MONTREAL — The Toronto Argonauts beat the Montreal Alouettes on Friday night to start a season 4-0 for the first time since 1983, but you wouldn’t know it based on the coach’s post-game reaction.
“Sloppy game. I mean, it feels like a loss,” said Argonauts head coach Ryan Dinwiddie. “I thought it was a team win, guys battled and got in there, but there's some guys who put themselves ahead of the team.”
Although the Argonauts remain the CFL’s only undefeated team, the game came down to the final minutes, with Toronto ultimately edging Montreal 35-27.
That was too close for comfort for Dinwiddie, who took issue with his team’s 15 penalties for 157 yards.
"A lot of selfless penalties out there,” said Dinwiddie, coaching his first game since signing a multi-year extension in Toronto.
"They were baiting us, which, that's fine,” he said. “I thought one was a penalty … and they don't call it but it's how you respond, right? You can't respond that way.”
Quarterback Chad Kelly threw three touchdowns, ran for another and completed 21 passes on 25 attempts for 351 yards in his fifth start.
He found open Canadian receiver David Ungerer III for his second touchdown catch, at 37 yards, with just under two minutes left in front of 16,151 spectators on the road at Molson Stadium to give Toronto the late lead.
Running back A.J. Ouellette rushed for 95 yards on 14 carries, and DaVaris Daniels had a game-high 91 receiving yards.
Kelly, who also had an interception trying to throw across his body in the first quarter, says the Argonauts found their rhythm offensively as the game went on.
“We stubbed ourselves in the foot in the first half,” he said. “Second half, we stayed ahead of the sticks. We obviously made plays, converted on second down, we got the running game going, (made) some explosive plays.”
Montreal (2-3) lost for a third-straight game to fall below .500 for the first time this season.
But both quarterback Cody Fajardo and head coach Jason Maas were proud of the team’s effort against the defending Grey Cup champions considering the short week.
While the Alouettes played Sunday in Vancouver against the B.C. Lions and practised once this week, the Argonauts came into the game well-rested after a bye week.
"I was very proud of this team after this loss, regardless of the outcome,” said Maas. “I don't know if any of them feel great when you lose. But there is something to be said for going out and playing as well as we did tonight, up against it a bit and against a great team like that.
“We got another short week like this coming up not too long from now, and I'm glad our guys know they can go out and compete with the best.”
Fajardo was 26 for 36 for 274 passing yards. He threw three touchdown passes and two interceptions.
Rookie Tyler Snead, playing in just his second CFL game, made his mark by bringing down all three touchdowns for Montreal.
The five-foot-seven receiver says he isn’t playing for his own glory, however.
“It’s exciting, but obviously you wanna win,” he said. “I’m not here for personal accomplishments, I’m here to get W’s in the win column. We just got to bounce back (after the break).”
Receiver Austin Mack added to his league lead in receiving yards with 70 on seven receptions and running back William Stanback, who Maas said is dealing with a minor ankle injury, was more involved than usual this season with 53 yards on 12 carries.
Montreal kicker David Cote went 2-for-2 and Toronto’s Boris Bede went 2-for-3 on field goals, missing his first attempt this season.
Kelly opened the scoring with a one-yard run after completing three passes in a 75-yard drive.
Other than a couple offensive penalties, the Argos had little trouble getting down the field early with Kelly going seven for seven on his first pass attempts.
On his eighth throw, Kelly threw a poor pass while under pressure from an Alouettes blitz that was picked off by safety Marc-Antoine Dequoy.
"Bad decision, right? Can't throw across the body,” said Dinwiddie. “He got away with it two weeks ago when we played B.C. and then sometimes you get that false sense that you can do that stuff a lot. Can't do it.
“He's gonna learn from it, he's a young kid. He's in his fifth start, and I think he's taking the next step.”
The Alouettes scored their first touchdown of the game with three seconds remaining in the half. Fajardo found Snead in the end zone with a 17-yard pass — giving Montreal a 10-7 lead.
The Argonauts started the second half with a bang after Kelly threw 42 yards to Kurleigh Gittens Jr., and continued to move quickly downfield — both with runs from Ouellette and long balls from Kelly.
With the score 20-13 Toronto early in the fourth, Fajardo completed seven passes on one drive, including another touchdown connection with Snead after fighting off two defenders — this time for five yards — to tie the game.
Both teams traded touchdowns in the final five minutes. Kelly connected with Damonte Coxie and Fajardo found Snead for a third time.
Kelly answered by finding Ungerer, who beat cornerback Kabion Ento, in the end zone and the Alouettes got the ball as far as the Argos 32-yard line late, but couldn’t even the core.
UP NEXT
Toronto stays on the road and faces the Hamilton Tiger-Cats at Tim Hortons Field next Friday. Montreal has its second bye week of the season before hosting the Calgary Stampeders on July 30.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published July 14, 2023.
Daniel Rainbird, The Canadian Press
