Self-inflicted wounds made it harder than it should’ve been but the Ottawa Redblacks found a way to overcome their mistakes on Friday, beating the Edmonton Elks by a score of 20-14 in front of 18,437 fans at TD Place.
It was Ottawa’s second victory over the Elks in five days and gave them a clean sweep of the season series.
Here are all my thoughts on the game.
1) Quarterback Dru Brown started strong, completing five of six passes while marching the offence down the field for a touchdown. He faded a bit thanks to a pair of ill-advised throws that resulted in turnovers but rallied to finish the game on a high note.
By the end of the night, Brown had completed 67 percent of his passes for 257 yards, no touchdowns and two interceptions. To be fair to him, his receivers had multiple drops, including a very catchable ball in the end zone, a long bomb that should have been another touchdown, and a third that wiped out an explosive play.
The interceptions were simply bad throws, and coincidently or not, both came while on the move. One of the best aspects of Brown’s game is how he keeps his eyes down the field while moving around to avoid pressure. It often results in huge gains as coverages bust and someone pops open. But it also means that at times, he forces things and that’s when mistakes tend to happen.
On the first interception, it seemed as if the 27-year-old pivot could have easily scrambled for a fresh set of downs. Instead, he forced the throw and sailed an off-target pass directly into a defender’s arms. The second interception was the right read but had just a bit too much air on it, allowing the defender to get under it.
NO FLY ZONE 🚫
Kai Gray (@CampaignKJG_5) makes the INT to get his offence back on the field!#CFLGameday on TSN & RDS
📲: Stream on CFL+ pic.twitter.com/KKWPsqvPzz— CFL (@CFL) July 19, 2024
What’s encouraging about Brown is that he seems not to be rattled by a bad throw. A turnover doesn’t make him gun-shy or hesitant to push that ball down that field. One bad ball doesn’t lead to others. You want your quarterback to have a short memory and continue to be aggressive with the football.
2) Offensive coordinator Tommy Condell’s unit did enough to get the job done but it was far from a banner night. The positives were the Redblacks’ generating 20 first downs, 304 yards of offence, and converting 47 percent of their second down opportunities. The negatives were going one-for-two in the red zone, and that just three of their 14 possessions gained more than 30 yards.
Condell did a decent job of mixing up his play-calling but yet again, the run game seemed to be an afterthought. Perhaps it was a strategic decision to lean into the pass but only giving your running back a dozen touches doesn’t seem ideal. Ottawa did dial up a number of receiver handoffs on sweeps, something that’s become a staple in their playbook, but only had limited success with it. They also ran a bunch of play-action but more often than not it led to sacks and pressures as opposed to opening up holes in coverage.
The play that must be talked about is whatever Condell called on Ottawa’s last play of the game. Facing second-and-six from Edmonton’s 38-yard line with 45 seconds left in the game and nursing a six-point lead, all the Redblacks had to do was run the ball — the Elks had no timeouts left — to bring the clock down to about 20 seconds and attempt a field goal that was well within Lewis Ward’s range.
Instead, Brown rolled to his right and seeing no one open, wound up running until he was sacked for a 13-yard loss. Suddenly, the 45-yard field goal that could’ve iced the game turned into a punt from Edmonton’s 51-yard line. While I don’t love throwing the ball in that situation, I can get behind it if it’s a high-percentage throw that keeps the clock moving. But having the quarterback roll out instantly cuts the field in half. It was a puzzling call coupled with poor execution and it left the door open for the Elks to try and come back.
As with a few other miscues the Redblacks made throughout the game, that final call didn’t cost Ottawa the victory but it made things more difficult than they needed to be.
3) For the first time this season, Ryquell Armstead wasn’t overly noticeable in Ottawa’s attack. Yes, he finished with 12 carries and, yes, he scored a touchdown, but he still felt like an afterthought in the offence and never really got into a rhythm. Armstead averaged 4.4 yards per carry and finished the game with 53 rushing yards. He also added a catch for 13 yards.
RyQ and Roll 💥
RyQuell Armstead (@track_chaser) rushes into the end zone for an early Q1 score!#CFLGameday on TSN & RDS
📲: Stream on CFL+ pic.twitter.com/uEgOK8iR8u— CFL (@CFL) July 19, 2024
An underrated aspect of Armstead’s game is his blocking ability, and more than once he stepped up to deliver a crushing blow to a blitzing defender.
4) Coming off a 153-yard, four-catch performance on Sunday night, it was clear the Redblacks were looking for Kalil Pimpleton to build off his impressive debut. The team made a clear effort to get the ball in his hands as evidenced by his team-high nine targets. Those looks resulted in five catches for 56 yards. Pimpleton should’ve had a long touchdown catch but unfortunately, it was dropped. To the Elks’ credit, they limited the shifty 25-year-old to just nine yards after the catch.
As for the rest of the receiving corps, Justin Hardy had five catches for 61 yards and two uncharacteristic drops. Dominique Rhymes made three catches for 53 yards and had another “catch” that was ruled a drop. Rhymes’ best play of the night might not have been a pass he snagged, but rather his awareness and willingness to take an offensive pass interference flag to prevent an end zone interception in the fourth quarter.
Jaelon Acklin finished with three catches for 27 yards, while Bralon Addison and Canadian rookie Nick Mardner each made a pair of catches for 22 and 21 yards respectively.
5) With Zack Pelehos missing the game due to injury, veteran Jacob Ruby got the start at right tackle, with Dontae Bull — the first overall pick in the 2023 CFL Draft — suiting up as the team’s sixth offensive lineman.
It’s safe to say this wasn’t one of the offensive line’s better performances of the year. Not only did the group give up four sacks, they also allowed plenty of other pressure that was only negated by Brown scrambling around the pocket and throwing the ball away in the nick of time. Part of the group’s struggles were due to the play-calling and the long-developing routes that forced them to hold blocks longer than they were capable of. The Elks brought plenty of pressure and at times, Ottawa struggled to account for it.
In addition to their pass protection woes, the group yet again struggled to open lanes on the ground, averaging just 4.2 yards per rush. And for the first time this season, the Redblacks were stuffed on a quarterback sneak on third-and-one, which resulted in a turnover on downs.
With all that said, it wasn’t an outright awful performance from the group, but given how well we’ve seen them play at times this season, it was subpar by their own standards.
6) Holding the opposing team to just 243 yards of offence is a dominant defensive outing. Period.
Defensive coordinator Barron Miles will enjoy watching the film of this one, as the Redblacks limited the Elks to just 4.4 yards per play, notched two sacks, and generated a pair of turnovers.
Edmonton converted only 30 percent of their second down opportunities and despite having 15 possessions, they were unable to find the end zone. Miles’ group limited them to field goals and rouges.
A number of players stood out due to their impressive performances. Defensive back Deandre Lamont led the way with nine tackles, an interception and a knockdown. A year after struggling mightily at times, the second-year pro has truly come into his own.
Linebacker Adarius Pickett had six tackles of his own and defensive back Damon Webb made three tackles, with two of them sniffing out run plays for a loss.
Defensive lineman Bryce Carter terrorized the Elks, notching four tackles (with two of them for a loss) and a sack. Lorenzo Mauldin also had three tackles and a sack.
7) When he missed from the 47-yard line, kicker Lewis Ward’s streak of consecutive field goals in 2024 ended at 15. How did he respond? By rebounding and making kicks from 48, 11, 28 and 45 yards out to immediately start a new streak.
Richie Leone punted five times for an average field flip of 35.4 yards and in his return from injury, Global linebacker Tyron Vrede had the hit of the night while covering a kickoff late in the fourth quarter.
8) With returner Devonte Dedmon out due to injury, the Redblacks split kicking duties between defensive back Tobias Harris and linebacker Adarius Pickett.
Those of you who have read my work through the years know I detest when impact starters are used as kick returners. Ottawa has done this in the past with Brandin Dandridge and although you can’t draw a direct line between his returning kicks and the injuries he later suffered, the extra wear and tear was surely a factor.
With Dedmon sidelined, Ottawa chose to use two defensive starters to replace him. Unfortunately, Harris wound up carted off the field with a serious-looking injury following a nine-yard return in the fourth quarter.
At that point, Pickett took over return duties. On one hand, you have to admire Pickett’s willingness — and ability — to do anything to help the team win. He was quite effective with the ball in his hands, returning a kickoff 29 yards. And yet, it sure does seem like head coach Bob Dyce is playing with fire by having his star SAM linebacker returning kicks.
As we’ve seen these past two weeks, Kalil Pimpleton does a great Roadrunner impression. Bralon Addison regularly is given the ball on handoffs. Instead of risking the linebacker your defence would struggle the most to replace, why not have your third or fourth receiver returning those kicks?
It just feels like such an unnecessary risk to me.
9) Don’t look now, but for a team that’s been horrendous at home the past few seasons, the Redblacks are suddenly 3-0 at the friendly confines of TD Place.
I could understand fans being skeptical and upset about recent seasons at the start of the year but six games into 2024, this team has proven it’s different. This group deserves to be playing in front of a fuller house. Hopefully, R-Nation supports them and puts an end to the sub-20k crowds.
10) With the win, Dyce’s squad moves to 4-2 on the season and matches last year’s win total in July. For now, Ottawa has moved ahead of Toronto for sole possession of second place in the East, but that could change depending on the outcome of the Argos’ game against the Ticats. It also puts the Redblacks just one win behind the Montreal Alouettes, who are on a bye this week.
Up next for Ottawa is another home contest next Friday night against the visiting Calgary Stampeders. Ottawa will be looking to extend their win streak to three games, something they haven’t done since 2018.
