SINOPOLI GOES MISSING IN SLUGGISH OFFENCE
Stellar receiver can make big plays but Redblacks have to get him the ball
Despite evidence that the Ottawa Redblacks aren’t finding ways to utilize the considerable pass-catching talents of Brad Sinopoli, the 31-year-old receiver said he isn’t worried about the statistics — he just wants his team to win more football games.
This week, with his club preparing for a home-field showdown with the Hamilton Tiger-Cats on Saturday at 4 p.m., Redblacks coach Rick Campbell talked about his team — and starting quarterback Dominique Davis — finding ways to get the football into the hands of Sinopoli, a YAC (yards after catch) monster in the CFL.
“I’ve never really worried about it,” said Sinopoli, who is coming off four straight seasons of 1,000 yards receiving with the Redblacks (1,035, 1,036, 1,009 and 1,376). “I just get lined up and run the plays that are called.
“The thing about football is, even if they draw plays for certain people, that doesn’t mean you’re going to get the ball. There are so many different factors. I’ve also been in the position of playing quarterback — reads happen how they happen. You would think you could control a lot of that stuff, but you really can’t.
“Coverage dictates a lot of things. They don’t really double team in this league. It’s just mostly coverages — a lot of zones, droppers and whatnot. It’s not like it’s true one-on-one football, like it is down south.
“It’s hard to explain. It’s like you could say that, if you really wanted to do it, you would do it. If you really wanted to win, you would win. If you wanted to fix something, you would fix it. But, unfortunately in football, there are so many factors that go into it.”
Through eight games (the Redblacks sit at 3-5) in 2019, Sinopoli has 311 yards on 31 catches. In 2018, he led the CFL with a whopping 116 catches, 22 more than Hamilton’s Brandon Banks in second place.
Sinopoli was targeted 154 times. This year, Redblacks quarterbacks have thrown his way 47 times — inexplicably just twice in a 16-12 loss to Edmonton last Friday night.
“I just get lined up and do the best I can. If you’re blocking a lot, if you’re not getting a lot of balls, you’re trying to do anything you can to help the team,” Sinopoli said. “It’s just frustrating because we haven’t been winning.”
The team’s inability to get the ball to Sinopoli is rooted in an ineffective and inconsistent offence. Ottawa has scored just 168 points, third-worst in the league. The team needs to find a way to string together first downs and start winning the time of possession battle. Ottawa’s 25:32 of possession over 60 minutes is worst in the league.
There are some other disturbing stats: Ottawa’s 304.4 yards of net offence per game is worst in the CFL and so is the team’s
5.3 yards per play average. With 11 offensive touchdowns, the Redblacks are tied for worst with Toronto. Ottawa’s 143 first downs lead only the Argos.
“It’s as simple as saying when you get down there, you have to score in the red zone — that’s a big thing,” Sinopoli said. “And you have to have sustained drives. Last game, we had longer drives, but we don’t want to settle for, ‘OK, we had a couple of nice drives,’ and that’s it. We have to have drives and we have to finish them. We had a couple of big plays last game, something we’ve been lacking. Hopefully we can get a couple of those.”
Campbell said it’s not just a matter of getting the ball into Sinopoli’s hands.
“We need to get the ball more to a lot of people, not just Brad,” he said.
“We want to up our numbers, period. We can’t force it to Brad, but we need to be aware of where he is and moments where we can get it to him. That’s through play calling and making sure we’re making an effort to get him the ball. We don’t want to force it in there, but we definitely want to get it to him more. We can all make each other look good. If everybody starts functioning at a higher level, everybody looks good.”
PRUNEAU SPEAKS: Last week, two days before the Redblacks faced the Eskimos, DB Antoine Pruneau took some jabs at Edmonton QB Trevor Harris, his former teammate, during an interview. The story got plenty of local attention, it ticked off a lot of people in Edmonton, and it was discussed a lot on TSN’s national broadcast. Pruneau said: “It doesn’t make (Harris) a bad person, but I didn’t like the fact sometimes he was pointing fingers at other guys. Sometimes, it’s tough to expose yourself to critics. I’ve always been my toughest judge so I expect teammates to be the same way — look at yourself first. If you have something to say, keep it down low.” Asked on Wednesday if he had any regrets concerning his comments about Harris, a teammate for three seasons in Ottawa, Pruneau said: “No. I knew people would see it, but I didn’t think it was as big of a story as it was. When you take shots at somebody like that, you know there are going to be repercussions. I stick to what I said.”
When you get down there, you have to score in the red zone — that’s a big thing.