O’Shea keeps faith in slumping Blue

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This article was published 29/09/2014 (4082 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

Saturday’s loss to the Hamilton Tiger-Cats brought yet another occasion for Mike O’Shea to show faith in his team.

The Winnipeg Blue Bombers head coach said after the game he understood why most of his team sounded defiant despite four straight losses.

“It’s OK for players not to be satisfied,” O’Shea said. “We lost. Everybody’s going to do their part and figure out where it went wrong for themselves and how they’re going to improve.

“It’s good. We’ve stacked the room with good characters. And they’re going to do their part to make sure it doesn’t falter that way. There’s no other choice.”

O’Shea was not surprised some of his players were upset with Saturday’s outcome.

“To me, that shows passion and shows desire to get it right and fuels you for next week,” he said. “That’s the thing that can keep you going, take you to new heights, I think.”

— — —

Winnipeg’s final offensive play, third-and-goal from the Hamilton three-yard line with 16 seconds left on the clock, was a Drew Willy pass intended for Clarence Denmark that didn’t come close.

“It’s pure speculation on my part on where the wires got crossed there, but I’ll admit it,” O’Shea said. “That’s what it looked like to me.”

Willy confirmed he and Denmark weren’t on the same page on that play, and the QB took full responsibility for the miscue.

— — —

There was much chatter late Saturday about the 15 penalties against the Bombers, matching their worst outing in that category this season.

O’Shea defended his players, suggesting that after he reviews the video of the game, it’s highly unlikely he’d be on his troops’ case for many of the calls.

That could have been an inference the officials have had better nights, a theory with which many at Investors Group Field would concur.

One official’s call, a fumble, was overturned earlier in the game and another likely would have been, but the CFL’s command centre was rendered useless when TSN’s feed of the game disappeared in the first half.

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Stadium replays showed the nose of the ball on the turf when officials ruled Hamilton’s Brandon Banks had caught a Zach Collaros pass.

“Have you got $5,000 for me?,” O’Shea said after the game, when asked about how that non-review was handled.

Another controversial call went Hamilton’s way early in the fourth quarter when a pass to Greg Ellingson was ruled incomplete. Ellingson appeared to turn with a caught ball when he was thumped by Winnipeg’s Teague Sherman, causing what appeared to be a fumble recovered by the Bombers.

It was significant the apparent incompletion was upheld because the Tiger-Cats connected for a 39-yard field goal to lead 16-5 on the next play, important points that forced Winnipeg’s hand late in the game.

tim.campbell@freepress.mb.ca