TORONTO — Chad Kelly and the Toronto Argonauts head into their final bye week of the season firmly atop the East Division.
Kelly threw four TD passes and Javon Leake returned a punt 79 yards for a touchdown as Toronto earned a wild 44-31 win over the Ottawa Redblacks on Sunday night. The Argos (7-1) moved four points ahead of the second-place Montreal Alouettes (5-3).
“Obviously we want to add to our lead as much as we can and as soon as we can,” Kelly said. “I thought guys were focused this week, there was a sense of urgency each and every day.
“That (focus) is what it comes down to, you saw that.”
The Argos were coming off a 20-7 loss last week in Calgary. And they were at BMO Field for the first time since a 45-24 victory over the B.C. Lions on July 3.
Toronto improved to 11-2 versus Ottawa since 2017. The Redblacks (3-6) fell to 0-4 within the East Division and 1-4 on the road.
Kelly finished 21-of-28 for 417 yards with the four TDs and an interception. He was knocked out of last week’s loss in the first half with an ankle injury.
“We could’ve played him last week and had him battle through it but I didn’t think it was smart for the organization,” Toronto head coach Ryan Dinwiddie said. “I knew he’d be good.
“He got rolled up on a few times but he’ll be fine. We’ll use the bye week to get healthy and keep moving forward and getting better.”
DaVaris Daniels had six receptions for 180 yards and three touchdowns while Cam Phillips added five catches for 115 yards. Not since 2014 have two Toronto receivers cracked the 100-yard plateau in a game.
“I haven’t done that (three TDs in a game) since high school,” Daniels said. “Chad was spot on, the offensive line was amazing and the run game was great.
“That’s a game we’ve been waiting for.”
Toronto’s offence also played an uptempo game, often going no-huddle.
“That was our plan, to go no-huddle and run the ball on second down,” Dinwiddie said. “They’re a good front and we thought we could slow them down a bit, get them tired and move the chains on second down.
“We’re pretty good when we go no-huddle, we’d like to do it more. But I also don’t want to give (opponents) more opportunities if we’re not doing well with it.”
Ottawa’s Dustin Crum completed 21-of-27 passes for 292 yards and three touchdowns. Jaelon Acklin registered six catches for 157 yards and a TD.
The contest was played in a consistent 28-kilometres-an-hour breeze that gusted to 41 km-h. And although both offences scored going into the wind, the conditions certainly played into Toronto’s favour in the third quarter.
Ottawa was forced to punt into the wind from its one-yard line, resulting in Toronto getting the ball at the Redblacks’ 35.
Following a face mask penalty on Ottawa defensive lineman Mike Wakefield, Kelly found Daniels on a 14-yard touchdown pass at 13:49. After a fumbled hold prevented Boris Bede from trying the convert, his 100-yard kickoff went for a single and a 41-31 Toronto lead.
Leake put Toronto ahead 34-24 at 3:01 of the third. After breaking Ottawa’s contain, Leake reversed his field and angled toward the end zone, just making it inside the pylon before being tackled.
“It was huge,” Kelly said of Leake’s return. “If we can steal one outside of the offence, it’s hard for a team to recover.
“Leake is a dynamic player. He sees the field really well, he has a nice change of direction and quick burst.”
But Crum countered with an 11-yard TD pass to Jackson Bennett at 8:29 to cut Ottawa’s deficit to 34-31. Toronto drove to the Redblacks’ one-yard line before A.J. Ouellette was stopped on third down at 12:04.
Ouellette and Cameron Dukes had Toronto’s other touchdowns. Bede added four converts, a field goal and single.
Justin Hardy and Cariel Brooks had Ottawa’s other touchdowns. Lewis Ward kicked four converts and a field goal.
Dukes gave Toronto a most improbable 28-24 halftime lead with a one-yard TD run at 14:26 of the second. It came after Brooks’s 42-yard pick-six at 13:20 that put Ottawa ahead 24-21.
Brooks’s return followed a bizarre set of events that began with Toronto seemingly on Ottawa’s four-yard line following Kelly’s 51-yard completion to Kurleigh Gittens Jr.
However, Toronto tackle Isiah Cage was flagged for unnecessary roughness and because the officials deemed it occurred while the ball was in the air, the Argos instead faced second-and-25 from their 39-yard line. What’s more, Kelly was flagged for objectionable conduct for running into an official during Brooks’s return.
Dinwiddie said he’ll have to check with the CFL to fully understand the call. But he was unhappy with Toronto being flagged eight times for 80 yards in the contest.
“It took 80 yards off the board and a chance for us to score a touchdown,” Dinwiddie said. “Maybe some guys have to go home here because we’ve been talking about it for a while, especially the selfish penalties.
“I don’t have any time for that.”
Kelly’s 12-yard TD pass to Ouellette at 11:18 of the second gave Toronto a 21-17 advantage. It came after Crum’s six-yard touchdown pass to Hardy at 8:39 to end a smart 11-play, 78-yard march into the wind.
On Toronto’s first possession with the wind, Kelly found a wide-open Daniels on a 60-yard scoring strike at 1:24 of the second. Kelly’s 10-yard touchdown pass to Daniels at 2:28 of the first put the Argos on the board into the breeze.
Crum staked Ottawa to a 10-0 lead with a 55-yard TD pass to Acklin at 8:41. Ward booted a 50-yard field goal at 3:32.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Aug. 13, 2023.
