The Ottawa Redblacks revenge was sweet last night as they knocked off the Edmonton Eskimos of 45-37 in overtime. Here are some takeaways from the Ottawa Redblacks’ first game of the 2016 CFL Season.
Trevor Harris Steps Up
In the third quarter, Ottawa quarterback, Henry Burris, left the game with a finger injury on his throwing hand. Burris’ night ended early with him going 23/31 on passes, and racking up 251 yards, a touchdown, and an interception. Trevor Harris played for the rest of the game and he was very impressive. He completed 17/19 passes. He also put up 292 yards and three touchdowns. Talk about a huge step up for the team. Quarterback competition might possibly be getting higher and higher with every game this season in the Capital.
Running Back Remains a Question Mark
The Redblacks lost running back William Powell to an achilles injury in the pre-season and is done for the season. It is a huge loss for the team no doubt. It now meant it is time for Travon Van to step into the starting running back role and see what he can bring to the table. He had a promising first pre-season game, however, when it came to playing in a game that counts, he had a poor outing. Van ran for 47 yards on 12 carries in the game. He doesn’t tend to run routes on the inside of the defensive lines, a disadvantage compared to other running backs. Ottawa wants their depth to step up, but who their go-to running back should be for this season remains a big question mark.
Defensive Line Underwhelms
The defensive line was underwhelming for the Redblacks in game one. They put very little pressure on quarterback Mike Reilly, giving him a lot of time to make his decisions and rack up stats: he put up 383 passing yards in total. However, the Ottawa defence shone in stopping the run game, limiting the Eskimos to 59 rushing yards on 18 carries. But losing Justin Capicciotti, who led the team in sacks last year, from that defensive line was a huge blow to the Redblacks. Ottawa has been known for having a strong defensive team over the past two seasons. They will have to figure out who will put more pressure on opposing team’s quarterbacks moving forward – who will bring the Capital punishment they very badly need.
Main Photo:
