It could have come at any point, and now it has: the Ottawa Redblacks first loss of the 2016 CFL season. The final score was a heartbreaking 30-29 loss to the Saskatchewan Roughriders. While the loss is tough to handle in itself, it came at a high price as well. Here are the takeaways from this week’s game.
What Happened in Ottawa Redblacks First Loss
Injury Bug Bites Hard
Defensive end Arnaud Gascon-Nadon and quarterback Trevor Harris were both were injured in Ottawa’s loss. The team provided no injury updates after the game for either player. Source, Gord Holder (@HolderGord) tweeted that Harris will be further examined back in Ottawa. It really is painful to see any player get injured after such impressive games.
Brock Jensen with a solid performance despite first loss
After Harris left the game, Brock Jensen came in at quarterback for Ottawa. He had a fairly solid game, completing 20 of 29 passes, while posting 271 yards and two touchdowns. Although his game in the first half performance might have better than his second half performance, he did as much as he could to try and pull out a win in Regina. It fell just short. Jensen left the game showing Redblacks head coach, Rick Campbell, what he is capable of doing and that he can do enough to impress him.
Defence Needs Tightening Up
This normally is not something you would expect to see from Ottawa’s perspective, but they have to tighten up on the defensive side. They missed tackles and had poor coverage, and the secondary were torched throughout the game. No single player had a bad game; the team as a whole must learn from its mistakes, tighten up on the issues, and move on to the next game. One very noticeable factor in this game, though, is that defensive back Johnathan Rose plays a huge part in Ottawa’s defence. He was on the one-game injured list prior to this game, and his return will make a significant difference to the team’s secondary.
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