Don’t write the blue and gold off just yet

Hey there, time traveller!
This article was published 12/09/2015 (3845 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

It is among the basest thing we see as kids. One of our friends gets punched or pushed or tripped, and after they thud to the ground — they get up. We learn something about that person then and there. They have spine and will. They can be defeated but they won’t make it easy. And they’ll be back to try again.

With four straight losses and a province seemingly tugging at every loose thread on their jerseys, no one could have been surprised if the Winnipeg Blue Bombers had come apart this week.

They didn’t. The staggered out on the field and bumped into one another for 30 minutes, shaking their collective heads in an effort to clear their thoughts.

Then they put together the best half of football we’ve seen around here in some time. Touchdowns, sacks, first downs, interceptions and 19 points scored with none against.

Dominant football against a team that embarrassed them just one week ago.

Forget all the clichés and quotes from players trying to say the right thing — actions always speak louder than words, and Saturday the Blue Bombers made a statement with their play. They’re not done. They haven’t quit. They haven’t shut out their coaches and they haven’t stopped playing for one another.

“This is who we can be. This is just a step, but this was us working all week and playing for ourselves, for the coach and for one another,” said veteran offensive lineman Stanley Bryant, minutes after his club collected its fourth win of the season with a 22-7 triumph over the visiting Saskatchewan Roughriders.

The talk in Winnipeg all week has been about how awful this team is and how management and the coaching staff have once again failed. Keep in mind it was a win over a team that is now 1-10 and very likely heading for a last-place finish in this nine-team league. But for at least another week, the Bombers remain relevant.

The question on their minds and those of most in this province will be whether this was the start of something good, or just a one-night stand to be followed by more disappointment.

It’s hard to believe in this team and its 4-7 record. But the second half of this game represented as strong a 30-minute segment of play as we’ve seen from this group.

“The defence has held us in games and we haven’t done our part. We did our part in this game,” said Bryant. “The defence gave us an opening and the offence stepped through it. This feels good.”

The Bombers had lost the previous four games mostly without the services of starting quarterback Drew Willy. The argument can be made that much of what has gone wrong begins with his absence. Veteran backup Matt Nichols was capable Saturday, making plays and keeping his offence on the field. What a difference. He breathed life into punching bag and offensive co-ordinator Marcel Bellefeuille’s playbook. He gave the defence the opportunity to rest and eased the load on the special teams.

Make no mistake, the biggest difference in the Bombers between their losing streak and this win was Nichols. He makes the offence competent, if not spectacular, which is a huge upgrade from what we’ve seen since Willy went down.

A lot people in Winnipeg wanted head coach Mike O’Shea fired this week. His leadership was questioned on many fronts. This wasn’t a game from a team that doesn’t respect its head coach.

“(O’Shea) gets us right. He’s a good coach. The best part about him is we know what he expects. It’s black and white with him,” said veteran defensive lineman Jamaal Westerman. “He wants us to stick together and to play with high football IQ. He wants us to do it the right way. We’ve been building. Even in those games we lost, he kept coaching and trying to build. Guys want to win for him. This reinforces to guys that his way is the right way. This is a step for us. But we have to follow up. Enjoy it for a bit and then get back to work. This wasn’t about how we came to play tonight. This was about our preparation.”

“Winning cures everything” is a cliché, but true, as the dancing in the Bombers locker-room can attest.

They didn’t play like losers and they didn’t dance like losers.

But what will Monday bring? Back to work? Or back to losing?

Eleven games in and it’s still too early to say what this team is. A waste of time, or something worth watching?

Maybe this was game was just that miracle shot at the end of a terrible golf game that brings one back to the course for another round. Or maybe it was the start of a unit starting to take shape and beginning to show its true self.

Either way, it’s still too early to turn away.

gary.lawless@freepress.mb.ca Twitter: @garylawless