Dru Brown, Chad Kelly should light up skies in Redblacks-Argos playoff

Article content

On the surface, at least, it sure looks like the Ottawa Redblacks have picked a poor time for their first playoff showdown with the Toronto Argos.

Article content

For one thing, the Argos and Chad Kelly will be seeking redemption from last season, when their star quarterback led them to a Canadian Football League franchise-record 16 wins only to throw four interceptions in an East Division final loss to the Montreal Alouettes.

While the Redblacks needed a last-second, goal-line against the Hamilton Tiger-Cats to snap a five-game losing streak in their regular season finale on Friday, the Argos lost later that night on an overtime rouge in Edmonton against the Elks with some of their top players, including Kelly, being rested.

But the Argos have been one of the CFL’s best teams since Week 14’s 41-27 loss in Ottawa, another game in which Kelly threw four picks.

In Kelly’s past four starts, the Argos have gone 3-1 and averaged 28.75 points, including the 14 they scored in defeating the Winnipeg Blue Bombers and a 38-31 victory over Ottawa in which Kelly threw three touchdown passes without turning the ball over.

Article content

But in his last four starts against teams other than Ottawa, Kelly has been quite quiet, with an average of 253 passing yards and just three total TD passes with a pair of interceptions.

In a one-game showdown against the Redblacks, with Kelly, the league’s most outstanding player in 2023, squaring off against first-season starter Dru Brown, do the Argos have the edge at the most important position?

Statistics say otherwise.

In his past two games Brown has been on fire, throwing for 845 yards with seven touchdown passes against two interceptions.

Head coach Bob Dyce had Brown play the full 60 minutes against the Ticats on Friday because he had missed either all or parts of five games because of injuries.

The Argos took the opposite approach with Kelly, who missed the first nine games of the season because of a suspension, but still kicked his feet up Friday.

Article content

“It’s not just the game reps that (Brown) misses, it’s the practice rest reps as well,” Dyce said. “So it was an opportunity to keep them in there and see more live action. I felt it was beneficial, and he performed well.”

Dyce says Brown has continued to progress all season, right up to the game-winning scoring drive in the final two minutes against Hamilton. It was a short one: two plays capped by a 65-yard TD toss to Kalil (The Thrill) Pimpleton.

There’s a good chance that the Redblacks and Argos will produce some fireworks at BMO Field in Toronto next Saturday.

In their two regular-season meetings this year, the quarterbacks combined for 1,543 passing yards, 11 touchdown passes and five interceptions, with Brown (749 yards, five TDs and one pick) the more proficient of the two because of Kelly’s picks.

Article content

“Anytime that we go out and execute what we’re supposed to do, it gives you confidence that guys are going to do the right things consistently,” Brown said about going into the playoffs on a high. “I’m sure we’re going to look at it and see that we also left a lot out there. That’s not to take away anything that we did (against the Ticats). We executed when it mattered most. But there’s also still room for growth.”

Also worth noting about the offence finally coming back to life on Friday was that it happened without receiver Justin Hardy (back) in the lineup.

It’s expected the team’s nominee for the CFL’s most outstanding player award will be ready to go next weekend.

Picking up the slack against the Tiger-Cats was Pimpleton (six catches for 167 yards), Dom Rhymes (six catches for 115 yards and 1,011 overall on the season) and Bralon Addison, who had six catches for 44 yards while adding eight carries for 38 yards in his first start at running back.

Article content

Most important was that the Redblacks escaped Friday’s contest without serious injury concerns.

“Pimp had a little bit of a sore elbow … He missed a play, but he went right back in,” Dyce said. “So I think we came out pretty healthy.”

Now come the games that matter most.

The Redblacks have never played the Argos or Alouettes in the playoffs, and now they want to check both off that list and head to Vancouver for the Grey Cup game on Nov. 17.

The Ottawa franchise’s previous post-season experience was jammed into the four-season stretch that led into the last four-season stretch in which they went 14-54 and watched the post-season on television.

In 2015, they defeated the Tiger-Cats (35-28) in the East final before losing the Grey Cup to Edmonton (26-20).

Article content

In 2016, they beat Edmonton (35-23) in the East final and the Calgary Stampeders 39-33 in the Cup game.

In 2017, they lost the East semifinal to the Saskatchewan Roughriders (31-20), and in 2018, after defeating the Tiger-Cats (46-27) in the East final, lost to the Stamps (27-16) in the Grey Cup showdown.

The 18-time champion Argos have won the Cup twice since Ottawa did, beating Calgary in 2017 and Winnipeg in 2022.

“Obviously it feels good going into the playoffs with a victory,” Dyce said Friday. “I think all three phases made plays when they needed to make plays, and that’s going to be important. That’s what we’re going to need in the playoffs.”

Even the defence saved face. After allowing Hamilton’s Bo Levi Mitchell to throw for 425 yards and set a Ticats franchise record for most passing yards in a season, Ottawa stopped the Ticats when they had three cracks at scoring, starting with 58 seconds left.

Article content

With what happened to that point, it felt like the Redbacks’ best chance would have been to allow Hamilton to score so they could get the ball back and race down for yet another walk-off field goal by Lewis Ward, who went 5-for-5 on Friday night.

“I just feel like we’ve been in situations where we made too many mistakes in those time periods,” defensive end Lorenzo Mauldin said. “We went into this game basically saying understand what the plan is, understand what we’re trying to do, and everybody in this locker room, and we went out understanding what we’re trying to do.

“I love the guys in our room,” Mauldin added. “We’re going to go into the playoffs strong. Really strong.”

Article content