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Ottawa Redblacks remarkably resilient in rally over Argos (& 10 other thoughts)

Well, that was fun, eh?

In a wild back-and-forth affair that saw Ottawa trail by as much as 21 points, the Redblacks found a way to come up with a win at BMO Field, defeating the Toronto Argonauts by a score of 46-42.

Not only was the game Ottawa’s first win in Toronto since 2022, it was the third-largest comeback in Redblacks’ history, featured the most regular-season points scored by an Ottawa team since 1995, and stretched the team’s current winning streak to two.

Here are all my thoughts on the game.

1) Off the top of my head, the best-ever performances by Redblacks’ quarterbacks would be Henry Burris in the 2016 Grey Cup, Trevor Harris in the 2018 East Final, and when Burris set the record for completions in a game with 45 vs Montreal in an October regular season game in 2015.

Dru Brown’s game against the Argos would rank fourth. Brown doesn’t always throw the prettiest ball, and when he chucks and ducks it often makes you think something bad is about to happen, but his touch and ball placement are stellar.

The 28-year-old picked Toronto’s secondary apart, completing 84 percent of his passes for 373 yards and a career-high five touchdowns. Most impressively, Brown didn’t have any throws that ever looked in danger of being picked off. He put the ball exactly where it needed to be, time after time. He didn’t stretch the field often, but when he did, it led to explosive gains.

Every time Ottawa needed an answer following an Argo score, Brown delivered. His best moment came on Ottawa’s final drive as he hit a sliding Justin Hardy in the end zone for the go-ahead score by placing the ball in a position where only his receiver could make the catch.

The only blemish on Brown’s day was his decision not to throw the ball away or make sure he secured it during contact on the final play of the first quarter, when his fumble was returned 77 yards for a touchdown.

2) Offensive coordinator Tommy Condell deserves a ton of credit for how he called the game. Despite Ottawa falling behind by three touchdowns, Condell never abandoned the run, which enhanced how effective the play-action passes were. The fact that he managed to maintain a healthy ratio of 23 runs to 31 passes is impressive.

He also did a masterful job of making sure all his weapons were involved. From deep shots to Kalil Pimpleton (finally!), to working the middle of the field with Bralon Addison and Hardy, to maximizing Eugene Lewis’ abilities in the red zone, Condell kept the Argos’ defence on their heels.

The Redblacks finished the game with 429 yards of offence and 27 first downs. Ottawa’s good production on first down — they averaged 8.5 yards per first-down play– was a huge factor in why they converted a whopping 65 percent of their second-down opportunities.

Of Ottawa’s 12 possessions, seven gained at least 41 yards and seven ended in touchdowns, which is also why the Redblacks went five for five in the red zone.

The most impressive drive of the night was when Condell directed a nine-play, 72-yard march into Toronto’s end zone. Head coach Bob Dyce deserves a shout-out for his decision to keep his offence on the field on third-and-four from the Argos’ 48-yard line with 2:22 left in the game. In the past, that’s the kind of situation where Dyce has tended to be more conservative, either opting for long field goal tries or punting and trusting his defence. Instead, Dyce remained aggressive, and his offence rewarded his faith.

3) A week after being given a season-high 13 carries, veteran American running back William Stanback was fed the ball 17 times. The 31-year-old thrived, breaking a number of long runs, especially in the fourth quarter as Toronto’s defence wore down.

When it was all said and done, Stanback finished with 84 rushing yards and nine receiving yards thanks to a pair of passes he caught. It’s not a coincidence that Ottawa’s two-game winning streak coincides with Stanback being more involved in the offence.

Even if Canadian running back Daniel Adeboboye had a relatively quiet night rushing the football — he mustered nine yards on his four carries– the former Argo found another way to make a huge impact.

In an attempt to keep the ball away from Pimpleton, Toronto kicked the ball off short to start the third quarter. After initially dropping his attempt to field the ball, Adeboboye quickly recovered and scampered 72 yards down to Toronto’s 11-yard line, setting up Lewis’ second touchdown of the day.

 As R-Nation has already come to learn, good things happen when Adeboboye touches the ball.

4) Now that was the kind of performance general manager Shawn Burke probably envisioned in the off-season when he re-signed Hardy and Addison, brought in Lewis, extended Pimpleton, and drafted Keelan White.

Before diving into how well Ottawa’s receiving corps caught the ball, it’s worth taking a second to note not just how well they blocked on running plays, but how essential guys like Addison were on certain plays in pass protection.

Addison finished the game with seven catches for 115 yards, a touchdown, and a two-point conversion. Hardy also snagged seven passes for 106 yards and a pair of touchdowns. Lewis made five catches for 51 yards and two touchdowns, while Pimpleton had three catches for 62 yards. Finally, White hauled in two passes for 30 yards.

 One thing that really stood out was that each receiver took turns coming up clutch. Three of Lewis’ passes moved the chains on second down, while Addison, Hardy and White all moved the chains twice with receptions.

5) When a quarterback has the kind of outing that Brown did, it’s only possible because of the big men up front who were protecting him. Their quarterback’s success is a reflection of just how well the Redblacks’ offensive line played. Dino Boyd, Drew Desjarlais, Peter Godber, Dariusz Bladek and Parker Moorer were spectacular.

Coming into the contest, the Argos ranked second in the CFL with 20 sacks. Although the group did concede two sacks, on the vast majority of his 31 dropbacks, Brown had a clean pocket to step up into.

In terms of the ground game, although it was tough sledding at times, Ottawa ultimately averaged 4.1 yards per carry and was able to move the pile on the goal line to score on a quarterback sneak.

6) I’m not going to put lipstick on a pig. Yes, losing defensive lineman Cleyon Laing and defensive back Amari Henderson back-to-back on the game’s first two plays was a factor, but that was an ugly outing from William Fields’ defensive unit.

Nick Arbuckle completely shredded Ottawa’s secondary, completing 84 percent of his passes for 317 yards and a trio of touchdowns. The worst part was that, drive after drive, Arbuckle had easy completions. Too often, he’d find a receiver running wide open as Ottawa’s defenders blew coverages. In fact, nearly half of Toronto’s yardage came after the catch (151 yards). It didn’t help that the Redblacks failed to sack Arbuckle — or even really make his life uncomfortable — on the majority of his dropbacks.

The Redblacks’ defence dominated in the second quarter, conceding only a field goal through four possessions, but was pushed around over the game’s final 30 minutes. Before Robert Priester’s timely interception to seal the win on Toronto’s final drive, the only time Ottawa stopped them was when the Argos missed a field goal. Otherwise, their second-half possessions all ended in points: two touchdowns and a field goal.

Linebacker Jovan Santos-Knox led the way with seven tackles, while fellow linebacker Adarius Pickett had six and defensive back DeAndre Lamont notched five. Priester had a pair of tackles and a knockdown to go with his interception.

7) Special teams matter. It’s something everyone who follows the Canadian game knows, and fans were treated to repeated reminders of why the saying holds true.

The Argos’ second touchdown was set up by a long punt return, Ottawa’s first touchdown was set up by Pimpleton returning a punt 57 yards to Toronto’s six-yard line, and there was the above-mentioned Adeboboye return that led to another touchdown.

In terms of the kicking game, Lewis Ward pushed a 37-yard attempt wide right, but was good from 34 yards out. He also tacked on a rouge as he handled kickoff duties and “missed” a convert due to a bad snap that prevented him from actually trying the kick.

Punter Richie Leone’s best kick of the night was a 55-yarder in the second quarter that pinned Toronto at their three-yard line. Canadian linebacker James Peter led the way with two special teams tackles, and stop me if you’ve heard this before, but fullback Marco Dubois stopped a surefire touchdown with a big special teams tackle.

I can’t end this bit on special teams without ranting about something I touched on multiple times last season. It was the first time it’s happened in 2025, but I will complain about using Adarius Pickett as a punt returner EVERY SINGLE TIME. Although he’s clearly capable of it, there is simply no reason to risk the star strong-side linebacker as a returner. Ottawa has plenty of dangerous receivers, and even Adeboboye is capable of producing in a pinch. Putting Pickett back there is just such an unnecessary risk.

8) As someone who is a big Jon Bois fan and a close tracker of NFL Scorigami, this was awesome to see.

9) When facing a three-touchdown deficit at the end of the first quarter, it would have been easy for the Redblacks to roll over and go through the motions. Instead, Ottawa showed their resilience and rallied. Play after play, down after down, Bob Dyce’s squad clawed their way back into the game. It wasn’t luck, it was a result of the team’s belief in itself and hard work.

10) With both Hamilton and Montreal losing to Western opponents, the Redblacks seized an opportunity to make up some ground in the East. They still trail both teams in the standings, but now leapfrog the Argos with the win and sit in third place. Most importantly, the victory prevented Toronto from sweeping the season series, as it’s now tied at one apiece. That might not seem overly significant right now, but later this year, it might be pivotal.

Being 3-6 halfway through the season isn’t what anyone in Ottawa expected, but things are trending the right way as the team is currently riding a two-game winning streak. Despite the playoffs seeming like a faint possibility, R-Nation would do well to think back to the 2017 Redblacks team that started 2-6-1 before ultimately making the playoffs. I’m not trying to state that that will be the 2025 team’s fate, but simply reminding fans that anything is still possible.

Up next for Ottawa is a trip to Winnipeg for a little Thursday night football.

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Santino Filoso is originally from Ottawa and has written about the Redblacks since 2013. He is the only CFL writer currently living in Brazil (as far as we know).

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