HAMILTON — Adam Bighill wants you to believe. He understands better than anyone it does no good to preach from the pulpit, but instead show it every week between the white stripes. And that’s definitely the plan for Bighill and his mates on the Winnipeg Blue Bombers defence.
Still, he’s got this for the cynics and naysayers who are still doubting what the Bombers are building on defence through the first two weeks of the Canadian Football League season:
“This is not last year. It’s completely different,” began the Bombers all-star middle linebacker in a chat this week with bluebombers.com. “We’ve got new guys in here. We’ve got new thought processes. We’ve got new schemes and new ways of approaching things.
“It would be completely foolish to say, ‘We’re going to do everything the same that we did last year’ because, obviously, it wasn’t good enough. Never, at any point, have we said, ‘We’re satisfied.’ We have that thinking every single practice when we’re out here, that we’re not ever satisfied, because there’s always a way to improve. You have to look at a defence year by year. I would just say you can’t judge a book by its cover.”
That’s a fair and rational approach to what the Bombers have served up through eight quarters of real football this season. But, despite the number of forced turnovers over the last few years and a defence dotted with CFL All-Stars, the doubters will point to the last two playoff games where the defensive dozen was proven vulnerable.
And they’ve got the last six minutes in the season-opening loss to the Edmonton Eskimos, where the Bombers surrendered an eight-point lead in what was, ultimately, a 33-30 loss.
But Bighill is insistent things will be different. He’s a master communicator and a versatile game changer who filled a hole in the defensive front. Most of all, the seven-year veteran has seen enough evidence already to be encouraged.
“When you look at the pressure we’ve put on quarterbacks through the preseason and the first two games, that’s been consistent,” he said. “And from what I’ve heard that hasn’t been consistent over the past couple of years. When you do that, when you put so much more pressure on the quarterback, that’s when mistakes happen. We tilt the favour in our side when the quarterback is feeling pressure and unsettled in the pocket. It all starts up front offensively and defensively.
“It comes down to us executing our jobs, and so far, we’ve done a really good job of that. The Edmonton game… they had three contested deep balls that they ended up winning. We had guys in position to make plays and they just made great plays. It could have gone from 400 yards passing to 250 yards passing that quick.
“We’re working on trying to win all the balls we can and win up front and get more pressure on the quarterback. But we want to get to where we’re not giving up big plays and we’re making people earn stuff.
“The sky is the limit here with the guys we have and what we can do on defence.”
The Bombers will get another excellent test Friday here in Hamilton. The Tiger-Cats are led by quarterback Jeremiah Masoli, who has eclipsed the 300-yard passing mark for seven consecutive games. He’s got three 1K-yard receivers to play pitch and catch with in Jalen Saunders, Brandon Banks and Luke Tasker, and an emerging threat at running back in Canadian Mercer Timmis, who rushed for 133 yards in Hamilton’s win over Edmonton last week.
“The thing we’ve seen with our defence is guys are out there playing extremely fast and extremely physical,” Bighill said. “All across the board — back end, linebackers to the front — we really play a physical game. We attack lots, we smack ball carriers and we’ve got guys flying to the ball. It’s got to start there, because if it doesn’t you’re missing the keys to being a great defence.
“Last week was us putting it all together for four quarters. What did they have, 138 yards total offence? They’re not going to make it easy on us. But it has to be about us going out there and executing our plan and playing fast and furious.”
The Bombers made examining their defence a priority in the offseason. Everything was studied, from the play call to how it was communicated, to scheme and tendencies. There have been personnel changes, too, with Bighill, Chandler Fenner, Craig Roh and Anthony Gaitor (currently injured) coming from the B.C. Lions, with Maurice Leggett now moving into the secondary and the re-emergence of Kevin Fogg after a 2017 season that was hampered by his recovery from injury.
Even with that change, there is a better understanding now of Richie Hall’s scheme, and with that, there is also a more aggressive approach to bringing pressure. In basic terms, the Bombers defence wants to begin by establishing the line of scrimmage, the same way Winnipeg’s offensive line preaches winning the ‘bully’ game in the trenches.
“We want to establish the identity that we are a tough, clean, smart football team that plays for each other and it all starts up front with the offensive and defensive line,” Bighill explained. “That’s where you set the standard of how physical we’re going to play.
“It’s just basically us saying we’re going to dictate the physicality out there. We’re not going to lose these battles. We’re going to out-physical teams because that’s our reputation. When you build that mantra you start living it. It’s the foundation of what you believe. It can get every last ounce out of somebody. That’s what we want. That’s what we’re going to get.”
BOMBERS REPORT | June 28, 2018
LIVING IN THE MOMENT:
Chris Streveler scribbled his name on his first professional contract just a few weeks ago – May 4th to be exact – and what has transpired since then has been nothing but extraordinary.
Over the course of a few weeks, he’s gone from battling for the third-string spot behind Matt Nichols and – at the time – Darian Durant, to starting the first two games of the season with Nichols’ injury and Durant’s sudden retirement.
Not only that, he leads the CFL with six passing TDs and was one of the league’s Top Performers last week. It’s been head down for the young rookie, with very little time to take a big-picture look at what has unfolded.
“I haven’t had much of a chance to step back and look,” he said Thursday. “I mean, I’ve got a great inner circle of people that have been supporting me since I got up here, people I talk to on a daily and weekly basis. Their support just puts everything in perspective for me, I guess, with how crazy this past couple of weeks have been. Even this month, I mean, coming into camp and just fighting for a roster spot and then getting the chance to start a couple of games… It’s been kind of a whirlwind.
“It’s an opportunity I’m extremely grateful for. Those people that have been supporting me throughout the whole deal have put it in perspective for me. It’s been a lot of great people that have been supportive.”
Streveler said his inner circle includes his family, people from South Dakota and Minnesota where he played his college ball, former coaches and teammates and friends. And, of course, the current crew of men he shares a locker room with in Winnipeg.
“Their support means the world to me,” said Streveler, “and I’m getting to grow with them, but also hearing from those other people who know your story and how you got here… it’s a pretty cool deal.”
Streveler has been all-in since signing and then being named the starter when Nichols went down. Drew Wolitarsky spoke today about being up at six a.m. to get ready to come to practice and seeing that Streveler’s car was already gone.
And Streveler said that’s all part of following the standard Nichols has set.
“It’s early mornings. But I’ve got to give credit for that to Matt,” he said. “Coming in and being a rookie… you think you work hard, but you don’t really know what it takes and how hard you have to work to be prepared. I remember he talked to us as an offence one day and told us about his routine and I was like, ‘That’s intense.’ But a guy who has been successful… if he’s doing it, I have no reason not to be doing it. I’m so fresh in here and I need to learn so much.
“So, having guys like him that get in early and work every single day and have been doing it for a period of years… for me it only makes sense to try and match that level. Having a guy like that around just pushes you to want to be even better and work even harder.”
FYI:
Bombers head coach Mike O’Shea and quarterback Chris Streveler will be mic’d up Friday night as TSN unveils the first of its live mic’d series of games this year.
“It doesn’t affect me,” said Streveler. “It hasn’t been anything that has been talked about much this week and whatever is said out on the field, I think they censor all that stuff. I’m not going to think about it.”… Wolitarsky said he will have people in the stands at Tim Hortons Field Friday, including his parents, who were in Montreal last week and then visited Ottawa, as well as his aunt and uncle, his brother and other friends… Asked if he can keep up his catch-to-TD ratio – Wolitarsky has five catches this season, three for touchdowns – he grinned and added:
“No promises. I’m just going to go out there and do what I can. That’d be great.”… Bombers DE Tristan Okpalaugo on Hamilton fans: “I’ve never liked Hamilton fans. No matter where I’ve been (including Toronto) I’ve just never liked them. They try to get under your skin. I mean, I like it, but I don’t like it. I like to show ‘em up and shut ‘em up fast and early.”
