Chad Kelly threw three landing passes and ran for another as the Toronto Argonauts held on for a 38-31 victory over the Ottawa Redblacks to clinch a home playoff game on Saturday afternoon.
Toronto (10-7) moved into second place in the East Division with its third straight win. The Argos will face Ottawa (8-8-1) in the first round of the CFL playoffs on Nov. 2 at BMO Subject.
The Redblacks, who reached the postseason for the first time since 2018, have lost five games in a row.
Kelly completed 31 of 43 passes for 331 yards and three touchdowns. He also ran 10 times for 25 yards and a touchdown before giving way to Cameron Dukes late in the fourth quarter.
Ottawa starter Dru Brown completed 23 of 31 passes for 400 yards with four touchdowns and one interception. He hit Bralon Addison on a 32-yard scoring strike at 2:30 of the quarter to cut Toronto's lead to 38-12, but the two-point conversion was unsuccessful.
Ottawa received the ball at Toronto's 42-yard line with 11:58 left after James Pierre recovered Janarion Grant's fumble on the kickoff return. But on the next play, Tavarus McFadden intercepted Brown at the Argos' five-yard line before a season-high BMO Subject crowd of 20,487.
Ottawa made it very interesting at the end of the quarter.
Brown hit rookie Nick Mardner with a six-yard touchdown pass at the 12:21 mark and then found Justin Hardy for the two-point conversion. Then, after Kene Onyeka recovered the onside kick, Brown found Hardy on a 14-yard touchdown strike and Addison on the two-point conversion at 12:56 to make it a 10-point game.
Surprisingly, Ottawa recovered another onside kick, this time via Jaelon Acklin, at the Toronto 52-yard line. Lewis Ward's 38-yard field goal with 1:12 left cut Toronto's lead to 38-31.
Toronto's Daniel Adeboboye recovered the resulting onside kick at the Ottawa 42. The Argos missed a first down, but punted, where the Redblacks took possession at their 12-yard line with 30 seconds left.
Ottawa had a last gasp at its 37 with two seconds left. Brown completed his ultimate pass, leading to a series of laterals before offensive lineman Dariusz Bladek was tackled. Still, the Redblacks outscored Toronto 25-0 in the fourth.
Dejon Brissett, with two, Ka'Deem Carey and Makai Polk scored Toronto's other touchdowns. Lirim Hajrullahu scored five conversions and a field goal.
Addison also had two touchdowns for Ottawa.
Kelly and Brissett combined to finish a 13-play, 82-yard drive with a 10-yard touchdown pass at 13:13 of the third. It put Toronto ahead 38-6 and came after Hajrullahu connected from 36 yards out at 3:44.
Brown's seven-yard touchdown pass to Addison at 12:23 of the second cut Toronto's halftime lead to 28-6. Addison put the finishing touches on a five-play, 75-yard drive, but Benji Franklin blocked Ward's conversion attempt.
Toronto was dominant up to that point, scoring touchdowns on its first four possessions. Kelly completed his first 12 passes for 238 yards and two touchdowns while also rushing for another before ending the half with three consecutive incompletions.
Still, Toronto racked up 297 yards of net offense, converted nine of 15 second-down opportunities and held the ball for more than 19 minutes. Polk had three receptions for 104 yards and a touchdown.
Brown completed 10 of 13 passes for 123 yards, much of that on the scoring drive. But Ottawa had only 113 net offensive yards and ran half as many offensive plays (19) as Toronto (38).
Kelly's 47-yard touchdown pass to Polk at 4:57 extended Toronto's lead to 28-0. It followed a 29-yard touchdown pass to Brissett 14 seconds after the second that was set up by Wynton McManis' fumble recovery.
Kelly's one-yard run at 14:12 of the first put Toronto ahead 14-0 and capped a 14-play, 98-yard drive. Carey opened the scoring with a one-yard touchdown run on third down at 5:07.
It was the seventh play of the 91-yard drive that followed Ward's missed 43-yard field goal attempt.
UP NEXT
Toronto: At Edmonton (6-11) on Friday night.
Ottawa: Hosts Hamilton (7-10) on Friday night.
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