Killer Instinct, Or Lack Thereof

From the August 2nd game recap:

After a tumultuous first half, (quarterback McLeod) Bethel-Thompson led the Argos back from a 38-14 deficit with the go-ahead touchdown with one second left (in a) 42-41 win over Ottawa to set a wild pace for Week 8 of the CFL season.

The Argos swarm wide receiver Armanti Edwards after he caught the game-winning touchdown pass with one second left Thursday night.  (RICHARD LAUTENS / TORONTO STAR)

How brutal was that? Losing any one game in that fashion would be painful. As I listened to post-game interviews and read recaps, it occurred to me that it's particularly painful because blowing leads has been a trend with this franchise since inception and shows no sign of going away.

Head Coach Rick Campbell has never been able to make his teams play 60 minutes consistently. All they've been able to do is repeat the same platitudes about "needing to close games out" and "learning from this" post-game. 

The saving grace has been that these blown leads have not all turned wins into losses but they have been frequent enough throughout the team's short history that it's clearly just a part of who they are. 

Rick Campbell is said to be as even-keel as anyone. He preaches that no loss is a complete disaster, no win makes you unbeatable. He keeps his players well-grounded but I now believe the other side of that coin is that he's unable to generate a sense of urgency in his teams when it's needed.

Let's go back to the team's very first game back in 2014. Up 21-7 at the end of the first quarter, they would ultimately lose 36-28 in Winnipeg. The next week, they would lead Edmonton 7-2 at the half and lose 27-11.

All right, that was an expansion team. The following year, the team won 12 games and hosted the Eastern final. That led to the incredible 2nd-and-25 moment, the excitement of which causes us to forget that the team created the need for that miracle in the first place. Ottawa led 25-17 after three quarters only to see the game tied when Henry Burris and Greg Ellingson connected for 93 yards.

But they got to the Grey Cup! Unfortunately they lost it 26-20 to the Edmonton Eskimos when they gave up a TD with just over three minutes left. They had led 20-18 after scoring the game's first 13 points.

Hugh Charles #28 of the Ottawa Redblacks is hit by Cauchy Muamba #8 of the Edmonton Eskimos during first half Grey Cup 103 action at Investors Group Field on November 29, 2015 in Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada.

TREVOR HAGAN / GETTY IMAGES

In 2016, winning at home inexplicably became a challenge. Among many home losses, one was a game that went into overtime against Hamilton which Ottawa had led 27-12 at halftime.

The Redblacks did win the Eastern Final in 2016, again needing a late touchdown to seal it. They had led 25-3 but their lead was reduced to 28-23 when Kienan Lafrance ran a touchdown in late to close things out.

Ottawa Redblacks' Kienan Lafrance (27) gets tackled by Edmonton Eskimos' Kenny Ladler (37) during second half CFL Eastern Final action, in Ottawa on Sunday, Nov. 20, 2016.
THE CANADIAN PRESS/Justin Tang

That, of course, led to an exciting overtime Grey Cup victory against Calgary. It went into overtime even though at one point Ottawa was ahead 27-7 early in the second half.

The 2017 season kicked of with a rematch against Calgary which also went into overtime and resulted in a tie. Ottawa led that game 28-14 with about seven and a half minutes left in the 4th quarter.

Two weeks later, Ottawa hosted Toronto, led 12-1 at halftime but lost 26-25. When they hosted Saskatchewan later in the year, Ottawa led 17-0 with a little over four minutes left in the third quarter but ultimately lost 18-17.

And here we are in 2018, still "learning" and giving post-game speeches about needing to play 60 minutes.

Five years in, those speeches are starting to lack credibility. Display sustained competence for a few weeks in a row and perhaps these blown leads will start to look like the exception rather than the trend.