Redblacks have the worst home record for CFL team in decades
The Ottawa Redblacks haven’t just been bad offensively in their first six home games, but also darn near historically so.
The Redblacks’ average of 9.8 points per game at TD Place stadium is the lowest for any Canadian Football League team at home since the 1954 B.C. Lions (5.4), who were also an expansion franchise. Third-worst on that list were the 1950 Toronto Argonauts (9.9).
As well, even though production on the road is more than twice that amount (20.0), 15 points per game overall is more than a field goal worse than the next-weakest Montreal Alouettes and more than a touchdown worse than any of the other seven clubs.
“With the exception of probably Calgary, every team’s scoring is down this year,” Redblacks offensive co-ordinator Mike Gibson said.
“Everything is in cycles. Some years offences are ahead of defences, some years defences are ahead of offences.
“There are some outstanding defences in this league, and they all do something different. That’s the thing. If they all did the same things, with repetition you’d be able to do things. But everybody is having issues with scoring and staying on the field, and even Calgary at times last week (against B.C.) and a couple of weeks ago against Montreal.”
The Stampeders have the league’s No. 1 offence (361 points) and a league-best 11-2 win-loss record. The occasional struggles referred to by Gibson resulted in large part because of health problems for quarterback Bo Levi Mitchell and, particularly, tailback Jon Cornish.
The Redblacks don’t have Cornish and their tailback situation is treacherous. Because of injuries, Jonathan Williams was the only healthy player at that position for Wednesday’s practice at TD Place stadium, and he’s assured of starting Friday against the Winnipeg Blue Bombers, with various ailments rendering the status of potential backups Michael Hayes and Jeremiah Johnson uncertain at best.
The most recent arrival, Michael Smith, practised as a Redblack for the first time on Monday, so he’s not an option for Friday. Williams, too, has only been with the Redblacks for a week and a half, but he spent time last season with the Stampeders, whose staff included Redblacks head coach Rick Campbell, Gibson and running backs coach Don Yanowsky.
“We have a couple of wrinkles in for him, and we have a couple of things that we’ll try to do with some other people to fill that void that we’ll have with only one tailback,” Gibson said. “We’ll show up and we’ll play and we’ll try to execute at a high level, and, whatever 12 players are out there, I know they will do their very best to get it done. “That’s what we have to do. We have to play our very best.”
The Redblacks were at their best offensively against the Blue Bombers on July 3. They scored touchdowns on their first three offensive series and made everything look easy in the first quarter of that game at Winnipeg.
Since then the Redblacks have only 12 offensive touchdowns in 174 possessions, including Dobson Collins’ onside-kick touchdown against the Saskatchewan Roughriders on Aug. 2, leaving their overall TD production rate at 8.4 per cent.
“The people that see us, they see us not being able to finish (drives), but they also see the good,” said wide receiver Wallace Miles, who with four touchdowns shares the team lead in that category with injured running back Chevon Walker. “I go in the community and it’s like, ‘Tough loss, but we see what you’re doing. We see the positives.’ We try to feed off that.”
Frequent roster and lineup shuffling because of injuries and ever-changing nature of expansion-team football were cited by Miles and quarterback Henry Burris as reasons for the drive-stopping, point-preventing mistakes that have dogged the Redblacks and explain, to a significant degree, why they’re 1-11.
Miles said he and Collins had played three different receiving positions, each with its own intricacies. Burris also noted the multiple running backs and starters on the offensive line, too.
Still, with the CFL’s thirdranked passer in touchdown passes — tied with the late Roughriders legend Ron Lancaster — and passing yards, things were supposed to be different. Expectations were high.
“But the thing is I only play quarterback,” Burris said. “I’m working patiently with the young guys, trying to bring them along and making sure we get to that point where we can be a high 20 or 30 point average per game offence.
“But with change comes change, and the fact we’ve had so many different guys in, new guys, they have never played this (CFL) game. They’re trying to get a hold of the coverages, the game plan and the opponents that they’re playing against.”
Maybe another chance to face the Blue Bombers will cure what ails the Redblacks offence. After all, it did manage those 21 firstquarter points and 28 overall at Winnipeg, and the league’s newest team led until Nic Grigsby scored Winnipeg’s go-ahead touchdown with less than three minutes remaining.
They also produced four touchdowns and 32 points against the Roughriders in Regina on Sept. 21.
However, the high-water mark before six consecutive sellout home crowds of more than 24,000 fans was 18 points — six field goals — in a July 18 victory against the Argonauts. Since then, Ottawa CFL faithful have watched their heroes score 14, eight, seven, five and seven points.
“We need to be able to run the ball well enough,” head coach Rick Campbell said, referring to a rushing attack whose current leader is quarterback Burris with 221 yards on 48 attempts. “(The Blue Bombers) do have some unorthodox looks where they can be feast or famine at times. They’ll roll the dice with some looks sometimes, and we need to take advantage if there’s something to take advantage of.”