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July 3, 2017

Upon Further Review | WPG 43, SSK 40

Matt Nichols (15) and Weston Dressler (7) during the game at New Mosaic Stadium in Regina, SK, Saturday, July 1st, 2017. (Photo: Johany Jutras)

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There were slaps on the back coupled with sighs of relief. And so, the euphoria that comes after an overtime win was also tempered by a very healthy dose of reality.

The Winnipeg Blue Bombers, make no mistake, were ecstatic to exit Regina late Saturday night after a thrilling 43-40 overtime victory over the Saskatchewan Roughriders in a Canada Day matchup in which the main storylines seemed to be working against them.

Still, maybe it says something about where this club is in its metamorphosis that there was one universal sentiment in which everyone in the Bomber clubhouse agreed:

Starting 1-0 is awesome, obviously. But there’s also a heckuva lot of work to get done ASAP.

“Any time you get that first win it’s great for the confidence and you can get that momentum going now,” said Bombers receiver Weston Dressler, who led all receivers with six catches for 124 yards and two touchdowns. “We’ve got a lot of stuff to clean up, though. Offensively… the first half was not good football for us.

“So anytime you can learn from your mistakes and win a game it’s even better. We know we can be a lot better offensively and we managed to get a win, too.”

Weston Dressler (7) of the Winnipeg Blue Bombers during the game at New Mosaic Stadium in Regina, SK, Saturday, July 1st, 2017. (Photo: Johany Jutras)

The game was all over the place for the Bombers, who fell behind 17-3 and didn’t register a first down in the first quarter, to then going on a 31-3 run late in the second and into the third quarter that put them up two scores.

But the offence then sputtered again in protecting the lead while the defence was exploited by veteran Riders’ QB Kevin Glenn & Co. to send the game into overtime.

“I can think of multiple things right now that we need to be better at, but that’s what the games are for and that’s why you go back to practice,” said quarterback Matt Nichols, who threw for a career-high four touchdowns. “We’re going to watch the film and get ready for a very, very tough opponent next week.”

More on the Bombers season-opening win in our weekly post-game collection of notes, quotes and anecdotes we call Upon Further Review…

THERE MIGHT NOT BE A MORE COMPELLING BACKSTORY… of any of the Bombers than that of L’Damian Washington.

because it really is movie-of-the-week material. It’s also part of why so many are cheering for the man to find a home and succeed in Winnipeg. Washington had two catches for 38 yards Saturday night, including a 35-yarder for his first career CFL touchdown.

“That felt good, man,” said Washington.

“It’s been a long road to get here, to get to this point. It’s just a blessing, honestly, to be around so many great guys at receiver… Dress (Dressler), Darvin (Adams). The first half I struggled to get my waggle – it was my first time doing it – and the guys were like ‘just keep after it, keep after it.’”

It’s hard to imagine any player who might appreciate where he is right now more than Washington, who battled injury and bounced all over pro football’s map – including being cut by the Edmonton Eskimos this offseason – before joining the Bombers after training camp had started.

L’’Damian Washington (5) of the Winnipeg Blue Bombers during the game at New Mosaic Stadium in Regina, SK, Saturday, July 1st, 2017. (Photo: Johany Jutras)

“I usually journal once a week and so I journaled this morning (Saturday) about what’s happened in the last 30 days because I probably got here a month ago today,” said Washington. “Just to come full swing and start Week 1 for us and get a touchdown… 30 days ago if you had asked me, I would have said I’d be travelling, speaking, working a nine-to-five.”

Washington lost both parents before he finished high school and it was the support of his brothers that helped him survive and ultimately, land an opportunity at the University of Missouri. And it’s his brothers who huddled around the TV in the States Saturday night to watch L’Damian’s Bomber and CFL debut.

“That was the first text I saw (from them) after the game,” said Washington. “I’m just happy for those guys. They’ve been with me, they stuck with me, they believed in me. And when you’ve got a support system like that, you never give up on yourself, you know?

“Those guys sacrificed way more than I did (while growing up). I went to college and got to eat for free, play college football and get my degree. Those guys went some nights without electricity or running water while I was playing on TV. It’s all about them, it’s not about me. That last name means something to me – Washington – not the first name.”

YOU REALLY MUST WATCH WASHINGTON’S TOUCHDOWN AGAIN… to appreciate how graceful and awkward it was at the same time.

(Watch the highlights here, with Washington’s TD at the four-minute mark)

Washington pulls in a Nichols pass at the Riders 10-yard line with his back to the end zone, and then backpedals across the goal line while fighting to stay upright.

“If I had tried to turn around, I would have fell and lost my balance,” said Washington with a grin. “I’m like, ‘I’m just going to back-pedal this.’ It was just instinct. It was a blessing to get in the end zone, it’s a blessing to be out here competing again and it’s a blessing to be with family like this. This organization is great. I mean, everybody is so welcoming and it’s made the journey so much better.”

A FEW OFFENSIVE NUMBERS THAT HIGHLIGHT… how all-over-the-place the performance was for the Bombers:

  • The Bombers did not register a first down on seven of their first eight possessions, including none in the first quarter
  • Winnipeg’s first-down production in the first quarter averaged just 1.8 yards
  • The Bombers got possession of the ball with 2:37 left in the first half, and over the next 13 minutes and 32 seconds into the third quarter, out-scored the Riders 31-3. During that span, the club ran 18 plays that resulted in 273 yards and three touchdowns, as Nichols went 10 for 13 for 234 yards and hit Dressler twice and Washington once for TDs.
  • After a Medlock field goal restored a two-touchdown lead at 37-23, the Bombers were outscored 14-zip in the final nine minutes of regulation while having three consecutive punts on their possessions before ending with a kneel-down prior to overtime.

 

“It was definitely a little bit of a rollercoaster ride, but at the same time, I don’t feel like we did our job as an offence,” said Nichols. “When we’re up 14 we need to go in and march down the field and at least kick another field goal and go up by 17. That was our mindset and we didn’t get that job done.

“I told the guys when we were at 27 that it was going to take 40 to win and 40 would have won it in regulation.”

THREE HOMEGROWN GUYS WHO DON’T GET A TON OF INK… but stood out on Canada Day, at least from this perch, were middle linebacker Sam Hurl, special teams ace Mike Miller, and defensive tackle Jake Thomas.

Hurl’s return to the starting lineup had a lot of teeth gnashing in Bomberland, but the veteran defender finished the game with four tackles, a tackle-for-loss and an interception in a very solid outing.

And Miller, cast aside by the Eskimos in February, was superb on the kick-cover units and finished with five special teams tackles. Just FYI, the club record for special teams tackles in a game is seven, set by Brendan Rodgers in 1994, with Wade Miller and Derrick Doggett each having six in a single game.

Thomas, meanwhile, was part of a defensive-line rotation that saw all seven players dressed get a ton of snaps. He finished with two tackles and a sack and was a force whenever he was on the field.

Huddle before the game between the Saskatchewan Roughriders and the Winnipeg Blue Bombers at New Mosaic Stadium in Regina, SK, Saturday, July 1st, 2017. (Photo: Johany Jutras)

SOME NUMBERS ON DRESSLER… that are worth mentioning: He missed four games last year and yet still led the Bombers in receiving with 80 receptions for 1,003 yards and two touchdowns. He was left off TSN’s recent Top 50 players list, which many felt was a snub.

Consider this: In his 15 games as a Bomber, his totals are 86 receptions for 1,127 yards and four TDs.

“He’s a future hall of famer,” said Nichols of Dressler. “He’s definitely Top 5 of favourite people I’ve ever played with, just as a person, as a teammate, and as a student of the game. I can’t say enough good things about him.”

IT’S NOT SURPRSING THAT IN A GAME… in which 83 points are scored, a defensive play might be overlooked. But in the second overtime possession – just before Tyler Crapigna’s 33-yard miss that helped set up Medlock for the win – Riders running back – and former Bomber – Cameron Marshall had acres of space ahead of him on a draw from the Winnipeg 24-yard line. But he was tripped up on a diving toe-trip tackle by Jamaal Westerman. On the next play, Glenn was sacked by Westerman and fumbled, with the Riders recovering.

“I’m not going to lie to you… I can’t really remember it,” said Westerman. “All I remember was stretching as far as I could.

“You’ve got to do your job, no matter if it’s the first quarter, second quarter or overtime. That was my job to do and I was able to get down there and get him by the laces.

“It’s what Osh (head coach Mike O’Shea) talks about: fight, battle the entire game and never give up. It’s that one yard, that one inch, that makes and breaks games.”

AND, FINALLY… The first two weeks of the CFL season have been nothing short of spectacular. Two of the first eight games have gone to overtime and four others have been decided by less than a touchdown.

“From what we’ve seen in the start of the season, that’s the way it looks like it’s going to be all year,” said Andrew Harris. “Everyone is competitive, everyone’s capable of making big plays and everyone’s got good defences which are capable of turning the ball over. It’s going to be a season where you’ve got to stick with it to the end. And it’s going to be fun.”