CFL.ca Staff
OTTAWA – The Ottawa REDBLACKS’ second season in the CFL has been like a fairytale so far, but this story still needs an ending.
From two-win team to East Division Champion, Ottawa has made the biggest of splashes from year one to year two in the league. Now a new season begins however, and this time the resurgent REDBLACKS won’t fool anyone.
Unlike at the start of the season when just making the playoffs seemed like a suitable goal, the expectation in the nation’s capital has shifted to at least appearing in the 103rd Grey Cup Championship.
It starts in a game the REDBLACKS are favoured in against the Hamilton Tiger-Cats, a team Ottawa is very familiar with having played back-to-back to finish off the regular season.
2015 By the Numbers
Offence
PPG: 25.8 (4th)
Passing: 322.6 YPG (1st)
Rushing: 85.3 YPG (5th)
Total: 386.3 (1st)
Sacks: 43 (4th)
Defence
PPG: 25.2 (5th)
Passing: 252.0 (4th)
Rushing: 70.8 (1st)
Total: 297.6 (1st)
Sacks: 62 (1st)
Interceptions: 26 (T-1st)
Key Roster Notes
Injuries:
RB Jeremiah Johnson
DL Aston Whiteside
K/P Ronnie Pfeffer
DB Jerrell Gavins
Winners of Team Awards
Most Outstanding Player: Henry Burris
Defensive Player: Damaso Munoz
Canadian: Brad Sinopoli
Offensive Lineman: SirVincent Rogers
Special Teams: Antoine Pruneau
Rookie: Forrest Hightower
Season Matchup
2-0
The REDBLACKS and Ticats did not square off until a back-to-back set in the final two weeks of the season and Ottawa won both matchups.
How they got here
The tone was truly set in the off-season, when GM Marcel Desjardins took an aggressive approach to bolstering a receiving corps that was a major weakness in 2014. The second-year GM added five new proven CFL receivers and the additions immediately paid off.
Luring high-profile free agent Chris Williams from the NFL was the biggest splash any team made in a busy off-season, and his play this season backed up the hype. The former Tiger-Cat finished third in the CFL in receiving yards and highlighted a group that boasted four 1,000-yard seasons.
Ottawa’s passing game was explosive while 40-year-old quarterback Henry Burris, a future Hall of Famer, enjoyed arguably the best season of his career in the wake of a disappointing first season with the REDBLACKS.
While Ottawa’s league-leading offence was a big part of the reason the REDBLACKS won 11 games this season, a defence that quietly ranked second in the league – ahead of other elite defences like Calgary’s and Hamilton’s – also played a role.
The REDBLACKS scored points on offence and didn’t allow sacks while on defence they led the league in sacks and didn’t allow points. They protected the football and they made explosive plays. This is complete a team as you will find entering the Grey Cup Playoffs, and now it will look to build on the momentum in the games that really matter.
Turning point of the season
It’s strange to pick a loss as the turning point of the season for a winning team, but Ottawa’s downfall to the Toronto Argonauts on Aug. 23 in Toronto may have provided a spark in the REDBLACKS’ season.
They were coming off a 48-3 blowout loss to the Stampeders the week before in Calgary and had the lead in the fourth quarter, but after stopping Harris and the Argos on a second down play, an unsportsmanlike penalty kept Toronto’s drive alive.
The Argos scored on the drive and wound up winning the game, while the REDBLACKS were left feeling as though they let a game slip away.
Ottawa has only lost twice in 10 games since then, both losses coming to those same Argos. That game in late August seemed to bring a little something extra out of a REDBLACKS team with a chip on its shoulder, one that now enters the post-season on a four-game winning streak.
Why the REDBLACKS will win the Grey Cup
The REDBLACKS don’t have any weaknesses and while winning eight of their last 10 games have proven they can win in a variety of ways. Whether it’s a defensive struggle such as the 12-6 win over the Ticats a few weeks ago or a shootout win like the one in the season finale, Ottawa is a team well-equipped for absolutely anything.
Henry Burris is the leading candidate to win Most Outstanding Player after his career season and he’s playing more like a 30-year-old than a 40-year-old, while at his disposal is a group of the most electrifying receivers in the league. If Chris Williams and Greg Ellingson are covered, Ernest Jackson and Brad Sinopoli are more than capable of tearing apart a defence.
Most impressive is the REDBLACKS’ bounce back effort defensively this season. Ottawa tied for the league lead with 26 interceptions and led the league with 62 sacks, as an underrated defence coming into 2015 has developed an elite knack for making big plays and being aggressive.
Also important to note is that the REDBLACKS are relatively healthy entering the Eastern Final, something not all teams have the luxury of saying. Ottawa’s vaunted receiving corps has stayed healthy all season while Jeremiah Johnson and Forrest Hightower could also be nearing a return to the lineup.
The week off and home advantage in the Eastern Final doesn’t hurt either, of course, and neither does the fact that the REDBLACKS own a 2-0 edge against their next opponent – a team that was busy last week scrapping out a win at all costs at home against the Toronto Argonauts in the Eastern Semi-Final.
Why the REDBLACKS won’t win the Grey Cup
While the REDBLACKS on paper are as good a bet as anyone to take home the Grey Cup this season, winning the big game itself will be the biggest challenge whether it’s against Calgary or Edmonton.
The Stamps and Eskimos are considered the two best teams in the CFL, both having finished with 14-4 records – and while the REDBLACKS did hand Calgary a 29-26 loss in an overtime thriller back in Week 5, Ottawa has struggled in four games against those teams overall.
The REDBLACKS lost 48-3 in the rematch with the Stamps and lost back-to-back games against the Eskimos, getting outscored 69-29. Overall in four matchups against the two best teams the REDBLACKS went 1-3 and were outscored 143-61.
Can Ottawa first take care of business against a team the REDBLACKS are favoured to beat, and then carry the momentum forward against one of the CFL’s truly elite teams? It’ll be a challenge as both the Stamps and the Esks offer a degree of difficulty in an opponent that Ottawa hasn’t seen since Week 8 – a very long time ago.
Player to watch
All eyes should be on Henry Burris, who at the age of 40 has already defied the odds of an aging professional football quarterback. Burris was the top quarterback in 2015 and should be on his way to winning Most Outstanding Player, while in the playoffs there’s no reason that success can’t continue.
Continuing to lean on his four 1,000-yard receivers, Burris will look to first eliminate the team that cut him loose after carrying the Ticats to the Grey Cup two years ago – then he’ll look to cap off what’s been a storybook season in Ottawa with a Grey Cup Championship.
Burris is the guy to watch for the REDBLACKS and potentially of the entire CFL Playoffs.
The post REDBLACKS look to continue second-year surge appeared first on Boss Odds.