TORONTO \u2014 Ryan Dinwiddie isn\u2019t overthinking it.<\/p>\n
The Toronto Argonauts (2-6) host the Ottawa Redblacks (2-6) on Saturday afternoon. The winner not only takes sole possession of third in the East Division but also remains within striking distance of Hamilton (6-3) and Montreal (5-3).<\/p>\n
Toronto can sweep the two-game season series with a victory but also still clinch it with a loss by 12 or fewer points.<\/p>\n
However Dinwiddie couldn\u2019t care less about all of those permutations.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe need to get a win,\u201d the Argos head coach said. \u201cI think everybody understands it\u2019s a big game to separate ourselves from them \u2026 but we\u2019re kind of focusing on us and what we need to do to get a win.<\/p>\n
\u201cI\u2019ve told our guys they can\u2019t play too tight. If you put too much onus on it, that\u2019s what you don\u2019t play your best.\u201d<\/p>\n
Wins have been hard to come by this season for both Toronto and Ottawa.<\/p>\n
The Argos are 1-3 at home and 1-3 within the East Division, that lone victory being a 29-16 decision over the Redblacks at TD Place on June 29. Ottawa is 1-3 on the road and 0-4 versus division opponents.<\/p>\n
\u201cLet\u2019s get the win,\u201d veteran linebacker Wynton McManis said. \u201cHowever it all plays out at the end of the year is going to be determined by how many wins we get.\u201d<\/p>\n
McManis (knee) didn\u2019t play in Toronto\u2019s win over Ottawa. However, Andrew Chatfield Jr., did and the former Redblacks defensive lineman registered eight tackles and two sacks. Chatfield (knee) has a CFL-high six sacks but is a game-time decision Saturday.<\/p>\n
The Argos had five sacks overall and three forced turnovers in that contest. Linebacker Cam Judge registered a game-high nine tackles and one sack while Isaac Darkangelo had eight tackles and a sack.<\/p>\n
Toronto faces Ottawa starter Dru Brown for the first time this season. He was out with a hip injury in the first meeting as Dustin Crum completed 20-of-30 passes for 235 yards and an interception while rushing for a game-high 60 yards and a touchdown.<\/p>\n
Brown threw for 235 yards and two TDs to lead Ottawa past Calgary 31-11 last week. Receiver Eugene Lewis had five receptions for 110 yards, his 20th career 100-yard receiving game.<\/p>\n
McManis said pressuring Brown is key for Toronto\u2019s defence.<\/p>\n
\u201cMove him around a lot, kind of make him uncomfortable and get him out of the pocket,\u201d McManis said. \u201cI know he\u2019s a really mobile quarterback but we\u2019ve just got to make sure we tackle well and make him have to dump the ball off short.<\/p>\n
\u201cDon\u2019t let him get a lot of those deep throws. Make them work for it, make them go 150 yards downfield.\u201d<\/p>\n
Toronto starter Nick Arbuckle entered action this week second in the CFL in passing yards (2,334) and TDs (13) while Damonte Coxie led the league in receiving yards (774). Coxie had career highs in catches (nine) and receiving yards (187) with two touchdowns in last week\u2019s 40-31 road loss to Winnipeg.<\/p>\n
Toronto ran for just eight yards on five attempts against Winnipeg and boasts the CFL\u2019s worst ground game (50.5 yards per game). The Argos have also allowed a league-high 23 sacks.<\/p>\n
Ottawa\u2019s defence has just 10 sacks but has forced a CFL-leading nine fumbles and 18 tackles for a loss (second overall).<\/p>\n
\u2018Their front seven is real good,” Dinwiddie said. \u201cCarter (defensive end Bryce Carter) has always been a good player but he\u2019s playing really good football now and Mauldin (defensive end Lorenzo Mauldin IV) on the other side is no slouch.<\/p>\n
\u201cTheir linebackers are also pretty good \u2026 so we\u2019ve got to find ways to run against that front, protect the quarterback and make guys miss in space.\u201d<\/p>\n
Special-teams coverage has also been an issue for Toronto, which has surrendered a CFL-worst four return TDs. Last week, Winnipeg\u2019s Trey Vaval had punt- and kickoff-return touchdowns.<\/p>\n
\u201cFour (return TDs allowed) in eight games is a lot,\u201d Dinwiddie said. \u201cNormally if you get a return touchdown, it\u2019s like 90 per cent of the time you win those games.<\/p>\n
\u201cThey\u2019re big momentum builders.\u201d<\/p>\n
Toronto is 19-6 versus Ottawa since it entered the league in 2014.<\/p>\n
Before the game, Toronto will add Chris Schultz and Nick Volpe to its all-time list.<\/p>\n
Schultz spent nine seasons on Toronto\u2019s offensive line (1986-94) before embarking on a successful radio and TV broadcasting career. Volpe played for the Argos (199-52) then returned in \u201988 to work in several capacities, including the head of Canadian scouting, and was part of seven Grey Cup championships, having never lost a CFL title game with the franchise.<\/p>\n
Both Schultz (age 61) and Volpe (age 95) died in 2021.<\/p>\n
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Aug. 8, 2025.<\/p>\n
Dan Ralph, The Canadian Press<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"TORONTO \u2014 Ryan Dinwiddie isn\u2019t overthinking it. The Toronto Argonauts (2-6) host the Ottawa Redblacks (2-6) on Saturday…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":56964,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[437],"tags":[49,48,521,522,520,82],"class_list":["post-56963","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-cfl","tag-ca","tag-canada","tag-canadian-football-league","tag-canadianfootballleague","tag-cfl","tag-sports"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/56963","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=56963"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/56963\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/56964"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=56963"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=56963"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=56963"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}