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    Ottawa Redblacks continue free fall in blowout loss to Elks (& nine other thoughts)

    News DeskBy No Comments12 Mins Read
    Ottawa Redblacks continue free fall in blowout loss to Elks (& nine other thoughts)




    Photo courtesy: Ottawa Redblacks

    If the Ottawa Redblacks didn’t hit rock bottom in Edmonton on Thursday night, they must be close.

    Despite individual moments of brilliance, Ryan Dinwiddie’s squad is 0-5 following an ugly fourth-quarter collapse. For much of the game, Ottawa’s offence was stagnant and struggled to maintain drives. The defence started stout before turning into a sieve. There doesn’t seem to be any easy answers to be found.

    Here are all my thoughts on the Redblacks’ 40-17 blowout loss to the Elks at Commonwealth Stadium.

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    Net negative

    Jake Maier isn’t playing well enough to help the Redblacks win football games. Period. But he’s also not getting much help from his teammates or coaching staff.

    The 29-year-old quarterback had four interceptions and, frankly, was fortunate that the total wasn’t higher, as Elk defenders got their hands on a couple of other errant throws. The first interception was the result of pressure when running back Greg Bell failed to pick up a blitzing defender. The second interception was simply a poor read. The third was inexcusable; a floater off his back foot into the middle of the field, while the fourth was an underthrown deep ball heaved up in the face of pressure.

    The turnovers were not only momentum killers, but they took points off the board, as a couple came while inside of field goal range. While interceptions are ultimately laid at the feet of the man throwing the ball, it must be acknowledged that Maier is in a tough spot. Through five games, the Redblacks have zero semblance of a running game. There is no misdirection with their play-calling. There is no play-action. With no threat of a ground game, defences have been able to drop extra men back into coverage. And when the defence does blitz, Ottawa has struggled to give their quarterback a clean pocket. Though he wasn’t sacked often, Maier took a beating, frequently throwing with defenders in his face and draped over him.

    When he has been given time, Maier has responded with some nice throws into tight windows, but those have been few and far between. He also hasn’t been able to generate explosive plays, with just one of his 39 pass attempts on the night going for 30+ yards.

    Given his struggles to keep the offence in any kind of regular rhythm, it wouldn’t come as a surprise to see Maier benched for the team’s next game. It would be an acknowledgment that the team got it wrong in training camp when they anointed Maier the starter, but at this point, with the team sitting at 0-5, what other options do they have?

    The best laid plans…

    It’s kind of ironic that Dru Brown will be making his first start this week, albeit for the Winnipeg Blue Bombers, because had he not requested his release upon learning he lost his starting job in training camp, he would still be on the Redblacks roster, and likely in line to start Ottawa’s next game.

    The Redblacks truly felt comfortable with their combination of Maier and Brown, and planned on keeping both on their roster throughout the 2026 season. If Brown had accepted the backup role, McLeod Bethel-Thompson never gets called. Instead, there’s a good chance the Redblacks turn to the 38-year-old two-time Grey Cup champion next week.

    Moving in slo-mo

    Yet again, the Redblacks’ offence started slow and took too long to get going. As has been a trend all season long, the Redblacks fell behind and never led at any point in the game. Despite constantly trailing on the scoreboard, Ottawa was never more than a score or two behind for the majority of the game. That’s what makes Dinwiddie’s play-calling so puzzling.

    As mentioned above, the Redblacks aren’t even attempting to run the ball. While at times, a lack of run game can be offset by the quick passing game, successful CFL teams run the ball. Ottawa doesn’t. When you call just seven runs — ignoring two QB sneaks and a scramble from a collapsing pocket — and 43 passes, you’re setting yourself up for failure, and making the defence’s life a hell of a lot easier.

    For a guy who has a proven track record of being an offensive guru, Dinwiddie has yet to show that flair in the nation’s capital. There hasn’t been a whole lot of creativity or production. In fact, some of Ottawa’s most dangerous weapons aren’t even being used. Star receiver Eugene Lewis’ only reception came on the very last play of a 23-point blowout loss. He was only targeted twice. Speedster Kalil Pimpleton wasn’t targeted once. Prized off-season acquisition Greg Bell has yet to have an impact on any of the four games he’s started.

    While Dinwiddie’s hands might be tied by lacklustre play from his offensive line, there are ways to mask, or at the very least limit, those deficiencies with things like screens, play-action, trick plays, and keeping an extra offensive lineman or fullback in to help block.

    Obviously the Redblacks have been getting subpar play from their quarterback and big men in the trenches, but the coaching staff needs to do a much better job of putting guys in positions to be successful.

    MIA

    Here and there you can see flashes of what made Greg Bell an East Division All-CFL running back in 2025. There are bursts of speed and changes of direction that leave defenders grasping at air, but he’s simply not being given enough touches to properly showcase his talents. Furthermore, when he has been given the ball, half the time he has defenders in his face before he even gets to the line of scrimmage. It’s folly to expect any running back to produce in those circumstances.

    Against the Elks, Bell had seven carries for a total of 19 yards, with his longest gain of the night coming in at just six yards. His 2.7 yards per carry fell below his season average of 3.7 per carry. The 28-year-old was somewhat involved in the passing game, making three catches for 17 yards but needs to be better in his pass protection.

    As for Canadian running back Daniel Adeboboye, he received no carries and his one catch went for -2 yards. He did return a kickoff for 37 yards, though.

    2/5

    If you were only casually watching the game, you’d be forgiven for thinking the Redblacks only dressed two receivers. That’s because every time Maier dropped back to pass, it seemed he was only making two reads: Justin Hardy or Ayden Eberhardt. The former was targeted 17 times and turned that into 10 catches for 114 yards. The latter had 14 balls thrown his way and snagged 11 of them for 155 yards and a touchdown.

    As for the other three starting pass-catchers in Ottawa’s receiving corps, Cade McDonald made a trio of catches for 25 yards, while Eugene Lewis’ lone reception came on the game’s very last play for 14 yards. American rookie Binjimen Victor was promoted to the active roster at X and started over Pimpleton. He received no targets and thus made no catches.

    While Hardy and Eberhardt are clearly capable of handling a heavy load when called upon, it’s not healthy for the offence as a whole to depend upon just two guys. Whoever is under centre for the Redblacks next week needs to do a much better job of spreading the ball around.

    Coming up small in big moments

    At the end of the third quarter, things actually looked to be tilting in the Redblacks’ favour. The offence had just put together a nice touchdown drive, and the team was trailing 16-14.

    Then Edmonton’s offence took the field and proceeded to go on an eight-play, 80-yard touchdown drive of their own. Things only spiralled from there, as William Fields’ defence utterly collapsed. On their last four possessions over the game’s final 15 minutes, the Elks generated 254 yards of offence — 47 percent of their production on the night — and scored 24 points.

    While it should be acknowledged that when playing a back of Justin Rankin’s calibre, there will be plays where you simply get Rankin’d — meaning you have everything contained, but the superstar goes supernova– it’s not something that can be allowed to happen again and again and again.

    Any way you slice it, the Elks tore through the Redblacks’ defence. They put up 215 yards on the ground, averaging 6.5 yards per carry, and 340 yards through the air, averaging 14.2 yards per pass. A full 228 of those passing yards came AFTER the catch. Ottawa defenders repeatedly took poor angles and missed tackles. Time after time, defensive backs never got off blocks, turning short swing passes into huge gains.

    Of Edmonton’s 14 drives, seven gained at least 50 yards. It’s no surprise to see that the Elks converted 63 percent of their second-down opportunities because they averaged a whopping 12 yards per play on second down.

    Frankly, there was only one defender who stood out for the Redblacks, and yet again it was middle linebacker Nyles Morgan. The 29-year-old notched seven tackles, a sack and had a knockdown. His defensive teammates would do well to try and match his fire and intensity because it’s something that’s lacking amongst many in the unit.

    Under the radar

    It’s been lost in the team’s poor start to the season, but kicker Brett Lauther is having a stellar start to his 2026 campaign. Although he was only called upon once against the Elks, a 27-yard kick which he nailed, the veteran kicker is now riding a streak of 14 consecutive kicks made. By scoring five points last night — a field goal and two converts — Lauther has now moved past Boris Bede into 23rd on the CFL’s all-time scoring list with 1,191 points to his credit.

    As for the rest of Ottawa’s special teams, thankfully Noah Gettman didn’t have to make any tackles and could simply focus on punting. Although he had a couple of beauties, including a booming 62-yard punt, he still only managed a 35.8-yard average field flip. Pimpleton averaged 11.3 yards per punt return and 25.4 yards per kickoff.

    Canadian defensive lineman Charlie Parks, Ottawa’s fourth round pick in the 2026 CFL draft, led the way in terms of kick coverage by making two special teams tackles.

    Sometimes, it’s not complicated

    Through 19 games this CFL season, just one team has been victorious when they’ve lost the turnover battle. Teams are 14-1 this season when they have fewer turnovers.

    Unsurprisingly, the 0-5 Redblacks are a CFL worst at -9, whereas the 4-1 Elks are a +7.

    Up next

    Even though it’s still July and there’s plenty of football left to be played, 13 games in fact, things are quickly slipping away from the 2026 Redblacks squad.

    At 0-5, they’re two games back of everyone else in their division, and depending on how this weekend’s slate of games goes, they might find themselves three games back. Even guessing conservatively, Ottawa likely needs 8 wins to be in contention for a playoff spot. That would mean the team could only afford to drop five more games all season long.

    Yet any talk of or looking ahead to the playoffs is foolish when Dinwiddie’s team has yet to prove they can win a game. Changes need to happen, and fast. The offence must come out of the gate quicker, and that might require a change under centre. The defence has to put together a full 60-minute effort. They’ve had moments where they looked intimidating, but too often fail to come up with timely stops or turnovers.

    It’ll take better efforts from the players, but also better coaching. It’ll need to happen against tough competition, as things only get more difficult with the Bombers, Alouettes and Roughriders as the next three teams Ottawa faces.

    Next Sunday night’s home tilt against Winnipeg could be extra spicy if it features a battle between McLeod Bethel-Thompson and Dru Brown.



    Santino Filoso is originally from Ottawa and has written about the Redblacks since 2013. He is the only CFL writer currently living in Brazil (as far as we know).




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