Ottawa Redblacks clinch CFL playoff berth: 'Nobody's partying, nobody's jumping around'

Jovon Johnson stepping into touch after an interception belied the veteran cornerback's contribution to the playoff-bound Ottawa Redblacks' collective DNA.

While Johnson stopped running after the first of his two picks during the 27-24 Redblacks win against the Winnipeg Blue Bombers at rainsoaked TD Place, Ottawa isn't going to stop just because it has a playoff berth in hand. There was very little 'happy to be here' in the dressing room, even though it is notable that a second-year franchise to be 9-6 with a chance to host a playoff game. There hasn't been playoff football on Bank St. since 1983, the fall Johnson was born.

Johnson, who has made no secret about some hard feelings about his departure from the 'Peg two years ago, had a direct hand in three of the five Blue Bombers turnovers since he also tackled Cameron Marshall for no gain on an early third-and-1 gamble. Ottawa dominated for 3½ quarters beore Matt Nichols (27-of-40, 241 yards, 3-to-3 touchdown-interception ratio) engineered two drives in the final four minutes.

"That was the best game that I've been able to play against them since I left," said Johnson, the former CFL defensive player of the year and oldest starter Ottawa's defence, which has a CFL-high 22 interfeptions. "It was bittersweet. I have a lot of friends on that team and they are a good football team. But it was my job, I felt, to do what I could to make their lives a living hell and that's what happened. Hopefully that made them see the player that they lost.

"Being a veteran guy, the younger guys buy into what I tell them," Johnson, 31, added. "I'll continue to keep them headed in the right direction. I look forward to watching them for a long time."

Ottawa has a return game against Winnipeg (5-11) before the season-ending two-game set against East co-leader Hamilton on Nov. 1 and 7. It will need to gain at least the point-differential tiebreaker against the Tiger-Cats to have a shot at hosting a playoff game. It lost the season series to the Toronto Argonauts.

"You can see the locker room right now — nobody's partying, nobody's jumping around," said Abdul Kanneh, the second-year cornerback who made a goal-line interception in the third quarter by getting inside position on Winnipeg's Darvin Adams. "We're just ready to start this run and let everybody know we're here to stay. We love that we're bringing this franchise back to the playoffs, we've been trying to do that for the first two years. We want to make sure we keep that run going."

Ottawa had little difficulty finding nits to pick with their game. Three of Christopher Milo's four field goals were chip shots from inside the 30-yard line, and a holding penalty wiped out another Milo three-pointer took Ottawa out of range. (Ronnie Pfeffer coffin-cornered the ensuing punt at the Blue Bombers' five-yard line.) The Redblacks also had 16 penalties for 139 yards. Ultimately, only having two touchdowns at the end of a night where Henry Burris was 34-of-42 for 370 yards and was interception-free seemed like thin gruel, notwithstanding the lousy playing conditions.

"Offensively, we got to put sevens on the board," Burris said. "We got down there and kicked field goals, although you have to tip your cap to their defensive coordinator, Richie Hall. We got to find ways and figure out what to do when we get in the score zone. We can't allow the opposition to hold us to field goals.

"We're definitely not satisfied. We're happy with getting this win but we didn't do it in the fashion, closing it out, in typical Redblacks fashion. We're glad we're having these lessons taught to us now, because we can't do this if we're trying to win the East or get a home playoff game. There are some teams with high-powered offences that we have to play, starting with Winnipeg in Winnipeg and Hamilton twice.

"This is only the first step."

That said, it's a major one for a team that won twice and underwhelmed 16 opponents in its 2014 yearling season. It's also heady for a city that has seen two teams fold since the Rough Riders made their last postseason trip in 1994, nabbing the last Eastern spot at 4-14 in a tortuous tortoise race with Toronto (also 4-14) and the Shreveport Pirates (3-15).

There are a lot of focal points with that throughout the organization, not the least of which is Johnson, who battled injuries in 2014.

"If I could put this into words, it's just sweet," said Johnson, who turns 32 early next month. "It's a beautiful thing to know that we're going into the postseason and have a chance to do something special in the second year of this team's existence. It's just major for the city."

Winning lent itself to some whimsy about Johnson pulling the chute on his runback halfway through the third quarter. On a second-and-11 after a tackle for loss by interior lineman Zack Evans, Nichols tried to complete a long out route. Johnson cut in front of wide receiver Clarence Denmark and returned it 18 yards before going out on the Bombers 46 untouched. That set up a field goal.

"I'm a big fan of Jovon," Ottawa coach Rick Campbell said. "I don't understand why he ran out of bounds on that return. He always tells me how fast he is. So, I'm going to ask him again, 'how fast are you?' Go ahead and feel free to keep running down the sideline. But no, Jovon had a great game."

As Johnson told it, it jibed with the notion that a Grey Cup run is more marathon than a sprint.

"Denmark is faster than me, simple as that." he said. "So I stepped out of bounds and gave our offence the ball. I'm still fast, I can run, but I'm not fast as Denmark."

Call it a veteran move, then. Ottawa didn't have enough of those in Year 1 and now it does.

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