Toronto Argonauts survive penalty-filled game to beat Alouettes, remain unbeaten

For the first time since 1983, the Toronto Argonauts have started a season 4-0 following a thrilling 35-27 victory over the Montreal Alouettes.

Led by a dominant performance from Chad Kelly, the Argonauts offence had 28 points in the second half in a game where the defence had their struggles.

Kelly finished the game 21/25 with 351 yards, three touchdowns and an interception. DaVaris Daniels led all receivers with 91 yards and once again the run game surpassed 100 yards with A.J. Ouellette tallying 95 yards on 14 carries.

Here are 3 takeaways from Toronto’s win over Montreal.

Kelly puts on a clinic in second half

The Argos offence started the game off on the right foot with a touchdown drive but struggled to get production.

Then in the second half, Kelly put his best foot forward with some big throws at crucial times. The Argos QB finished with a 141.7 efficiency rating and a completion percentage of 84 per cent.

Safe to say, this was a clinic from Kelly who is showing why he was worthy of taking over as the team’s starting quarterback. His ability to extend plays and force throws even in tough coverage is what has transformed this Argos offence.

There was no better example of this than with the Argos and Alouettes tied 20-20 in the fourth and needing a completion on second down to move the chains. With pressure on him, Kelly unloads a deep shot to Daniels who comes up with it for a 45-yard grab (although Cam Phillips was wide open on the play). On the next play, Kelly throws it to Damonte Coxie who makes an unbelievable one-handed catch in the endzone to put the Argos ahead.

In the end, Toronto had four big plays (anything 20-plus yards) while Montreal had none. It certainly felt like the biggest factor in the Argos win.

Undisciplined play almost cost Argos

Sometimes the biggest opponent a team has to overcome in a game is themselves and that’s a situation Toronto was in on Friday night.

Coming into the game, the Argos had 27 penalties called on them and it was certainly a storyline in this game. Toronto was flagged 15 times against Montreal and the tough part was that it equalled 157 yards.

It really could have been costly if the Argos were unable to recover from their penalties because it would have been tough to see their unbeaten streak end that way.

Now undisciplined play doesn’t always mean taking penalties and for the Argos it was more than just the flags that were an issue.

There were certainly missed tackles and opportunities to bring down Cody Fajardo in the backfield. They still finished the game with four sacks but you know the players believe there were more out there.

Montreal did their best to negate the pass rush by handing the ball off to William Stanback and also using the screen pass to get the ball quickly out of Fajardo’s hands.

Argos won’t take 4-0 start lightly

Head coach Ryan Dinwiddie has maintained that the Argos are keeping a week-by-week mindset when it comes to managing expectations.

You have to go back to 1983 to remember the last time the Argonauts were 4-0 to start a season. The team has many reasons to be excited but they know that this is an 18-game season and will be focused on their next game.

With a date against the Hamilton Tiger-Cats in the Hammer next on the schedule, this will be a crucial game for many reasons. Hamilton is coming off a big win over the Edmonton Elks and will want to close the gap on the Alouettes.

So you have to think ending the Argos unbeaten streak will be top of mind for Hamilton and that means Toronto has a target on their back.