Photo courtesy: CFL.ca
They say that ignorance is bliss, but a lack of answers for the Redblacks’ 0-5 start isn’t improving the mood in Ottawa.
After Thursday night’s blowout defeat against the Elks, quarterback Jake Maier acknowledged that he was at a loss for how to turn things around.
“I don’t know yet. I don’t know,” he admitted on TSN 1200‘s post-game show. “Obviously, we have like 10 days here to prepare for our next opponent, and I’m sure I’ll have more answers for you in the days to come. But right now, it’s too fresh. We’ll see. We have a lot to talk about.”
The Redblacks kept things competitive through three quarters in Edmonton, trailing just 16-14 entering the final frame. Then the wheels came off, as the Elks scored 24 fourth-quarter points and held Ottawa to a field goal in order to secure a 40-17 victory.
Head coach and general manager Ryan Dinwiddie tore into his team in the aftermath of their Week 5 loss to Saskatchewan, but was surprisingly subdued following their dismal response in Week 6. Instead, he preached team unity and an end to finger-pointing in the team’s search for answers, offering no greater insight than his quarterback.
“We’ve got to find some solutions. Just talking to the team and us as a staff, we’ve got to find ways to scheme up some things to give our players some better opportunities,” he told the media. “We gotta find some answers. I told those guys they just gotta stick together. If we start panicking and turning on each other, that ain’t gonna help out.”
Maier completed 26-of-39 passes for 293 yards and one touchdown, but also threw four interceptions in the defeat. Two of those turnovers came amidst the fourth-quarter collapse, as the Redblacks rapidly lost control of the game.
“Going into the fourth quarter, one-possession game, just didn’t make enough plays at the end to keep us in it,” Maier explained. “Then towards the end, just kind of making decisions a little bit more out of desperation to try to get back into the game, and obviously they didn’t go our way. It just kind of snowballed.”
Through five losses, Maier has laboured at the bottom of the CFL’s quarterback leaderboard, completing 123-of-184 passes for 1,372 yards, seven touchdowns, and seven interceptions. The offence as a whole has struggled, with high-priced free agent running back Greg Bell a non-factor in games and star receiver Eugene Lewis an afterthought in the passing attack.
That has led some to question why Maier was anointed as the starter in training camp to begin with, leading the Redblacks to ship his predecessor, Dru Brown, to Winnipeg via trade. Receiver Ayden Eberhardt cautioned rash judgments on that front, noting that it can take time for a new-look roster to build an identity.
“It does take time for teams to be able to gel with a new coaching staff, new quarterback,” he told TSN 1200. “Not an excuse at all, but it does take a little bit more time than just snapping your fingers and being like, ‘Alright, this is what it is, you guys should be ready to go.’ We’ve just got to start taking those next steps. I think we’ve shown flashes, and we just need to put a full game together.”
It is unclear if Maier will even be afforded the opportunity to work through the Redblacks’ problems. Veteran backup McLeod Bethel-Thompson took over under centre at the end of the fourth quarter, getting his first taste of action since signing with the team.
Dinwiddie has a long-standing relationship with Bethel-Thompson and won a Grey Cup with him as the starter in Toronto. While he attempted to deflect some of the blame for Thursday’s loss away from Maier, the coach acknowledged that the starting quarterback position would be examined closely this week
“We’ll look at it. The one thing is we’re so one-dimensional on offence right now, we’re asking the quarterback to make some amazing throws on second-and-long. It’s tough sledding. If we stay on schedule, I think we’ll have some better quarterback play there,” he remarked.
“I just wanted Mac to get in there, get his feet wet. He hasn’t took a snap in a long time, and he’s only had a few days of practice with us. We’ll look at everything when it comes to that.”
Regardless of whether Maier maintains the job or not, the Redblacks will need to find an answer to the question that perplexed him post-game. How can the season be turned around?
“We’ve got to stay level-headed. We’ve got to stay upbeat because this is the CFL, you’ve got 18 games,” Eberhardt said. “Anything can really happen, and I truly believe that once one (win) happens, we can start getting on a roll and we can make some noise. We just need to start with one.”
The Redblacks (0-5) will be back in action on Sunday, July 19, when they host the Winnipeg Blue Bombers (2-2) at TD Place. It will mark the return of Dru Brown to Ottawa, though it is unclear what quarterbacks will start for either team.
