Redblacks beat Argos 40-39, end 22-game losing streak

The Ottawa Redblacks beat the Toronto Argonauts 40-39 on Friday night at TD Place, ending a 22-game losing streak and earning their first win in 406 days, according to TSN and 3DownNation.

Rookie quarterback Bryson Barnes threw a 24-yard touchdown pass to Ayden Eberhardt with about 30 seconds left, and Paul Geelen kicked the extra point with six seconds on the clock, TSN reported. The Redblacks (1-16) had been trailing 39-33 after Toronto’s Isaiah Smith scored on a four-yard run and added a two-point convert. The Argonauts fell to 9-8.

It was Ottawa’s first win of 2026 and its first home victory since Sept. 5, 2025. The team started this season 0-16, the worst start in CFL history, according to TSN. Our earlier coverage tracked the slide, including the August piece on the Redblacks one loss from the modern-era record and the July overtime loss to Winnipeg.

3DownNation described the stretch as the worst losing streak in franchise history and the second-worst in Canadian football history. The win also spared Ottawa from becoming the first winless team in the modern CFL era. The site listed one-win teams of the past, including B.C. in 1954 and 1961, Saskatchewan in 1959, Winnipeg in 1964 and Hamilton in 2003.

Barnes, who became the 20th starter in Redblacks franchise history, was 27 of 37 for 335 yards and two touchdowns, both to Eberhardt, according to TSN. 3DownNation put his yardage at 339 and said he also ran for 62 yards without an interception. The two outlets differ slightly on the passing total, and the CFL’s official box score had not been checked.

Eberhardt finished with nine catches for 101 yards and two touchdowns, 3DownNation reported, and passed 1,000 receiving yards for the first time in his career. “We needed this,” Eberhardt said, according to a TSN video headline. Barnes said the moment “kind of felt surreal.”

The game swung several times. Toronto scored first when Derek Slywka blocked an Ottawa punt and Ethan John returned it 16 yards for a touchdown, TSN reported. Ottawa answered with a seven-play, 66-yard drive that ended in a one-yard touchdown run by Daniel Adeboboye, and led 23-16 at halftime after a 53-yard field goal.

Toronto’s Nick Arbuckle, who finished 26 of 34 for 305 yards and two touchdowns, tied the game 24-24 in the third quarter with a 28-yard touchdown pass to Kevin Mital and a two-point convert. Mital added a 34-yard touchdown catch with about three minutes left to make it 33-31, per TSN. 3DownNation said Ottawa’s defence gave up a nine-point lead in the final seven minutes.

The Argonauts also lost starting quarterback Chad Kelly midway through the first quarter. TSN said he appeared hurt after a hit by Ottawa defensive end Luiji Vilain. No update on Kelly’s condition was available in the coverage reviewed.

Toronto’s final drive raised a question the coverage did not answer. According to 3DownNation, the Argonauts reached the Redblacks’ four-yard line with 33 seconds left and ran a play instead of kicking a short field goal that could have won the game. Ottawa’s defence then allowed the score that put Toronto ahead, leaving enough time for Barnes to answer. Neither outlet quoted Toronto’s coaching staff on the decision.

For Ottawa, the result changes the tone of a lost season rather than its standing. The Redblacks close the schedule on Saturday, Oct. 24, in Hamilton. Toronto hosts Montreal on Oct. 23, TSN reported. With the field set to shrink in 2027, according to 3DownNation, Barnes’ next start is also a chance for players to make a case for next year’s roster.

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Via TSN and 3DownNation.