Photo: Gord Weber/3DownNation. All rights reserved.
It’s not just that the Ottawa Redblacks were defeated by the visiting Toronto Argonauts by a score of 44-24 at TD Place on Saturday afternoon, but it’s how this latest loss came to be that’s concerning.
An offence that should’ve been on track after a poor showing in the rain and a bye week looked stuck in the mud. The defence was opportunistic, but still way too passive. Special teams were a net negative.
Here are all my thoughts on the game.
Mai-j-er pressure
While Week 1’s underwhelming outing can be overlooked due to the heavy rain, Jake Maier’s second consecutive less-than-stellar performance ramps up the pressure on both himself and his head coach.
When Ryan Dinwiddie declared Maier as his starting quarterback during the last week of camp, before incumbent starter Dru Brown even took a preseason snap, it opened up the decision to second-guess. Had Maier stormed out of the gate, it would have validated how things played out. But that hasn’t been the case.
Photo: Gord Weber/3DownNation. All rights reserved.
Maier wasn’t the reason the Redblacks lost to the Argos, but had he completed more than 63 percent of his throws, the outcome is likely different. The 29-year-old finished with 281 yards, a touchdown and a pair of interceptions, but the stats don’t tell the whole story.
There were balls that were underthrown, overthrown and behind open receivers. There were others that sailed to parts of the fields that didn’t have a receiver in the same area code. Forget about not being on the same page as his receivers; at times, it seemed like the quarterback was reading an entirely different book. Had some of those passes been on target, drives would have continued, and touchdowns may have resulted. Yet at the same time, a handful of those errant throws were lucky not to have resulted in turnovers.
In a post-game interview with TSN1200, Dinwiddie talked about slimming down the playbook in order to help the offence get into a rhythm. Hopefully, that does the trick for his quarterback because until Maier raises his game, the calls for his benching from fans will only grow louder.
Was it being too cute?
When the Redblacks marched the ball down to Toronto’s 1-yard line, trailing by 12 with 3:35 left, it seemed like the logical thing to do was trot out the short yardage unit and QB sneak the ball into the end zone. It’s a play that’s become so commonplace in the CFL that it’s basically the default call for every offence. Yet Ottawa didn’t.
Instead, Dinwiddie lined up his quarterback in shotgun on first and second down. The first call was a play-action pass to Kalil Pimpleton, who found himself wide open in the flat. The ball was underthrown and fell incomplete. The second play was a short crosser to Ayden Eberhardt. Again, had the ball been better placed, it would’ve been an easy touchdown. Instead, it was behind Eberhardt, and although he got a hand on it, it was dropped.
On third-and-goal, a Daniel Adeboboye handoff was ruled inches short. Why Adeboboye’s first touch of the game came at its most important moment is also worth questioning.
DENIED AT THE LINE
Toronto’s defence stuffed Daniel Adeboboye on a critical third down to keep the lead at 12.#CFL #Argos #PullTogether pic.twitter.com/itmssRsabr
— 3DownNation (@3DownNation) June 20, 2026
None of the three calls was typical of things you’d expect in that situation, and after the game Dinwiddie said his process was influenced by the fact that he didn’t want to chew up clock, had his normal short yardage plays been unsuccessful. To be fair to him, had either of the first two passes been completed, he would have looked like a genius for maximizing time left on the clock.
Hindsight is 20/20, of course, but it’s hard not to wonder if this game has an entirely different outcome if the Redblacks don’t overthink things and simply attempt three quarterback sneaks until one works.
Offensive woes
The offence didn’t struggle just in the red zone (although they do go one-for-four in it). Overall, the Redblacks had a terrible time stringing together any semblance of an attack.
Despite having 17 possessions, Ottawa only managed to orchestrate a single touchdown drive. 11 drives gained less than 12 yards. Self-inflicted wounds were a factor, too, as five drives ended in turnovers.
Even when their defence gifted them a turnover, the offence failed to capitalize. Producing two field goals off of five turnovers is never going to be conducive to winning football.
Schematically, the Redblacks need to try something different, as too many of their playmakers aren’t getting the ball in space, and explosive plays have been lacking. They don’t have much time to turn things around either, as they face a tough Montreal defence next week.
Bell Cow…until he wasn’t
After using the bye week to get fully healthy, star free agent acquisition Greg Bell made his Redblacks debut. Unfortunately, he wasn’t able to do much. His 11 carries went for 29 yards, and his six catches for 31. He made a number of sharp cuts and looked shifty, but too often had defenders in his face before he even made it to the line of scrimmage.
Photo: Gord Weber/3DownNation. All rights reserved.
And while it’s normal for the highest-paid back in the league to see the majority of touches, it was puzzling that a week after having Canadian Daniel Adeboboye average 7.3 yards per rushing attempt, his lone carry came on third-and-goal with less than three minutes left in the game.
Going forward, the split can’t be 17 touches to one. I get that Adeboboye is an excellent special teams player, but he’s also too talented offensively not to be used. Perhaps there’s even a way for Ottawa to get both him and Bell on the field together to give the opposing defence some headaches.
Only one ball to share
The Redblacks have a bevy of skilled pass catchers in their receiving corps, and for the most part, Maier did a solid job of spreading the targets around. In Ottawa’s season opener, seven different players had at least three targets. Against Toronto, each of Ottawa’s starting receivers had at least four looks, although how that translated in terms of catches varied significantly.
Eberhardt led the way, turning a team-high 13 targets into eight receptions for 129 yards and a touchdown. Frankly, he should’ve had a second score early in the fourth quarter, but dropped a pass in the end zone.
Welcome to Ottawa, Ayden! #CFLGameday https://t.co/6GqxzFYFGC pic.twitter.com/GBKMOsBLWV
— CFL (@CFL) June 20, 2026
Eugene Lewis finished with four catches for 48 yards, but could’ve had more. On Maier’s second interception, a jump ball down the sideline late in the game, the veteran receiver seemingly lost track of the ball and never left his feet.
WATCH YA HEAD TOP 💥
Benjie Franklin picks it off! pic.twitter.com/aiVh2XotHO
— Toronto Argonauts (@TorontoArgos) June 20, 2026
Justin Hardy snagged four passes for 30 yards, while Pimpleton finished with three catches for 43 yards. Canadian Keelan White was targeted four times, but thanks to a drop and communication issues with his quarterback, he finished without a reception.
Room for improvement
Any time the offensive line drops back to pass protect 42 times and only concedes two sacks, I’ll tip my hat to them. Especially when one of the sacks comes as a result of the quarterback holding onto the ball too long, as was the case in the second quarter, and when the group has three new starters, including a rookie. It was the second week in a row that Dino Boyd, Drew Desjarlais, Sean McEwen, Gio Vaccaro, and Martez Ivey played together, and while they had moments where things broke down, overall it was a strong outing in terms of protection.
What the group needs to improve upon quickly is opening lanes on the ground. Averaging 3.1 yards per carry and getting stuffed twice on third-and-one is unacceptable. There simply needs to be more push from the big men up front. As I alluded to last week, the offensive line is a positional group that needs time for the unit to build cohesion, but the Redblacks can’t afford them taking a month to fully gel.
Killed by Kelly
After today’s game, three of Chad Kelly’s best four career outings are against Ottawa. Saturday’s performance was the third time Kelly passed for 400+ yards against the Redblacks’ defence. The 32-year-old shredded their secondary for three quarters and finished the game by completing 78 percent of his passes for 424 yards and four touchdowns.
Photo: Gord Weber/3DownNation. All rights reserved.
Toronto averaged 13.3 yards per completion, but what ultimately saved this from being an utterly disastrous outing from William Fields’ unit was their ability to generate timely turnovers. Five takeaways don’t happen by accident, and Ottawa does deserve credit for taking the ball away. Unfortunately for them, the offence did little with those gifts.
There are a couple of individual performances that also deserve recognition. For the second week in a row, middle linebacker Nyles Morgan led the team in tackles, this time with 10. Three of those were for a loss, and frankly, Morgan was flying around. He blew up plays before they got started and chased ball carriers down from behind.
Speaking of good linebacker play, A. J. Allen and C.J. Reavis each made six tackles. Reavis also had a knockdown. Canadian defensive end Aidan John was also noticeable throughout the game. He notched three tackles, a sack, and had a handful of pressures and other jarring hits on the quarterback.
Canadian catches
In a stat that might interest only me, all four of Ottawa’s interceptions were recorded by Canadians. The first came from starting safety Alonzo Addae. Once he left after injuring his shoulder while making a hit in the third quarter, his replacement, Scott Hutter, went on to record two interceptions of his own.
KELLY’S 4TH INT OF THE GAME. 😳 pic.twitter.com/AK3isP0I9G
— TSN (@TSN_Sports) June 20, 2026
The other pick came courtesy of fourth-year pro Lucas Cormier. He actually fumbled the ball during his return, but was bailed out by teammate Shakur Brown’s recovery.
Special at times
The good from Jeff Reinebold’s special teams unit was Brett Lauther nailing all five of his field goals, from 18, 49, 51, 39 and 28 yards out. The kick coverage units also limited the always dangerous Janarion Grant to just 8.3 yards per punt return and 24.5 per kickoff. Bennett Williams led the way with two special teams tackles.
The bad was punter Noah Gettman only averaging a 39.2-yard flip per kick, and Pimpleton’s afternoon returning. As a third-year guy, Pimpleton has to have better situational awareness in the second quarter. Conceding the rouge was always the play, not fielding the ball two yards deep in his end zone and pinning his offence on their own four-yard line. On one hand, you have to respect the self-belief, as he has the ability to find a crease and make a game-changing play. On the other hand, your veterans need to make the smartest decisions. His fourth-quarter fumble was also tough, as it basically sealed the Argo victory.
Look good, play the same?
Photo: Gord Weber/3DownNation. All rights reserved.
As I detailed on Monday, the Redblacks’ new road jerseys look incredible. The promotional photos were one thing, but seeing them on the field was another. The team nailed it, plain and simple.
The only thing about their release that could’ve been done better (in my opinion) is that, despite being released on Monday morning, fans weren’t able to customize or buy jerseys with player names until Thursday night. Ideally, those things would’ve been done in conjunction to maximize sales and capitalize on the hype surrounding their release. That delay feels like a big missed opportunity.
Attendance
The official attendance of 13,943 was a franchise low and a serious cause for concern. To put that into context, the Ottawa Renegades’ worst attended game was 16,303.
Leading up to the game, there were weather reports predicting rain, but by Saturday morning, it was clear the weather would be nice, and it was.
While it should be acknowledged that there was a ton going on in town on Saturday — there was the Italian festival, Dragon Boat races, the Canadian Track and Field championships, the Ottawa Jazz Festival and of course, plenty of World Cup games — it’s clear many in R-Nation aren’t prioritizing the team anymore. And to be fair, it’s kind of understandable why so many are in a wait-and-see mode.
The Redblacks have posted a 23-78-1 record since their 2018 Grey Cup loss, and since 2019, a number of rebuilds/retools have taken place. R-Nation remains a passionate fan base, and those who continue to attend games deserve endless credit, but a large majority of fans won’t return until there’s a reason to believe, which is why being 0-2 really isn’t doing the franchise any favours.
Power Couple
TSN doesn’t treat viewers to it often, but when they do put Dustin Nielson and Duane Forde together in the booth, it’s always great. The duo is easily TSN’s best play-by-play and colour commentator pairing thanks to their ability to seamlessly blend excitement, knowledge and storytelling.
Here’s to hoping it becomes more of a regular thing.
Up next
At 0-2 and alone in the East division’s basement, things don’t get any easier for Dinwiddie’s squad. The Redblacks travel to Montreal next Sunday to face an Alouettes team that will be looking to take out their frustrations after falling in overtime to the Elks.
Looking a bit further ahead, they face Saskatchewan, Edmonton, Winnipeg, Montreal, Saskatchewan, Winnipeg, Montreal and B.C., in that order. Since things won’t be getting any easier, the Redblacks will need to raise their level of play to meet their competition and move into the win column.
