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Change is in the air for Blue

Going with more aerial action with receivers downfield

By: Gary Lawless

Posted: 09/18/2009 7:13 AM | Comments: 0 (including replies)

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Blue Bomber quarterbacks Casey Bramlet, left, and Michael Bishop share the practice field Thursday. (JOE.BRYKSA@FREEPRESS.MB.CA)

THE Winnipeg Blue Bombers have apparently tired of banging their heads against the wall and will employ an offence this weekend that is a little more Star Wars and a whole lot less Genghis Khan.

Winnipeg's passing offence is ranked last in the CFL with a 47 per cent success rate totalling 1,682 yards and five touchdowns on 135 completions and 287 attempts.

Critics have pointed to the club's two-back scheme and the limited use of a five-receiver set that is standard in most CFL offensive schemes these days.

Running backs coach and de facto offensive co-ordinator Manny Matsakis says fans can expect to see an offence with more receivers downfield this Sunday when the Bombers travel to Montreal to face the Alouettes.

"Open it up for us, it's the same system, we're just moving guys around a lot more and with the addition of another receiver that helps a lot," said Matsakis, who officially took over the play-calling duties last week and will have his hands on the controls when the 3-7 Bombers face the 8-2 Als at Molson Stadium.

"The opportunity for us to get out in five-pack is there, no question. The funny thing with that is we did a lot of that early on and then kind of moved back into a lot of two-back as the season went on."

Bombers coach Mike Kelly, who has stuck to his guns with this offence despite its lack of success, says it's the same system with a few new wrinkles.

"Some of this is the backs being out in the passing game, also. It's things we've done before. It's nothing new or anything, it's just that we got caught with the backs not getting out and it hurt us," said Kelly. "We need to spread the field. So we've now perhaps given it a little more emphasis and a little more structure to get them out there. It's the same offence with a different configuration."

The Bombers will start Michael Bishop at quarterback but plan to work in newcomer Casey Bramlet as well.

"We'll start with Mike and obviously if things are going well, I'm going to let it go," said Kelly. "I still have to talk to Manny. Do we want to do this with structure and then if you lock yourself into structure and have three series where it's bang on, you still have to say, 'OK, it's time to change.' I don't think so. We're going to continue to talk about it."

Bramlet has only been in camp with Winnipeg for a few days but has been sharing reps with Bishop in practice and Matsakis says the changes to the offence suit the University of Wyoming product.

"When he played for me in college it's what we did so (Bramlet) is fine with it and Bishop is, too. The key for us is having enough depth at receiver to be able to get in and out and get into one-back and out of two-back and that sort of thing," said Matsakis.

Happiest

Winnipeg's players are perhaps the happiest with the planned changes to the offence.

"It's gonna be more five-wide and more backs out so they can't cover with three-on-two and bracketing the inside guy. We're trying to get more people out in the passing game to open the running game up," said veteran Terrence Edwards.

"It's hard to get open when they have more defenders back there. I think the team is up to the task and this is what we've been asking for, to spread it out a little more to make it easier for each guy to do his job. We haven't done it much, so hopefully Montreal doesn't practise it too much. We're just trying to do something to spark this offence so it's not the weak link on this team." Offensive lineman Obby Khan says his group is ready for the challenge of handling Montreal's front seven without the help of a fullback supporting the pocket.

"It simplifies the box for us. And we have to block the guy in front of us one-on-one. If we can't block a guy one-on-one then we don't deserve to be here. Bottom line," stated Khan. "We don't need to bring an extra blocker in or having seven guys back just creates more traffic for us and confuses us. I welcome these changes and I welcome the one-on-one battles."

While Kelly had lots of fine things to say about Bishop on Thursday, the fact of the matter is he's planning on throwing another quarterback into the mix on Sunday.

With this club, this hardly rates as a controversy. It's not even on the same page with some of the doozies we've seen in these parts this season. But there is a competition going on for the No. 1 job and the potential for trouble down the road can now be seen on the distant horizon.

Bishop has been forced to try to cook a gourmet meal with questionable ingredients and now is facing competition for his job.

"It's always good to have multiple receivers to give a look. To actually do it would be great," said Bishop, when asked about the offensive alterations. "As a quarterback you want more opportunities to throw the ball and you don't want to be in a position where you're outnumbered. So, I'm all for it. If we do it, great. If we don't, you get the same results."

gary.lawless@freepress.mb.ca

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