Imagine a burglar is casing out your neighbourhood, looking for opportunities and for a potential lax in security to land a big score.
Arriving at a spectacular home in an upscale area, he finds that not only is the front door wide open, the home owner is there to greet him with sandwiches and beverages, while promptly pointing out where the 70-inch HD TV is and then leading him to where the personal valuables are located.
Oh, and here’s the combination to the home safe where all the other goodies are stashed.
That, in a nutshell, is what unfolded Saturday afternoon at Investors Group Field in the 15th annual Banjo Bowl. The Bombers didn’t just hand over a 32-27 victory to the Saskatchewan Roughriders in the span of three hours, they gift-wrapped it with a fancy-schmancy ribbon on top, patted their visitors on the back and sent them off with a hearty, ‘Y’all come back now, ya hear?’
The gory details in a nutshell: in a game they lost by five points – their fourth straight loss – the Bombers saw quarterbacks Matt Nichols and Chris Streveler combine for five interceptions that led to 23 points, with two of the mistakes by Nichols returned the other way for touchdowns.
What’s worse is both pick-6’s by the Riders came with the Bombers deep in Riders territory and took sure points off the scoreboard – the first with Winnipeg leading 10-0 and facing a second-and-three from the Riders 13 was returned by Willie Jefferson 97 yards for a score; the second coming with Winnipeg leading 17-13 and first-and-goal from the Riders seven-yard-line was returned 103 yards by Samuel Eguavoen.
Couple those two gaffes with another mistake that led to a field goal, and the three interceptions led to 17 points, while taking at least six off the scoreboard. And a game in which the Bombers had a chance to take solid control before halftime, instead saw them trailing 20-17 at the intermission.
It was a disconsolate Matt Nichols who met with the media after the game and took all of the arrows from a media throng gathered around his locker afterward.
Among other things, Nichols was asked if he was surprised by the QB change to Chris Streveler at halftime, marking the first time in his days as a Bomber he had been pulled from a game due to poor play.
“No, I deserved not to be in the second half in that game,” he said. “I honestly felt like I was playing really well, but obviously when you make a couple of mistakes you can cost your team big time. I wasn’t surprised but it’s obviously super disappointing. I’m disappointed in myself. I’ll get back to work. That’s all you can do.
“… That was tough. You want to be out there, especially with how many games in a row I’ve gotten to play. It’s not an easy thing but… it was exciting, at times, watching our guys claw back into it. I’m proud of the way Strev came in and played. We had a chance to come away with the win there at the end, but ultimately, you’re not going to win many games when you’re turning the ball over and giving them points.”
More on the Bombers Banjo Bowl loss in our weekly day-after collection of notes and quotes we call UPON FURTHER REVIEW…
BOMBERS HEAD COACH MIKE O’SHEA… and offensive coordinator Paul LaPolice now have a huge decision to mull over during the bye week and before the club returns to work to prepare for a visit from the Montreal Alouettes on Friday, September 21st – will it be Nichols or Streveler who gets the start?
O’Shea wouldn’t commit to an answer when asked in his post-game media conference. When Nichols was asked if his confidence has taken a hit, he offered this:
“Honestly, I don’t think so. I’m confident in myself and I know what I can do. I’m just making a couple decisions here and there that are not what I normally do. I just reach back on past experiences and how much good football I’ve played in my life. A couple bad games doesn’t define me as a player. It just sucks when you feel like you let your team down in a game that I think the rest of the team played good enough to win. It’s unfortunate. It’s something I’ve got to deal with, but it’s something I can deal with.
“I think I’m a mentally strong person. Like I said, it sucks to let your team down, but I don’t think that affects the way I’m going to play. I’ve played a lot of good football in my life. I’m going to keep doing what I’ve been doing and try to correct my mistakes.”
Streveler also did interviews post-game and was asked if he expected to get the start against the Als.
“I don’t expect anything, ever,” he said. “My job is to come in here and work as hard as I can every day and no matter what that opportunity is be ready for it. No matter what, being the short-yardage guy I’m usually playing in every game. I’m going to be ready to play no matter the situation.”
WHAT MAKES EVERYTHING THAT HAS UNFOLDED IN THE LAST FEW WEEKS… so confounding for Nichols & Co is he’s built his reputation on being an accurate passer with a quick release and a solid touchdown-to-interception ratio. Prior to this season, that ratio was an impeccable 46:17. But after what unfolded Saturday, his 2018 TD to interception ratio is now 11:12.
What’s been critical is how his mistakes have been so magnified of late – there were the two pick-6’s in the Banjo Bowl, and an interception in the Labour Day Classic that was essentially a pick-6, as it was returned to the Bombers one-yard line.
In the loss to Calgary, he served up another pick-6 to Stampeders D-lineman Ja’Gared Davis, who returned the mistake 35 yards for the score. And in the loss to Ottawa that started this current four-game skid, Nichols was sacked and fumbled, with that return taken to the house by Avery Williams for another score.
Three of those four defensive scores came in enemy territory, with the two on Saturday coming inside the Rider 20-yard line.
Ouch.
MORE GRUESOME NUMBERS… for your discussion: Nichols and Streveler have combined to go 92-of-152 for 1,303 yards with seven TDs and 10 interceptions in the last four games while opposition quarterbacks are 89-142 for 1,274 yards with five TDs and two picks.
The most telling stat is how that adds up for a quarterback efficiency rating. Winnipeg’s QBs have a 76.2 rating during the four-game losing streak while opposition QBs are operating at a 97.6 rating.
THE INCONSISTENCIES IN THE PASSING GAME… are one thing, but the Bombers vaunted ground game has been all over the map of late, too. Case in point: Andrew Harris was almost unstoppable in Regina in the Labour Day Classic, carrying 15 times for 158 yards. But in Saturday’s Banjo Bowl loss, he had 10 carries for 21 yards. In fact, the Bombers leading rusher in the rematch with the Riders was Nic Demski, who had four carries for 32 yards.
And after amassing 193 yards rushing in Regina, the Bombers were held to just 60 in the rematch – the second-lowest total of the season after racking up just 53 yards along the ground in Calgary.
“We just couldn’t get it going today and that’s frustrating for me,” said Harris. “When you’re on an offence that is productive as we are and you can’t get it going, it’s frustrating. When I think back to the game I don’t think there’s anything (the Riders) did that’s extraordinary. I feel like we just didn’t make our plays today and that’s the frustrating part about it. They’ve got a great defence and they were tackling out there, but I don’t think they did anything extraordinary to limit us what we were limited to.
“Again, we just need to make our plays. And as bad as we played, as many turnovers as we had we still had an opportunity to win the game. It just seems like that’s been the MO… we just didn’t finish again. It’s frustrating.”
LOST, AGAIN, IN ALL THE OFFENSIVE MISTAKES… was another decent effort by the defence. The Riders were limited to 322 yards net offence, including just 205 through the air. They were just seven-for-22 (36 percent) in second-down conversions and did not give up an offensive touchdown, limiting the Riders to six Brett Lauther field goals.
“Not good enough as a defensive unit,” said linebacker Anthony Gaitor. “We’ve got to make more plays than that. We can’t just make one play, two plays, we’ve got to dominate every play we’re out there.”
One play, in particular, that Gaitor dominated was his own pick-6 when he stepped in front of a Zach Collaros pass and returned it for a 55-yard score. It was his third TD in his CFL career and first with the Bombers.
“I read it. Film study,” said Gaitor with a shrug and a grin. “He looked over there, I read it and made the play.”
NOW COMES THE DEBATE ABOUT THE BYE WEEK AND ITS TIMING… On the one hand, the Bombers might need a physical and mental break from the firestorm swirling around them, especially as the injured list for Saturday’s game included Weston Dressler, Jackson Jeffcoat, Jermarcus Hardrick, Maurice Leggett, Manase Foketi, Derek Jones, Trent Corney and Frank Renaud.
On the other hand, taking a four-game skid into a bye means the road to possible redemption is that much longer.
“We’ve definitely got to self-evaluate and that’s something everyone in here needs to do,” said cornerback Chris Randle. “We’re all ready and willing to come back to work and turn this ship around.
“We’re still in the race. The race isn’t over. We all respect one another and love one another and have to be there for one another. If we take this bye week lightly and go into the tank that’s disrespecting your teammates, that’s disrespecting the process. Treat it for what it is. Learn from your mistakes and get better.”
“It’s a long season,” added defensive tackle Brandin Bryant. “We’re past the halfway point. You take this, sit back and see what we can do to make our improvements. The coaches are going to do their thing, the players need to take care of their bodies. I think our bye week has come at exactly the right time.
“We just need to finish, tighten up and not let those big plays creep up and bite us in the butt. It’s the little things that are adding up against us. It’s all in our control. Easy fixes.”
AND, FINALLY… there was more anger and frustration in the Bombers locker room after the game that a sense of hopelessness. An example of that came from Gaitor who was asked to assess the mood in the room.
“Together,” he said. “Still more football to play. On to the next game.”
Asked if it was frustrating, Gaitor answered:
“Not at all. Not at all. We’ll be back.”
