What happened to the Redblacks and will they improve?

August 8th, 2019

     After starting the season 2-0 with incredible wins over the Calgary Stampeders, the defending Grey Cup Champions, on the road and against the red-hot Saskatchewan Roughriders - in both games their offence and defence proved to be excellent despite the fact that both games were settled by four points or fewer - the Ottawa Redblacks have proceeded to lose four consecutive games. In all of those games, they’ve showed many signs of offensive incompetence, particularly not being able to string together more than a few first downs, let alone a drive down the field to score a touchdown. Also, in this string of losses, the Redblacks have demonstrated a lack of aggressiveness on defence, especially in their secondary. This was evident in all four games, particularly in their blowout 31-1 loss to the Blue Bombers in which Matt Nichols threw for nearly 300 yards and two touchdowns, completing 25/29 passes. The majority of their yards came because the opposition always had at least one open receiver downfield. 

     In this article, I will take a closer look at all four games in the Redblacks losing streak and figure out how the Redblacks went from a potential Grey Cup contender to possibly not even making the playoffs for the first time since their inaugural 2014 season. 

     In their 29-14 loss against the Blue Bombers, their offence really started to show signs of struggling in which they were able to hide in the first two weeks of the season; by putting up 76 points. Their QB, Dominique Davis completed 21-36 of his passes for 234 yards, zero TDs, and two interceptions. It wasn’t all Davis’ fault, however. Granted, some of his throws were off target but the young receiving core, led by veteran Brad Sinopoli made some mistakes while running their routes and there was no shortage of miscommunication between QB and WR too. Their running game wasn’t able to get anything going either, totalling only 24 yards on the ground with three backs. The Bombers shut down the passing game with their talented secondary - Davis’ two picks helped speed up that process - and then when Ottawa tried to establish a run, the Bombers’ defensive line were ready for it. On the defensive side of the ball, the Blue Bombers had two sacks compared to Ottawa’s one and they took advantage of the Redblacks’ young offensive line, getting more QB pressures than the Redblacks’ defensive line could produce. The Bombers also won the turnover battle, having only one interception from their back up QB late in the third quarter compared to Davis’ two. Two bright spots in this game were kicker Lewis Ward who made both of his kicks to remain perfect on the season and Jonathan Rose who had a pick six. Of Ottawa’s 14 points, seven came from Lewis Ward, six from the defence and one rouge. Not a single touchdown was registered; that is always a problem. Matt Nichols had a spectacular game under center for the Bombers, throwing for nearly 262 yards and one touchdown, completing 16/20 passes with no interceptions. It always seemed like they had at least one open receiver downfield and they simply outplayed Ottawa’s secondary, who had lost Jonathan Rose to injury and many new faces at training camp. Even RB Andrew Harris had a good game with 80 yards on 18 carries and a few receptions. To put it simply, the Redblacks were outmatched offensively getting beaten in total yards by a score of 443 to 240 and their defence wasn’t tight enough to prevent all of those yards. As fans, we all hoped this game would just be a hiccup, but it proved to be much more. 

     In their 36-19 pounding at the hands of the Alouettes, it was evident that the Redblacks’ offence wasn’t just dealing with a minor hiccup in their production and the defence got progressively worse when a mobile QB like Vernon Adams Jr. was added into the equation. The Redblacks’ secondary also took another hit with CB Antoine Pruneau leaving the field with an injury to his left arm and hand during the game and did not return. Both Rose and Pruneau are on the six game injured list and the absence of those two veteran leaders will be a huge blow for the secondary for the near future. To make matters worse, RB Moses Madu wouldn’t be playing after an injury sustained in the loss to Winnipeg meaning rookie John Crockett would be tasked with leading the ground force in his first CFL start. The game started offly quiet, as both teams were notched up 9-9 at the half. There weren’t very many turnovers, Davis only threw one interception. Turnovers would sadly only get worse as the weeks went on for the Redblacks. Again, for the second consecutive game, the Redblacks’ were unable to get a passing touchdown, however, they were still able to use their running game -the anchor of their offence- to put touchdowns on the board. Dominique Davis, who isn’t having the best season in terms of passing yards is lighting up the CFL in rushing and is very mobile. He rushed four times for 21 yards and two touchdowns. He doesn’t necessarily rack up yards on the ground, but he racks up TDs. That’s what counts. He had a better statistical game on the ground than in the air, where he completed 23-37 passes for 268 yards and one interception which led to a short field and an Alouettes touchdown. The Redblacks defence still was the glue that held the team together, keeping the game close and giving the Redblacks in it for the first half until it blew open in the third quarter. They made some key stops and gave the offence many chances. They didn’t cause any turnovers but there was one interception that Rose dropped and a fumble that a Redblacks’ defensive lineman should’ve fell on. Lewis Ward, the kicker had another perfect game hitting both of his field goals, his longest from 50 yards. However, it was the Alouettes offence, particularly their new QB Vernon Adams Jr. Montreal’s defence did a good job shutting down Ottawa’s pass game for the most part, forcing many two-and-outs, giving their offence many chances with the ball. Adams, who is currently 6-2 as the starter, completed 23-30 passes for 327 yards, two TDs and 0 INTs and rushed for 41 yards, scoring two more TDs on top of Stanback’s 100 yard game. The fact that the run game made such a presence opened up the pass game with play action and the Alouettes offence, for the most part, was always one step ahead of the injured Redblacks’ defence.

     In the rematch against the Blue Bombers, where the Redblacks lost 31-1, to put it quite simply the game wasn’t even close. Ottawa’s offence couldn’t get anything on the board with the run or pass game and again, the Redblacks lost the turnover battle throwing two picks compared to Matt Nichols who threw no picks. These costly turnovers continue to cut down the Redblacks’ scoring chances and giving extra chances to a potent Bombers offence to put points on the board. Redblacks’ QB Jonathan Jennings who was an MVP caliber talent in the CFL a few mere seasons ago tried to begin rebuilding his career in a Redblacks jersey tonight and didn’t succeed. He completed only 6-15 passes for 45 yards and one interception before getting pulled for the third string QB who didn’t perform much better throwing for 57 yards and one interception only completing 4-13 passes. The Redblacks had 205 total yards, 88 of which came from John Crockett on the ground compared to the red-hot Bombers offence which manifested 448 total yards. It was complete domination by the Bombers just like the score suggested. Another note, the Redblacks couldn’t get a drive going and first downs were hard to come by. They only got 12 first downs the entire game, the Bombers nearly doubled that and six game on the ground, six from the air. Furthermore, the Bombers led won the possession battle also, controlling the ball for 36:40 minutes compared to Ottawa’s 23:20 minutes. The very talented Blue Bombers’ defence that’s been firing on all cylinders clearly took advantage of a struggling Redblacks’ offence - due to the youth on the roster from the massive free agency overhaul - and the numbers show it. However, the game wasn’t a blowout from the opening kickoff. The game was scoreless for about nine minutes and both teams had chances to get a lead. In the opening drives, Ottawa’s offence was already struggling, going three and out the first two opportunities they got the ball, but their defence limited the Blue Bombers to only a few first downs here and there and kept Ottawa in the game. But, with just over six minutes to go in the first quarter, a badly underthrown pass by Jennings was picked off and returned 71 yards for a touchdown by CB Winston Rose. From there, the game was burst wide open. The slight glimmer of hope Ottawa had to win this game disappeared and as their offence kept stuttering, the Bombers offence kept scoring and the Redblacks kept digging themselves deeper and deeper into an inescapable hole. Winnipeg’s defence played a perfect game, with two interceptions, including a pick six midway through the first quarter to turn the tide in Winnipeg’s favour, winning the sack battle 3-1 and limiting the Redblacks to 205 total yards. The Redblacks’ only point came from a single after a 75 yard Richie Leone punt on special teams. The Bombers shut down the Redblacks’ offence, which couldn’t really do anything and their stellar defence gave their offence many possessions and chances to thrive which it did. It wore down Ottawa’s defence that has been on the field so long with the run game and then lit them up in the pass game. Matt Nichols had an amazing game, setting another record for consecutive completions, completing 25 of 29 of his passes for 295 yards and two touchdowns. He also set a record for 19 consecutive completed passes. RB Andrew Harris rushed for 63 yards on the ground but had 68 receiving yards and a TD. WR Kenny Lawler Jr. had a 54 yard receiving TD and even the Bombers’ backup QB rushed for a score. It was a statement win for the Bombers, cementing them as one of the best, if not the best team in the west division and the league. 

     Their best game of their four losing streak, was a 17-16 loss against the Stampeders at home, where they lost a very close game on a last second field goal attempt. For the first time in a while, I can say the Redblacks were in this game and had a chance to win it until the very end. This is definitely progress despite the tough loss to fall to 2-4 on the year after starting 2-0. QB Jonathan Jennings improved from last week, completing 15-18 passes for 125 yards and a TD but he did still throw two interceptions which killed Ottawa’s momentum on some drives. Moreover, for the first time in four games, the Redblacks were able to get a passing touchdown, thanks to Dominique Davis and Brad Sinopoli. Improved QB play aided the receivers get out of their shell. Finally, the ball was being spread around the field getting thrown to places were Ottawa’s receivers had a chance to catch the ball and turn upfield. Also, the Redblacks’ defence: despite giving up 370 passing yards and another 127 yards on the ground, losing the possession battle 37 minutes to 23 and giving up more first downs than Calgary’s defence, they still limited a very strong Stampeders’ offence - even with Nick Arbuckle at QB with Bo Levi Mitchell injured - to no touchdowns - on offence or on defence. The game was tied 9-9 at the half, with each kicker hitting three field goals. Rene Paredes hit a fourth field goal to give the Stampeders a 12-9 lead. In the fourth, Davis threw a beautiful TD pass to Sinopoli for the lead. Lewis Ward remained perfect on the night and hit the PAT. Late in the fourth quarter, with a 16-12 lead, the Redblacks went two and out deep in their own territory and instead of punting the ball away and letting their dominant defence get a stop, HC Rick Campbell decided to give up a safety instead of letting Leone punt the ball. The Stampeders pulled within two points and drove down the field to hit a game winning field goal as time expired. This would be the fourth straight loss for the Redblacks. It is a frustrating game to lose, especially after your defence and QB played so well, and no-one knows why Campbell didn’t just punt the ball away and let his defence takeover but a loss is a loss.

     Despite their four game losing streak, there is still a slight glimmer of hope. Last week, in comeback fashion, the Ottawa Redblacks stunned the Montreal Alouettes 30-27 in overtime to improve to 3-4 on the season, a half game back of the Alouettes who still hold second place in the East. Our offence got better as the game progressed, but still struggled, only being able to get into the endzone once thanks to a pass from Davis to Sinopoli and caused several turnovers; momentum killers for numerous Ottawa drives. Davis threw two picks and fumbled the ball twice. Our defence performed admirably considering they were on the field for the majority of the game; the Alouettes dominated in time of position at 36:24 - 23:36. Also, at the end of the game after a three and out, Ottawa’s defence held the Alouettes to a field goal. That made the game 27-21 in favour of Montreal instead of 31-21. The Redblacks’ defences had many Instances like these proving defence is the backbone of the team with a young offence. Despite losing the turnover battle 4-2, the Redblacks’ defence got one turnover in overtime that mattered most, to seal the comeback victory in overtime. As they say, quality over quantity. The highlight of the game was the Redblacks’ special teams. Particularly, kick and punt returner Devonte Dedmon, who had a punt and kickoff return touchdown and 377 total return yards. Not only that but both of his return TDs came in the first half when Ottawa was down big and he helped keep them in the game. Still need to see some major improvements from the Redblacks - especially on offence - if they want to make the playoffs and succeed in the postseason but things are looking up. Let’s see if Ottawa can get back on the winning side of things tomorrow night in Edmonton against some familiar faces.