Montreal victory learning experience

Gives us a deeper insight into Bombers

By: Paul Wiecek Posted: 1:00 AM CDT Tuesday, Sep. 20, 2011

MONTREAL -- All season long -- and what a season it has been -- the mantra in and around this 2011 edition of the Winnipeg Blue Bombers has been that they would not know who they really are until they'd been tested by the two-time Grey Cup champion Montreal Alouettes.

Read this article for free:

or

Already have an account? Log in here »

To continue reading, please subscribe:

*Billed as $4.00 plus GST every four weeks. After 24 weeks, price increases to the regular rate of $19.95 plus GST every four weeks. Offer available to new and qualified returning subscribers only. Cancel any time.

*Billed as $19.95 plus GST every four weeks. Cancel any time.

Read unlimited articles for free today:

or

Already have an account? Log in here »

Hey there, time traveller!
This article was published 20/09/2011 (5312 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

MONTREAL — All season long — and what a season it has been — the mantra in and around this 2011 edition of the Winnipeg Blue Bombers has been that they would not know who they really are until they’d been tested by the two-time Grey Cup champion Montreal Alouettes.

As recently as Saturday, Bombers head coach Paul LaPolice referred to the Alouettes as a “benchmark,” while quarterback Buck Pierce was saying Sunday’s game here against the Alouettes would serve as a test of who these Bombers are and how far they still need to go.

The Bombers passed that test, of course — with flying colours, in fact. A 25-23 defeat of the Als Sunday afternoon in the hostile confines of Percival Molson Stadium was the first Bombers victory on Montreal soil in three years and just the third Bombers win over the Als in the last 11 games.

So if Sunday’s contest was the “benchmark,” the game that would serve to tell these Bombers who they are, then what exactly did we learn?

— Buck Pierce is a very tough man. Pierce has had a lot of injuries in his career — heck, he’s had a lot of injuries this season — but I’ve come to believe that’s not so much a function of Pierce being fragile as much as it is him being a bit accident prone. You see it time and again in the way Pierce gets up from savage hits like the sacks he took in Hamilton in Week 1 and in the Banjo Bowl two weekends ago, but then hurts his shoulder running into an exercise bicycle on the sidelines.

It’s just Pierce’s way. And the much more important thing Pierce has demonstrated this season in starting all 11 games — and, in particular, starting against Montreal with that most painful of bodily injuries, bruised ribs — is that he is ready, willing and able to play through a lot of pain to win football games for the Bombers. That bodes very well heading down the stretch.

— Tim Burke is a very smart man. The Bombers defensive co-ordinator gave Montreal Alouettes quarterback Anthony Calvillo fits all game with a pressure package that saw the Bombers rush at least five down linemen on almost every down.

Burke — who was the defensive co-ordinator in Montreal and knows Calvillo well — believes the only way to get Calvillo off his game is to hurry him and you only had to listen to the Montreal quarterback’s comments after Sunday’s game to know how frustrated Burke had made him.

“They played a lot more man and challenged us. The balls has to be pinpoint and perfect,” said Calvillo. “That’s the frustrating part. If I played halfway better, we would have won. . . That’s tough to swallow.”

— The Bombers are a big-play team. Winnipeg had fewer first downs than any team in the CFL heading into the Montreal contest and yet they are 8-3 and four points clear of the rest of the Eastern Division this morning. There is only one way that you can understand these two seemingly diametrically opposed facts and it was on display Sunday as the Bombers used the big play — a 92-yard catch and run by Cory Watson; a 47-yard touchdown run by Fred Reid; a 39-yard touchdown pass to Terrence Edwards — to win the biggest game of the year.

— Maybe the losses to Saskatchewan really were just an inexplicable blip. I have no idea how to reconcile what the Bombers did against Montreal on Sunday with the 27-7 and 45-23 drubbings they took at the hands of Saskatchewan the two weekends previous. Maybe Saskatchewan really did get that good when they reinstated Ken Miller. Or maybe it was just one of those mid-season cramps even great teams get sometimes, where they lose focus and need to be reminded what it takes to stay on top in pro football.

If it was the latter case, all the available evidence from Sunday suggests the message was heard loud and clear in the Bombers locker-room.

paul.wiecek@freepress.mb.ca