The answer is no right?
You would think that walking out of TD Place Stadium with a 27-3 win and a 2-0 pre-season record on Friday night should give fans all the confidence needed as the REDBLACKS turn their attention to the start of the Regular Season next week but when you watch the game and look at the box score, demons of yester year become all to prevalent.
“I was disappointed in our first half, I thought we came out flat” said Head Coach Ryan Dinwiddie when asked about the teams performance
The first team offense came out flat, going 2-and-out on four straight drives and only generating one first down throughout five drives mustering a measly 33 total yards on 21 plays.
A lot of focus will be put on Jake Maier performance due to him being named starting quarterback for Week 1 on Thursday prior to the final pre-season game but there there was nothing overly positive from the first team offense.
It was clear that the offense will have some growing pains as they work into a new offensive line unit together with veteran center Sean McEwen getting his first live game reps since October 26 2024 vs Saskatchewan Roughriders as a member of the Calgary Stampeders. Zach Pelehos made his preseason debut at right tackle, he missed 15 games in the 2025 season.
The offensive line miscommunications were evident in the run game, new REDBLACKS running back Greg Bell (#5) ended the night with only one rushing yard on 5 attempts. At the end of the first quarter, he had negative 6 yards.
Even with the first unit offense struggling early, the first unit defense came out to play.
With Montréal driving during the field their first drive, defensive back Shakur Brown intercepted Alouettes quarterback Anthony Brown Jr. in the Endzone. This would be the first of four turnovers generated by the REDBLACKS defense on the night.
Defense would hold strong throughout the 1st Quarter as they registered Turnover on Downs on the 2nd drive and to a 6 play drive ending with a punt on the 3rd drive.
After a scoreless 1st Quarter, Montréal was able to put up their only points on the night with a 20-yard field goal by Michael Horvat at the 9:48 mark of the 2nd Quarter capping off a 12 play, 61-yard drive.
Maier would finish his night with 6 completions on 9 attempts, 35 yards and 0 touchdowns.
“We didn’t start very fast.” Said Jake Maier post game “I think just as a full unit, we didn’t play very well in the first quarter”
With Maier being named the week one starting quarterback without Brown getting pre-season reps and the not so great start, this is where the “controversy” begins.
Dru Brown would make his pre-season debut for the REDBLACKS with just over 5 minutes left in the 2nd Half and he made the most of it. After going 2-and-Out during his first drive, Brown and the offence would end up taking the ball over at the Montréal 30-yard line after Ottawa native Luiji Vilain recovered a Zakhari Franklin fumble forced by Lucas Cormier.
Brown would hit Keelan White for a 24-yard pass and catch that had them down to the Montréal 6-yard line. After a Greg Bell 3-yard run, Brown would find receiver Sam Schnee at the back of the endzone for a 3-yard passing touchdown to cap off a 3 play 1 minute drive.
Brett Lauther would hit the extra point putting Ottawa up 7-3 with 1:52 left in the 1st Half
After a quick 2-and-out by the Alouettes, Brown was back on the field with 1:20 left in the 2nd half. Aided by Montréal penalties, including a 24-yard pass interference penalty on defensive back Gemon Green that set up Ottawa up at the Montréal 4-yard line, Brown found Kalil Pimpleton in the endzone for a 4-yard touchdown pass.
Brett Lauther would hit the extra point extending Ottawa lead to 14-3 with only 15 second left in the 1st Half.
Brown would only see those 3 drives in the game registering 7 completions on 8 attempts, 69 yards and 2 touchdowns.
“Though he played well, managed the huddle, saw the field well. I think he played really well.” said Head Coach Ryan Dinwiddie post game
Max Duggan led the offense out to start the 3rd Quarter and picked up where Brown left off as he came out swinging.
Duggan would hit receiver Ethan Jordan for a 30-yard pass and catch as Jordan was able to make a couple of defenders miss to get Ottawa down to Montréal 5-yard line. Following play would see Rory Starkey take it in on a 5-yard receiver sweep that capped off the clubs longest drive of the game, a 5 play 73-yard drive.
Paul Geelan would miss the extra point, Ottawa would lead 20-3 with 9:56 left in the 3rd Quarter.
Unfortunately for Ottawa, this is where the offense would sputter out. After a very strong 3 drives, Ottawa would see the next last 6 offensive drives stall and only generate 5 first downs, 3 2-and-outs, a turnover on downs and a missed Field Goal.
The defense would still come up big, corner linebacker Marcus Barnes would take a James Morgan pass attempt back to the house for a 20-yard pick-6 to seal what had been a dominating night for the group as a whole.
Paul Geelan would miss the extra point, Ottawa would lead 26-3 with 13:23 left in the 4th Quarter
James Burnip would miss a 46-yard Field Goal resulting in a Rouge and extending Ottawa lead to 27-3.
The numbers for the game do not paint an overly pretty picture, even with the 3-straight touchdown drives.
The offence generated 11 of their 17 first downs on 2 drives, had 8 of 15 drives end in a 2-and-out and punted on 10 of 15 drives.
As the club heads into week 1, the questions around stagnated offences, inadequate quarterback play and overall lack of ability to move the ball consistency will be at the forefront after what we saw on Friday Night. The question that needs to be answered is Will Dinwiddie work his magic and help Maier lead Ottawa to its best offensive output since 2015?
Ottawa opens the season at home on Saturday June 6 when they host the Edmonton Elks at TD Place Stadium at 7:00pm.