Dyce: 'A lot to correct' after Redblacks' season-opening victory
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The Ottawa Redblacks opened their season with a 23-19 victory over the Winnipeg Blue Bombers on home turf Thursday night.
Redblacks head coach Bob Dyce still thinks there's a lot of work to be done moving forward.
"The film kind of played out how we expected; while we won, there's a lot of stuff we have to correct and tighten up to be the team that we want to be," Dyce said to reporters afterwards.
"There's certain things we have to clean up - special teams, defensively and offensively, so we focus on those things this week in practice and now we're locked in on Montreal."
One category Dyce highlighted was penalties - Ottawa was flagged nine times for 105 yards in the win, which was more than double their opponent's total of 48 yards lost on penalties.
"Penalties 100 per cent need to be cleaned up," he said. "We can't be continually successful living in that nine penalty spot. You want to be down below five penalties in the course of a game to be successful."
Another goal Dyce identified for practice leading up to the Montreal matchup is fixing correctable penalties.
"You're going to get a pass interference call here and there, we know that, but you gotta stop the illegal procedures, stop the holdings, the offsides where it seems almost like a conscious decision or a lack of discipline."
The team maintained its strong rushing attack from a season ago, when they finished second in the CFL with 127.2 rushing yards per game.
The offence turned 21 carries into 129 yards and a touchdown against Winnipeg, which Dyce was encouraged by.
"The offensive line moved their defensive line around ... You guys know our belief in that. We think it starts up front and those guys did a fantastic job," Dyce said. "We did a fantastic job in the running game, receivers blocking on the perimeter did a really good job."
Dyce also had praise for quarterback Dru Brown. His start against the Blue Bombers was his first in a Redblacks uniform, and his touchdown pass to Justin Hardy gave Ottawa a lead they would not relinquish.
"I thought Dru played the game we needed him to play. We didn't turn the ball over, he made all the throws we needed him to make in crucial situations," said Dyce. "He was out there to do a job and when he's of one mind, he's going to take care of his business, so I was happy to see him do that, but I wasn't surprised."
Looking ahead to their Week 3 contest - Dyce indicated that QB Tyrie Adams will likely be active after spending the first game on the injured list, and that veteran QB Jeremiah Masoli was working through a small problem as he looks to return from surgery on a ruptured Achilles suffered last season.