The Ottawa Redblacks lost 45-31 to the Calgary Stampeders on Saturday afternoon at TD Place Stadium, Calgary's second straight win over Ottawa. The Redblacks fell to 0-14. Head coach and general manager Ryan Dinwiddie said the feeling in the locker room has become familiar.
"It's like Groundhog Day around here. You got to find ways to say the right things and keep those guys together in that locker room."
Calgary led 25-13 at halftime and 35-13 after three quarters. Clark Barnes caught a 60-yard touchdown pass from Vernon Adams Jr. with 45 seconds left, after Ottawa had cut the deficit to 38-31.
Flat First Half, Better Second
Dinwiddie said the defence came out flat and the sideline lacked emotion in the first half.
"I thought the defense had a better second half. I thought they came out flat. You could see there's no emotion on the sideline the first half. And once they did get some emotion, then they started playing a little bit better, right? And gave us a chance to claw back in the game."
Asked whether Ayden Eberhardt's second-quarter touchdown catch provided a spark, Dinwiddie said the team has to start with energy. "You can't sleepwalk and win a football game, right?" he said. "That should be coming into your mindset all day, anticipating playing this game."
Penalties Pile Up
Dinwiddie listed three penalties: a roughing the passer call on Cleyon Laing, a holding penalty on a kickoff and a UR penalty.
"And then Cleyon gets the roughing the passer. Things like that, we can't overcome those things. And we can't keep having it happen too. It's just been one of those years. And then we get them a holding on the kickoff, and then we take a UR penalty. Like, come on, guys. We got to clean that stuff up. And it's stuff we preach all the time, but it hasn't really sunk in. And that falls on my plate because I'm the head coach."
Quarterback Says He Was Pressing
McLeod Bethel-Thompson, making his second straight start, completed 30 of 47 passes for 418 yards with two touchdowns and an interception. He said he tried to force plays early in the game.
"I can speak for myself. I was probably pressing in the first half. I wanted it. I wanted to be the guy to make the play, and probably forced the ball in a couple of situations where I shouldn't have. And it maybe was, my body was a little bit ahead of my eyes or my eyes were a little bit ahead of my body and I wasn't in sync."
He said the interception came on a play Calgary had seen a week earlier. "We ran the same play last week and I was expecting the corner to fall... he had seen it before. He saw it last week and he made the adjustment. So, testament to them and the adjustments that Calgary made."
Second-Half Turnaround
Ottawa did not score in the third quarter and scored 18 points in the fourth. Bethel-Thompson credited a return to fundamentals.
"We went back to simple football, stuff that we were comfortable with, stuff that we know... in the third and the fourth, we just played simple football and just did the simple things well and got our athletes in space. I mean, we have one of the best receiving corps in the league, in my opinion, across the board. They're dynamic, and we just can get them running fast and knowing where they're going. It's hard to defend."
Staying Close, Still Searching
Bethel-Thompson said Ottawa's past two games against Calgary were close. The Redblacks lost 40-38 in Week 16 on Rene Paredes' 62-yard field goal, and trailed by seven inside the final two minutes on Saturday. "We thought we had won last week, and credit to them, they fought back and won. And then today we fought back, but we can't get over the hump," he said. "It seems like even when we get right, we get wrong. Maybe we just need to do some ceremonies or something to kick the mojo in the right direction. But we're definitely close, and testament to the guys in the locker room, how they fought and keep fighting each week."
Dinwiddie was asked how he keeps the group together after another defeat. "It's a testament to that locker room and the strength in that locker room," he said. "Can't put yourself behind the 8-ball against a good team and can't make up that many points in the second half. So just another frustrating situation and how do we respond to it and how do we get back up off the ground and fight our way back."