It was a special game for Bombers

Hey there, time traveller!
This article was published 04/07/2011 (5245 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

THE early returns on the Winnipeg Blue Bombers special teams unit are in and they’re positive.

Somewhat positive, that is. One game does not a season make.

Understand the topic of Blue and Gold special teams has been a hot one within the Winnipeg fan base for roughly 12 months now since Hamilton’s Marcus Thigpen celebrated a kickoff return in the Bombers’ end zone on the first play of the 2010 season.

If you remember Thigpen, then you were probably wondering where he was in Friday’s 24-16 Bombers win over the Tiger-Cats at Ivor Wynne Stadium.

He was, in fact, still in the Black and Yellow; you just didn’t see much of him in the opener.

He was under a blanket of Blue and Gold.

Covered up.

Lost in the great defensive play from the Winnipeg side and Buck Pierce’s ability to take a kill shot from one of the best linebackers in the CFL was the play of the Bombers kick- coverage unit, a group that found itself repeatedly burned by returners around the league last season.

Thigpen (who had 2,190 combined yards in 2010) was one of those flammable dangers, but he was held in check Friday. On seven return chances (three kickoffs, four punts), the Hamilton speedster only managed 47 yards. The reason: confusion.

Winnipeg scrambled its yardage on kickoffs, pooching it short off the tee and asking punter Mike Renaud to sacrifice some distance with some directional booting.

And it worked.

Thigpen let several balls hit the turf before fielding them, forcing him to gear down his own attack while sacrificing field position for his offence.

“We were mixing it up,” Bombers head coach Paul LaPolice said. “Part of the game plan was to kick it to either side, make sure we didn’t kick it to him. We punted across the field.”

And while the Bombers still did have some concerning hiccups on special teams (the blocked Renaud punt and the kicking out of bounds penalties immediately come to mind), the group excelled in its own return game.

Newcomer Perry Floyd and veteran Jovon Johnson totalled 207 yards in their return roles, tilting (or at least levelling off) the field for Winnipeg.

Outside of a near-disastrous fumble near the sidelines, Floyd said his CFL debut (182 yards total on eight returns) went pretty smoothly.

“Really, it’s not even me on those returns — it’s the guys blocking in front of me,” he said. “They made some pretty nice seams for me to find some space.”

The Blue Bombers are back on the Canad Inns Stadium practice field today.

The club opens the home portion of the 2011 schedule against the Toronto Argonauts Friday evening at 6:30.

adam.wazny@freepress.mb.ca

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