Winnipeg Blue Bombers running back Andrew Harris (33) runs the ball during the second half of CFL action in Vancouver, B.C., on Friday, October 14, 2016. (CFL PHOTO - Jimmy Jeong)
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It was back on July 21st – back when the Canadian Football League season still seemed so fresh and new – when the nine teams in this lovable little loop were starting to reveal themselves as contenders and pretenders.
And the Winnipeg Blue Bombers, having been pushed around in their own park by the Calgary Stampeders to fall to 1-4, looked anything but a playoff-calibre squad. In fact, a franchise that was so accustomed to seeing vultures circling overhead, was perhaps tempted to look skyward again.
But they didn’t. No one in management slammed their fists down on the panic button. No one with a potentially-itchy trigger finger squeezed.
And now fast forward three months and the Bombers, courtesy of a 9-2 run that has moved them into sole possession of second place in the West Division, have completely transformed.
Oh sure, there are still some flaws and some warts. And, yes, the Stamps will be heavy favourites when the playoffs start in 28 days.
But the fact the Bombers are now 10-6 after a two-game sweep of the B.C. Lions and pushed the Stamps to the brink in a 36-34 loss back on Sept. 23rd says a lot about how far this team has come.
That was perfectly hammered home in the moments after Friday’s dramatic 35-32 win in Vancouver – which featured a rally from 10 points down in the final three minutes – that the how and the why of this transformation was hammered home.
Safety Taylor Loffler – who picked off two passes, forced a fumble and recovered another – spoke first to a media throng outside the dressing room. Then came Matt Nichols, who has taken the first snap in each of the last 11 games. And inside the room there was Clarence Denmark, fresh from scoring his eighth touchdown in nine games.
None of those men – ditto for Travis Bond, Justin Cole, Tori Gurley, T.J. Heath and Terrence Frederick – were in the starting lineup back in July. Heck, Denmark, Heath and Gurley weren’t even on the team.
This 9-2 run is about more than that, of course. It’s about the veteran voices acquired in the offseason and how they have transformed the expectations in the locker room. It’s Nichols’ fiery leadership and decision making since replacing Drew Willy. It’s about a defence that snatches errant passes and strips and pounces on the football with a ferociousness. It’s about a methodical-robotic kicker who has been worth every nickel spent on him in free agency.
And it’s about a head coach and his staff who have a real feel for their lineup and has mastered the art of pushing most of the right buttons since late July.
“We feel like we have the talent everywhere that someone is going to make that play that is going to be the difference in the game,” explained Nichols. “We just trust each other so much.
“The main thing I talked about a few weeks ago is we don’t go into games hoping we’re going to win or hoping something good happens for us.”
“We go in thinking, ‘I’m going to be the one to make the play.’ That’s everyone’s mindset and it’s been working for us.”
Matt Nichols
The Bombers are in their second bye of the season this week, what with the NHL’s Heritage Classic taking up shop at Investors Group Field, before wrapping up their regular season with a home-and-home series with the Ottawa REDBLACKS.
Winnipeg has won the season series on the Lions, 9-6, but still needs to be looking in their rear-view mirror at B.C. – with three games left – and the hard-charging Edmonton Eskimos, who are 8-7.
“Relax the mind, relax the body but just don’t get too far removed from the game,” said Andrew Harris of his plans for the next few days. “And come back revitalized and ready to win these last two games.
“Any time you get a little bit of rest at the end of the season it’s good. It’s good timing for us. We’ve still got two games left in the season and we can still build on the momentum we’re building and peak at the right time.”
More on the win over B.C. in Vancouver that inches the Bombers closer to a home playoff date with with our weekly post-game collection of notes, quotes and anecdotes we call ‘Upon Further Review’:
EVERY PLAYER FINDS DIFFERENT MOTIVATIONS… and for Taylor Loffler, it seems to be a drive fuelled by the game being taken away for a bit during college because of injuries, to seeing his draft stock drop prior to last May’s selection when the Bombers snatched him up in the third round, to playing in front of some family Friday night in Vancouver.
The rookie safety looked anything but a CFL freshman against the Lions in another one of those games that vaults his stock as a legit rookie-of-the-year candidate, right up there with teammate Kevin Fogg.
“I just came out flying around and the plays happened,” said Loffler. “It’s the way I play. It puts me in positions to make those plays and I just need to keep improving.
“It shows I can play with anyone. It’s a confidence booster, mainly. As a team, the adversity… the ups and downs we had in the game it just shows how everyone can come together and pull out a win like that.”
Taylor Loffler
Loffler had six family in the stands at B.C. Place, but was also motivated by a comment he saw in The Vancouver Sun the day of the game. It had been whispered to Loffler – who played his high school ball in Kelowna and college at both Boise State and UBC – that the Lions were interested in him on draft day.
Instead he fell to the Bombers with the 19th pick while the Lions used their second rounder on Southern Illinois defensive back Anthony Thompson.
“(Loffler) was really high on our board,” Lions Director of Canadian Scouting Geroy Simon told the newspaper. “You don’t go to play Division I football at Boise (State) and not have a pretty high skill level. And then, to come back to UBC, and help turn that program around in one year, that’s impressive. Loffler is starting now (for Winnipeg). But we feel Anthony Thompson could have the better career.”
Over to you, Taylor…
“That was kind of a driving force… I mean, I wouldn’t say that’s the reason I did what I did tonight, that’s how I normally play,” said Loffler of reading those comments. “But that kind of aggravated me and I was able to come out and have a good game.”
CFL FANS HAVE SEEN ANDREW HARRIS DO THIS BEFORE… but Bombers faithful have to be impressed with how the Winnipeg product can inspire a team and carry an offence with his skill and will.
Harris rushed 12 times for 73 yards and led all players with eight catches for 80 yards in the second straight win over his old squad. But it’s his ability to gobble up yards after the initial contact that belies his 5-10, 210-pound frame. Consider that six of his 20 touches resulted directly in first downs Friday, five of them through the air.
Over the two games against his old team, Harris had 37 touches (24 rushes, 13 receptions) for 269 yards. As Mike Beamish of The Vancouver Sun pointed out, by comparison, the Lions’ replacements for Harris over those two games – Jeremiah Johnson and Anthony Allen – combined for 84 yards on 26 games.
Harris has 57 receptions for 501 yards this year; the most receptions by a Bomber tailback since Nic Grigsby had 58 in 2014 and the most yardage by a Bomber running back since Charles Roberts had 548 in 2003.
And he’s still got a couple of games to build on that.
HARRIS, BY THE WAY, WAS ASKED AFTER THE GAME… what was being said on the Bomber sidelines when the Lions went up by 10 points with just over six minutes left in the game.
“We got into the huddle and I said, ‘Who’s going to make the next play? Who’s going to do this for us? Who’s going to get us down the field and chip away at it?’” said Harris. “We had five minutes left and we stayed confident and just chipped away. We got some big plays from big-time players. Denny (Clarence Denmark) is a touchdown machine… any time we get down there it seems like he’s getting the ball and he’s always getting the six (TD) for us.
“It was a team effort and I’m very proud of my team right now.”
Andrew Harris
IT MIGHT NOT HAVE BEEN A DRAMATIC DEBUT… as a Bomber for Tori Gurley – he pulled in three catches for 55 yards – but his 33-yard fourth-quarter reception from Nichols did help spark the comeback.
“It was tough at the beginning,” said Gurley. “Me and Matty, we just couldn’t get it going and, finally, he was like, ‘I’m going to come to you. I’m going to keep feeding you.’
“When an opportunity came we were able to make that play and spark the team.”
Gurley has been cramming like crazy to learn Paul LaPolice’s offence and, with just a couple days of practice under his belt since his arrival from Toronto, is convinced his familiarity with the attack and his new teammates will only mean his numbers get better.
“I didn’t have any timing with the quarterback,” said Gurley. “It was tough. I was expecting one thing and he expected something different. It’s just going to come with practice. The more reps we get with one another, we’re going to get comfortable and then those plays will be made and we’ll really be able to open this thing up.”
