Winnipeg Free Press - PRINT EDITION
Blue charge too little too late
Strong second half can't atone for brutal beginning
Calgary Stampeders receiver Titus Ryan (83) reaches for the ball in front of Winnipeg Blue Bombers defender Keyuo Craver during Saturday night's game at McMahon Stadium in Calgary. (DEAN BICKNELL / CANWEST NEWS SERVICE)
Calgary's Dwight Anderson wraps up Bombers running back Fred Reid (32). (JEFF MCINTOSH / THE CANADIAN PRESS)
CALGARY -- And Mike Kelly thought he had a problem with Winnipeg Blue Bomber fans for their on-again off-again, lust-hate relationship with the Blue and Gold...
It turns out fans may simply be adopting the very same disorder of his football team.
And that team -- based on evidence served up in Saturday night's 31-23 loss to the Calgary Stampeders -- is so messed up it's got more personalities than Sybil and Dr. Jekyll/Mr. Hyde combined.
The Bombers were positively dreadful in the first half in front of a sold-out crowd of 35,650 at McMahon Stadium, falling behind 23-3 while generating just five first downs -- three by penalty -- and 82 net yards, but to their immense credit bolted out of the grave in the second half with a valiant final 30 minutes, albeit in a losing cause.
Pushed all over the park in the first 30 minutes, the Bombers drove the ball down the Stamps' throats in the second half by rediscovering their ground game as Fred Reid (17 carries for 167 yards) and rookie Yvenson Bernard (six carries for 54 yards) combined to jump-start the attack. Reid scored twice in the second half to pull the Bombers close, but two last-ditch attempts inside the final two minutes both ended in turnovers -- Reid stopped on a third-and-two run and Michael Bishop intercepted by Wes Lysack with 28 seconds remaining.
The loss drops the Bombers to 2-4 while the Stamps, for the fifth consecutive season, hit the one-third mark at 3-3. The Bombers have now dropped seven straight at McMahon and are a grotesque 3-18 in their last 21 trips to the foothills of the Rocky Mountains.
Listed as 14 1/2-point underdogs heading into the game, the Bombers looked every bit the part of punching bag in the first half as Stampeder quarterback Henry Burris sliced through the defence with the precision of a brain surgeon. Burris hooked up with Joffrey Reynolds for a 17-yard score while throwing for 247 in two quarters as the Stampeder offence held the ball for 19 minutes and 58 seconds and worked over a Winnipeg defence that looked dog tired.
And the Bomber attack, such as it was in the first two quarters, was two-plays-and-out on its first four possessions, didn't register its first completion until there was 10:30 left in the half and its first first down until there was 7:47 remaining as the Stamps built a 16-zip lead. What's worse was the team's atrocious handling of the clock in the half's final moments as the they messed up a chance for at least a field goal, scrimmaging from the Calgary 25-yard line with 19 seconds remaining, but taking so long to get the play off that a 15-yard completion to Terrence Edwards to the Stampeder 10 ended the half.
But the Bombers found some sort of spark at halftime -- a 10,000-volt spark -- and were a completely different outfit in the second half, outscoring the Stamps 20-8. The comeback began on the first series of the third quarter when the Bombers drove 86 yards on eight plays, capped by an eight-yard TD run by Reid. The lead was cut to 23-13 following an 18-yard field-goal by Alexis Serna -- who hit a career long 54-yarder for the only Bomber scoring in the first half -- but the Stamps delivered the KO punch when Burris connected with Titus Ryan for a 36-yard TD that put Calgary ahead 30-13.
Again the Bombers countered as they marched 82 yards on nine plays, with the drive capped by Reid dragging two defenders into the end zone. The Bombers' Bishop, who took a beating, finished 16 of 30 for 209 yards and was intercepted once.
Alas, the Bombers learned the hard way you can't go toe-to-toe with the champs for just 30 minutes and expect to steal a victory.
Republished from the Winnipeg Free Press print edition August 9, 2009 C1
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24 Comments
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Posted by: Bomber09
August 10, 2009 at 11:00 AM
Was a tough start,,,long Calgary drive and then a fumble,,,I don't believe the offence even got on the field till 7 or 8 minutes into the first quater (for some reason can't spell today!) that is tough to get even a good offence going when you sit that long to start a game!
Posted by: Krystyn
August 10, 2009 at 10:14 AM
After watching the game on Saturday I see that they are making progress. But what I don't understand is why they still can't play 4 quarters of football; why it takes them 3 quarters to wake up from a coma. They still had a shot to win the game, though, but those fumbles were costly. They have to learn ball-control. The second half was fun to watch as they played with a lot of heart and determination, unlike Calgary. I don't like their (Calgary's) cocky attitude at all.
Posted by: Bomber09
August 10, 2009 at 7:33 AM
Good Comments Jknox! And for those railing on the O-line,,while may have been deserved in the first half, they turned it up 10 notch's in the second half and opened up some HUGE holes for Freddy! Story in the "other" paper today says it was the line coach's that went up one side of the team and down the other at half time. Good move. And for gthose you said Calgary let up in the second half,,,Are you kidding?? A Hufnagel led team does not let up! they were only up 20 and in this league that can be overcome in 5 minutes!!
Posted by: basil
August 9, 2009 at 9:16 PM
Finally a straight ahead runner in Bernard who can motor. . . shades of Lavarus Giles. By the way, where is Giles? -we can use him, too. Reid had a great game, but his frequent runs to the right will be defensed soon. More variety and imagination seem to be needed by this offense, when you compare them to other teams in the league as well as to Bomber teams of years past.
Posted by: basil
August 9, 2009 at 9:15 PM
Finally a straight ahead runner in Bernard who can motor. . . shades of Lavarus Giles. By the way, where is Giles? -we can use him, too. Reid had a great game, but his frequent runs to the right will be defensed soon. More variety and imagination seem to be needed by this offense, when you compare them to other teams in the league as well as to Bomber teams of years past.
Posted by: ordinary joe
August 9, 2009 at 4:24 PM
Look...bombers have the tools...well, maybe most of the tools...o line is a little soft but to their credit, they blocked well for the run yesterday in the second half...what they don't have is an offensive game plan...coach doesn't have a clue and is way too stubborn to see it...let's see...every other team in pro football uses the shotgun...but " the shotgun is for flag football"...hmmm watch game film coach...when your qb was in the gun, he was very successfull...when he had to waste time dropping back and then planting to throw while reading...didn't work out too well....get over yourself and let your players succeed...( gee Derrick Armstrong would have looked good last night but I guess there isn't room for too giant egos on this team. We NEED an offensive coordinator...kinda like our defensive coordinator who is, by the way doing a great job ....coach isn't capable imo....on the whole, we looked like and played like losers last night....losers always play better when the pressure is off and there is no hope of winning....love this team....hate our pig headed coach....will reconsider our season ticket committment if he is here next year...
Posted by: Stiicks
August 9, 2009 at 4:24 PM
A few points:
1) Stick with the shotgun,run play action every play.Under centre isn't working.Get Dickenson as your O.C.
2) Bernard looked great out there with Reid. Giles??? fell off the earth?
3) Not sold on Brock Ralph.Get better soon Ajei.
4) Keep bringing in QB's,kick returners,and recievers.Randal and Lefors aren't the answer.
5) Return game is TERRIBLE.The absolute worst.
6) Hire somone to watch the friggin'clock and call timeouts.
7) Stevie Baggs and Eric Wilson. Who let them go? They had monster games for their teams.
8) Kelly should copy Calgary's offense, throw his play book in the garbage.
Posted by: cptkirk
August 9, 2009 at 4:18 PM
One thing I like about this team is progress. At least Kelly's making steps in the right direction every week.
As for bigbear, I take it you didn't watch game 3 & 4 where Lefors' pass completions were complete and utter garbage. Sorry, but when you're starting QB can't complete a 7 yard pass, it's not time to "play through it", it's time to replace him. And replace him Kelly did.
And, Calgary didn't "snooze" through the second half. If they would have, they would have at least took steps to limit the rush in the 4th quarter. They couldn't. Kelly's adjustments at half worked, I just wish he would have been able to do that after the first quarter.
Posted by: Cal
August 9, 2009 at 3:08 PM
I thought all Bummer fans were bandwagoners. When they win a game!! when do they play TO again?
Posted by: Blue Blood
August 9, 2009 at 2:55 PM
I agree with many of j knox's points as well. There were also a few drops by receivers that didn't help as well.
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