Bombers pin first-place hopes on Brink

Hey there, time traveller!
This article was published 30/10/2011 (5148 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

Blue Bombers quarterback Buck Pierce is unlikely to start against the Calgary Stampeders at McMahon Stadium next Saturday.

This suggests Winnipeg’s final contest of the 2011 regular season might not be the only game Pierce will miss.

And that’s trouble, folks. Big trouble.

All season long, Blue Bombers head coach Paul LaPolice has been coy to the point of ridiculousness in discussing any injuries relating to his starting quarterback and what impact they might have on Pierce’s ability to play the next game.

And so the fact LaPolice stood before the microphones at the Bombers offices on Saturday afternoon and basically announced that there’s no way in hell Pierce is going to play against the Stamps tells you two things:

First, that things must be pretty serious with Pierce’s right knee if LaPolice isn’t even trying to pretend that he might start next week;

And second, things must be pretty serious with Pierce’s right knee if he’s not going to start in a game that could very well decide first place in the East Division and who gets the bye to the East final.

With a 27-22 loss to the Toronto Argonauts Friday night at Canad Inns Stadium, the Bombers’ magic number to clinch the East title remains at two. And so unless you’re counting on the Montreal Alouettes to lose both their final two games — today at home against the Calgary Stampeders and next Saturday in Vancouver against the B.C. Lions — then the Bombers are going to have to win next weekend over the Stamps. And they’re going to have to do it in a place they haven’t won since October 2002.

All of that would suggest Pierce would be playing if there was any possibility on God’s green earth for him to do so. And making matters worse for the Bombers is this: If they don’t clinch the East title, that means they will have to play in the East semifinal at home to the Hamilton Tiger-Cats on Nov. 13 instead of having the luxury of a week off while they await their opponent in the East final on Nov. 20.

And that would mean, in addition to everything else, one less week for Pierce to somehow get his knee right in time to get the start in the playoffs.

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“We took him to the doctor today. He had movement in his leg but we’ll see how he is,” LaPolice told reporters. “The likelihood is he may not play (next) week.”

Asked if the injury to Pierce was serious enough that it might keep him out longer than just next week, LaPolice responded: “We’ll know more later in the week… I don’t think it’s a major injury, put it that way.”

Either way, what we do know for almost a certainty is that the Bombers are going to be led into Calgary by backup QB Alex Brink. The bad news is Brink will be making just the third start of his professional career. The good news is Brink actually played better than Pierce did after he took over in relief on Friday, throwing Winnipeg’s only touchdown pass of the night.

Still, there’s no denying Brink is green and still on a steep learning curve. LaPolice revealed on Saturday, for instance, that the play call on a first and 10 on the Toronto three-yard line in the third quarter Friday night was for a simple hand-off to running back Chris Garrett. But Brink elected instead to improvise a bizarre 25-yard throw to the back of the end zone. The pass fell incomplete and the Bombers ultimately had to settle for a 10-yard field goal.

Those are the exactly the kinds of mistakes you’re going to get when you send a quarterback as green as Brink into battle. The nightmare for the Bombers is that it’s the most critical time of the season and Brink is all they’ve got this week — and maybe longer.