A one-point victory over the Toronto Argonauts — 40–39 at TD Place Stadium on Friday — handed Ottawa's REDBLACKS their opening win of the 2026 CFL season, bringing to a close a stretch of 16 consecutive losses that had stood as the league's all-time record for the poorest start by a franchise.
On his maiden appearance as a starting quarterback, Bryson Barnes recorded 27 completions from 37 attempts for 339 yards and two touchdown passes, while also carrying the ball seven times for 62 yards.
A Toronto special-teams unit put the opening points on the board. Slywka's punt block put the ball in open space, and Ethan John — in his first CFL season — gathered it up and crossed the goal line to hand the Argos an early advantage.
On the next Ottawa drive, Barnes orchestrated a touchdown for Daniel Adeboboye — a player who previously suited up for the Argonauts — by threading throws to Ayden Eberhardt and Kalil Pimpleton to move the chains before Adeboboye crossed the goal line.
On the following offensive possession, quarterback Chad Kelly went down with a lower body injury and did not return. Arbuckle — serving as the backup quarterback and holder of the 2024 Grey Cup MVP honour — took over at pivot and steered Toronto's offence into opposition territory, where Porter, a first-year running back, crossed the goal line for his first professional touchdown to put the Argos back in front.
Two field goals from Paul Geelen drew the score level before Lirim Hajrullahu, kicking for Toronto, put the Argonauts back in front. Heading into the interval, Ottawa held a seven-point advantage after Adeboboye crossed for his second touchdown of the afternoon — this time against the club where he previously played.
With Arbuckle connecting to Kevin Mital to draw Ottawa level late in the third quarter, Toronto had pulled back the deficit — only for Geelen's fourth field goal of the night to hand the REDBLACKS a three-point cushion heading into the fourth.
An Eberhardt reception in the fourth quarter — Barnes delivering his first touchdown pass of the game — pushed Ottawa further ahead on the scoreboard. Arbuckle found Mital in the end zone to pull Toronto level, and a short-yardage run by Isaiah Smith put the Argos ahead with half a minute left on the clock.
With six seconds remaining in the fourth quarter, a 24-yard connection from Bryson Barnes to Ayden Eberhardt put Ottawa ahead 40–39, erasing the 39–33 advantage Toronto had built after Isaiah Smith crossed the goal line from four yards out at the 30-second mark. Eberhardt's touchdown — Barnes's second of the period — came at the end of a 24-second possession that secured Ottawa's opening victory of the year.
The result sets up the REDBLACKS' Week 21 visit to face the Hamilton Tiger-Cats. Week 21 also brings a finale for the Argonauts, who will host the Montreal Alouettes — holders of the top position in the CFL standings — to close out the 2026 campaign at home.
