Struggling Redblacks focus on taming Ticats

Nobody's ready to push the panic button as Ottawa looks to halt four-game skid

The Ottawa Redblacks don't want to get tripped up by a 1-4 start to their CFL season, a month and a half stretch that's included four straight losses, two of them lopsided.

They're not thinking about division opponents or playoffs, which are still nine games down the road. Right now, the Redblacks are focused on Wednesday night. That's all. A home game against the Hamilton TigerCats is all that matters in this moment.

And while the Redblacks look to get on track, the injury plagued Ticats — coming off a 23-17 win over Calgary — are looking to keep the arrow pointing up.

“Whether we won or lost the week before, we want to go out and win this football game,” said Redblacks head coach Paul LaPolice. “Yes, it's an East opponent, which you would call a fourpoint game, but we really haven't talked about that this week. We've talked about just going out and getting going.”

“We're here to win,” said linebacker Don Unamba. “... With the way the standings are, it's not panic mode. We have to put some wins together and chart our own destiny.”

As bad as they have looked at times, the Redblacks aren't down and out. Hamilton and Toronto both have 3-3 records, Montreal is 2-3. So the playoff aren't exactly out of reach.

Meanwhile, the Tiger-Cats will line up against Ottawa with third-string quarterback David Watford behind centre.

Dane Evans is on the six-game injured list and Jeremiah Masoli (ribs, elbow) is listed as the backup. Star receiver Brandon Banks (ribs) is also out. But even missing so many key players, the Ticats, 8 1/2-point favourites in this game, are dangerous. They're certainly not taking the Redblacks lightly.

“They're all grown men, too, they get paycheques,” said Ticats linebacker Simoni Lawrence, named one of the CFL's top performers of the week after he recorded eight tackles and a picksix in the win over the Stampeders. “They're going to come out, whether they're in survival mode or not, and play hard. You can't take any team in the CFL for granted.”

The Redblacks have surrendered 51 and then 45 points to their last two opponents.

“We have to match their physicality. They play physical football,” said LaPolice. “Offensively,

we have to make sure we finish drives with points — (the Ticats defence) is pretty stout. We have to make sure we can stop the run, but also, they have some guys who can create explosive plays, so we have to minimize those.”

Dominique Davis, the Redblacks starting quarterback to begin 2019, gets another opportunity.

He completed 30-of-51 passes for 333 yards against the Lions with a touchdown toss. But he also threw a costly interception that went the other way for a touchdown late in the first half and fumbled deep in his own zone.