Travis Lulay is tackled during CFL action in Vancouver, B.C., Saturday, July 14, 2018. (CFL Photo - Jimmy Jeong)
VANCOUVER – It will be hailed in these parts as a monumental and astonishing comeback for the B.C. Lions.
And for the Winnipeg Blue Bombers?
It will be cursed as a monumental and astonishing collapse – with a few choice curse descriptors that just can’t be repeated here.
The Bombers coughed up a 17-0 halftime lead in spectacular fashion Saturday night at B.C. Place en route to a mistake-filled 20-17 loss to the Lions that not only drops them to 2-3, but will leave everyone in Bomber Nation surly for the days to come.
“That’s going to sting a lot,” said right tackle Jermarcus Hardrick. “I’m just so emotional right now I don’t want to say the wrong thing. It’s just such a hard one to take. Now we’ve got to flush it and move on, but we all took our turns. Personally, I feel like I let the team down. This is going to be a tough one to put away because of that.”
The Lions sealed the comeback with a 16-yard Ty Long field goal with no time remaining, causing the 19,541 in attendance to leap to their feet in celebration. But from a Bombers perspective, it marked the conclusion of a frustrating second half in which they had bungled so much after a solid opening 30 minutes.
“We killed ourselves,” began quarterback Matt Nichols. “They did the things they needed to win, but we let this one slip away, for sure, with our own mistakes. There are 10 different instances that changed the game, really. Everything we could do wrong, we did wrong.”
The many mistakes, so many to attempt to chronicle here, included five turnovers – three interceptions and two botched short-yardage attempts – nine penalties, including three roughing the passer calls and a horse collar infraction totalling 51 yards, a 42-yard field goal attempt that clanged off the upright, three or four drops by the receiving corps, much of those gaffes coming in the second half.
“We played a good first half and we didn’t really play in the second half,” said head coach Mike O’Shea. “Four giveaways (in the second half), URs (unnecessary roughness), offside… penalties and turnovers, it’s tough to win.”
The short-yardage turnovers were especially costly – the first came after the Bombers were second and goal from the B.C. three-yard line, with Chris Streveler twice limited to one-yard gains in a possession that could have put them up 24-0; the second came on a third-and-one with the Bombers leading 17-10 with 8:30 remaining and at the B.C. seven yard line. Even a field goal there would have put the Bombers up by 10.
“We missed on one (short yardage) last year and it came in our second game of the season against Calgary,” said O’Shea. “We were 25 of 26 and the way our short-yardage package has been working… to me, it’s a no brainer. They didn’t work out. So now we’re less than perfect this year.”
Nichols was effective early, but finished the night 17 of 28 for 214 yards with the three interceptions. The final pick came with just 1:39 left and helped set up the winning kick.
“I would throw that again… I watched it on the iPad… I hit Nic (Demski) in the chest, the DB got his arm in there and knocked it away and it got deflected up in the air,” said Nichols. “Watching it again, I would probably make that throw 10 times out of 10. I felt like it was a good opportunity to move the sticks on second and long.”
Still, there were simply too many screw-ups in the final 30 minutes to hang this on any one player or any one unit. And that’s what has to be disturbing for the Bombers as they head into their upcoming home-and-home series with the Toronto Argonauts.
“We all took turns tonight,” said Nichols. “It was awful. We’ve got to be better.”
Asked if there was anything he could take away from this game, the Bombers QB was blunt:
“Nothing. I’m done with this game. I’m moving on. We’ve got two more games before the bye week against Toronto and that’s all I’m focused on. It was an awful game and I don’t think there’s anything I’m going to take from this other than I’m going to be better next week.
“I felt like we played hard, we just played dumb. We made too mistakes and we didn’t do the things we do on a weekly basis. We did everything we could have done wrong as a team.”
THE BIG STAT
5: Turnovers by the Bombers – three interceptions and two turnovers on downs. The Bombers finished -2 in the turnover ratio.
FYI
The Bombers two inactives were OL Manase Foketi and LB Chandler Fenner. The Fenner injury meant Moe Leggett moved from the halfback spot to the dime and two rookies – Marcus Sayles and Tyneil Cooper – started in the secondary… The Bombers hit the 100-yard rushing mark before the intermission, on just 11 carries… The Lions had four first downs in their first possession, and just four more before the end of the half… The Bombers final seven offensive possessions featured two interceptions, two turnovers on downs and three two and outs.
NUMBERS GAME
3: Interceptions thrown by Matt Nichols, the first time he’s had a three-pick game since Oct. 29th, 2016 vs. Ottawa.
0: Points scored by the Bombers in the second half.
18: Andrew Harris rushed for 139 yards on just 13 carries, giving him the 18th 100-yard rushing game in his career.
326: Passing yards for B.C. quarterback Travis Lulay in his first start since coming off knee surgery last year.
NEXT: The Bombers are on the road again next Saturday in Toronto for an afternoon tilt (3 p.m. Winnipeg time kickoff). Winnipeg’s next home game is against the Argos on Friday, July 27th.
