No Willy … possible problem

Hey there, time traveller!
This article was published 02/07/2015 (3753 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

They might not admit it publicly, but inject them with a truth serum and the Winnipeg Blue Bombers would most assuredly confess to this:

Take Drew Willy out of ‘Willy-Peg,’ and what remains is a dark, depressing and absolutely unholy place.

The Bombers lost both their home opener and their starting quarterback Thursday night, suffering a double whammy of below-the-belt shots in a 52-26 loss to the Hamilton Tiger-Cats that is going to sting for awhile.

The result leaves the Bombers at 1-1, but it’s what happens in the aftermath — namely, how long Willy might be out — which could determine how the club’s 2015 season is framed.

 THE PLAY THE MUSIC DIED

The Bombers were trailing 10-7 late in the first quarter when, on the 35th play of the game, Drew Willy dropped back to pass and was not only sacked by Taylor Reed, but then took a helmet-to-helmet shot from Adrian Tracy that left him face down on the turf for several minutes. He was able to exit to the dressing room under his own steam but did not return. The club did not issue an update on his injury status during the game, saying only he would not return.

And so it’s here, clearly, where things get dicey.

Willy was brilliant in the Bombers’ season-opening win in Saskatchewan and had driven the club to an early 7-3 lead under the face of some heavy heat from a multi-dimensional Ticat defence that brought pressure from all over the field. His numbers were hardly player-of-the-week-worthy again — just three of six for 48 yards and an interception — but the drop-off on the depth chart to Brian Brohm, the rest of the game proved out, was dramatic.

If Willy misses time, the club’s fate in the West Division — which had seemingly upturned with the result in Regina and the injuries to Saskatchewan starter Darian Durant and Edmonton’s Mike Reilly — become considerably muddier again.

THE BULLPEN REPORT

Brohm started slowly in relief — he had two passes turn into pick-6s by Emanuel Davis and former Bomber Brandon Stewart — and, with fans chanting ‘We want Marve!’ did manage to run for a score while finishing the night 16 for 146 yards. But he hardly has the CFL resumé of a Kevin Glenn, now the No. 1 gun with the Roughriders, or Trevor Harris, who looked so superb for the Toronto Argonauts last week with Ricky Ray shelved.

Praised for his understanding of the playbook and his coolness in the huddle, Brohm nonetheless moves around in the pocket like he’s got a chesterfield strapped to his back and has a nasty habit of one-hopping throws to his receivers. Thus, the love for Marve.

The Bombers, somewhat stubbornly, left Brohm in the game even after the two interceptions, and while he rallied to improve his numbers much of his success came in the proverbial garbage time. And so with that the Bombers also missed on a glorious opportunity to give Marve — who can bring an electricity to the huddle — some meaningful playing time.

Stay tuned, for if Willy is out, this is an issue that is only going to consume life in Bomberland.

AND ANOTHER THING…

It’s about the Bomber defence… glossed over in last weekend’s win in Regina was the big-play vulnerability of the club’s defensive dozen, lit up for 497 yards including an eye-popping 212 yards along the ground. Not a whole lot changed against the Ticats as QB Zach Collaros torched the defence, completing 26 of 33 passes for 354 yards with two TDs against zero picks. The Bombers’ D will cling to the fact they were able to stifle the run — Hamilton managed just 62 yards on 19 carries — but that is hardly comforting given what Collaros was able to do through the air.

SPECIAL-TEAMS WOES X2

Lirim Hajrullahu not only whiffed on two convert attempts — remember, this is a guy who hit a club-record 87 per cent of his field goals last year — but put the ball into the mitts of Brandon Banks, the CFL’s deadliest return man right after the Willy injury. Banks then drove the first of many stakes into the Bombers’ hearts, returning the punt 67 yards for a TD and a 17-7 lead that put the visitors effectively in cruise control until the final whistle.

All of this seems minute with the uncertainty of Willy, but the Bombers had some other serious warts exposed Thursday night that are going to get a ton of attention before next Friday’s visit by the Montreal Alouettes.

ed.tait@freepress.mb.ca

Twitter: @WFPEdTait

Ailing quarterback has ‘upper-body’ injury

Yes, the Winnipeg Blue Bombers lost their starting quarterback in a 52-26 loss to the Hamilton Tiger-Cats at Investors Group Field Thursday night.

And yes, the Bombers lost Drew Willy on the kind of scary play — a helmet-to-helmet smack that crumpled Willy instantly — where everyone forgets for a moment about football and just prays for a man’s safety.

But history will record that Willy — to his everlasting credit — eventually did get up off the turf and make his way to the Bombers locker-room under his own power and ultimately watched the second quarter from the tunnel.

But Willy’s teammates? No, they never did get up off the field, choosing instead to capitulate in the face of adversity in a way Winnipeg fans have become all too familiar with from this team in recent years.

Willy plays neither on defence or special teams, but you’d have been hard-pressed to tell it Thursday night as those two units simply rolled over and died after Willy made his way to the locker-room.

Add an anemic Bombers offence under the leadership of backup QB Brian Brohm and when the going got tough at Investors Group Field Thursday night, this outfit turtled.

“I think we’ve got to take a little bit of time to think about this one, that’s what I got to say,” said an agitated Clarence Denmark. “Personally, I just feel like we didn’t respond well. We just didn’t…

“I don’t know what it is, but we’ve got to break it down. As a whole team, we didn’t get it done.”

Asked how the loss of Willy affected his team, Bombers head coach Mike O’Shea was blunt.

“Maybe more than it should,” said O’Shea. “There was a lot of game left. I’d have liked to see it affect us less. You have to still go out and finish the game.”

So what is wrong with Willy? O’Shea described his injury only as “upper-body” and didn’t rule out a quick return. “We’ll see. Drew’s tough,” said O’Shea. “We’ll see what that means for the coming week.”

Brohm, who threw two interceptions that were returned for touchdowns and simply couldn’t sustain any drives when the final result was still in doubt, said he was shaken by watching Willy take the hellacious hit.

“Your friend is out there and he gets injured, he’s lying on the ground and I felt for him,” said Brohm.

But Brohm also made no excuses. “I need to be better. Two interceptions returned for touchdowns — that’s 14 points on me,” said Brohm.

With Brohm struggling to find any traction on offence, fans were calling for third-string QB Robert Marve to go into the game as early as the second quarter. But O’Shea was having none of it.

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“In my mind, we’re not sure (about) the status of Drew Willy,” he said. “So, as we did… last year about why we kept Drew Willy in so much, it’s the same reason we kept Brian in — we need to get him reps just in case.”

So what now — and what about a defence that for a second week got abused?

“I think the defence will only get better, simply because we’re talking about wholesale changes to the coaching staff, guys getting used to a new system,” said O’Shea.

“So, the players don’t like giving up that many yards, the coaching staff doesn’t want to give up that many yards, I don’t want to give up that many yards. And we’ll do whatever we need to do to fix it. But pushing the panic button right now? C’mon, it’s Week 2.”

 — Paul Wiecek