Upon Further Review | WPG 23 SSK 18

The noise emanating from the Winnipeg Blue Bombers dressing room at Mosaic Stadium early Sunday evening was like a barrage to the senses.

It was loud and it was overflowing with emotion, as player after player headed into the room, their faces red from the cold but frozen in smiles and grins after a 23-18 win over the Saskatchewan Roughriders in the Canadian Football League’s West Division Semi-Final.

It’s important to briefly describe that scene because as post-game discussions fixated on the head shot to Brandon Bridge that was missed by the officiating crew, the impact of the -20C weather conditions and the future of Zach Collaros in Saskatchewan, what shouldn’t be lost at all here is this: The Bombers won a playoff game for the first time in seven years on Sunday, ending the longest current drought between postseason wins by any CFL club.

Consider that since Winnipeg’s win in the 2011 East Final – they would lose the following week to the B.C. Lions in the Grey Cup – every club in this league had won at least one playoff game. The post-season win numbers from across the league over that span, prior to Sunday: Calgary (7), Edmonton (5), Toronto (5), Saskatchewan (4), Hamilton (4), Ottawa (3), B.C. (2) and Montreal (1).

Ultimately, that means little to some of the faces new to the Bombers. But for those who had lived through the last two West Semi-Final losses in B.C. in 2016 and last year to Edmonton, Sunday had to be especially gratifying.

Andrew Harris touched on that in the post-game, explaining how his cell phone was blowing up with messages. But after the game, head coach Mike O’Shea wanted to live in this moment, with this team.

“I don’t compound (winning) by taking the emotion of previous years into account,” said O’Shea. “This is one game that we feel good about. I feel great for the guys. They battled… it was gritty. It’s nice to see this group smile. But I don’t ever let that other stuff interfere with how good this one feels for this one.”

Some of this goes back to a comment O’Shea made last week about every team’s goal being the same – to win a championship – and that a victory in the divisional semi-final simply wouldn’t be enough. But given some of the negative playoff streaks in play heading into Sunday’s game, the result does have some meaning.

“Great feeling, great feeling,” said veteran left tackle Stanley Bryant, who was part of a Bombers playoff win for the first time in his four seasons with the club. “We knew it was going to be a hostile environment. Offensive line played great, offence, defence… just overall we played great.”

Bryant was then asked if a weight was lifted after winning a playoff game with this team.

“Weight? Yeah. Yeah,” he said. “This is one of those games we needed. I mean, the past two years we’ve been unsuccessful in the semi-final. This was a big win for us. I’m just glad we got the opportunity to do it and we did it.”

More on the Bombers first playoff win in seven years and a look ahead to the West Final against the Stampeders in our weekly post-game collection of notes and quotes we call ‘UPON FURTHER REVIEW’…

NO WORD YET FROM CFL HQ… on what supplementary discipline Jackson Jeffcoat will face for his head shot on Bridge, although it’s not a good sign for the Bombers defensive end when the league issues a statement about the missed call before the team’s charter is even been airborne out of Regina after the game.

Commissioner Randy Ambrosie’s statement suggested the Command Centre be able to step in on a missed call like this – the ref camera used by TSN showed the official’s view of the hit was blocked – but that’s likely more of an offseason discussion than one that happens just a few days before the division finals. Something has to change, because the Riders also lost Zach Collaros on a missed head shot in their final regular season game – a play that kept Collaros out of the West Semi-Final. B.C.’s Odell Willis, by the way, received the maximum fine possible for that hit.

“There was no malicious intent and I didn’t feel like there was any head contact,” Jeffcoat told reporters after the game, before having a chance to see a reply. “I came in with my shoulder. My job is to sack the quarterback and hit him.”

A COUPLE MORE HISTORICAL NOTES… to pass along here about what the Bombers did Sunday and what is ahead:

• The win Sunday ended a seven-game playoff losing streak against the Riders that dated back to a West Semi-Final win in Winnipeg back in 1965.
• As well, it was the first time a Bombers team had won a playoff game in Regina since 1955.
• The West Final will mark the first postseason meeting with the Stampeders since the 2001 Grey Cup loss and the first non-Grey Cup playoff win since a 24-3 Bombers win in the 1982 West Semi-Final. The last time these two teams met in a West Final was 1965, with the Bombers winning the then best-of-three final 2-1 before falling in the ’65 Grey Cup to Hamilton.

ONE OF THE CRITICAL COMPONENTS IN SUNDAY’S WIN… was the work of the Bombers offensive and defensive lines. The Riders managed just 205 yards in net offence – Winnipeg had 358 – with just 100 of that through the air. And while Bridge did have success using his legs in getting outside of the pocket with 86 yards on five carries, the Riders running backs were stifled, with Cameron Marshall limited to 14 yards on seven carries and Marcus Thigpen finishing with only 15 yards on five carries.

There’s more…

Over the last two meetings between the Bombers and Saskatchewan, both Winnipeg wins, Riders defensive ends Willie Jefferson and Charleston Hughes – both West Division All-Stars and who finished with a combined 25 sacks – were limited to eight combined tackles, one sack, one forced fumble and two tackles for losses. The disrupting forces those two are, that’s a tribute to the work of Bomber tackles Bryant and Jermarcus Hardrick, and because the Riders like to move their personnel around, also to the interior linemen in Matthias Goossen, Patrick Neufeld and Sukh Chungh, as well as the running backs and receivers used for extra protection.

The work of the Bombers offensive line, meanwhile, was never more evident than in the second half – and particularly in the fourth quarter – when they took control of the game.

Andrew Harris had just 27 yards along the ground in the first half, but finished the day with 153 yards on 19 carries, including a critical fourth-quarter TD with under five minutes to go.

“We knew that with them just rushing three that we’d be able to control the line of scrimmage,” said Stanley Bryant. “Guys were just flying around into the pile and making holes for Andrew. And with him breaking tackles, he just made us look good. We did a good job of just beating guys up today and making things good for Andrew. We love to put it on his shoulders and on our shoulders. We feel that when it’s time to get down to the nitty-gritty, you put it on the offensive line. I think Osh believes in us, too.

“We know if we open holes for Andrew he’s going to make guys miss, he’s going to break tackles. We’re just going to control the tempo.”

HARRIS SALUTED HIS O-LINE, AS HE ALWAYS DOES… in his post-game media conference, calling the group ‘Dogs.’ But the Winnipeg-product was also a dog himself – part bulldog, part greyhound – in horrible conditions. He had seven runs of 10 yards or more and one run of more than 20 – a 37 yarder with six minutes remaining that was part of the Bombers final scoring drive and saw him touch the ball on three consecutive carries for 53 yards and his TD.

“I’m just happy how we approached the game and I’m happy we were able to make plays,” said Harris. “It wasn’t all roses. There were things we had to overcome. Saskatchewan played a great game today and we had to find a way to get it done. I’m definitely proud of my teammates and how we handled the situation coming into this environment.”

The game was momentarily delayed on that TD as the ball appeared to come loose as Harris broke the plane of the goal line. He did recover it in the end zone, even if the ruling had shown he hadn’t crossed into the end zone.

“I was about to reach out for the goal line and it came out and the ball was basically laying on the goal line,” Harris explained. “I just grabbed it and put it back over. That happened in a millisecond. Slow it down and it probably looked a lot different, but I’ve got to be better in those situations. That’s sloppy football at a crucial point of the game. If they get that ball in that situation and drive and score, it might be a different outcome right now.”

AND FINALLY, A TIP OF THE HAT TO SOME OF THE UNSUNG HEROES… from Sunday. We mentioned the big eaters in the trenches, but the Bombers also got some outstanding work from others who don’t always get the spotlight or media attention.

With Jovan Santos-Knox out, the Bombers got solid work from his replacements, as both Kyrie Wilson (three tackles, one special-teams tackle, one sack, one tackle for a loss) and Ian Wild (three tackles, three special teams tackles) were steady. (FYI for those asking, an update on Adam Bighill’s status – he did not finish the game – won’t be known, at the earliest, until Wednesday when the team returns to practice).

As well, Kevin Fogg had an interception that led to a Bombers TD drive; Anthony Gaitor had four tackles and the game-ending interception; Jackson Jeffcoat had two sacks and a knockdown; Marcus Sayles had six tackles and Bryan Bennett – the third-string QB who is lights out on kick coverage – made a critical special-teams tackle on a punt return by Kyran Moore with 1:12 left in the game that limited the damage to just 21 yards, and with space opening in front of him.

Then there was the work of Drew Wolitarsky, who caught a TD from Matt Nichols – and topped it with a dandy Pete Townsend-eque guitar celebration. Chew on these numbers: in the last 10 games – excluding the regular season finale in Edmonton in which some regulars didn’t dress or had their snaps limited – he has 42 receptions for 561 yards and two TDs.