‘We deserved it’: Ottawa Redblacks’ Henry Burris, on being booed at home after 32-7 loss to Calgary

It's more like no-TD Place.

With a matchup against Kevin Glenn — who was a Redblack for a hot minute in the winter — coming up in two weeks, all Ottawa's offence is producing is frustration and fodder for the small-joke trade. All those hands raised in ecstasy among the sellout crowd of 24,327 after Redblacks defensive tackle Jonathan Williams took a tip-drill interception to the house for the day's first points during Sunday's 32-7 loss to the West Division-leading Calgary Stampeders? It might as well have been a straw poll of whether fans honestly believed the Henry Burris-helmed Redblacks offence might also get in the end zone.

With NFL cuts coming Monday, the Redblacks (1-7) look understaffed and overwhelmed offensively. The CFL's oft-repeated party line from 2013 about the generous terms of the expansion also seems like ancient history. In four home games, Ottawa has scored three touchdowns: an onside punt recovery; a window-dressing TD pass by backup QB Thomas DeMarco, who was taken off the field on a cart on Sunday after a late hit from Calgary's Junior Turner; and that Williams pick-six.

"We deserved it," Burris, 12-of-23 for 113 yards with an interception, said in a quiet locker room. "Shoot, we've only scored one touchdown here at home as an offence. The way we're playing right now as an offence, I'd be upset too. We're pissed off on the sidelines. We're trying to get this going and the fact is we keep shooting ourselves in the feet. It does not matter what the fans say, we got to man up and do our job. We have to man up and do our job. That's the bottom line.

"I understand why they're booing because they expect much better from our offence. And we didn't show it today.

"We got to figure this out right away," Burris added after a day where Ottawa was outgained 458-197, with the Stampeders piling up much of their yardage in the second half as the Redblacks' D wore down after spending 34:08 on the field. "We have a big game in five days in Montreal [also 1-7]. We'll be into the East end of our schedule. Those are games we have to win. But we have to figure this out right away because we can't win any games with our offence playing this way."

Any number of cherry-picked stats can nicely illustrate Ottawa's struggle. Running back Chevon Walker did not take his first handoff until the second quarter. The Redblacks had one play longer than 20 yards all day. They did not snap the ball inside the Stampeders 35 until 1:06 remained. That came about through a penalty on Turner for roughing DeMarco (who was on crutches afterward, not putting weight on his left leg). That red zone visit ended quickly; third-stringer Danny O'Brien took a 16-yard sack on his first regular-season snap.

Do not say only in Ottawa, since Hamilton and Montreal are also still in the single-win club.

Ottawa allowed only one TD over 110 minutes against Edmonton and Calgary, the CFL's best two teams. Outside linebacker Antoine Pruneau has also been a revelation. The defence is progressing.

"I'm very disappointed to look the defence in the face because I expect to get better each and every week," Burris said. "Our defence is playing incredible football and I'm embarrassed to look them in the face because we're not pulling our side of the bargain."

Against Edmonton, Ottawa had Pruneau go out with a hamstring ailment after a big third-down stop and didn't have him for the Eskimos' final drive that produced the winning field goal. There was some déjà vu in the fourth quarter Sunday. Calgary led 11-7 and was driving when veteran defensive tackle Shologan was shaken up after helping stop Jon Cornish for no gain on second-and-1. While Shologan was off the field for the rule-mandated three plays, Calgary converted the third-down gamble, then wide receiver Sederrik Cunningham scored on a 20-yard jet sweep.

That made it 18-7 with 6:48 left, a signal for some fans to head for the exits. The P.A. announcer read an ad for a taxi company.

Shologan, who sat out the rest of the game after Cunningham scored again on a 66-yard punt return, does not foresee the lower-body injury being an issue for Friday's visit to similarly reeling Montreal (also 1-7).

"That was defensive line stuff," Shologan said of the play where he was injured. "I made a pretty good play, blowing the guy up and the running back (Cornish) hit the back of the offensive tackle. Coming to make a tackle, someone else hit the back of my leg. Realistically, there's some bumps and bruises. The game was decided so we elected not to risk it.

"Realistically, we all got to play 60-minute football," said Shologan, one of Ottawa's most important preseason signings. "We can talk about how good we played for 54 minutes but guess what, 54 minutes is not the whole game. guys have to focus on staying up regardless of what the offence is doing. Regardless of what the special teams is doping. Regardless of what we did on the previous play. Football is a game where you have to wipe it off."

With DeMarco injured, Ottawa might be limited in how much it can change the personnel. Six of its final 10 games are vs. CFL (L)East foes, including three vs. Montreal and a pair with Hamilton. There is time to salvage something offensively, if not obvious signs of it.

"As an offence we're killing ourselves in every different way," Burris said. "We're taking our turns doing it."

Neate Sager is a writer for Yahoo! Canada Sports. Follow him on Twitter @neatebuzzthenet.