Somewhat lost through the first 11 weeks of the Canadian Football League schedule – through the emergence of homegrown quarterback Nathan Rourke in B.C., through the struggles in the East Division and, yes, the Winnipeg Blue Bombers’ 9-1 start – has been a storyline we’ve perhaps just come to expect in these parts: The continued dominance of the Blue Bombers ‘Dark Side’ defence.
Every one of the subplots listed above have generated the proper number of headlines and buzz through the summer months of the CFL season, but the Blue Bombers defensive group quietly and efficiently continues to be one of the league’s most powerful forces, even amid a significant amount of change.
Consider this: the defence ranks first in the CFL in the two most critical defensive categories: points allowed (18.2 per game) and touchdowns surrendered (just 13 in 10 games).
And yet talk to anyone who makes his living on the defensive side of the ball and there is a clear consensus: this group can get even better.
“Mistakes have been made, but one of the things we’ve improved on is we’re making it harder and harder for teams to move the ball on us,” said all-star middle linebacker Adam Bighill after a scorching practice on Monday. “We’re playing good football. Guys are flying around and making their plays. We’re not giving up lots of touchdowns, which is great, and we’re just making it hard for teams to score points.”
All this has come, it’s worth noting, with Kyrie Wilson out with an Achilles injury, with all-star safety Brandon Alexander yet to take a snap – and his replacement Malcolm Thompson also injured – with newer faces in the secondary in Demerio Houston and Donald Rutledge, Jr. and with defensive end Jackson Jeffcoat having missed three games.
“You come in, you’re expected to play at a certain level and make your plays,” said Bighill. “We understand people are going to make mistakes, but the idea is, don’t make the same mistake twice and get better and become a vet very, very fast.
“We’ve got great coaching that gives guys tools and the chances to be successful. That’s a huge part of this: guys work hard, they get great coaching and then they come out here and clean up mistakes. That’s it.”
The Blue Bombers defence posted some historic numbers in the run to the Grey Cup title last year, surrendering just 13.4 points – the lowest total by the club since allowing just 11.4 points in 1958. The club stressed from the outset of training camp that last year’s success had to be shelved, but it does provide an interesting reference point.
“You don’t think about what last year was, but it does make you think about what is possible,” said Bighill. “We know the stuff we’ve left out there that we want back. There’s plenty of that every single year and there was some even last year. It’s about continuing to play as perfect as we can individually and then that emerges together collectively as a team.”
Blue Bombers defensive coordinator Richie Hall, asked Monday to rank his defence after 10 games, said he would put his group in the top third in the league. The team has surrendered 16 passes of 30 yards or more – tied for third-most in the CFL – and is yielding 330.7 yards against per game, second fewest.
“I would like us to be a little bit more consistent,” said Hall. “Some of the things occurred earlier in the year where we gave up some explosion plays, some big plays – (against) B.C., the Ottawa games – if we tighten up those things we can get back to the standards we were.
“The things we strive for and they’ve done a great job with is, how many points did we give up? The bottom line is keeping those points down and when you keep those points down you give yourself an opportunity. I’m happy in that manner. Now, can we eliminate some of those yards?”
Winnipeg is entering a critical stretch of its schedule that could quickly determine its spot in the West Division standings. The club has already won the season series with the Calgary Stampeders – this Thursday’s opponent at IG Field – and has handed the 8-1 Lions their only loss of the season so far.
Seven of the club’s eight remaining games are against West Division opponents, including one against the Stamps and Edmonton Elks, three against the Saskatchewan Roughriders and a home-and-home series with the Leos at the end of the regular season.
“What I like from what I’ve seen so far is we all want to get better,” said all-star halfback Deatrick Nichols. “We’re playing good football, but we all agree we can get better in certain areas. It’s about fixing the little details right now.
“We see it, so we’re not just saying it to make it sound good. Everybody does see the room for improvement. We know we can get better and we will get better. This is a whole new team. We can’t think about what we did last year, we’ve just got to continue to work and be great in our own special way.”
OUCH REPORT:
The Blue Bombers got a scare during practice Monday when receiver Greg Ellingson pulled up while running a pass route. He limped off the field before leaving practice and did not return.
Head coach Mike O’Shea did not have an update immediate after practice, but the daily injury report lists his issue as a foot.
Injury report: August 22, 2022#ForTheW @ElitePhysioWpg pic.twitter.com/35iWiIYoT3
— Winnipeg Blue Bombers (@Wpg_BlueBombers) August 22, 2022
Ellingson ranks second on the team to rookie Dalton Schoen with 37 receptions for 572 yards and three touchdowns, despite missing three games through the first 10 weeks.
MORE WORK = GOOD THING:
One of the by-products of having such a jammed schedule through the first chunk of the season was the lack of practice times. O’Shea said he was pleased with the sharpness during the first two practices after getting back to work following the bye week.
“The guys were flying around today. Lots of communication, which is good and despite the heat I thought there was a tremendous amount of focus,” he said. “You check the execution on the film, but I don’t think we did push-ups (after an offside or illegal procedure penalty during practice) today which means guys are staying clean penalty-wise.”
O’Shea said his staff is on top of cleaning up issues as they pop up during the season and that the three coordinators – Hall on defence, Buck Pierce on offence and Paul Boudreau on special teams – had some points of emphasis they stressed when the team came back to work.
“As we went along the guys played pretty sharp with the details,” said O’Shea. “But eventually some things just break down. It’s not anything to do with anything but it’s Week 9 or Week 10 and you haven’t had as much work as you need. Practice is good. So, we erred on the side of freshness through the first part of the schedule to make sure the guys were physically ready to play. In that they were sharp in the meetings and sharp when they were on the field, but you lose some of the fundamental stuff. We’ve just got to get back to practising some good fundamental work for the next bunch of weeks.”
