The room was noisy, but not raucous. There were celebratory back slaps and bro hugs that come after every win, but there was also a subdued feel to the Winnipeg Blue Bombers clubhouse late Thursday night.
The Bombers had just put the finishing touches on a 28-21 home opener victory over the Edmonton Eskimos – a game they led from start to finish, but couldn’t quite put away until the final seconds – and yet there was as much a sense of relief as anything else in the post-game scene.
No, the Bombers weren’t at their best in knocking off the previously-unbeaten Eskimos to improve to 2-0 for the first time since 2014. But maybe it says something about the maturation of the leadership group that the overall mood was muted.
The underlying message here: they’ve got to get better for next week’s game in Ottawa. And if they want to be playing late in November, there’s a whole pile of things to fix.
“Honestly, when we came in it didn’t even feel like we won the game,” said Bombers right tackle Jermarcus Hardrick. “That’s a good thing because we have some things to fix.
“We’re 2-0, though, so that’s all that matters. We have a long way to go and that’s a good thing. Guys are excited to come to work and we’re already talking about what we’re going to do on film and things we’ve got to do better.”
The Bombers are the West Division’s only unbeaten team to start the season courtesy two huge plays by receiver Lucky Whitehead, who latched on to a pair of Matt Nichols strikes to turn them into touchdowns, but also because the defence stiffened at the right time to limit Edmonton’s potent offence to seven field goals.
Still, there were enough mistakes and busts to humble those in blue and gold, too.
“At the end of the day, we got the win and however we got it is how we got it,” said defensive back Brandon Alexander. “Sometimes it’s not going to be pretty, but no touchdowns given up and we got a couple scores early in the game. We played ahead the whole game.
“We don’t like the 400-plus yards given up and everything, but to hold the No. 1 offence in the league to start the season to nothing but field goals for the whole game and being resilient when there were a couple of turnovers… well, we did just that.
“We have a lot of things we have to take care of and correct on our own. Defensively, offensively, special teams-wise we’ve got a lot of things that we’ve got to do. That definitely was not our cleanest game. Too many missed tackles. Too many explosion plays, especially on myself, and we just need to go in and re-evaluate everything and make sure we fine tune and we’ll be just fine.
“But,” added Alexander, “we’re 2-0 because we played some complimentary football, mistakes and all.”
More on the Bombers home opener in our weekly post-game collection of notes and quotes we call ‘UPON FURTHER REVIEW’…
THE BOMBERS LED 14-3 AFTER THE FIRST QUARTER… and 28-12 after three, but a series of mistakes – and the Eskimos effectively counter-punching – left this one in doubt until the second-last possession of the game.
Granted, part of this comes undoubtedly from a June game after a bye week, but clearly head coach Mike O’Shea expects more from his bunch.
“There are some very positive things that we got accomplished this game, and there are also a lot of things that we can coach with the film,” he said post-game. “Overall, very positive to get a win against a division opponent that is a very good football team. I thought defensively they did a great job holding them to seven field goals… that’s pretty damn special.”
But…
“We had seven minutes there at the end of the first half that was terrible football,” he said. “Mistake after mistake after mistake and it cost us points, it cost us six points. So, we can’t continue to do that and we won’t continue to do that if we want to keep winning football games.”
The seven minutes O’Shea referenced came with the Bombers up 14-3 and with the Eskimos up against the ropes. Instead of delivering an early killer punch, the Bombers had a bad punt, a fumble, an interception and missed tackles as Edmonton put up three field goals in the final 3:23 of the first half.
“We made some mistakes, but that’s a great offence over there, both with their players and their scheme,” said Bombers defensive tackle Drake Nevis.
“This is a competitive league, there are many, many games left to play. But this is why we always talk about one week at a time. It’s too early, but you always want to make sure you’re taking that next step.”
SOME STRANGE NUMBERS CAME OUT OF THURSDAY NIGHT… that would point to a Bombers loss, not a victory.
Among them:
- Edmonton’s time of possession was 36 minutes and 20 seconds to the Bombers 23:40
- The Eskimos out-gained Winnipeg with 440 net offence to 270
- The Bombers won despite both Darvin Adams and Drew Wolitarsky not catching a single pass and being targeted only twice combined, and with just one catch from Nic Demski and two from Chris Matthews.
But as solid as the numbers were for Trevor Harris – he was 35 of 54 for 345 yards with no TDs or interceptions – the Bombers defence did clamp down when it mattered. With the Bombers protecting a seven-point lead late, the defence limited Harris to just 2-of-7 passing for 11 yards while twice forcing two turnovers on downs.
WE MENTIONED IT DURING THE GAME… but the work of Lucky Whitehead Thursday night was sensational in a bust-out performance that might mean a run on No. 7 jerseys in the Bomber Store.
The first-year CFLer had seven catches for 155 yards and two spectacular touchdowns – the first a 75-yard bomb from Nichols, the second a short quick hitch pass that he turned into a 41-yard major.
“Our coach says our job is not to catch the ball, our job is to score touchdowns and that’s what I’m trying to do every day; I’m trying to make a play every time I touch the ball,” said Whitehead. “So, if I can get a chance to get that one on one and break that tackle I’m going to try and do that.”
Whitehead’s handiwork came in two plays that highlighted his big-play capability and also provided a stark contrast to all the yards the Eskimos piled up with no finish.
“The big one was a spark that got us going,” said Nichols of Whitehead’s first TD. “Awesome balance and speed to stay on his feet there and fight through contact – there was actually P.I. on the play. It was nice when you can just kinda put some air under it, throw it as far as I can and he’s going to get to it. Unbelievable player.”
Wow!! @Luck2fastt comes up with a big grab and takes it all the way to the house! #CFLGameday pic.twitter.com/c9tuMJeKNx
— CFL on TSN (@CFLonTSN) June 28, 2019
And Nichols on the second TD:
“The later touchdown is something that, I mean, not many people in the world can turn that into a touchdown. Usually that would be a 12-13-yard gain pushed out of bounds and somehow he scored a 40-yard touchdown. He’s lightning in a bottle for sure.”
.@Luck2fastt does it again as he blows by the Eskimos defence to extend the @Wpg_BlueBombers‘ lead! #CFLFantasy pic.twitter.com/iTIzlgtTTR
— CFL on TSN (@CFLonTSN) June 28, 2019
AFTER THE SECOND WHITEHEAD TD, THE TSN CAMERAS… caught Nichols looking at the Bombers bench with a wide smile, before shrugging.
“It’s kind of an inside thing between me and Strev (Chris Streveler),” said Nichols afterward. “We always talk about how nice it is when you watch other guys get freebie touchdowns and how we haven’t had many of those here in the past. I kinda just looked right at him and ‘Yeah, there was one.’ It’s something that you don’t expect that to end up as a touchdown. He’s a difference maker to be able to turn something like that into a touchdown.”
THE INTERESTING THING ABOUT WHITEHEAD… is right up until the season opener in B.C. there was some uncertainty as to how many snaps he might actually take on offence. He had flashed his speed in a preseason win over Saskatchewan, but was signed by the Bombers this offseason primarily as a kick-return candidate.
“I didn’t even know that I was going to be a receiver,” said Whitehead after the game. “There were a lot of questions with that. And as I said a while ago when somebody asked me about that, if I was a returner that could play receiver and… I can do both. Whatever workload they give me, I’m ready for it and it’s been fun so far.”
What the Bombers have done with the Whitehead addition, and then using Charles Nelson as the kick returner, is inject speed and big-play capability to both their attack and their special teams.
AND, FINALLY, THE BOMBERS NOW HEAD TO OTTAWA… next Friday for part of a run that will see them play five straight games against East Division opponents. The REDBLACKS, with old friend Dom Davis at quarterback, have looked solid in their 2-0 start – they have the bye this week – after a 32-28 road win in Calgary and a 44-41 victory over Saskatchewan at home.
The Bombers vow to be better next Friday, but there’s also something to take from being 2-0 without being at their best.
“It says that we know we’re a good football team, we can win tough games, we can make some mistakes here and there and overcome them, which is great to see,” said Nichols. “But, also, there’s so much room for improvement and we left a lot of stuff out there.
“For us, it’s holding ourselves to a higher standard, that we can play much better than that and the sky’s the limit for us.”
