Ottawa Redblacks earn win but no style points over Tiger-Cats (& 12 other thoughts)

Too often in recent seasons, the Ottawa Redblacks have found ways to lose. That’s why you’ll have to forgive the multitudes in R-Nation who thought, “Here we go again” when the Hamilton Tiger-Cats scored a touchdown with 28 seconds remaining to take a one-point lead on Sunday night.

But instead, Bob Dyce’s squad rose to the occasion and came up clutch to snatch a 24-22 win on the final play of the game, sending the 20,315 fans at TD Place home happy.

It wasn’t always pretty but Ottawa will be more than content to exit the game with two points in the standings, where style points don’t count anyway.

Here are all my thoughts on the game.

1) While it was far from Dru Brown’s best outing, the 27-year-old delivered when it mattered most, completing 62 percent of his passes for 265 yards and a touchdown. He avoided throwing an interception, but that was more luck than anything else as, in the third quarter, Hamilton defenders got their hands on three errant passes that could easily have resulted in a change of possession. The third quarter as a whole was a tough one for Brown, as he completed only three passes.

That said, he rebounded nicely over the game’s final 15 minutes, putting together scoring drives when Ottawa simply had to put points on the board. Brown’s three-minute, 54-yard drive that gave Ottawa a five-point lead late in the fourth quarter, capped by a touchdown pass to Justin Hardy, was good. His throw on third-and-one with six seconds left that set up a game-winning field goal was great.

If Brown hadn’t completed that short throw — which Hamilton knew was coming — the game would’ve ended right there. It was encouraging to see that even on a night when he struggled at times — a number of his passes were off-target or batted down at the line by defensive linemen — Brown was able to overcome his mistakes and finish strong.

2) Rookie running back Ryquell Armstead saved his best for last as his two longest runs of the night — gains of 14 and 17 yards, respectively — came on Ottawa’s second-last possession.

Armstead struggled to find open lanes for most of the game, but still averaged 5.1 yards per carry and finished 51 rushing yards. Although it was tough sledding for most of the night, the 27-year-old was busy as a check-down option all game long, making six receptions for 53 yards.

Photo courtesy: Scott Grant/CFLPhotoArchive.com

His ability to leak into the flats, catch passes, and run over defensive backs bailed out his quarterback more than once.

3) Tommy Condell’s offence did some good things against Hamilton, generating 19 first downs and averaging 7.2 yards per second-down play — leading to a 41 percent conversion rate on second down — and, most importantly, going two-for-two in the red zone.

Condell’s play-calling also kept things fresh by mixing in play-action effectively and he introduced a new wrinkle with having Bralon Addison line up in the wildcat on one play.

But there is still plenty to clean up. Seven of Ottawa’s 14 possessions generated less than 19 yards. The receiver sweep that Condell is fond of using can be effective, but defences seem to be prepared for it. Finally, Condell needs to figure out a way to get Dominique Rhymes more involved in the passing attack.

Ottawa’s star free agency addition finished the night with a single catch for five yards, which came with only two minutes left in the third quarter. Rhymes was brought in to stretch defences and generate explosive plays, yet through three games he’s only averaging 11 yards per catch. Getting the 31-year-old more involved should be priority number one, as doing so will bring Ottawa’s passing attack to another level.

4) Speaking of receivers, it was nice to see Jaelon Acklin take over a game. Acklin turned ten targets into seven catches for 90 yards and would’ve crossed the century mark if not for a drop on the sidelines and a big gain wiped out by a dubious decision from the command centre (more on that in a bit).

As for the rest of the receiving corps, Justin Hardy was yet again Ottawa’s most dependable receiver, finishing the night with five catches — three of which moved the chains — for 74 yards and a touchdown. Addison also made five catches for 44 yards but had a fumble, which took points off the board right before the half. Canadian rookie Nick Mardner got the start but never saw a target and thus finished without a catch.

Photo courtesy: Scott Grant/CFLPhotoArchive.com

5) A week after being pushed around by Montreal’s front seven, Ottawa’s offensive line responded with a solid outing against the Ticats. Although you’d like to see the group pave the way for more than just 4.4 yards per carry, the unit held up well in pass protection and when the pocket did collapse, Brown’s mobility bailed them out, allowing them to keep a keep clean sheet, conceding zero sacks on 39 drop backs.

Photo courtesy: Scott Grant/CFLPhotoArchive.com

Zack Pelehos seems to have settled into the starting right tackle role and was entirely unnoticeable against Hamilton, which is exactly what you want from an offensive lineman. Normally, if fans notice a particular player’s participation on the offensive line, it’s because they’re standing out for the wrong reasons.

6) It was a bit of a weird game from Barron Miles’ defence. On one hand, it felt like Hamilton moved the ball with ease and they did, to some extent. The Ticats generated 22 first downs, 379 yards of offence, and converted 41 percent of their second down opportunities. Yet, at the same time, only five of Hamilton’s 15 drives resulted in points.

The defence notched two sacks and forced a turnover on downs, but it was a couple of monster individual performances that carried the group to victory.

Photo courtesy: Scott Grant/CFLPhotoArchive.com

Weak-side linebacker Frankie Griffin led the way with a game-high 11 tackles and had another crunching hit that forced an incompletion. Strong-side linebacker Adarius Pickett made nine total tackles and had a knockdown of his own.

Defensive back Deandre Lamont was busy all game long, making seven tackles and two knockdowns. He also dropped an interception on Hamilton’s final drive that nearly came back to haunt him when the Ticats punched the ball across the goal line for a late lead a few plays later. Had the Redblacks not marched into field goal range to win, the second-year-pro would’ve been ruing his missed opportunity to seal the victory.

Photo courtesy: Scott Grant/CFLPhotoArchive.com

7) What can you say about Lewis Ward that hasn’t already been said? The 31-year-old is as close to automatic as it gets. After missing the convert on Ottawa’s opening touchdown, Ward responded by nailing field goals from 34, 36, 42, and 46 yards out. The final kick came with no time on the clock to win the game. So far in 2024, Ward has connected on nine-of-ten field goal attempts.

Ward wasn’t the only impressive kicker on Sunday night, as punter Richie Leone put on a master class, smashing seven balls for 342 yards. Leone’s kicks had excellent hang time, which allowed his cover team to get downfield and hem in Hamilton’s returners. Leone’s seven punts resulted in an average field flip of 40.9 yards.

8) Things started off as poorly as possible for returner DeVonte Dedmon, as he fumbled the opening kickoff — twice. After initially muffing the catch, he corralled the ball, only to immediately fumble it upon being hit.

The turnover seemed to light a spark under Dedmon, as he spent the rest of the game tormenting the Ticats’ cover units. Dedmon averaged 16.5 yards per punt return, his longest coming in at 30 yards, and 31.5 yards on kickoffs, with a high of 43 yards. Dedmon flipped the field with such ease that in an attempt to keep the ball out of his hands at the end of the game, the Ticats made the (poor) decision to squib kick. Tobias Harris returned said squib 27 yards to Ottawa’s 52-yard line, giving them a chance with just 25 seconds remaining in the game.

Photo courtesy: Scott Grant/CFLPhotoArchive.com

9) Ragging on the command centre is low-hanging fruit because every team has calls go against them, even if some fan bases would argue they have it worse. But last night’s reviews do deserve to be commented upon.

First off, there truly doesn’t seem to be a clear standard of what defensive pass interference is, as two second-quarter reviews came to different conclusions despite both plays featuring holding, hand fighting, and perhaps face-guarding.

But the truly egregious decision came in the third quarter, when the Ticats challenged the 36-yard play-action pass to Acklin for an illegal block. The block in question was made by Justin Hardy on the opposite side of the field and had literally zero effect on any defender who had a chance to make a play on the ball.

Is the point of the command centre to take big plays off the board when something inconsequential happens 50 yards away? Or is it to correct obvious incorrect calls?

10) Since Bob Dyce took over as head coach, there have been times when he’s been presented the opportunity to be aggressive and he’s routinely chosen the more conservative route (see last year’s game in Regina as one example). That’s why he deserves full credit for the gusty decision to keep his offence on the field on third-and-one with six seconds remaining and allow them to throw the ball.

From that distance, he could have allowed Ward to attempt a 56-yard field goal for the win. Instead, he trusted his offence to not only complete the pass, but that his receiver would get down on time and not inadvertently run out the clock. His trust and aggressiveness paid off, as it led to a much more manageable 46-yard attempt.

11) With the win, the Redblacks snapped a couple of ugly streaks. First, they ended the Ticats’ streak of ten consecutive wins over Ottawa. Before last night’s win, you would have to go back 2,051 days to the 2018 East Final to see the last time Ottawa beat Hamilton. It also marked Ottawa’s first home win vs an Eastern opponent in 18 games, and their first win against any Eastern divisional rival in 15 games.

12) Sitting at 2-1, Dyce’s squad has a favourable upcoming schedule. Their next eight games are all against West Division opponents, but their next three are against the 0-4 Winnipeg Blue Bombers, followed by a home-and-home against the winless Elks.

The next few games are an ideal time for the Redblacks to start stacking wins and create separation between themselves and the basement of the East Division. Doing so would continue to show R-Nation that these 2024 Redblacks are different from the Ottawa teams of recent seasons.