CFL.ca Game Notes: Ottawa looking to break long drought against Argos

11/01/2024 02:00 PM

TORONTO — The REDBLACKS are trying to do something an Ottawa team hasn’t done in over 47 years.

The last time that Toronto and Ottawa met in a playoff game was in 1990 and before that in 1982 – both won by the Argonauts. Ottawa has not beaten Toronto in a post-season game since the 1977 Eastern Semi-Final.

It’s on Dru Brown and the REDBLACKS to break that long spell as they go into BMO Field to take on the Boatmen. On the other side, Ka’Deem Carey, Chad Kelly and the Argonauts are looking to advance to the Eastern Final for a potential rematch with the Montreal Alouettes after losing last year’s Final at home.

It’s just the fifth Semi-Final matchup between Ottawa and Toronto in over 100 years. Who’ll come out on top?

CFL.ca brings you Game Notes for Semi-Final Week.

2024 CFL PLAYOFFS
» Ferguson: 7 predictions for the Eastern and Western Semi-Final
» Costabile: 3 reasons Rolan Milligan Jr. will impact the Western Semi-Final
» O'Leary: 3 reasons Makai Polk will impact the Eastern Semi-Final
» Buy Semi-Finals Tickets: Ottawa at Toronto
» Buy Semi-Finals Tickets: BC at Saskatchewan

Toronto vs. Ottawa ‐ Playoff Notes:

• CFL Playoff Trend 1: Across 2022 & 2023 home teams won seven of the eight playoff games. Back to 2018 home teams are 14-6 .700.
• CFL Playoff Trend 2: After there was a crossover team moving from the West into the Eastern Playoffs six times in an eight-year span (2012 to 2019) – no team has crossed over in the four seasons since then.
• All-Time Playoff Rivalry – Year #16 / Game #26: This game marks the 16th year that Toronto and Ottawa have met in a playoff game or series since 1919. In the previous 10 years of two-game, total point sets and five single-game playoff meetings, Ottawa has won eight times and Toronto seven. In the 25 total games, Ottawa leads 14 wins to 11.
• REDBLACKS in a Semi-Final: Across their 10 years of CFL play, the REDBLACKS have played in just one Semi-Final game and have never played an East Division rival (their one Semi-Final was against crossover Saskatchewan in 2017). In 2024 it marked the first-ever REDBLACKS’ third place finish.
• Not Since 1990: The last time that Toronto and Ottawa met in a playoff game was in 1990 and before that in 1982 – both won by the Argonauts. Ottawa has not beaten Toronto in a post-season game since the 1977 Eastern Semi-Final.
• Back in 1960: In November 1960, Ottawa came back from a 20-0 deficit to beat the Argonauts 21-20. Ottawa was scoreless until about four minutes remaining in the third quarter. In the second half of the game, Ottawa scored three touchdowns, while holding Toronto to zero points. This is the second largest comeback in CFL Playoffs history.
• Eastern Semi-Final Meetings: Ottawa and Toronto have meet just four times in a Semi-Final contest in over 100 years of rivalry. They played in 1961, 1967, 1977 & 1990. This game will be just the second time ever that Ottawa will visit Toronto for the Eastern Semi-Final.
• A Winning Season: The REDBLACKS posted a 9-8-1 .528 record in 2024, their third in 10 years since 2014. Their win last week stopped a season-high five-game losing streak.

• First nine vs. Last nine: The Argos averaged just 310 net yards in their first nine games, and upped that 428 per game in the last nine contests.
• Argos’ four in a row?: This week the Argonauts seek their fourth consecutive East Final – the last time with four in a row was in 2007.
• Chad Kelly & Dru Brown Playoffs: Have just one playoff start between them – Kelly’s start vs. Montreal in the 2023 Eastern Final. Brown has just one career playoff pass attempt, Kelly was 21-of-37 for 246 yards and four interceptions vs. the Alouettes last year. He had one completion for 46 yards in the 2022 Final.
• Chad Kelly & Dru Brown – OTT vs. TOR ’24: Brown and Kelly started both games each – each going over 300 passing yards in both contests. Kelly threw a club-high 56 passes in the first meeting for 463 yards, Brown passed for totals of 349 and 400 yards vs. Toronto.
• 2024 Season Series: The teams split the 2024 series with a win apiece – each game saw the winner pull way ahead by leads of 28 and 32 points and the other close the gap late. Ottawa scored a season-high 25 points in the fourth quarter coming back to lose by just 38-31 in the most recent matchup.
• Justin Hardy: Comes in with a streak of four straight 100-plus yard games (over a six-game span where he missed two on IL).
• DaVaris Daniels: Among players headed into the Semi-Finals, Daniels comes in as the No. 1 leading active playoff receiver among them with 27 receptions and No. 2 with 472 career yards. He has four career playoff TD receptions.
• Back-to-Back 400s: Dru Brown comes into this game off consecutive 400-plus yard passing efforts. He had seven TD passes in those two games.
• Benjie Franklin: With seven pass knockdowns in his last seven games Franklin topped the CFL in 2024 with 13 in total.
• Lorenzo Mauldin IV & Michael Wakefield: Each finished with eight sacks to tie Toronto’s Jake Ceresna and two others for the league lead in 2024.

Saskatchewan vs. BC Lions ‐ Playoff Notes:

• CFL Playoff Trend 1: Across 2022 & 2023 home teams won seven of the eight playoff games. Back to 2018 home teams are 14-6 .700.
• CFL Playoff Trend 2: After there was a crossover team moving from the West into the Eastern Playoffs six times in an eight-year span (2012 to 2019) – no team has crossed over in the four seasons since then.
• All-Time Playoff Rivalry – Year #11 / Game #13: This game marks the 11th year that Saskatchewan and BC have met in a playoff game or series since 1963. The 1963 meeting was a Best-of-Three Final won by the Lions 2-1. In their 12 meetings they have split them six wins each – in the seven playoff games played in Regina the Riders hold a 4-3 edge.
• Trying For Three Years in a Row: Across ALL of Lions’ club history back to 1959 and their first playoff appearance – BC has NEVER won a playoff game in three consecutive seasons. The Lions won the 2022 & 2023 West Semi-Finals – before that they won in consecutive years in 2008-09, 1985-86 and 1963-64.
• +26 Turnover Ratio Leaders: Saskatchewan led the CFL with a +26 margin in T/Os in 2024 – their best ratio since their club record of +27 in 1994. The Riders forced a CFL-best 49 opponent Giveaways in 2024 – they made more T/Os than the opposition just twice. The Riders’ 23 Turnovers was a club record low in a 16-game or more season.
• Last Win in Regina 2008: The Lions last won a playoff game in Regina in 2008, the Western Semi-Final. BC was led that day by QB Buck Pierce. Saskatchewan has won the last two BC playoff visits in 2010 and 2013. Back to 2021: The Riders and Lions have played 10 times and split the games evenly at five wins each. The last BC win in Regina came in 2022.
• Rick Campbell: Has now led the Lions into the playoffs in three of his four seasons as head coach. Overall Campbell is 5-3 in eight career playoff games as head coach, 2-2 with BC. With a win, Campbell can join Don Matthews and Wally Buono as Lions’ head coaches able to direct
  them to three straight Division Finals.
• Semi-Finals Since 2002: The Roughriders have been frequent participants in Semi-Final games of late. Since 2022, this year will mark their 15th time in a Semi-Final game. They have an 8-6 record in those games across 2002-2023.
• On the Road in the West: The Lions won three times on the road in 2024 but were just 1-4 vs. Western rivals away from home.
• 55-point Turnaround: BC bounced back from a 31-point defeat at Regina (8-39) to win 27-3 (+24) over Montreal in their final game of the regular season. That was good for a +55 scoring margin turnabout.

• Justin McInnis: Led the CFL in Receiving in 2024 – and with Brady Oliveira became the first pair of Canadians to ever top the CFL in rushing and receiving in the same season. McInnis had 20 catches for 362 yards against his former team in 2024 including a league-best 243 in one game. He was one of two BC Lions to achieve All-CFL Division status this year.
• Vernon Adams Jr.: Led the Lions to six of their nine wins in his starts going 6-3. He threw for 451 yards in his one start vs. Saskatchewan. Adams is 1-2 in three career playoff starts.
• Sean Whyte: Was chosen as the West Nominee for Most Outstanding Special Teams Player in 2024. He made 50-of-53 FG attempts and stretched out a consecutive made streak to 47 in a row (second longest in CFL history). He is the No. 1 FG kicker in CFL history at 88.4 per cent. In his playoff career Whyte has made 34-of-40 FG attempts (85.0 per cent).
• Eight of nine wins: The Riders won nine games and eight of them came in two four-game win streaks – one up front and one late in the year which ended only in game without playoff relevance.
• Brett Lauther: Completed 2024 with his first career 200+ point season and was the only qualifying kicker who was perfect on his converts (39-of-39). He raised his field goal percentage in 2024 to 82.8 by going a perfect 22-for-22 over the last six games. Lauther made 53 field goals which was one fewer than his career high of 54. In his playoff career Lauther has made 13-of-15 FG attempts.
• Logan Ferland & Rolan Milligan Jr.: These two Riders captured West Division Awards and will contest their respective Most Outstanding Player Awards for Offensive Line and Defence this year. They were two of a total of eight West Division All-CFL Team selections. The Riders had more than any other Western club.
• Corey Mace: In his first year at the helm with the Riders was selected the West’s nominee for CFL Coach of the Year.
• Stopping Stanback: The Riders’ CFL-best run defence held Stanback to just 49 yards on 20 carries and 2.45 yard average in 2024. Stanback however piled up 1,126 more yards in his other 16 games vs. all other clubs.
• Samuel Emilus: Was named to the 2024 West Division All-CFL squad – a big part of his stellar results came vs. BC with 14 catches for 255 yards in two games.
• Trevor Harris eighth Start: Harris will be making his eighth career playoff start (3-4) but his first for Saskatchewan. He holds many CFL playoff passing single-game records including most attempts in a game with 60 and is second in completions with 37. His 92.3 per cent completion rate on Nov 10/19 ranks first all-time.