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The to-do list has some meaty items on it for the Winnipeg Blue Bombers, especially as they get ready for their first postseason appearance in five years.
Yes, it’s important to be looking good and feeling good when the real games begin on November 13th with the Canadian Football League divisional semifinals, and the Bombers sprung some serious leaks in their 23-10 loss to the Ottawa REDBLACKS on Saturday.
Fixing that is item No. 1 this week as the club begins prepping for its final game in Ottawa this Friday.
“What bothers me is we didn’t look like us at all.”
Khalil Bass
“I mean, the fire wasn’t there, the intensity wasn’t there. We just… we weren’t there,” said Bombers linebacker Khalil Bass after Saturday’s loss, which dropped the club to 10-7.
“I don’t know how to explain it. We’ve got to get back to practice, but before that evaluate how we played and do the looking at ourselves in the mirror thing. Now we’ve got an opportunity next week against the same opponent to show everybody that’s not us.
“We’ve got to take care of business next week and have some things go in our favour to still get where we want to get to, but the most important thing is go get things right again.”
Saturday’s loss, combined with the B.C. Lions win over the Saskatchewan Roughriders in the final game at Mosaic Stadium, means the Bombers no longer control their own destiny in respect to landing a coveted home playoff game.
In fact, they can still finish second, third or fourth in the West.
Here are the various playoff scenarios, as provided by CFL stats guru Steve Daniel:
- A B.C. win or tie = B.C. clinches second place in the West Division and host West Semi-Final.
- Winnipeg loss or tie = B.C. clinches second place in the West Division and host West Semi-Final.
- Winnipeg win + B.C. loss = Winnipeg clinches second place in the West Division and hosts West Semi-Final.
- Edmonton loss or tie = Edmonton finishes fourth in West Division and crosses over to play Hamilton in East Semi-Final.
- Winnipeg loss and Edmonton win = Winnipeg finishes fourth in the West Division (based on losing season series with the Eskimos) and crosses over to play Hamilton in East Semi-Final; Edmonton finishes third and plays B.C. in the West Semi-Final.
All of this, in a roundabout way, is also what had so many cursing Saturday’s lackluster loss. But…
“I’d rather it now than two weeks from now (in the playoffs),” reasoned Andrew Harris. “That’s the beauty of this: we have another week to come back from this and it’s how you go into the playoffs.”
More on the loss to Ottawa with our weekly post-game collection of notes, quotes and anecdotes we call ‘Upon Further Review’:
THE BOMBERS DID THEIR BEND-BUT-DON’T BREAK… defensive routine again on Saturday, surrendering 453 yards net offence to Ottawa while forcing a couple of turnovers and limiting the REDBLACKS to 23 points.
But when the offence is stuck at three points for 59 minutes – Winnipeg’s lone TD came with just 10 seconds left on a Matt Nichols-to-Darvin Adams five-yard pass – every mistake gets magnified.
Henry Burris threw for 338 yards and connected with seven different receivers, Mossis Madu rushed for 125 yards, and Ottawa had a decided advantage in the time of possession: 34:02 to Winnipeg’s 25:58.
“We’ve got to figure it out in a hurry and make sure we come out with more passion next week and not allow ourselves to make mistakes and get behind a good football team,” said Nichols, who finished the day 35 of 46 for 289 yards with one TD and three interceptions. “We talk about that every week: pretty much every team in this league is built so that if they get a lead it’s hard to come back. So, we’ve got to play more consistent on offence.
“It’s not rocket science… we were an inch off here and there and it could have been the other way. It’s just getting back to work and not treat the world like the sky is falling.”
THE BOMBER OFFENCE, WHICH HAS BEEN SO CAREFUL… to protect the ball and efficient in moving it was neither on Saturday. Winnipeg not only turned the ball over with three picks after their first drives – which ended with Nichols’ first interception at the Ottawa seven yard-line – three of the next four possessions were two-and-outs. In fact, six of the Bombers 14 possessions didn’t yield a single first down. And it’s hard to get any kind of O mojo going when the offence is coming off the field so quickly.
“That’s exactly what it was,” said Harris. “When you don’t get into a rhythm, you don’t have a flow of the game, when you’re in second and long situations and then you’re leaning on your quarterback to make throws in tight situations. We’ve got to be better on first down and that comes down to the run game and the short passing game. We just fell short on that.”
IF THERE WAS ONE POSITIVE OFFENSIVE DEVELOPMENT… to take from Saturday, it was how effective Darvin Adams was in his return to the receiving corps.
Adams, who had 500 yards receiving through the first six games before injuring his shoulder, returned to the lineup for the first time since late July and wasted no time making his presence felt again.
Nichols connected with him on his first two throws of the game and he led all Bombers receivers with nine catches for 87 yards and the score.
“It felt good just being out there with the guys running around just trying to make plays,” said Adams. “But obviously we lost, and nobody in here takes losing well.
“In practice I kinda felt it was OK, plus I got the OK from the doctors and they know what they’re doing and they wouldn’t let me play if I couldn’t. Once I took a couple of falls in practice and falling awkwardly, that made me feel like I was able to play.”
As for re-establishing a chemistry with Nichols, Adams said that came back almost immediately the first day he returned to practice last week.
“I’ve been playing with Matt since last year and I don’t think it was tough for us to get back on that same page,” said Adams. “He made some great throws and we connected like we did before, based on the chemistry that we already had.”
SOME NOTABLE INDIVIDUAL NUMBERS TO MUNCH ON… as the Bombers head into the final week of the regular season:
- Justin Medlock now has 56 field goals – three shy of Dave Ridgway’s record of 59, set in 1990; and has 212 points, one shy of Troy Westwood’s record of 213, set in 1994.
- Harris now has 914 yards rushing, 86 shy of what would be the third 1,000-yard season of his career. His 64 receptions are the most by a Bomber running back since Robert Mimbs had 71 in 1990.
- And Weston Dresser now has 75 receptions for 921 yards, leaving him 79 short of reaching the 1K mark for the sixth time.
AND FINALLY… you might have seen the Bombers defence running out of the tunnel wearing Halloween masks, with some of them keeping the look onto the sideline for the game. This kind of stuff is always fun when a team wins and then put under a microscope after a loss.
“Actually, it was my idea,” said Bombers linebacker Maurice Leggett. “Our defence is horrifying by taking the ball away and that’s how we see ourselves.
“The masks? That wasn’t a distraction for us. We’ve just got to talk more and eliminate mistakes.”
