Ottawa Redblacks play like turkeys (& ten other thoughts on losing to Montreal)

Thanksgiving is a time to be grateful. The Ottawa Redblacks should be thankful they banked wins earlier in the season because they couldn’t look further from a team ready to make any kind of postseason noise.

Once again, Bob Dyce’s squad was provided with an excellent opportunity to strengthen their grip on a home playoff game, coming off a bye and facing a backup quarterback. Instead, the Redblacks repeatedly took boneheaded flags, had inopportune turnovers, and failed to score a touchdown in a 19-12 defeat on a rainy afternoon at Percival Molson Memorial Stadium.

Here are all my thoughts on the game.

1) While Monday afternoon’s loss isn’t squarely on Jeremiah Masoli’s shoulders, it’s hard to ignore the 36-year-old’s struggles to effectively direct the offence. Yes, those around him could have done more — multiple receivers had drops, the offensive line allowed sacks at key moments, and his offensive coordinator was all over the place in terms of play-calling — but the fact of the matter is, Masoli hasn’t played well in weeks.

Photo courtesy: Scott Grant/CFLPhotoArchive.com

Against the Alouettes, the veteran completed 56 percent of his passes for 216 yards and an interception. He missed a bunch of easy throws, including a wide-open Dominique Rhymes in the end zone in the third quarter. Every time that Ottawa got into the red zone, Masoli’s accuracy seemed to worsen.

Throughout the game, Masoli repeatedly double-clutched and hesitated, be it to throw or when deciding if he should scramble. There was also an unwillingness to push the ball deep and one of the few times he did — in the fourth quarter — it resulted in a ball with too much air under it that was launched into double coverage. It was predictably picked off.

Part of the thinking in keeping Masoli on the team this past off-season had to be a belief that if necessary, he could come in and win games exactly like this one. Unfortunately, that’s proven not to be the case as he dropped to 1-7 in eight career starts with the Redblacks after this loss. If Dru Brown still isn’t healthy next week, there should be serious consideration given to starting sophomore Dustin Crum.

2) Those hoping the bye week would allow offensive coordinator Tommy Condell to rediscover the magic he’d displayed during the opening half of the season were sorely disappointed. Despite having 16 days to come up with a plan for fixing his offence, Condell seemingly decided that sprinkling Crum into random drives — to almost always immediately take off on a quarterback run — was the change-up his team needed.

Explosive plays continue to be in short supply and for the fourth game in a row, the Redblacks trailed the entire game. They also failed to score a touchdown. By the final whistle, Ottawa generated 17 first downs and 293 yards of total offence. Of their twelve possessions, nine failed to move the chains more than twice.

It’s not Condell’s fault his quarterback’s accuracy fell apart in the red zone. But it is his fault for failing to figure out how to get his number one receiver, Rhymes, involved in the offence in any meaningful way. It is his fault that yet again, his run-to-pass ratio was incredibly unbalanced with ten handoffs to his running back — who was averaging 5.5 yards per carry — against 36 pass attempts. In a close game played in rainy conditions, there’s no reason to shy away from the run.

Injuries have caused a constant shuffle of personnel at Condell’s disposal, but after 16 games, this team still has no true offensive identity. They’re not a power running team. They’re also not a team that feasts on explosive plays. They do some things well, but then they don’t do those things often. With two weeks to go before it’s literally do or die, something’s gotta give.

3) I feel like I can copy and paste what I’ve written about American rookie Khalan Laborn the past three games. When he’s given the ball, good things happen. Laborn turned ten carries into 55 rushing yards, with his longest gain of the night coming in at 22 yards. He also turned two catches into 19 receiving yards, all of which came after the catch.

Photo courtesy: Scott Grant/CFLPhotoArchive.com

The 25-year-old might have had an easy walk-in touchdown but he and Masoli weren’t on the same page in the red zone. When his quarterback scrambled to buy time, Laborn expected the pass to land in front of him, leading him up the field. Instead, Masoli put it behind him and hit him between the numbers on his back. It’s those kind of near misses that sting in a one-score loss.

4) With Justin Hardy on the one-game injured list nursing an ankle injury, someone else had to step up to lead Ottawa’s receiving corps. That someone turned out to be Kalil Pimpleton as the speedster was targeted 12 times, which resulted in eight receptions for 74 yards. If not for three drops, Pimpleton’s numbers would have been more impressive. His stats also would’ve been helped if he ran anything deep. Instead, the Redblacks seemed content to feed him short passes and pray he made someone miss.

Photo courtesy: Scott Grant/CFLPhotoArchive.com

Finally, Dominique Rhymes — who excels at making contested catches down the field — had two short catches for a total of 15 yards.

5) When right guard Dariusz Bladek exited the game with a hand injury, it meant former first-overall pick Dontae Bull slid in to replace him. So far in his career, Bull has almost exclusively played at the tackle position, where he’s struggled. Being at guard meant he could lean into his strengths, using his size and power to bulldoze people, while being less concerned with having to deal with speed rushes.

Overall, Ottawa’s offensive line blocked well, both in terms of pass protection, allowing three sacks on 36 pass attempts, and in the ground game, where they averaged 5.1 yards per carry.

6) You’ll have to forgive R-Nation for thinking they’d caught a break when it was announced that Barron Miles’ defence would be facing backup quarterback Davis Alexander. In theory, that should have boded well. Instead, Alexander’s mobility tormented the unit. Time after time, the young pivot used his legs to buy time or take off and run for a fresh set of downs.

In his first career start at defensive end, Canadian Aidan John made a tackle. In his first return to action since his latest injury, defensive back Brandin Dandridge made zero tackles and an extremely fortunate knockdown in the end zone to prevent a touchdown. I say fortunate because if the ball wasn’t throw with a ton of air under it, it would’ve been an easy six points for Montreal. But since it was, it allowed Dandridge time to recover from being badly beaten to make the play.

7) Let’s talk about Money Hunter. For the second game in a row, he started and played at safety, making five tackles in the process. But that’s only part of the story. He also singlehandedly gifted Montreal a touchdown thanks to his antics in the second quarter when he was flagged for a facemask and an utterly unnecessarily late hit out of bounds. He was fortunate to escape further penalization on the following possession when he decided to stand over and jaw at the Alouette receiver he tackled. Hunter was also torched in the fourth quarter when he allowed Austin Mack to get behind him for a 50-yard gain.

8) Fresh off a three-year contract extension, it’s fair to say kicker Lewis Ward wasn’t expecting to have another field goal blocked, but that’s exactly what happened on his first attempt of the game. It’s not the only time this season the Redblacks have had a kick attempt blocked, either.

Photo courtesy: Scott Grant/CFLPhotoArchive.com

It’s a troubling sign for a unit that was once consistently among the best in the league. Although Ward went on to nail his other kicks from distances of 42, 17, and 14 yards out, that’s about all that went right.

There was a flag for roughing the kicker that extended a Montreal possession and resulted in a touchdown as well as leaky kick coverage, which allowed James Letcher Jr. to average over 16 yards per punt return. And that’s before getting into the flags that wiped out significant returns by returner Tobias Harris.

Speaking of Harris, while I believe he is more than capable of handling return duties, it’s puzzling that he was pulled with just over two minutes remaining in a one-score game as Pimpleton fielded the kick. If the coaching staff believes Pimpleton is the most dangerous option, why isn’t he being given more chances to return kicks?

In his 100th career CFL game, fullback/receiver Marco Dubis notched one special teams tackle.

9) When it was all said and done, Bob Dyce’s squad was penalized a dozen times for 122 yards. Coming into the game, Ottawa was already the most penalized team in the league. The dozen flags they added to their totals are a central reason why they found themselves on the losing end of an otherwise closely contested game.

In the first half, Ottawa was flagged nine times. At one point in the second quarter alone, they were flagged four times in a row. And this wasn’t a case of overzealous refereeing. It was because Dyce’s players left the officials no choice.

Be it no yards when covering a kick (Anthony Gosselin), facemasking (Hunter), unnecessary roughness (Hunter and Gary Johnson Jr.), objectionable conduct (Silas Stewart, Bennett Williams, and Nick Mardner), holding (Justin Howell, Jacob Ruby, Tryon Vrede, and Zack Pelehos) or a procedure call, the Redblacks wiped out positive plays, extended Montreal drives and gifted the length of the entire football field (and then some) to the Alouettes.

At this time of year, nobody is winning football games if they can’t follow basic rules. Doesn’t matter how hard a player is coached, sometimes the only way to send a message about dumb penalties is by cutting playing time or trimming the roster. It may sound harsh but nobody ever won a Grey Cup by taking a stupid penalty. It really is that simple.

10) As much as they’d like to deny it, until they win a game it certainly seems like the Redblacks are backing into the playoffs. That’s not to say there’s no hope for them when they get there but with Monday’s loss, their losing streak now stretches to four games. Over that span, Ottawa has averaged just 15 points per game. That’s not how you want to be trending heading into the postseason.

With an 8-7-1 record and 17 points, Dyce’s squad sits a single point behind the suddenly surging Toronto Argonauts. At this point, we already know the Argos will be Ottawa’s opponent in the East Semi-Final. What remains to be seen is where that game occurs.

Next Saturday’s matinee at BMO Field is more than just a playoff preview, it will also go a long way toward determining who opens the playoffs at home.

For Ottawa, getting a win next week is essential. Not only is hosting home playoff games a publicly stated organization goal but the Redblacks are 6-1-1 at home. On the road, they’re 2-6.

A victory next week would quickly achieve two things: washing away the taste of the current losing streak, while alleviating some of the pressure currently on the team. It would also mean the battle for second in the East Division coming down to the very last week of the season.

Given that the last time the Redblacks played well (and won, for that matter) was against the Argos back on Sept. 7, next week’s game will be an inflection point of the season, be it positive or negative.