Defence Gives Up Too Many Big Plays As Ottawa Redblacks Lose To Toronto Argos In Shootout

While there’s been plenty of focus on the lack of big plays by the Ottawa Redblacks’ offence, it was the team’s defence which had some big holes punched in it Sunday night in Toronto.

The Redblacks, who slid to last place in the CFL East Division with a 3-6 record, slugged it out with the Argos, before losing 44-31 to the East’s top team, which now sits at 7-1.

The Redblacks, who only had three passing touchdowns going into the game against the Argos, had three of them Sunday. Quarterback Dustin Crum found Jaelon Acklin, Justin Hardy and Jackson Bennett for touchdown passes, while defensive back Cariel Brooks scored on an interception. Crum finished with 292 passing yards. Acklin had 157 yards in catches.

“Our offence put together some good drives; Dusty looked comfortable,” said Redblacks head coach Bob Dyce. “He was able to make his reads, put the ball where it needed to be and he got some vertical plays. We’re going to build off that positivity going into the Montreal game (Saturday at home) and build up the run game a bit.

“We started faster than we have; it was maybe our most complete first half. In this league, you have to be able to play four quarters. At the end of the day, Toronto played better than we did.”

The biggest problem for the Redblacks was a leaky secondary. Argos quarterback Chad Kelly torched the Redblacks, passing for 417 yards and four touchdowns. Receiver DaVaris Daniels had six catches for 180 yards and three touchdowns. Running back A.J. Ouellette was another big factor with his bowling ball running style, rushing for 90 yards.

Ottawa went into the game with a league-worst 20 passes allowed of 30 yards or more; add four more to that total.

“It’s an area of focus for us,” said Dyce. “Any drive that has an explosive, half the time it’s going to end up with a touchdown. You can’t give up explosives on a regular basis. We have to start eliminating them.”

The Redblacks had talked about getting off to a quicker start heading into the game, they were minus-23 in the first quarter. They took a 10-0 lead and led 10-7 after the first quarter.

Lewis Ward put Ottawa up 3-0 with a 50-yard field goal on his team’s opening offensive drive.

Crum found Acklin behind the Argos’ defenders for a 55-yard touchdown pass with 6:19 left in the first quarter. The convert made it 10-0. It was Acklin’s first touchdown of the season.

The Argos made it 10-7 after a 10-yard touchdown catch by Daniels and the convert. Early in the fourth quarter, the Argos took a 14-10 lead when Kelly hit Daniels for a 60-yard touchdown pass behind Abdul Kanneh.

A couple of big plays by Ottawa running back Devonte Williams — a 17-yard catch where he spun out of a tackle and an 11-yard run — led to a six-yard touchdown catch by Hardy. The convert made it 17-14.

Under plenty of pressure, Kelly flipped a short pass to Ouellette for a 12-yard touchdown. It was 21-17 with a bit less than 31/2 minutes left in the first half.

A stupid penalty dealt the Argos a huge blow. A 51-yard completion to Kurleigh Gittens Jr., who’s from Ottawa, was wiped out by an unnecessary roughness penalty to the Argos. So, instead of having the ball on the Ottawa five-yard line, the Argos were first-and-25 from their 40. On the next play, Brooks stepped in front of a poor Kelly pass for an interception and a 42-yard touchdown. It was 24-21 Ottawa with 1:40 left in the half.

The Argos quickly answered, with backup QB Cameron Dukes pushing into the end zone from one yard out. It was 28-24 at halftime.

A 79-yard punt return for a touchdown by Javon Leake, his third of the season, gave Toronto a 34-24 lead (after the missed convert kick) early in the third quarter.

“The punt was low and on the ground in front of him; in some regards, that should have helped us,” said Dyce. “There are a lot of great returners in this league. Every week, you face a great one. We faced Mario (Alford) last week and shut him down. This week, we didn’t execute what we needed to do.”

After an 80-yard drive, an 11-yard touchdown pass to Bennett and convert made it 34-31.

Toronto pushed the ball to the one-yard line. But the Redblacks’ defence, with Mike Wakefield in the middle of it, stepped up big, with a third-down stop on Ouellette. After two missed passes, Richie Leone punted from well back in the end zone. Toronto got the ball back on the Ottawa 35. A facemasking penalty got Toronto to the 14. From there, Kelly found Daniels for another touchdown catch. A mishandled snap cost the Argos another convert. Boris Bede’s kickoff sailed through the end zone for a Toronto single.