B.C. Lions quarterback Vernon Adams Jr. (3) runs down the field during the first half of a CFL football game against the Edmonton Elks, in Vancouver, on Saturday, June 17, 2023. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Ethan Cairns
TORONTO – Quarterback Chad Kelly and the Toronto Argonauts face a stiff test Monday night.
Toronto (2-0) hosts the B.C. Lions (3-0) at BMO Field in a battle of the CFL’s lone remaining undefeated teams. Kelly anchors an Argos offence that entered action this week tops in the CFL in points per game (37.5), net yards (399) and average yards per play. (7.3).
B.C.’s defence is the league’s stingiest in points allowed (seven per game), net offensive yards (211.7) and average yards per play (4.4). The Lions also registered seven sacks – boosting their CFL-best total to 11 – in last week’s 30-6 road win over Winnipeg.
Canadian Mathieu Betts had three of those sacks and leads the league in that category (five). Toronto’s offensive line, though, has surrendered just one sack this year.
“They’re fast and physical,” Kelly said of the Lions defence. “They play sound football, they know what they’re good at and they know what offences struggle with.
“You’ve just got to have an edge when you play against these guys because they’re fast and play hard. We’re going to have to make sure we get ready.”
Lions quarterback Vernon Adams Jr. will have more weapons at his disposal as receivers Dominque Rhymes and Keon Hatcher will both be in the lineup. Hatcher will make his season debut after being sidelined with a foot ailment while Rhymes (foot) didn’t play last week.
Rhymes has 12 catches for 172 yards and three TDs this year. Hatcher registered 70 catches for 1,043 yards and five TDs last season.
Twice this season, Adams has thrown for 300-plus yards.
Running back Taquan Mizzell, who ran for 50 yards on 10 carries versus Winnipeg, didn’t practise Thursday due to a knee injury but was a full participant later in the week and will play. The Lions will be minus receiver Lucky Whitehead (hamstring).
“We’re going to see where we’re at,” said Toronto head coach Ryan Dinwiddie. “Offensively they’re a good unit.
“They can throw it and YAC (yards after catch) it up and their 50-50 balls are probably the best in the league but I like our size in the secondary as far as those matchups go.”
Toronto counters with a very solid ground game. The Argos are averaging a CFL-best 152 yards rushing after finishing last in 2022 with 81.7 yards per game and running for just nine TDs.
Toronto has scored seven rushing touchdowns this season. Kelly and running back A.J. Ouellette both have three with Andrew Harris accounting for the other.
Ouellette has run for a team-high 144 yards on 31 carries (4.6-yard average) while Harris has 56 yards on 10 carries. Kelly has also been a factor with eight carries for 52 yards (6.5-yard average).
“We’ve got to run the football because if they know we’re throwing it, they’re getting after the quarterback and their secondary is very aggressive and plays well in man coverage,” Dinwiddie said. “They’re getting there (to opposing quarterbacks) without bringing secondary pressure.”
But Toronto will be without American left tackle Isiah Cage (thigh) and Canadian linebacker Jordan Williams (knee). The Argos acquired Williams, the CFL’s top rookie in 2021, from B.C. in the off-season.
American Trevon Tate will replace Cage while sophomore American Jonathan Jones starts at middle linebacker between veterans Wynton McManis and Adarius Pickett.
Receiver Kurleigh Gittens Jr. (hamstring) will start while Harris (illness) will also play. Both are Canadians.
Harris needs 79 yards to move past Charles Roberts (10,285) into fifth in all-time CFL rushing. Harris is already the top-running Canadian in league history.
Also on Monday, Toronto will add quarterback Damon Allen and receiver Derrell Mitchell as all-time Argos.
This will be B.C.’s third road game this season, having won previously in Calgary and Winnipeg.
“Toronto is very, very good and to beat anybody, especially on the road, you have to play very well and that’s we’ve been trying to do,” said Lions head coach/co-GM Rick Campbell. “I like that our players understand how hard it is to win and there’s going to be ups and downs in a game but if we just keep battling we can find a way to win.
“Toronto is a physical team that’s playing real well but that’s what you want. You want go in and face really good teams.”
A win would put B.C. 4-0 for the first time since ’07. Toronto hasn’t opened a season with three straight victories since 1991.
Last week’s victory over Winnipeg – which has represented the West in the last three Grey Cups – was a big one for B.C. But Campbell isn’t worried about that win lingering in the minds of Lions players Monday.
“Any time you can beat a West team on the road, it’s a big deal,” Campbell said. “However, regardless of the result, it wasn’t a make-or-break game, it wasn’t going to make our season or wreck our season.
“We have the attitude we’re running a marathon here and coming up is the fourth game of 18.”
This report by The Canadian Press was first published July 2, 2023.
