Truth be told, Matt Nichols & Co. wish it didn’t have to seemingly always be like this – with the clock ticking down to zero and the Winnipeg Blue Bombers doing their last-play drama act.
Oh sure, it makes for great TV – and awesome theatre if you are in-house – but there are other ways to win a football game without needing a late rally featuring some stellar play mixed with a sprinkling of pixie dust for good luck.
“This team has obviously shown an ability to execute in crunch time,” began the Bombers quarterback after practice on Thursday. “It’s a couple weeks in a row for us, but we also went the other way with it against B.C. the week prior (in a 45-42 loss in which they surrendered a 15-point fourth-quarter lead).
“We want to be able to do it consistently and for an entire game so that we don’t have to come down to the last play every time.”
Now just for the record, this topic isn’t being broached today because the Bombers are heading into Hamilton to face the winless Tiger-Cats Saturday night, expecting a quick kill and an easy victory. Instead, there has been a sense of urgency in Bomberland all week and a warning that the Ticats may be 0-6, but are far from pushovers.
“They’re going to be hungry,” said running back Andrew Harris. “You can’t take any team in this league lightly and we certainly don’t take Hamilton lightly at all. They’ve got some great players, some perennial all-stars… across the board they’re a good football team.
“We’ve had a couple of games where we’ve had to come back, but it would be nice to flip the script and come out and be dominant in the first half and hold on to that. That’s not how this game goes, though, sometimes.”
And as Exhibit A, we give you the Bombers…
So there are a couple of characteristics on display here: All this last-second dramatic stuff – including the OT victory over Saskatchewan in the season opener – offers a hint at this team’s resiliency and resolve, but also showcases an inconsistency the club is still trying to eliminate.
The bonus is obvious: Going through all this and thriving, as the Bombers have done in the last two weeks, is a trend that can become a trait the more it happens. Believing and then doing, after all, is what the dominant teams in this league do week after week after week.
“To me, it feels like this is something that was already there,” said Nichols. “It’s not like after games we’re going, ‘Holy cow! We pulled that off!’ We have enough vets on this team that have been through these situations that the young guys can look to when we are in those situations. It helps them realize it’s not a huge, monumental moment. It’s just going out and executing it in crunch time.
“The wins are huge right now. We won those two games, it gets us to 4-2 and yet we’re still fourth in the West so they’re extremely important at this juncture. At the same time, I feel like they’re even more important for down the stretch so that when Week 17, 18 come around and guys are put in tough situations, these weeks like the last couple we’ve been through… I don’t think you think about them in the moment, but subconsciously you know you’ve been there before and found ways to win.”
BOMBERS REPORT – August 10
The Blue Bombers hit the field for their final full practice Thursday in advance of Saturday’s visit to Hamilton to face the Tiger-Cats. With the team travelling to Steeltown Friday morning, here are three things you should know before they hit the road…
A VET IS CUT ADRIFT
The Bombers announced late Thursday afternoon the release of veteran defensive back Bruce Johnson. He had suited up for 47 games in three years for the Bombers dating back to joining the team in 2014 following his days with the New York Giants.
But he began the season on the six-game injured list before returning to practice last week. The move does speak, in part, of the club’s faith in Brian Walker and Roc Carmichael, two CFL rookies starting in the secondary, as well as Kevin Fogg and practice roster player Robert Porter.
JFG GETS GREEN LIGHT
Bombers receiver Julian Feoli-Gudino was back at work on Thursday, a day after playing the spectator at practice. He split reps with the No. 1 offence with Matt Coates, but figures to be back in the starting lineup Saturday in Hamilton.
Safety Taylor Loffler was not at practice, but is expected to be patrolling the middle of the secondary for Ticats.
Feoli-Gudino, meanwhile, is coming off his best game of the season after pulling in six passes for 73 yards in the win over Ottawa, including 34 yards after the catch.
“I was really excited I was involved and it ended up that the coverages they were playing ended up making me get the ball,” said Feoli-Gudino. “I can’t complain about that. (The YAC) is something I take pride in… I try to get the first down at least every time and it’s something I work on.”
Feoli-Gudino said his absence from practice Wednesday was a result of it “just being that time of the year and I needed a few days off. But now I’m 100 per cent and ready to go.”
His handiwork against Ottawa wasn’t his career best as a pro, but was pretty dang close: he had six catches for 76 yards in win over Hamilton on July 31, 2014. Asked if last week’s totals might mean he gets more work, Feoli-Gudino added:
“Honestly, I think it’s just the way it worked out. But every week I get a couple plays in that I’m thinking, ‘All right I’m going to get this one’ that end up not working because the defence plays another coverage. It depends week to week and so I just focus every day at practice and then translate it to game day.
“I hope I get more, but I just want to contribute and help the team out and make as many plays as I can.”
DON’T SLEEP ON ZACH
Bombers head coach Mike O’Shea knows as well as anyone in blue and gold about the skillset of Hamilton QB Zach Collaros, dating back to their days together with the Toronto Argonauts.
And while his numbers might be mediocre in the Ticats 0-6 start, he can be especially deadly… especially if allowed to get outside the pocket.
“We’re pretty familiar with Zach Collaros… I am especially. He’s a tough quarterback to play against,” said O’Shea. “(Keeping him in the pocket) would be a good thing… better than letting him run wild, that’s for sure. He’s certainly, as we’ve seen over his career, able to create some magic. Even when you’re right around him he seems to escape very well.
“I’m sure if you were to ask Zach, or from what I know about Zach, if he could stay in there clean all the time and throw the ball downfield without getting any pressure I think a lot of quarterbacks would like to do that. But he’s got great potential when he leaves the pocket, too.”
