Tough to put on the blinders, but Ottawa Redblacks need to focus on what's ahead

A whopping 13 Redblacks have been injured and unable to finish the game, just in the past two games.

Published Sep 22, 2024  •  4 minute read

File photo: Ottawa Redblacks quarterback Dru Brown left Saturday's game late in the second quarter with a lingering ankle injury. Before he departed, he completed eight of 16 passes for 69 yards, with two interceptions. Photo by DARRYL DYCK /THE CANADIAN PRESS

While it may seem like the sky is falling for the Ottawa Redblacks — and there’s no debating a misfiring offence needs to find its way again — there is also a need for perspective, a need to look at not only what’s been, but also what could be.

You can’t put the blinders on when it comes to what’s happened the past couple of weeks (including a 37-21 loss in Hamilton a week ago); there’s reason for concern.

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But find some perspective. Despite Saturday’s 24-12 home-field loss to the Montreal Alouettes, the Redblacks, at 8-5-1, still have the second-best record in the CFL (behind Montreal’s 11-2-1). Also, it was the Redblacks’ first loss of the season at home, following six wins and a tie. So there is much for Redblacks’ fans to appreciate coming off four years full of woe.

Consider this: A whopping 13 Redblacks have been injured and unable to finish the game, just in the past two games. Brandin Dandridge, Eli Stove, Ty Cranston, Alonzo Addae and Drake Centers were among those to leave Saturday’s game. It throws things out of whack on offence and defence, with coaches scrambling to find replacements. It also affects special teams as coaches try to find the right mix to not exhaust the remaining players.

Good teams get past injuries. Good teams find a way.

There are no excuses. Fix the fixables and move on.

The Redblacks missed an opportunity to clinch a playoff spot for the first time since 2018. It wasn’t like the Alouettes, the CFL’s top team, did anything special, but a couple of huge mistakes handed the visitors the victory.

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And that leads us to the quarterback — Dru Brown, who left Saturday’s game late in the second quarter with a lingering ankle injury. Before he departed, he completed eight of 16 passes for 69 yards. Two of the incompletions were actually caught — by Montreal players.

The interceptions, both deep in Montreal territory, were huge momentum changers, especially the first one, five minutes into the game. Brown heaved a pass in the direction of Andre Miller, who slipped and fell to the turf while Alouettes defensive back Dionte Ruffin hauled it in and ran 79 yards untouched for the touchdown. On Ottawa’s next offensive possession, there was either a mixup in communication or it was a bad decision by Brown to throw into tight coverage and have the pass intercepted on the Montreal 25-yard-line.

A week earlier, Brown also had an off game, completing 17 of 27 passes for 164 yards and an interception before being yanked and replaced by Jeremiah Masoli.

Brown, who has shown flashes of his potential this season, has to be better. He’s not alone, but it has to start with him.

“This is a group of extremely competitive, hard workers who I know want to be great,” said Redblacks head coach Bob Dyce in the moments after Saturday’s defeat in front of the biggest crowd of the season (23,350) at TD Place. “As I look at some of the challenges, like not scoring enough touchdowns, you wish it was one guy you could look at for the answer. But it’s not that. It’s a group. As coaches, it’s our job to get them to take the message. It’s our job to get these guys playing clean football. And that’s what we’re going to do.”

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While the Redblacks are near the top in passing yards, they’re also near the bottom in passing touchdowns with just 15. The team’s red-zone efficiency isn’t very good — they’re ranked last in the CFL with just 16 touchdowns scored inside the opponent’s 20-yard line.

“There are no excuses,” said Masoli, who got the offence moving (17-for-26 for 218 yards and a touchdown) when he replaced Brown on Saturday. “We get down to the red zone and we don’t execute. That’s on us. Our defence had a great game, they set the tone for us. On offence, we let them down. We have to get back to playing our football, get the ball out. We have too many talented players in that room not to put on a better performance.”

“It’s frustrating,” said receiver Justin Hardy, who continued his superb season with nine catches for 117 yards, including a 25-yard touchdown grab. “We beat ourselves, especially in the red zone. The attention to details definitely has to be better.”

“To put in a hard week of work, then come out and not play to our standard is frustrating,” said Masoli. “We dug ourselves a hole early. We couldn’t grab momentum back and keep it.

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“As frustrating as this is and as mad as I want to be, we have to remember we have a bunch of games left to correct it. We also have to the reality is we have some people hurt.”

It’s back to the drawing board as the Redblacks scramble to find fill-ins for the injured players and push ahead. There’s a bye week after Saturday’s game in Regina; that should provide a much-needed week of recuperation and recharging.

“There’s no doubt or wavering in our belief in ourselves,” said Masoli. “Now we have to go on the road, into a hostile environment; it’s a hard test. That’s probably perfect for us, we’re coming off a little adversity, we’ve got some guys banged up. As we go down the stretch, teams are playing way better ball because everybody’s been playing together. We have to match that. It’s time for us to show up or shut up.”

Following the bye week, the Redblacks play in Montreal and Toronto before closing the regular season at home versus Hamilton.

Asked if there was anything specific the team would focus on heading into next game, Dyce quickly replied: “Winning.”

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