Messy Banjo Bowl win breathes life into Bombers

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This article was published 12/09/2015 (3843 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

They gave up too many sacks. And they gave up way too many turnovers.

But the beauty of playing against the Saskatchewan Roughriders — the worst team in the CFL in 2015 — is that your margin for error is as wide as a prairie grain field.

Playing in front of the largest crowd ever to witness a football game at Investors Group Field (35,156), the Bombers got a Herculean effort from their defence — and just enough from their offence — to overcome five first-half turnovers and four sacks and defeat the Riders 22-7 in the 12th annual renewal of the Banjo Bowl.

The win improved Winnipeg to 4-7 and — hold on to your hats, Bombers fans — puts them in a tie for third in the West Division standings with the B.C. Lions, who are 4-5 and play the Ottawa Redblacks on Sunday.

It wasn’t pretty, more of a Pollock than a Picasso. But the win snapped a four-game losing streak for the Bombers and, more importantly, proved to themselves and the entire CFL that this team actually can win without Drew Willy.

The Bombers were 0-6 this season in games in which Willy did not start and/or finish because of injury. But making his first start for the Bombers, Matt Nichols — who was acquired less than two weeks ago in a trade with the Edmonton Eskimos — was able to move the ball in a way that neither Bombers backup QB before him ever did.

It was far from perfect — Nichols had two fumbles and an interception in just the first 21 minutes of the game. But like the Bombers generally, he got better as the game went on and in the end the Bombers simply overmatched the Riders on a night the Bombers registered 367 total yards to just 169 yards for the Riders.

About that defence

Consider this: the Bombers defence held the Riders offence to just 82 yards and seven points in a first half that saw the Bombers offence and special teams turn over the ball five times.

And the Bombers D did it with a new safety this week in Lin-J Shell and a new strong-side linebacker in Maurice Leggett, who had to slide over from safety after Chris Randle suffered a season-ending knee injury last week.

The only score against them came midway through the first quarter after Bombers punter Lirim Hajrullahu bobbled a snap on a punt and turned the ball over to Saskatchewan on the Winnipeg 26-yard line.

The Riders would never score again on a night the Bombers scored 22 unanswered points, including a defensive touchdown on a 59-yard interception return by Bombers linebacker Khalil Bass that sealed the deal midway through the 4th quarter.

Nichols is a quarterback

Nichols finished the night 21-30 for 283 yards, 1 TD, 1 INT and 2 fumbles.

That’s a lot of turnovers, of course. But that one TD pass Nichols threw also equals the combined production for this entire season from the previous two Bombers backups, Robert Marve and Brian Brohm.

Nichols favorite target was slotback Nick Moore, who had three catches for 103 yards before leaving the game in the third quarter with a lower-body injury. But Nichols also found six other Bombers receivers on a night just about everyone had a piece of the action.

Special teams? Still not very special

Bombers kicker/punter Lirim Hajrullahu had a rough night, flubbing the snap on that first quarter punt that led to Saskatchewan’s only TD and also missing a 22-yard field goal attempt.

But poor communication generally also remains an issue for a unit that was playing its first game since special teams coordinator Pat Tracey was fired last Tuesday. The confusion was highlighted by a second-half Saskatchewan field goal attempt on which the Bombers were caught with just 10 players on the field.

The Bombers got away with a potentially disastrous miscue — the Riders made the field goal but it was taken off the board by a Saskatchewan holding penalty.

So now what?

The Bombers win gives them some life after a stretch in which they’d lost six of seven games. And it also comes at a critical time, with Winnipeg heading into Montreal next weekend.

The Alouettes have a record of 4-6 and are a threat to cross over for a West Division playoff spot this year. The Bombers could put a dent in the Als hopes with a road win in a stadium that’s been good to them in recent years — Winnipeg is 5-1 in their last six visits to Stade Molson.

paul.wiecek@freepress.mb.ca

Twitter: @PaulWiecek

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