The flashes of brilliance are coming more frequently now, almost week after week after week.

There was the spectacular 98-yard interception return in Toronto 20 days ago, followed by a four-tackle/two-quarterback pressures effort against B.C.

And then there was last week, when Tristan Okpalaugo absolutely exploded off the page in the Winnipeg Blue Bombers win in Calgary. All told, the veteran defensive end registered six tackles, a tackle for a loss, a quarterback pressure, three sacks and a 52-yard fumble recovery for a touchdown that earned him recognition as one of the CFL’s Top Performers of the Week.

Okpalaugo will humbly submit this is all by design, of course. The book on the Bombers 2017 is down to its last few chapters, and like all his teammates, he wants to play a starring role in how this season is remembered.

“I’m just trying to elevate my game as we go,” said Okpalaugo with a shrug. “Our D-line has been really working to get more pressures, more sacks and do our thing to impact the game in a positive way.”

But what we’ve seen in the last month is the Okpalaugo the Bombers were ecstatic to bring aboard when they signed him in free agency after his stint in the NFL. The East Division’s Most Outstanding Rookie in 2014, Okpalaugo has that freaky athleticism that can make him such a force off the end. He’s got tight-end like skills when he does get the ball in his mitts and has that first-step burst that makes him a nightmare for offensive tackles once the ball is snapped.

The Bombers will need another performance like the one delivered by their defence in Calgary last Friday if they are to contain the Eskimos’ high-octane offence that throws out more weapons than a Transformers movie.

And critical to that, of course, is quarterback Mike Reilly, such a lock for the CFL’s Most Outstanding Player Award the engravers might as well get a head start on scratching his name into the trophy right now.

“The first guy in has got to hold him up and then everybody has to rally,” said Okpalaugo when asked how to defend the Esks’ pivot. “I’ve seen a lot of cases on film where a guy has him wrapped up and everybody else stops rushing because they think, ‘Oh, that guy’s got the sack.’ But then he gets out of those and ends up making a play down the field.

“We’ve got to keep rushing and get our shots in. Our guy Matt (Nichols) is tough, and so is this guy. You could say that about all the quarterbacks in this league.”

That’s the intriguing thing about Reilly and how it relates to his growing legend. One of the long-standing theories in football goes like this: the more a defensive front collapses the pocket or gets into a QB’s face, the more likely he gets happy feet and makes bad decisions.

And Reilly? He’s taken some hellacious hits right in the chicklets this year and almost become even deadlier afterward.

“I don’t know if you can affect the psyche of his game, I don’t know if you can get to him mentally,” said Bombers head coach Mike O’Shea. “I don’t think it really works that way… I don’t think it works that way with a lot of guys.

“This is a contact sport. By the time you get to this level you’re pretty sure of yourself, in a good way, and I don’t think you’re intimidated by contact. I think it’s more in the plan and how you cover down their receivers and when you bring pressure and those types of things that are important and can be effective.

“But the idea of your physicality intimidating someone at this level… I just don’t think it really exists.”

The Bombers beat the Eskimos in both meetings this year, but in both games Reilly did manage to throw for 300 yards. All those numbers are in one ear and out the next for a guy like Okpalaugo. He’s just amped up about the chance to play in his second CFL playoff game.

“They’re rolling offensively and they’re playing well defensively, give them credit,” he said of the Eskimos. “We’ve got a test coming up. No disrespect to them, but it’s all about what we do.

“I just have so much faith in this team. It’s been built well, from the bottom up. There’s so many unselfish guys in here, guys that will lay it on the line every time they’re out there on the field.

“I can’t wait to play this game and watch how the rest of my teammates do. Offence, defence, special teams… it’s a good group of guys.”

BOMBERS REPORT – November 10, 2017

The Bombers completed their final full practice today in advance of Sunday’s West Division Semi-Final against the Eskimos – the final home game of the season. Here is the news of the day before the team has its walk-through practice Saturday…

THE NICHOLS WATCH

Quite the scene at Bombers practice on Friday as the session began without Matt Nichols, the club’s starting QB and Most Outstanding Player.

Nichols has been limited in his work all week after dressing in last week’s win over Calgary but not taking any reps after suffering a calf injury in the loss to the B.C. Lions on October 28^th.

He arrived at practice halfway into the session in civvies, hugging and giving hearty handshakes to his teammates. And with good reason: Friday morning his wife Ali gave birth to their second daughter – Parker Winnie Lou Nichols.

“His family is doing well,” said Bombers head coach Mike O’Shea. “Apparently, there’s another redhead ready to take over the planet, so it’s perfect.”

“This is the way he had it figured out. Those type of things… obviously, the relationship with his wife is probably very, very strong. They understand how this works. It doesn’t always work out as planned, but it did this time. I said he had the option to stay as long as he needed to stay, and that’s as long as he needed to stay, apparently. It’s good.”

Asked if he was prepared to name Nichols his starter on Sunday, O’Shea said that declaration won’t come until the depth chart is released Saturday morning.

“Not yet. We’ve got another day before the roster comes out.”

The Bombers did receive a scare late in practice when RB/SB Timothy Flanders pulled up lame with an apparent knee injury, but O’Shea suggested he should be good to go.

COLD-SCHMOLD

The mercury dipped to -10C Friday morning with a windchill of -20. O’Shea was asked about how some of his troops have reacted over the last few days to practising in this early onslaught of Canadian winter.

“You see them out there today? They were having a good time,” said O’Shea with a grin. “They really were. There was a lot of energy at practice, they were flying around. It looked like fun out there. There’s something about that weather and practising at this time of year that is just exciting. I don’t think it weighs on them at all. I think, in fact, it gets them fired up.”

The forecast for Sunday, by the way, looks considerably better: a high of -4C and sunny skies.

SAME PAGE

Bomber players have their fingers crossed for a large crowd Sunday, especially on defence, in the hopes the noise could impact the Eskimo offence. But the noise also makes it difficult for the Bombers defence to communicate as well.

Here’s O’Shea on that subject:

“We’ve played in front of a pretty packed house several times, so our guys are used to communicating differently and figuring it out when the opposition offence is on the field. The key is, like any form of communication, is just making sure your message is understood. It’s not just about verbalizing something, it’s making sure you get something back from the guy you are communicating with. There was a certain point in the season where they made that conscious effort to communicate differently and better. It’s worked for them and will continue to work.”