The hearty back slaps could still be heard and the buzz was still palpable in the Winnipeg Blue Bombers locker room, some four days after a remarkable comeback that ranks among the greatest in franchise history.

All of this is with good reason, of course, as the Bombers rallied from a 12-point deficit with 95 seconds remaining to edge the Montreal Alouettes 41-40 last Thursday in one of those wins that can completely change the narrative of a season.

“We always talk about it being a four-quarter game,” began Matt Nichols after practice Monday, “and I’m sure a lot of people hear those quotes and sweep them under the rug. But these are things we truly believe here and last week showed you why.

“You never know at what point in a season that important game is going to happen… come the end of the year when it comes down to playoff seeding, that might be one of the games to look back on that makes all the difference.”

Valid point, because the wins in July can be just as valuable as those in October.

But in the aftermath of the big finish, reality can also set in, just as a house owner discovers busted furniture and red wine stains in a white carpet the day after a smokin’ bash.

And for the Bombers, some of those concerns centre around a defence that ranks eighth in points allowed (33.4), eighth in yards per game (418.6) and eighth in passing yards surrendered (358.2 per game). Only the Hamilton Tiger-Cats, who were completely squished by the Calgary Stampeders 60-1 on the weekend, are keeping the Bombers out of the basement in several key defensive statistical categories.

Granted, there are some mitigating circumstances in play here – the Bombers have had four different defensive lineups in five games, are starting five CFL rookies in defensive linemen Cory Johnson and Jackson Jeffcoat, linebacker Brandon Alexander and defensive backs Roc Carmichael and Brian Walker. They have also been without veterans Tristan Okpalaugo, Ian Wild, Bruce Johnson, Kevin Fogg and Maurice Leggett for much of July.

The good news? Leggett was back practising on Monday and could return for this week’s game in Ottawa against the REDBLACKS, while Johnson is also on the field again and scheduled to come off the six-game injured list next week.

“We just have to trust in each other at times like this when the secondary is beat up and you’ve got guys banged up and in and out of the lineup,” said Leggett. “You might have trust issues – not trust issues in that you don’t believe in each other – but not knowing what the man next to you is doing or what he is thinking.

“We have a lot of younger guys in there and the veterans, we have to help them and coach them. We can’t just be a player, we have to be a coach as well.”

Asked if those gruesome D stats are concerning – it’s worth noting the Bombers are third in sacks and first in interceptions – Leggett added:

“At the end of the day, the ‘W’ is what matters. We still have to correct them and we don’t want to make it that hard, but the yards don’t mean anything.

“Offence struggles at times and we have to be able to pick them up and that’s what we’re looking forward to doing.”

Continuity and chemistry are no doubt factors in the defence’s struggles and the ‘explosion’ plays against. The Alouettes had three pass completions over 20 yards and seven runs over 10 yards. Just as crucial was the 11.4 yards Montreal averaged on 20 second-down plays.

At the same time, the Bombers sacked Darian Durant five times and forced him into an interception on the very first possession of the game. That’s a whole lot of good and bad, defensively.

“We feel like we pulled our finger off the trigger in the fourth quarter,” said linebacker Kyle Knox. “They had two huge runs that gashed us on their last drive that, if we had stopped, could have put our offence in a lot better position.

“Every week we’re trying to improve the scheme, better it and have a different look. But we’re also trying to play simple so that we can all play fast and be on the same page.

“It takes a while to build chemistry. We know the players in this locker room are athletes and we have a bunch of players that can be put in any position and be ready to play. We have to make sure we’re playing as one. We want to get to the point where it’s happening naturally, where instead of reacting to things you’re able to get there before it happens. That’s knowing our assignments and where our teammates are going to be and then taking a chance.”

And yet, for all the fingers being pointed at the defence, there was also a sequence at the start of the fourth quarter when the Bombers twice stuffed the Als on two cracks from inside their own five-yard line that head coach Mike O’Shea believed was critical.

“If you’re asking me about the goal-line stand, I think it was bloody awesome,” said O’Shea when asked about the defensive effort against Montreal.

“If you’re asking about something else… obviously, there are some areas we need to work on. To a man, (the defence) want to two-and-out them in the fourth when they ran the ball on us five or six times in a row for 90 yards. They recognize on film what they did wrong and how they can fix it and how they could have got off the field sooner and given the ball back to the offence even sooner than they did.

“But they also understand that it’s a team game and there will be times they will be called upon…

“They’ll be better.”

BOMBER REPORT – July 31, 2017

INFIRMARY REPORT: Lots of news on the injury front from practice Monday. SB Weston Dressler, LB Brandon Alexander and DB T.J. Heath were all spectators. O’Shea said Dressler will be given a couple more days of recovery before his availability for Friday’s game in Ottawa is determined and that Alexander and Heath should be good to go.

DB Bruce Johnson and LB Shayne Gauthier also practiced and could be back in the picture when they come off the six-game injured list after Friday.

MOE GOOD TO GO?: O’Shea said he wanted to watch the film of Monday’s practice before determining if Leggett would be green-lighted to return. The veteran LB, the Bombers top defensive player last year, has missed the last two contests.

And it hasn’t been easy.

“Very tough,” he said. “You have a very different perspective and you see different things that you wouldn’t normally see just from being on the sideline. You just take it in and use that for when you come back.

“That’s why we play the game… those games right there. I’m 30 years-old and I almost had a heart attack. It was very exciting. It just made me want to get out there. I think I almost tackled somebody coming on the sidelines. It was thriller.”

37 FOR 33: RB Andrew Harris has 37 receptions for 298 yards through five games – the catch total ranking second in the CFL to Ottawa’s Greg Ellingson’s 39 and tied with Toronto’s S.J. Green.

“I just enjoy being part of the offence and contributing and making impact plays, whether it’s running or passing or blocking,” said Harris, who scored the game-winning TD, along the ground, in last Thursday’s victory. “It’s all about making impact plays and helping my team win.”