{"id":750884,"date":"2026-06-21T04:51:26","date_gmt":"2026-06-21T04:51:26","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/750884\/"},"modified":"2026-06-21T04:51:26","modified_gmt":"2026-06-21T04:51:26","slug":"chad-kelly-rips-ottawa-defence-apart-as-redblacks-fall-to-0-2-with-loss-to-the-toronto-argos","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/750884\/","title":{"rendered":"Chad Kelly rips Ottawa defence apart as Redblacks fall to 0-2 with loss to the Toronto Argos"},"content":{"rendered":"

Argonauts 44, Redblacks 24<\/p>\n

Ottawa Redblacks<\/a> head coach Ryan Dinwiddie was reminded on Saturday afternoon of what he must miss most about living in Toronto.<\/p>\n

He was reminded of how good it can be to have Chad Kelly as his quarterback.<\/p>\n

Facing his former team for the first time, Dinwiddie watched Kelly have his way with the Redblacks\u2019 defence as Ottawa fell to 0-2 with a 44-24 loss to the Argos in front of 13,943 fans at TD Place.<\/p>\n

Dinwiddie made it at least as far as the East Division final in four of his five Canadian Football League<\/a> seasons as coach of the Argos, with the lone exception being 2025: the year a broken leg sidelined Kelly, and Toronto didn\u2019t even qualify for the playoffs.<\/p>\n

Kelly appears to be determined to make up for lost time.<\/p>\n

After throwing for 445 yards and three touchdown passes in last week\u2019s loss to the Montreal Alouettes, the 32-year-old nephew of former Buffalo Bills great Jim Kelly brought his hot hand into the nation\u2019s capital.<\/p>\n

He completed 25 of 32 passes for 424 yards and four touchdowns, although his four interceptions gave the Redblacks hope in the game of catch-up they seemed to be playing all day.<\/p>\n

Ottawa actually could have produced an exciting finish, but, with his team trailing by 12 points, Daniel Adeboboye was stopped on a third-down gamble at Toronto\u2019s one-yard line with 2:52 to go.<\/p>\n

When the Redblacks got the ball back, Jake Maier threw his second interception of the day into the hands of Benjie Franklin. And, with still a prayer of a comeback, Kalil Pimpleton fumbled a punt to set Toronto up for its final touchdown of the day.<\/p>\n

Maier wound up completing 25 of 40 passes for 281 yards, with a touchdown toss and two picks.<\/p>\n

Ayden Eberhardt was his top receiver, collecting eight throws for 129 yards and a major.<\/p>\n

Still looking for their first win, the Redblacks now face an even more difficult road ahead.<\/p>\n

Next week they hit the road to face the Alouettes on June 26, and then they return home to take on the Grey Cup-champion Saskatchewan Roughriders on July 3.<\/p>\n

The Redblacks improved their season record to 2-0 on coin tosses, but their first possession of the day couldn\u2019t have gone much worse.<\/p>\n

After running back Greg Bell\u2019s first touch as a Redblack resulted in a one-yard rushing gain, Maier threw his first interception into the arms of James Caesar.<\/p>\n

Kelly capitalized on that turnover, leading the Argos to a 10-play, 75-yard drive that ended with a three-yard touchdown pass to Makai Polk.<\/p>\n

\"<\/p>\n

Toronto\u2019s Isaac Darkangelo knocks the ball away from the Redblacks\u2019 Keelan White during the first half.<\/p>\n

The Ottawa offence went two-and-out on the next series, but Maier redeemed himself the third time he stepped on the field with an 18-yard scoring toss deep in the end zone to Eberhardt.<\/p>\n

But the Argos jumped in front again when Kelly found Dave Ungerer with a 47-yard bomb after rookie defensive back Jeremy Lucien fell while in coverage, then hit Damonte Coxie with a 24-yard TD pass on the next play.<\/p>\n

The Redblacks\u2019 defence tightened up after that, although Kelly completed his first 13 passes before being intercepted by Alonzo Addae on Ottawa\u2019s 47-yard line and did throw another TD pass covering nine yards to Tyler Kahmann with 33 seconds left in the half.<\/p>\n

In between, Ottawa created another turnover, this one on downs, when Kelly was stopped on a third-down gamble from the one by Nyles Morgan.<\/p>\n

Brett Lauther kicked two field goals, including a 49-yarder on the last play of the half, to leave the Redblacks trailing 21-13 at the intermission.<\/p>\n

Kelly picked up right where he left off in the second half, throwing a 56-yard bomb to Kevin Mital on the first play from scrimmage. But the Redblacks\u2019 defence again stepped up with C.J. Reavis stopping Sam Hicks to force a 12-yard field goal by Lirim Hajrullahu.<\/p>\n

Lauther answered that one right away, connecting on another long (51 yards) field goal, but again Kelly responded.<\/p>\n

His second possession of the third quarter was a four-play, 70-yard drive capped by a 17-yard TD toss to Ungerer.<\/p>\n

The Redblacks fell further behind the pace Kelly was setting when Maier was stopped on a third-and-one gamble at Ottawa\u2019s 45-yard line.<\/p>\n

\"<\/p>\n

The Argonauts\u2019 Dave Ungerer holds the ball tight after catching a pass during the first half.<\/p>\n

\"<\/p>\n

The Redblacks\u2019 CJ Reavis reacts during the first half of the game against the Argonauts on Saturday.<\/p>\n

\"<\/p>\n

Justin Hardy makes a heart gesture after the Redblacks scored a touchdown against the Argonauts during the first half.<\/p>\n

\"<\/p>\n

The Redblacks\u2019 Kalil Pimpleton runs with the ball on a kick return during the first half of the game.<\/p>\n

\"<\/p>\n

Redblacks safety Alonzo Addae celebrates after making an interception during the first half of the game against the Argonauts.<\/p>\n

\"<\/p>\n

Redblacks defensive lineman Aidan John reacts during the first half of the game against the Argonauts.<\/p>\n

Related<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Argonauts 44, Redblacks 24 Ottawa Redblacks head coach Ryan Dinwiddie was reminded on Saturday afternoon of what he…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":750885,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[194295],"tags":[22069,1748,49,48,521,14975,107930,196274,10045,40646,40644,57836,941,20739,14967,52041,15656,20935],"class_list":["post-750884","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-ottawa","tag-argos","tag-buffalo-bills","tag-ca","tag-canada","tag-canadian-football-league","tag-chad-kelly","tag-jake-maier","tag-jeremy-lucien","tag-jim-kelly","tag-kalil-pimpleton","tag-lirim-hajrullahu","tag-makai-polk","tag-montreal-alouettes","tag-ottawa","tag-ottawa-redblacks","tag-ryan-dinwiddie","tag-toronto-argonauts","tag-touchdown-pass"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/750884","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=750884"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/750884\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/750885"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=750884"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=750884"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=750884"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}