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Cory Watson

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Mark Blinch / REUTERS Bombers� Chad Simpson protects the ball Wednesday as Argonauts� Jordan Younger goes for it. Simpson chalked up 91 yards on 15 carries despite extended time on the sideline due to injury. (REUTERS)

Forget about the Winnipeg Blue Bombers quarterback situation for a moment and embrace the knowledge that the team has the next four games at home. Feel a little better?

OK, so basking in the moderate sunshine of a schedule is a difficult trick to pull off these days, what with the football club settling into its basement apartment in the eight-floor CFL complex, but there are factions of the Blue and Gold that have started to yield some encouraging results.

Yes, these areas haven't been good enough to lead the club into the win column -- the 0-4 Bombers are the only winless team left in 2012 -- but there are some bright spots to hang your hopes on.

For those choosing to drown their sorrows with a glass half-full, this one's for you: A shot of positivity to start your weekend.

-- Until the 25-22 loss in Toronto, the Winnipeg ground game was grounded. At or near the bottom of most statistical categories, including a miserable 70-yards-per-game rushing average, part of the Bombers' offensive struggles can be traced back to the absence of the run.

Enter Chad Simpson, who made his CFL debut with a 15-carry, 91-yard performance against the Argos. It should have been more had he not had to leave the game with a leg injury for extended periods in the second half.

Simpson's output nearly overshadowed what Bloi-Dei Dorzon (24 carries for 108 yards) accomplished in the first three games of the season.

"We showed progress as a unit and we fought," a confident Simpson said at the Winnipeg airport Thursday. "We didn't have many points the last few games. We're just going to keep getting better."

He could be right, at least as it pertains to the run game. The offensive line is starting to come together, and right tackle Andre Douglas figures to be back in the lineup against Edmonton Thursday.

Plus, the current quarterback uneasiness figures to put the ball more in the playmaker's hands. With Simpson being the closest playmaker to the ball, he should see a lot more touches in the coming weeks, especially as a passing option out of the backfield.

-- Give it up for Justin Palardy, who's been near-automatic in the field-goal department. The Nova Scotia-born kicker went five-for-five against the Argos and should be a favourite to take home either the Canadian or special-teams player-of-the-week award after this weekend.

Palardy is 10-of-11 (91 per cent) this year. His longest was a 46-yarder in Edmonton, his lone miss a 48-yard attempt in that same game against the Eskimos.

Since he arrived in Winnipeg in 2010, a lot has been made of his range. Palardy insists he can hoof it from 50-plus yards, but the Bombers have been reluctant to trot him out there for anything over 48. It says here that as long as he keeps making his kicks from 45 yards in, everyone -- the fans and the team -- can live with that.

Now about that CFL-low 51-yard kickoff average...

-- The good news about injuries is that in most cases, the players eventually return to the lineup and the team, whose depth looked so thin when forced into action, learns a few lessons. For example, the Bombers know a lot more about Rory Kohlert than they did a month ago.

That's what the Blue and Gold have to look forward to this week when a couple of players -- Douglas and receiver Cory Watson -- are expected to return after missing the first month of the year. Watson's addition is especially important at this juncture, with the injury status of Terrence Edwards unknown and the offence stuck in neutral.

Edwards is day-to-day with a leg injury.

Watson had 69 catches for 793 yards in 2011 and has been dealing with a hamstring issue.

HASH MARKS: More than 27,000 tickets have been sold for the home opener against Edmonton Thursday evening... The CFL and NBC Sports Network have reached an agreement that will have nine regular-season and all post-season games broadcast live on the American sports channel. Winnipeg and Saskatchewan are the only two clubs that won't appear on the network.

adam.wazny@freepress.mb.ca Twitter: @wazoowazny

Republished from the Winnipeg Free Press print edition July 21, 2012 C1