{"id":153080,"date":"2026-08-02T13:46:08","date_gmt":"2026-08-02T13:46:08","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/canada\/153080\/"},"modified":"2026-08-02T13:46:08","modified_gmt":"2026-08-02T13:46:08","slug":"thats-our-achilles-heel-ottawa-redblacks-felled-by-embarrassing-red-zone-execution","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/canada\/153080\/","title":{"rendered":"‘That’s our Achilles heel’: Ottawa Redblacks felled by ’embarrassing’ red-zone execution"},"content":{"rendered":"

\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\"\"\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/p>\n

\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tPhoto: Gord Weber\/3DownNation. All rights reserved.<\/p>\n

Greek mythology is taking centre stage at the box office these days thanks to Christopher Nolan\u2019s epic film \u2018The Odyssey,\u2019 but the Ottawa Redblacks\u2019 own nod to the Trojan War isn\u2019t helping ticket sales.<\/p>\n

Ryan Dinwiddie\u2019s troops attempted to storm the walls of the Montreal Alouettes\u2019 end zone on five occasions on Friday night. The invasion of the red zone proved fruitful only once, with the other four trips resulting in an interception, a turnover on downs, and two field goals. That included multiple gaffes on short-yardage plays or third-down gambles with goal to go.<\/p>\n

\u201cI think that\u2019s our Achilles heel right now, our short yardage, and it hasn\u2019t been good to us,\u201d Dinwiddie acknowledged post-game<\/a>.<\/p>\n

\u2191 what lands at 3 p.m. daily<\/p>\n

3DownNation Newsletter<\/p>\n

\t\tLatest news, exclusive analysis, and more daily at 3 p.m.<\/p>\n

\t\tLatest news, exclusive analysis, and more daily at 3 p.m.<\/p>\n

\t\t\tFree. Unsubscribe anytime. By signing up you agree to receive daily emails from 3DownNation,
\n\t\t\tas well as our terms of service<\/a> and
\n\t\t\tprivacy policy<\/a>.
\n\t\t\t1900 Rose St, Regina SK S4P 0A9.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe probably should have had two more touchdowns down there. The short yardage, we have one guy block it the opposite way, and we\u2019ve been running to his side the whole time. Things like that are catching up to us, and that\u2019s why we\u2019re not finishing some drives.\u201d<\/p>\n

Two things separate the Redblacks from the eponymous hero of fatal flaws. For one, Achilles was a fearsome and revered warrior, undefeated in battle prior to his shocking downfall. Ottawa remains winless through seven games, a model of hapless inefficiency. The legendary half-blood was also slain by a single arrow in his exposed tendon, whereas the CFL\u2019s last-place franchise might as well be a pincushion.<\/p>\n

After their latest display of ineptitude, the Redblacks are just 11-of-26 in the red zone this year, a measly 42.3 percent. Third-down gambles, on which they went four-of-seven against Montreal, aren\u2019t much better, with a season-long success rate of 57.1 percent (16-of-28). Those two compounding factors have contributed to a goose egg in the win column and proved critical in the 34-13 loss<\/a>.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe story of it for me was really poor execution inside the five-yard line,\u201d quarterback Jake Maier acknowledged. \u201cBetween the 10s \u2014 the rest of the CFL field, if you may \u2014 it almost felt like we scored a bunch of points tonight just in terms of how many first downs we were getting in, and we were staying out of second-and-long for the most part. We were doing a lot of things that we said that we wanted to do, but then once we got inside the five, really poor execution by all of us, and to an embarrassing level, to be truthful to you.\u201d<\/p>\n

The ineffectiveness started on Ottawa\u2019s very first offensive drive, as Maier marched his team 56 yards on eight plays to get into scoring position. Then, on second-and-four from the Montreal six-yard line, the embattled QB was forced to rush his delivery, and Ayden Eberhardt couldn\u2019t reel in an ill-placed pass in the end zone. The team settled for a 13-yard field goal.<\/p>\n

Their next trip down the field actually bore fruit, as Daniel Adeboboye followed a lead block from 292-pound defensive lineman Jelani Stafford to score on second-and-goal after a nine-play, 58-yard drive. That play would prove to be an anomaly for Ottawa on multiple fronts.<\/p>\n

Late in the same frame, the Redblacks found themselves in nearly the same situation on second-and-goal from the two-yard line. This time, Adeboboye was held up for no gain and nearly stripped by Tyrice Beverette. Though the turnover was overturned on review, right tackle Julian Pearl foiled his team\u2019s attempt to go-for-it with an illegal procedure penalty, and Lewis Ward was trotted out for another chip shot.<\/p>\n

The field goals ceased in the second half. Facing a daunting deficit, Dinwiddie began to roll the dice on third down, but successes outside the red zone didn\u2019t translate within it. After a 21-yard catch by Justin Hardy on third-and-three put Ottawa in scoring position, Maier was sacked on first down, threw an incompletion on second down, and then was intercepted by defensive end Joshua Archibald on third down at the five-yard line. The Redblacks failed to pick up the blitz off the left side, which caused the quarterback to double-clutch and put the ball in harm\u2019s way.<\/p>\n

\u201cI just felt like our defence was giving up some points and felt like we needed a touchdown there because we were down quite a bit. I thought we had to be aggressive. That was our approach going into it,\u201d Dinwiddie said. \u201cWe had some good third-down conversions, then we went down there and didn\u2019t finish. That\u2019s disheartening right now.\u201d<\/p>\n

History repeated itself yet again at the start of the fourth quarter. After Keelan White was stopped on a screen pass on second-and-inches, Archibald came through untouched between Pearl and first-overall pick Giordano Vaccaro to tackle running back Greg Bell for a loss on third down at the Montreal five-yard line. Yet again, a trip to the red zone ended in a turnover.<\/p>\n

\u201cWhen the chips are down, and you have big third-down situations or second-down situations, and defensively, they\u2019re doing a good job of really forcing the issue and showing you some funky looks and trying to screw up your IDs and the way you\u2019re blocking it, I think sometimes that just kind of gets us,\u201d Maier admitted. \u201cObviously, there are things that I can do better just in terms of decision-making. There are times where I have a handful of options on a given play, whether I throw it left, I hand it off, I throw something right. I have some options. Just unfortunately, we just weren\u2019t good at executing at all in those spots.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cWe\u2019ve got to look at different avenues. Maybe throw it,\u201d Dinwiddie echoed. \u201cIt\u2019s costing us, and we preach details from the get-go in camp, especially in the red zone.\u00a0 We\u2019re not getting it done down there.\u201d<\/p>\n

Ottawa made substantial changes on the defensive side of the ball following Friday\u2019s loss, firing coordinator Will Fields<\/a> and replacing him with Jeff Reinebold. For all their struggles stopping the Alouettes, though, the result might have been dramatically different had the offence not left 22 points out on the field in a 21-point loss.<\/p>\n

\u201cObviously the scoreboard is going to look what it looks like, but, man, you get stopped three times inside the five-yard line. What if you score all three times? That\u2019s the biggest what-if and woulda, coulda, shoulda aspect of this game,\u201d Maier acknowledged.<\/p>\n

Equally dramatic changes to the offence don\u2019t appear to be on the horizon. Maier, who completed 34-of-41 passes for 311 yards and an interception in the loss, has maintained Dinwiddie\u2019s trust throughout the losing skid. Despite persistent issues, the offensive play-caller would also appear to be safe for the foreseeable future, given the Redblacks\u2019 massive investment in him as head coach and general manager, as well as the restrictive operations cap.<\/p>\n

Solutions will have to be found in the same details that perplexed them against the Alouettes, as they look to salvage a lost season.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s what it is. It\u2019s reality. We\u2019ve got to find a way to get a win,\u201d Dinwiddie said. \u201cStill not out of it yet, but we\u2019ve got to get on a streak. I said, \u2018Let\u2019s just worry about winning one game. Let\u2019s go 1-0 and take it from there.’\u201d<\/p>\n

The Redblacks (0-7) will return to action on Friday, August 7, when they visit the Saskatchewan Roughriders.<\/p>\n

\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\"\"\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/p>\n

J.C. Abbott is a University of British Columbia graduate and high school football coach. He covers the CFL, B.C. Lions, CFL Draft and the three-down league’s Global initiative.<\/p>\n

\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Photo: Gord Weber\/3DownNation. All rights reserved. Greek mythology is taking centre stage at the box office these days…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":153081,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[11],"tags":[1591,349,350,351,352,354,25235,355,61,49485,1593,25244,49486,28401],"class_list":["post-153080","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-ottawa","tag-rnation","tag-3down","tag-3downnation","tag-canadian","tag-cfl","tag-football","tag-jake-maier","tag-league","tag-ottawa","tag-red-zone","tag-redblacks","tag-ryan-dinwiddie","tag-short-yardage","tag-turnovers"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/canada\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/153080","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/canada\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/canada\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/canada\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/canada\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=153080"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/canada\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/153080\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/canada\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/153081"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/canada\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=153080"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/canada\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=153080"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/canada\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=153080"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}