TORONTO — Good teams find ways to win and bad teams find ways to lose.
The Ottawa Redblacks, of course, belong in the latter category.
Instead of ending the longest losing streak in the CFL’s modern era on a day their opponents appeared poised to stumble, the Redblacks dropped an unfathomable 18th game in a row in heartbreaking fashion.
Lirim Hajrullahu’s walk-off 29-yard field goal gave the Toronto Argonauts a 26-23 win over the Redblacks on Saturday, pushing Ottawa (0-12) within six losses of the CFL’s first 0-18 season.
“When your backs are against the wall like this, there's no moral victories,” said veteran quarterback McLeod Bethel-Thompson, who sparked the Redblacks in relief but couldn’t get his team in the end zone when the visitors desperately needed to late in the fourth quarter.
“If you don't get that zero, that goose egg off the board, it means nothing.”
Bethel-Thompson, who replaced an ineffective Jake Maier midway through the second quarter, led the Redblacks on two touchdown drives and finally gave Ottawa some semblance of a down-field passing attack.
But the Redblacks settled for a short field goal to tie it on their penultimate drive following an 88-yard Kalil Pimpleton punt return. Then, after the Redblacks forced an Argos two-and-out, Bethel-Thompson took a costly sack with the visitors near midfield to end Ottawa’s final march without points.
That gave the ball back to Argos star QB Chad Kelly, who mostly had his way with an overmatched Ottawa defence, apart from his league-leading 19th and 20th interceptions in the first half. Kelly finished 35-for-42 for 443 yards passing, orchestrating a calm, precise final drive to win a second game in six days for the Argos (7-6).
Toronto’s magic number to clinch a playoff spot is two — either Argos wins or Hamilton Tiger-Cats losses.
"It's definitely another tough loss,” Bethel-Thompson, a former Argos starter with two Grey Cup rings, said. “To have those last two drives, first and 10 in the red zone and come away with three and then first and 10 to win the game, two and out and take the sack. Very, very frustrating.
“This game can be very cruel sometimes and that's a very cruel ending to what could have been something very promising. Just disappointed that I played my role in the trials and tribulations of this tough season. It's another tough chapter. I've been through a lot of tough times and there's another one right in front of your face.”
For a good chunk of the afternoon, it looked like it was going to be a sweet return for Bethel-Thompson and Ryan Dinwiddie.
The Redblacks head coach guided the Argos to two Grey Cups (including one with Bethel-Thompson) before taking the dual role of GM/head coach in Ottawa last off-season.
Dinwiddie finally replaced Jake Maier, who has started all 12 games this season, with Bethel-Thompson after the starter missed some easy throws and settled for too many checkdowns.
“Didn't feel like Jake was in the right groove,” Dinwiddie said. “I went with Mac. He gave us some juice but at the end we can't take that sack when we're in field-goal range. It's the CFL, you've just got to throw the ball across the line of scrimmage. We have to have that in the back of our mind.”
Even when they do good things, the Redblacks sometimes can’t get out of their own way.
For example, defensive back King Ambers picked off Kelly twice. But instead of taking a knee in the end zone to get the ball to the 30-yard line on the second interception, Ambers tried to race out and was tackled at the two. That led to an Argos field goal on Toronto’s next drive.
"Those are the costly mistakes that are costing us this week,” Dinwiddie said. “King gets the one pick, great play. You know, stay in the end zone. You’re not giving up a single, you’re not a return guy … Just things like that. We preach it, preach it. Maybe we're going to have to give them a written test of situations and have the guys bring it into us.”
Dinwiddie wouldn’t name a starting quarterback for next Saturday in Calgary, but it would be surprising if Bethel-Thompson doesn’t get another chance, considering it just hasn’t worked with Maier at the helm.
At 38, Bethel-Thompson probably isn’t the long-term answer for a Redblacks team that has misfired at the most important position on the field since 2019. But that’s a problem for the off-season. In the next six games, the Redblacks simply need one win to avoid embarrassing history.
What would a single victory mean?
"Everything, man,” Bethel-Thompson said. “Just to get the weight off our shoulders. Just to stop talking about us, everyone's adding more weight to it. We feel that, we're humans. Just get the goose egg off our shoulders and not be some stupid mark in the long history of this.”
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