![]() It took the offence 25 seconds to line up for a quarterback sneak, which they converted. On the final possession of the first half, the Redblacks marched the ball down to Winnipeg’s 36-yard line with 53 seconds left on the clock. Five possessions ended in points - one touchdown, three field goals and a rouge - five ended in two and outs, one with an interception and another on a turnover on downs.ģ) It’s never really fair to point to one particular moment in a game as costing the team a win, but two negative drives severely impacted Ottawa’s chances of winning. In actuality though, 11 of the Redblacks’ 14 drives lasted five plays or less. In theory, that should have meant plenty of long, sustained drives. LaPolice’s squad averaged 9.5 yards per first-down play, and 6.1 yards per second-down play, which was a large reason why Ottawa had a second-down conversion rate of 52%. Up against arguably the best defence in the league, the Redblacks racked up 431 yards of net offence and 18 first downs. There was a healthy mix of run and pass plays and LaPolice effectively used play-action, rollouts, screens and other backfield misdirection to temper the Bombers’ fierce pass rush. Much of that is a direct result of him simply having more weapons - and a capable triggerman in Masoli - at his disposal. Overall, in his first start as a Redblack, Masoli was everything R-Nation hoped he could be.Ģ) The offence on display in Ottawa’s season opener was much more explosive than anything Paul LaPolice orchestrated in 2021. He scrambled twice for 10 yards but his real talent wasn’t moving the chains with his legs, it was buying time for his receivers to get open. In addition to showing off his big arm, the 33-year-old pivot did an excellent job throwing on the run and using his legs to escape pressure when the pocket broke down. How's that for a response? drops a dime to Shaq Johnson for the major! #CFLGameday | /VriucWmctD If not for the above-mentioned opening drive drop, Masoli’s final stat line of 24-of-34 for 380 yards, a touchdown and an interception would have been even more impressive. ![]() He had four completions of 30+ yards, reflecting the ease with which he was able to push the ball down the field. Masoli torched a stout Winnipeg defence, completing 70 percent of his passes to nine different receivers. The veteran quarterback came out slinging it and even with the drop of a perfectly placed deep bomb that hit his receiver in stride, the message was sent. Instead, the Redblacks drop to 0-1 after falling 19-17 to the Blue Bombers.ġ) If you don’t think watching highlights - or rather lowlights for him - of the 108th Grey Cup during the pre-game banner unveiling had Jeremiah Masoli fired up, you must not have been paying attention. Whether it was dropping surefire touchdowns and potential pick-sixes, poor clock management, or sloppy tackling on the game’s final drive, had Ottawa simply been able to make one more play, the final score would have rewarded the better team for the majority of the night. They were quickly reminded that when you’re on the road and up against a team boasting a 19-1 record in their previous 20 home games, the margin for error is non-existent. In their first meeting since July 19th, 2019 - a span of 1,056 days - the Ottawa Redblacks had the back-to-back Grey Cup champion Winnipeg Blue Bombers on the ropes.
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