TD Place Stadium field
The Ottawa REDBLACKS dropped a 26-15 decision to the Calgary Stampeders in the second week of the 2023 CFL season, bringing their record to 0-2.
The home loss was headlined by more offensive struggles, as the unit was once again held out of the endzone, picking up just 233 net yards on 49 offensive plays. On the first drive, it looked like Ottawa’s fortunes may change, as they marched right to the Stamps’ goal line, threatening to take the early lead. Three consecutive pass plays fell incomplete, and the REDBLACKS turned the ball over on downs, their first of five turnovers on the night.
Like Week 1, Head Coach Bob Dyce didn’t hide his frustration at the alarming number of turnovers, and the lack of offensive scoring.
“Football is a pretty simple game, and if you turn the ball over – especially near your own goal line – it’s going to be challenging to win if you can’t score yourself,” he explained. “That’s what happened. It’s been two weeks and we haven’t scored an offensive touchdown. It’s going to be tough to win.”
Nick Arbuckle struggled throughout the night, completing 12 of his 21 pass attempts for 93 yards, and with the second quarter winding down, threw a pass that was picked off by Stampeders’ linebacker, Micah Awe.
When Arbuckle returned to the sideline, Dyce informed him he was making a change in an effort to spark the offence, turning to 26-year-old sophomore, Tyrie Adams.
“It was close to six quarters without scoring a touchdown,” Dyce said bluntly. “We had turned the ball over again, that has been an area of concern for us. At that point, we made the decision to take a look at Tyrie.”
Adams hasn’t seen much time under centre in the CFL, and there were times where it showed on Thursday night. He completed just north of 50 percent of his passes for 113 yards, including a 50-yard strike to Quan Bray, but Adams fumbled on short yardage, and threw a late interception.
There’s plenty to learn from, and as Adams has in the past, he’ll continue working.
“It’s very frustrating,” Adams said. “Every loss is frustrating, but this one hit a little harder just because it’s the first time in the CFL I feel like I under-performed. I wasn’t as consistent as I have been since I entered the league, so it’s something to reflect on.”
Despite some of the mistakes Adams made, Dyce still has confidence in the young pivot, and says there are many positives to take away from his effort.
“He did some good things,” Dyce said. “He extended plays with his feet, but I think we have to get him accustomed to running the offence a little bit quicker. I felt we took some time off the clock we [shouldn’t have], but for the most part, he’s only going to get better, and for his first time out, he was alright.”
The quarterbacking wasn’t the sole issue for the REDBLACKS in Week 2. There were drops in key situations, defensive breakdowns in big moments, the occasional miscue with the special teams, but all of those things Dyce considers to be self-inflicted.
“What’s frustrating is that in some ways, we’re beating ourselves,” he admitted. “We talked at halftime that we had to go out and take this game, it didn’t make a difference what [Calgary] was doing.”
The REDBLACKS now have nearly two full weeks to get healthy, including Jeremiah Masoli, who could be ready to go for Week 4, and prepare for their next game – a home meeting with the Edmonton Elks. Often times, an early bye week is considered unfortunate, but this time around, it’s exactly what the doctor ordered.
“It’s a great bye week in my eyes, especially after two losses,” Adams claimed. “You want to flush things and get ready for the next game, but with something like this, you have some time to reflect. That’s something Coach Dyce is really harping on.”
Dyce is taking things squarely on the shoulders of the coaching staff to ensure the team’s preparation when they get back on the field in about a week for practice.
“We have to be better as coaches, obviously,” Dyce said. “It all starts with us, and we have to be better. It’s our job to put these guys in a position to win, and we haven’t done that.”
Although he wouldn’t tip his hand about what exactly is going to change, nothing is off the table as of now.
“We have to make more than little adjustments,” Dyce said. “We have to seriously look in depth at everything we are doing as a coaching staff. We have firm belief, we just have to correct the errors that are happening.”
