REDBLACKS PROVE TO BE THEIR OWN WORST ENEMY
Turnovers and special teams proved decisive in Grey Cup loss to Stamps
It’s a long road to get to this point. Just in the moments afterward, it’s hard to digest. There are a lot of emotions.
The big-game losses, they say, stick with you forever.
They eat at you, consume you. For the Ottawa Redblacks, there will always be what-ifs.
The hurt for the Redblacks will include some huge mistakes in Sunday’s 27-16 Grey Cup loss to the Calgary Stampeders. A decision to keep the ball in bounds on a punt near the end of the first half (it went for a momentum-killing touchdown), a fumble on a punt return early in the fourth quarter and a dropped pass deep in Calgary territory on a third-and-one gamble are among the moments that contributed to the loss, which will sting for a long, long time.
“I told myself there would be no regrets after this game,” said defensive back Antoine Pruneau. “Sometimes it’s just a play or two — you miss a tackle, we get into that situation and it sucks.”
“I’m thinking if the tables were turned, we’d be celebrating,” said defensive back Rico Murray. “It came down to the best two teams in this league — one team had to be disappointed, it just happened to be us.”
“It’s tough,” said receiver Brad Sinopoli. “It’s a long road to get to this point. Just in the moments afterward, it’s hard to digest. There are a lot of emotions.”
It was another Grey Cup for Calgary, finally, after the Stampeders lost the previous two.
Ottawa, coming off a terrific offensive performance in a 46-27 win over the Hamilton TigerCats in the East Division championship a week ago, trailed 21-11 at halftime.
They struggled at times with traction on an icy field. Quarterback Trevor Harris struggled at times finding receivers — he threw three interceptions. And the receivers struggled at times with catching the ball. The Redblacks had just 17 passing yards in the first quarter, but Harris had 132 by halftime.
Rene Paredes’ opening kickoff trickled out of bounds and Ottawa started on its 45-yard line. But, after a two-and-out, a Richie Leone punt and a late hit by Dan West, the Stampeders had the ball on their 44. A 38-yard pass into the middle to Chris Matthews put Calgary in great position to score. But two plays later, Redblacks defensive back Jonathan Rose intercepted a Mitchell pass and had the ball on their own five.
The Stampeders did open the scoring, however, set up when Harris fired a ball — intended for Greg Ellingson — directly into the hands of defensive back Ciante Evans. Three plays later, with Ottawa coming for Mitchell on a Cover Zero blitz (six guys were chasing the quarterback), Mitchell lobbed a pass that Don Jackson caught before going untouched into the end zone from 21 yards out with a bit more than four minutes left in the first quarter.
Three runs for a total of 21 yards helped set the Redblacks up for a 48-yard Lewis Ward field goal attempt, but the kick sailed wide left.
Ottawa started its next drive on the Calgary 51. It was the Harris connection on the next play, with R.J. catching Trevor’s 22-yard pass along the left sideline. Ward nailed a 30-yard field goal to make it 7-3 2:28 into the second quarter.
Calgary answered with a touchdown. Catches by Eric Rogers (20 and 11 yards) and Julan Lynch (26 yards) set up a 17-yard touchdown pass to Lemar Durant, who had earlier dropped a couple. The convert made it 14-3 with 7:54 left in the first quarter.
Some Calgary miscommunication led to a Sherrod Baltimore interception — his fourth in his past five games. But a Powell fumble at the Calgary 21 killed that momentum.
A little while later, Julian FeoliGudino fought his way through Calgary defenders and scored a 55-yard touchdown inside of three minutes. J-C Beaulieu caught the two-point convert pass and it was 14-11.
Then the Redblacks made a huge mistake with 20 seconds left in the half.
Instead of punting toward the sideline or even out of bounds into Calgary territory, Richie Leone left it near the middle of the field. Terry Williams stumbled but kept his footing and raced 97 yards for a touchdown — with just one second left in the first half.
It was the longest punt return in Grey Cup history.
Ward booted a 41-yard field goal on Ottawa’s first drive of the second half, but Paredes got that back for Calgary with a 34-yard field goal.
Early in the fourth quarter, Diontae Spencer coughed up the ball with one guy to beat to get to the outside and it was recovered by Calgary’s Wynton McManis. Paredes booted a 29-yard field goal and it was 27-14.
“I was trying to make a play for my team,” said Spencer. “I was trying to stay up. I couldn’t hold onto the ball, it jumped off my leg. It was a bad turnover in a crucial situation. It’s football, things happen.”
A sensational diving catch at the back of the end zone by Greg Ellingson was overruled by the CFL Command Centre — the ball hit the ground — with 9 1/2 minutes left.
On third-and-one, Harris’ pass to Brad Sinopoli was dropped when he was drilled. A touchdown there would have pulled Ottawa within a touchdown and a fighting chance to win.
A Jamar Wall interception at the Calgary 20 with 2:27 stopped another Ottawa drive. Then Tre Roberson got an interception with 1:22 left.
The Stampeders conceded two points — a safety — with time winding down.