You’ll have to forgive R-Nation for feeling the vibes of 2021, 2022 and 2023.
The Ottawa Redblacks were defeated by the Saskatchewan Roughriders by a score of 29-16 on Saturday afternoon at Mosaic Stadium, largely because they couldn’t do anything with the ball.
On a night when the defence held its own and the special teams did their job — minus exactly one play that resulted in three points — the offence wears this loss.
Here are all my thoughts on the game.
1) In football you can never lay the loss at the feet of one person, but whatever the opposite of Masoli Magic is, that’s what the Redblacks got from their veteran backup quarterback.
Look past the gaudy completion percentage because the fact of the matter is that when Jeremiah Masoli missed his receivers, he missed by a lot. Nothing illustrates this better than him going 13-of-16 in the first half, while two of those incompletions were awful interceptions. Plus, he was averaging just 6.3 yards per pass.
Not only did Masoli turn the ball over three times, but he never looked comfortable or confident in the pocket. There were times when it seemed like he should’ve scrambled to move the chains and he didn’t. There were times when his offensive line protected the pocket well, yet he still seemed frantic and ran into trouble. There were times when it seemed like he wanted to throw, but double clutched or hesitated.
When it was all said and done, the 36-year-old completed 72 percent of his passes for 278 yards, a garbage time touchdown, and three interceptions.
The picks were damning because these weren’t tipped passes or incredible individual defensive plays. Instead, they came as a result of underthrown balls and poor reads where the receiver was stared down.
Jeremiah Masoli does not have fun at Mosaic Stadium…
Adam Auclair (@AdamAuclair) adds a third turnover for the Riders.#CFL #Riders #RiderNation
pic.twitter.com/hArnVCQmHo— 3DownNation (@3DownNation) September 28, 2024
Coming into the game, it seemed like the football gods were weaving together a handful of intriguing storylines into a tale of redemption. You had Masoli returning to the place where a cheap shot ended his season in 2022 with the chance to lead Ottawa to the playoffs for the first time since the pivot on the opposing team, Trevor Harris, was under centre for the Redblacks. Doing so would have likely led to further starts. It could have been the definitive moment of the Masoli era in the nation’s capital.
Instead, Masoli is now 1-6 in his seven starts for the Redblacks and if Dru Brown is anything close to healthy, it’s likely the vet will be back to holding a clipboard next game.
2) Another week, another slow start for Tommy Condell’s offence. By half-time, the Redblacks had mustered 116 yards. They added less than 50 yards in the third quarter but finished the game with a total of 316 yards thanks to putting up 98 yards on their final two drives when they were already down three scores.
Yet again, Condell shunned the run game, calling 36 pass attempts compared to merely eight handoffs to his running back. In a game where his offensive line was under siege at times, establishing the run could have gone a long way toward taking the edge off some of that pass rush. Furthermore, nobody is biting on play-action if you aren’t ever running the ball. Considering it was a one- or two-score game for almost the entire contest, the utter lack of a balanced approach sunk the Redblacks’ attack.
There were no explosive plays. There was no misdirection or tricks. There was little success in the red zone and there was zero rhythm until the game was already out of reach.
The only time Ottawa moved the ball with any regularity came when they were already down three scores late in the fourth quarter. The short passing game suddenly flourished. Part of that was due to Saskatchewan playing off coverage, content with bleeding the clock. Part of that was because Masoli was getting the ball out of his hands quickly. Either way, it came 58 minutes too late to make a difference.
Of Ottawa’s 15 possessions, 13 generated two or fewer first downs. The turnovers and missed field goals hurt and it’s not the offensive coordinator’s fault an easy touchdown was dropped in the end zone, but Condell must do more to get Ottawa back to an attack that doesn’t struggle to move the ball. Right now every first down feels like it deserves a celebration. This was the third game in a row where the Redblacks never led once. There cannot be a fourth.
3) As has been the case in recent weeks, rookie American running back Khalan Laborn did well when given the ball — which wasn’t often.
Laborn finished with 42 yards on eight carries, averaging 5.3 yards per rush. He was also a significant factor in the passing game, finishing with six catches for 41 yards, 31 of which came after the catch. More than once, Laborn bailed out his quarterback by snagging off-target dump-offs and churning out positive yardage.
4) He wasn’t the Redblacks’ leading receiver or even the most impactful in the passing game, but veteran Dominique Rhymes will be the player fans remember coming out of this game. Not because of his two catches for 20 yards, but because when rookie receiver Khalil Pimpleton was body-slammed head-first into the turf on the game’s second last play by Deontai Williams, it was Rhymes who sprinted over to defend his teammate.
It wasn’t an offensive lineman leading the charge, or any of the other closer receivers, but instead, it was Rhymes who charged into the fray to take issue with Williams’ idiotic and completely unnecessary suplex.
It resulted in his ejection from the game but nobody should hold that against him. On another note, Rhymes was once again flagged for a dubious offensive pass interference call on a weird play that saw him catch a pass tipped by teammate Nick Mardner while on his knees. By my count, it’s the fourth time this season Rhymes has been penalized for OPI.
As for the rest of the receiving corps, Justin Hardy led the way with five catches on six targets for 111 yards. Jaelon Acklin caught six balls for 41 yards, while Pimpleton made six catches for 45 yards and a touchdown in his first action since being injured on August 8.
Canadian receiver Keaton Bruggeling is going to be ruing his fourth-quarter end zone drop. The Carleton product rarely gets offensive snaps, typically plying his trade on special teams, and when presented a golden chance to make it a one-point game, he literally and figuratively dropped the ball. You gotta feel for him as that’s a ball he catches nine times out of 10.
5) As a result of the injuries that landed tackles Dino Boyd and Drake Centers on the six-game injured list, the Redblacks again shuffled their offensive line.
Veteran Jacob Ruby got the start at left tackle, while Zack Pelehos returned from injury to start at right tackle. Dontae Bull, the first overall pick of the 2023 CFL draft, dressed as the team’s sixth offensive lineman.
Overall, the group held up well, conceding two sacks on 36 dropbacks. That number would have been higher if not for Masoli scrambling to evade pressure, but there were also plays where the big men up front did their job and their quarterback moved himself into trouble.
In terms of the ground game, the Redblacks averaged 5.4 yards per rush and the group did well to easily convert short-yardage situations, but the fact of the matter is, they were rarely asked to run the ball.
6) When a defence is on the field for nearly 38 minutes, at some point, it’s going to break. The good news for Barron Miles’ unit was that for all the talk of Ryquell Armstead out for revenge against his former team, the ex-Redblack was wholly shut down, limited to 32 yards on 10 carries before being knocked out of the game thanks to a vicious (but clean) hit by Money Hunter.
The bad was that the guy who replaced him, Canadian Thomas Bertrand-Hudon, came in and had nine carries for 72 yards in the fourth quarter, including a touchdown. Bertrand-Hudon effectively sealed the win with his rugged and bruising runs late in the game.
Somebody pick up Damon Webb’s jock strap, because Thomas Bertrand-Hudon (@tombh11) just juked him out of it.#CFL #Riders #RiderNation
pic.twitter.com/GX3yyfTgMy— 3DownNation (@3DownNation) September 28, 2024
The ugly was that for the second week in a row, the defence failed to record a turnover.
When it was all said and done, Saskatchewan piled up 27 first downs and 415 yards of offence. Quarterback Trevor Harris feasted on his former team, completing 75 percent of his passes for 315 yards and improving his career record to 8-4 against Ottawa. It was his seventh game of 300+ passing yards against the Redblacks.
The difference in this game really did come down to how much time the defence spent on the field. Nothing illustrates this better than the fact that Saskatchewan had 14 possessions yet but did most of their damage late. Their last three drives — all in the game’s final 15 minutes — resulted in 14 points. I’m not a big math guy but in a 13-point loss, that stands out.
7) Like so many other positions, the secondary was shuffled as a result of injuries. With Canadian safeties Alonzo Addae and Ty Cranston and defensive back Brandin Dandridge all landing on the six-game injured list, Ottawa chose to juggle their ratio and start American Money Hunter at the safety position in his return to action. American rookie C.J. Coldon started at corner.
Hunter was officially credited with a single tackle and a pair of passes defended but was a factor all game long. He delivered a hellacious hit on Kian Schaffer-Baker, the above-mentioned hit on Armstead and was unlucky to catch Shawn Bane low while sliding to attempt an interception.
Coldon finished with seven tackles, a forced fumble and a pair of passes defended. He was also beaten deep for a 53-yard gain late in the fourth quarter.
As for the rest of the defence, defensive back Alijah McGhee made eight tackles, while middle linebacker Tyron Vrede made seven. Defensive lineman Lorenzo Mauldin notched seven tackles and a sack, while Canadian defensive lineman Aidan John finished three tackles and the second and third sacks of his career.
8) If not for Lewis Ward’s missed 46-yard field goal attempt being returned 74 yards by Mario Alford to set up a Saskatchewan field goal, Ottawa’s special teams would’ve had an outstanding outing.
That six-point swing aside, Ward connected on his next three attempts, splitting the uprights from 37, 53 and 26 yards out. The 32-year-old will need to practice his onside kicks, as his attempt against the Roughriders was blasted right out of bounds and nearly into the stands.
Richie Leone punted five times for an average field positional flip of 40.6 yards, and the coverage teams were stellar in limiting Alford to just six yards per punt return. Linebacker Silas Steward and long snapper Peter Adjey led the way with two special teams tackles apiece.
As for the Redblacks’ return game, in his first game since injuring his knee back on July 19, defensive back Tobias Harris handled all return duties. The 24-year-old averaged 9.7 yards per punt return and 22.7 per kickoff.
9) It’s safe to say that if these teams meet in the playoffs, it’ll be spicy. That’s what happens when you have a history of questionable hits. Be it Garrett Marino on Masoli, Miles Brown rolling low into Dru Brown earlier this season, or Williams slamming Pimpleton headfirst into the turf, there’s no love lost between these teams.
Mix in Armstead still wanting revenge against the team that cut him and those in Saskatchewan who feel Hunter could have done more to avoid hitting Bane low, and you’ve got all the ingredients for a potentially explosive game.
10) It’s a welcome change of pace to see the Redblacks having guys come off the six-game injured list instead of being added to it.
Saturday’s game featured the return of Pimpleton, Pelehos, Hunter and Harris. Most importantly, nobody exited the game and was unable to return. With the team off until October 14, Ottawa has a realistic shot at getting a few more of the 17 guys currently on the six-game back before their next contest.
11) I want to take a quick minute to mention the Indigenous-designed logos used by both teams. It was part of a wider CFL movement to have all organizations use Indigenous logos in honour of the upcoming Orange Shirt Day/National Day for Truth & Reconciliation which acknowledges the experience of those who were forced to attend residential schools.
Obviously having the teams come out in orange shirts for warmups and use the Indigenous decals is symbolic, but it’s a smart way to bring attention to an important issue for our country. It doesn’t hurt that most of the logos are beautifully designed either.
12) With the loss, Bob Dyce’s squad continues their cold streak. It’s the team’s first three-game losing skid of the season. Ottawa is now 2-5 on the road, which highlights just how desperately they need to ensure their first playoff game occurs at the friendly confines of TD Place.
At 8-6-1, the Redblacks maintain their grip on second place in the East — barely. Thanks to a pair of wins from Toronto and Hamilton, Ottawa is just a single point ahead of the Argos, and up five on the Ticats.
With three games left — all against Eastern opponents — everything is still up in the air. The Redblacks are still yet to officially clinch a playoff spot and even if/when they do, a home playoff date is far from a sure thing.
The team is off on a bye this week and when they return to action on October 14, they’ll be in Montreal. Following that, Ottawa will be on the road in Toronto, and then close out the regular season at home against Hamilton. Given that they won’t want to back into the playoffs on a losing streak, one has to think they’ll be pulling all the stops to get back into the win column against Montreal in two weeks.
