{"id":779504,"date":"2026-07-04T09:26:14","date_gmt":"2026-07-04T09:26:14","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/779504\/"},"modified":"2026-07-04T09:26:14","modified_gmt":"2026-07-04T09:26:14","slug":"its-just-beyond-me-ryan-dinwiddie-unloads-on-ottawa-redblacks-for-poor-football-intelligence","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/779504\/","title":{"rendered":"‘It’s just beyond me’: Ryan Dinwiddie unloads on Ottawa Redblacks for poor ‘football intelligence’"},"content":{"rendered":"

\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\"\"\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/p>\n

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Ryan Dinwiddie\u2019s feelings could be described in a lot of different ways after the Ottawa Redblacks\u2019 latest defeat at the hands of the Saskatchewan Roughriders.<\/p>\n

Flabbergasted. Dumbfounded. Exasperated. Bewildered. Aghast.<\/p>\n

The only thing he wasn\u2019t was at a loss for words.<\/p>\n

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\n 1900 Rose St, Regina SK S4P 0A9.<\/p>\n

Ottawa\u2019s head coach and general manager unleashed one of his characteristic post-game rants<\/a> following Friday\u2019s 27-22 loss, which dropped the Redblacks to 0-4 on the season. Dinwiddie took aim at several aspects of his team\u2019s performance, making clear that his players failed to execute on any of their keys to the game.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s just beyond me, some of the stuff we\u2019ve done. We talked about special teams; we\u2019ve got to make sure we don\u2019t give them any big returns \u2014 they take one to the house. We get some momentum going, we fumble on the punt return \u2014 another key point we talked about yesterday,\u201d he told the media<\/a>. \u201cWhen we get going, and we\u2019re up 10-nothing, then we found a way to get them back in the game. You can see the potential in that locker room, but we\u2019re self-inflicted.\u201d<\/p>\n

The former CFL Coach of the Year appeared to be particularly incensed by his team\u2019s lack of discipline. Despite the fact that they only committed six penalties for 37 yards, which was lower than any CFL team\u2019s per-game average entering Week 5, he called out the Redblacks for what he perceived as egregious infractions.<\/p>\n

\u201cYou can\u2019t practice not taking penalties,\u201d Dinwiddie said, absolving himself of responsibility.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe penalties are beyond me. One of our punt returns, we had a guy tackle a guy; this ain\u2019t WWE! That is just beyond me. I told those guys they\u2019ve got to look in the mirror a little bit. I can\u2019t go out there and play for you and not take penalties. We preach it all the time; they\u2019re on the field, they\u2019ve got to make sure they understand that. Our FBI \u2014 football intelligence \u2014 ain\u2019t there yet. We\u2019ve been in every game, but we\u2019re our worst enemy right now.\u201d<\/p>\n

Those wearing striped jerseys weren\u2019t safe from Dinwiddie, either, as he took issue with several referee decisions. The 45-year-old cited a missed tripping penalty that resulted in an injury to linebacker Michael Brodrique, as well as what he believed to be an incorrect spot on a second-effort from receiver Cade McDonald and an illegal recovery on Kalil Pimpleton\u2019s fumble.<\/p>\n

However, the veteran coach, who has been around the CFL since 2006, seemed completely unaware of the rulebook on the latter two decisions, erroneously claiming that an elbow touching the ground does not constitute being down by contact, and believing that a player who inadvertently goes out of bounds while in contact with an opponent should be permanently ineligible.<\/p>\n

\u201cThey said (McDonald\u2019s) elbow hit the ground, and his knees weren\u2019t down. What\u2019s the difference between an elbow and putting your hand down to keep yourself up?\u201d he asked rhetorically. \u201cAnd then even on KP\u2019s fumble, the guy went out of bounds and came back in bounds. They said, \u2018Well, he was forced out of bounds\u2019 \u2014 not the case. It\u2019s tough when you don\u2019t get the calls that go your way, and the way we\u2019re playing football right now, it just kind of snowballed on us.\u201d<\/p>\n

Despite the other mistakes, the Redblacks trailed by just five points late in the game and had a chance to knock off the defending Grey Cup champions. After marching to the Saskatchewan 16-yard-line, short-yardage quarterback Bryson Barnes lined up for a third-down sneak with 2:41 remaining and was stuffed by safety Jaxon Ford for a turnover on downs. The Riders never gave the ball back, icing the game.<\/p>\n

Dinwiddie was understandably unimpressed by his short-yardage unit\u2019s execution on the deciding play and others prior.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt wasn\u2019t a full yard, and you\u2019ve got to be able to knock guys off the ball. I think Bryson might have went a hair wide. I haven\u2019t got a chance to look at the iPad, but we\u2019re working a double team, guard and tackle; we\u2019ve got to be inside of that. We call it the spear,\u201d he explained. \u201cWe did have some decent runs; Bryson had the one. He probably would have scored if we would have just kept going up field with our blockers; they turned it into the hole. It was tough. We\u2019re just finding ways to hurt ourselves.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s tough to be under centre. You get both edges, but we only dressed six o-linemen. (Anthony Gosselin) had a tough day at the office, and you\u2019ve got to count on your fullbacks to come in there and help you move the ball and take hits off your receivers.\u201d<\/p>\n

Not even starting quarterback Jake Maier could escape criticism. The 29-year-old, whom Dinwiddie installed as QB1 in a surprise move during training camp before shipping incumbent Dru Brown out of town<\/a>, had a respectable outing, completing 23-of-30 passes for 259 yards, one touchdown, and no interceptions. Even so, a couple of misses will loom large when the two men dissect the performance in the film room.<\/p>\n

\u201cI think there\u2019s some plays we want back. I think the one we threw to Geno (Lewis) out of bounds in the end zone, we had Justin (Hardy) on that one,\u201d Dinwiddie recounted. \u201cWe talked it out. They were playing what we call pinch coverage, and we knew they had a new boundary halfback. It was an opportunity to pick on him. Maybe I talked too much on the one to Geno, but I\u2019ve got to look at it. There was a few plays that we\u2019ve got to have better play at the quarterback position.\u201d<\/p>\n

Dinwiddie has yet to record a victory since defecting from the Toronto Argonauts this offseason<\/a>. Though the two-time Grey Cup champion was insistent that his new team were \u201cabsolutely\u201d in a position to win the game, he didn\u2019t attempt to sugarcoat Ottawa\u2019s situation after yet another missed opportunity.<\/p>\n

\u201cNo doubt we\u2019re in quicksand,\u201d he acknowledged. \u201cIt\u2019s a long race, but we\u2019re far behind. Hopefully we can get it going to be a four-by-one relay team, but we\u2019re in a tough spot right now. We\u2019ve got to get a win, find a way to win, do the little things it takes to win, and get some momentum going. I think a win would do a lot for that locker room. We\u2019ve got potential \u2014 you can see we\u2019ve been in every game \u2014 but not playing good enough football to win.\u201d<\/p>\n

The Redblacks (0-4) will return to action on Thursday, July 9, when they visit the Edmonton Elks. Kickoff is slated for 9:00 p.m. EDT at Commonwealth Stadium.<\/p>\n

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J.C. Abbott is a University of British Columbia graduate and high school football coach. He covers the CFL, B.C. Lions, CFL Draft and the three-down league’s Global initiative.<\/p>\n

\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Photo: Gord Weber\/3DownNation. All rights reserved. Ryan Dinwiddie\u2019s feelings could be described in a lot of different ways…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":779505,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[194295],"tags":[173755,166835,166836,276118,252151,49,276119,48,7028,520,527,107930,40646,2002,20739,80665,70504,82679,52041],"class_list":["post-779504","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-ottawa","tag-rnation","tag-3down","tag-3downnation","tag-anthony-gosselin","tag-bryson-barnes","tag-ca","tag-cad-mcdonald","tag-canada","tag-canadian","tag-cfl","tag-football","tag-jake-maier","tag-kalil-pimpleton","tag-league","tag-ottawa","tag-penalties","tag-redblacks","tag-referees","tag-ryan-dinwiddie"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/779504","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=779504"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/779504\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/779505"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=779504"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=779504"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=779504"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}