REDBLACKS KEEP FINDING NEW LOWS
One-sided loss to Lions another stinker as Ottawa in danger of earning 3-15 record
Bad is bad. Yes, it’s tough to gloss over what has happened to the Ottawa Redblacks for much of the past three months.
Somehow, some way, the Redblacks need to find some kind of positive next Saturday at home against Edmonton or maybe, after a bye week, against Toronto, or maybe the week after that against Hamilton, or maybe the week after that again in Toronto, or maybe in the season finale at home to Montreal.
Because as it stands right now, there’s no real reason to think this team might win any of its last five games. And if that’s how it plays out, with a 3-15 record, well, you can draw your own conclusions.
There’s no spark, no momentum, no signs of life for a franchise that’s at risk of being labelled the worst Ottawa team in the history of the CFL — and there have been some stinkers along the way — after losing by 14 or more points eight times already.
When you’re that bad, that often, really, you’re fair game in any Worst Ever conversation.
Saturday night’s one-sided
40-7 loss to the B.C. Lions was another in a string of embarrassments.
The team has now lost 10 of its past 11 games. In that string of games, the Redblacks have lost five home games by at least 14. If you’re going to deliver clunkers, at least do it away from home, right? GM Marcel Desjardins is among those who expect more. He made an appearance in his team’s dressing room at halftime.
“The message (from Desjardins) was you’re wearing the Redblacks logo and you have to represent this city and this team,” said receiver Brad Sinopoli. “(I haven’t seen anything like this) since I got here, it’s just a rough patch. It’s frustrating. I haven’t been in this position personally. It’s confusing. I look around and think we have really good players, guys who have made big plays before, but for whatever reason, it’s just not coming together.
“I don’t know what the magic is to get out of it, but all we can do is keep working. It’s no secret, we’re not playing well. We’re getting our butts kicked, it’s not even close right now. Pointing fingers, getting angry at each other isn’t going to help.”
It’s not just the losing, it’s the way the team is doing it, sparking questions about whether some of the players don’t give a crap and are just phoning it in at this point, though that’s probably not a good career move in a what-have-you-done-for-me-lately league environment.
“At this point, we have to look in the mirror,” said defensive back Chris Randle. “I wouldn’t say it’s effort, everyone is diving, hustling. It’s assignment-sound ball, I don’t think we’re doing that at a high level. Motivational stuff, rah-rah stuff is out the window. It’s not for the fans, it’s not for the city, it’s for ourselves at this point. It’s for your heart, it’s for what you work your whole life for. The city deserves better, we understand that.
“We’re all in this. No one’s happy. We’re all feeling it. That pressure everybody is putting on each other, don’t put it on anybody else, put it on ourselves. It’s not like we’re not clawing to try to win. It just always feels like we’re behind. We have to correct it or it’ll continue to be like that.”
On the first drive of Saturday’s game, the Redblacks handed the ball to running back Mossis Madu the first five offensive plays (for gains of 15, four, eight, seven and seven yards).
With momentum, they marched down the field, stopped inside the B.C. five-yard line on a third-and-short QB sneak gamble by Jonathon Jennings. That deflated any air the Redblacks had in their balloon. And it was all downhill from there in all too familiar fashion.
“We’re lacking some confidence. We need to get that back,” said Redblacks coach Rick Campbell. “We are not performing up to where we’re capable of. From my seat, that’s where things have gone sideways.
“Everybody who’s been in this business long enough has been on the down side of things. No magic person is coming to the rescue. You show up and you keep working, that’s what we’ll do.
(The players) sure seem to do it at practice. I don’t sense a bunch of lazy guys who don’t care. We just have to be better as a group. This isn’t all on (Jennings) and on our quarterbacks. But we have to be efficient. It’s really tough to win if you’re not scoring touchdowns and we definitely haven’t been good enough at that.”
Asked about his frustration level, Campbell spoke of a series of runs by B.C. running back Jamel Lyles near the end of the game. The backup burst through the centre of the line for gains of 36, 23 and three yards.
“I actually was most disappointed giving up those last runs, where we didn’t have people in gaps,” said Campbell.
As for the game, another horrible result, Campbell said: “We came out and said we wanted to pound the ball at them and we did. We ran a series, pounded the ball at them. I give (the Lions) credit, they came back and made plays and it got away from us. It certainly hasn’t worked out the way we anticipated. I sure was hopeful coming out of training camp and I wasn’t surprised we won our first two games. But it’s obviously gone sideways. I believe in a lot of the people around here. I believe they’ll show up, take it on the chin, but keep going.”