Chad Kelly not surprised by missed PI call on Toronto Argonauts’ failed Hail Mary against Riders

Screengrab: CFL.ca

They say a picture is worth a thousand words, but, unfortunately, a screenshot isn’t worth a flag.

Immediately following the Toronto Argonauts’ 28-24 loss to the Saskatchewan Roughriders on Saturday night, images began circulating that showed Damonte Coxie’s jersey being stretched to its limit on the final Hail Mary throw. Halfback Jonathan Edouard used the fistful of fabric to pull back the receiver as he worked towards the underthrown ball, making the game-ending tackle as a result.

Despite the incident occurring in full view of an official, no flag for pass interference was thrown, which would have given Toronto another shot at the end zone. That did not surprise Argos’ quarterback Chad Kelly.

“Let’s just put it this way: they never really call those,” he said post-game, shrugging his shoulders. “I mean, you’d like to hope that the review booth could see that, but not expecting a call there.”

The CFL’s replay centre, based at the head office in Toronto, automatically reviews all plays in the final three minutes of a game for clear and obvious errors. However, while some penalties are considered standard reviewable aspects, defensive pass interference is not one of them. That call must be made on the field or initiated by a coach’s challenge.

Toronto head coach Mike Miller did not have a challenge available to him on the deciding play because he had previously exhausted his timeouts. He declined to weigh in on the referee’s decision not to throw a flag.

“We don’t comment on officiating, so I can’t really comment on that,” he said.

The Argonauts needed a touchdown to win at the end of the game, in part, because of a penalty flag thrown immediately following the three-minute warning. Cornerback Tarvarus McFadden jumped offside as Saskatchewan lined up for a chip-shot field goal to tie the game, setting up the Riders for a go-ahead touchdown plunge instead.

“It really doesn’t come down to one play. It really doesn’t. I used to not believe that, but that is sincerely the truth,” Miller said. “That’s an unfortunate mistake, and we’ll learn from it, but it’s never that one play.”

When Toronto got the ball back after the touchdown, the offence went two-and-out. It was Miller’s decision to punt from his own 37-yard line on third-and-two with 2:36 remaining that ultimately forced the Argos into the late-game Hail Mary.

Asked whether he was frustrated that the offence was not allowed to remain on the field, Kelly was curt.

“Obviously,” he glared. “Whatever he calls, we’re going to execute.”

“I gotta hand it off on that second-and-two within three minutes instead of trying to pull in and get a slam-out to Dave (Ungerer). Just (need to) clean things up. I hate to say it again, but those are momentum changes.”

For his part, Miller said he did not regret the decision to punt.

“Not at all. No, we had plenty of time,” he insisted. “We were able to get them down in their end and needing a touchdown, trying to get a better chance for the drive to get the touchdown to go up. No, I felt we needed to do that.”

Compounding errors throughout the second half led to the Argos squandering a 10-point lead. It is those mistakes, rather than any missed call, that Kelly chooses to focus on.

“We shot ourselves in the foot. It was second-and-forever how many times? That’s tough to play,” he said.

“It’s not an easy place to play, obviously. Every point, everything matters. Whether it’s a missed field goal, whether it’s an interception, whether it’s a two-and-out, those are momentum changes. We’ve got to do better. I’ve definitely got to play a lot better. I’ve got to clean things up. I’ve got to be on the same page.”

The Argonauts (5-6) will return to action on Monday, September 7, when they visit the Hamilton Tiger-Cats (4-8) in the Labour Day Classic. Kickoff at Hamilton Stadium is scheduled for 2:30 p.m. EDT.

J.C. Abbott is a University of British Columbia graduate and high school football coach. He covers the CFL, B.C. Lions, CFL Draft and the three-down league’s Global initiative.