IMPROVING: The Ottawa Redblacks are full of receivers heading into the bye week

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While the Ottawa Redblacks have a bye week to erase the stench of a 45-13 beating Saturday night in Vancouver, general manager Marcel Desjardins is already shuffling the deck.

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I am a patient type. After a loss in Game 2 and a poor offensive performance for the second time in a row, I said it was better to wait. After more of the same in Game 3, I said it was better to wait. After an embarrassing loss in Game 4, with a little more offense, I said, wait. After Game 5, it was the right time for some changes.

What happened on that football field at BC Place magnifies what is wrong with the 2019 Ottawa Redblacks: They just aren’t very good. There are very, very good guys in that locker room; The problem is that there are not enough really good soccer players. Look around the league, look at the starting lists. How many players from this Redblacks team could start in Winnipeg? Or Saskatchewan? Or Calgary? Or Saskatchewan? Or BC? Or in Toronto? Or in Montreal? Or Hamilton?

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The Redblacks have lost four straight games and, at 1-4, are just one game behind the Hamilton Tiger-Cats (at 2-3) in the CFL East standings. So it’s not like the Redblacks should go offline and go into bare metal mode. There is time to save a season, there are some good pieces in place. But identify the weak spots and fix them.

Some people are calling for Desjardins to be fired; It’s the whole “What have you done for me lately?” thing. After all, the Redblacks were 3-15 in 2019, the last season they played. But Desjardins and his soccer operations team also led the team to three Gray Cups in the previous five seasons, winning in 2016, his third year in the league. That has to count for something. Desjardins is in the last year of his contract; it will be judged, but now is not the time to do so.

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There is some optimism within the soccer team, but perhaps the glass is not half full.

“The way we are playing now, we are not going to win,” defender Antoine Pruneau said. “But I have the feeling that we can change things. We have some guys who will be back from injury soon. I think there is a lot of talent on this team. Right now, this is our team and we are going to have to find ways to win with the players who are here ”.

So what has to happen? They need to improve on offense and defense looks like it could use a patch too. Money shouldn’t be a problem. The Redblacks haven’t spent the money they saved when Alex Mateas and Brad Sinopoli retired. COVID protocols make it more difficult to sign players – a player has to go in and quarantine for a week. There is also the possibility that the boys who come to the country do not want to be vaccinated. And as a general manager, I would insist on it.

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Doing nothing and waiting for things to fix themselves is not the way to go.

Hoping to add spice to their offense, the Redblacks were active Sunday, signing wide receivers Kenny Stafford (a seven-year CFL veteran who had 366 receiving yards in 2019 in seven games), Terrance Williams (a pick third-round NFL draft pick in 2013). who had 3,377 receiving yards in six years with the Dallas Cowboys), Tennessee-Martin’s Terry Williams, Damon Sheehy-Giuseppe and running back De’Lance Turner, who has NFL experience with the Baltimore Ravens and Miami Dolphins.

Does defensive lineman Eli Ankou have any interest in playing in his hometown while he waits for another shot in the NFL? Would the Edmonton Elks be interested in negotiating the rights of offensive lineman Derek Dennis?

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And the quarterback? It’s probably too late to bring someone in, so they’ll have to dance with what they have. Dominique Davis has accumulated good passing yards in recent weeks: 291 and 333 yards. He moves well and has a big arm, so he has the tools to succeed. But he also makes bad decisions; He seems to be concentrating on his early target, giving defensive backs a heads up where he’s pitching. He threw a costly interception Saturday and there were at least a couple more to choose from. The Redblacks must look again at Matt Nichols, who they will pay nearly $ 320,000 this season. They also need to put third and fourth stringers Caleb Evans and Taryn Christion to the test. Maybe they’ll catch lightning in a bottle.

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While the offense continues to make mistakes, the defense has been atrocious for the past two weeks. Something comes down to the basics: Tackling 101. Something comes down to executing game calls. Special teams were also a problem Saturday: BC’s Lucky Whitehead rushed 119 yards for a touchdown on a field goal missed by Lewis Ward. And Chris Rainey had a 53-yard kickoff return.

The bye week doesn’t necessarily mean it will be a bye week for a team that needs to figure things out before their next game, Sept. 22 at home to Hamilton.

“As I told the team, we will evaluate everything, we will see what we have to do differently, be it on defense, on offense or on special teams,” Redblacks head coach Paul LaPolice said. “We have time to evaluate and see where we can improve.”

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I might be wrong. Maybe someone outside the team who has seen them play is wrong. Maybe the coaches and football operations people are right. Maybe it’s not a bad soccer team; it sure looks like this.

THE REPORT CARD

Crime C-: Yes, I know Dominique Davis had 333 passing yards. But there were some huge mistakes. Also, scoring 13 points will not win you many soccer games.

Defense F: Bad back-to-back efforts. The entrance has been horrible. They allowed BC several huge plays and allowed Lions quarterback Michael Reilly to complete 22 of 26 passes for 319 yards.

Special equipment D-: A nice trick play with punter Richie Leone throwing a 29-yard pass to defensive back Randal Evans. But when Lewis Ward missed a 48-yard field goal to the left, Lucky Whitehead avoided a few tackles and rushed 119 yards for a touchdown. Chris Rainey also had a great kickoff comeback.