doubt that decision,” he insisted. “We’ve got a touchdown. We put them down six points. They made some great plays and an incredible catch. All hats off to them. You go up a touchdown with that little time left, you probably win a very large percentage of the time. Of course, it just didn’t work out that way.”

This marked the second consecutive week in which the Argonauts lost as a result of late-game decision-making. In Week 19 against the B.C. Lions, Arbuckle was stuffed twice at the goal line with time ticking down and a chance to send the game to overtime, which led to questions about the play-calls.

Ultimately, the result of this game will not hurt Toronto, who are already locked into second place in the East Division, though an early injury suffered by franchise quarterback Chad Kelly may have more serious ramifications. Still, Arbuckle believes that the loss could provide an important learning experience.

“You’ve got to look at it as a great opportunity to learn from some interesting and dynamic situations that could maybe help us down the road in the playoffs. Decide whether, if we got in that situation again, will we do the same thing or will we do it differently,” he said.

“Those are for the coaches to decide. Sometimes when you get into these unique games and the way it ends, it could really benefit you to get a chance to learn from those things because there’s no way you can go over every end-of-game scenario in practice that exists. Some of them, you’ve just got to take them as you go, and only experience is going to help you.”

The Argonauts (9-8) will wrap up their regular season on Friday, October 23, when they host the Montreal Alouettes.