Bombers down, but not necessarily out

Hey there, time traveller!
This article was published 17/10/2015 (3956 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

OTTAWA — Normally, when you lose a playoff game in the CFL, you empty your locker into a garbage bag the next morning and head home for an off-season of pondering “what if?”

But such is the state of play in a very weird 2015 CFL season a 27-24 loss by the Winnipeg Blue Bombers to the Ottawa Redblacks Friday in a game the Bombers insisted all week they were “treating as a playoff game” comes with no such finality.

Indeed, it’s entirely conceivable that should the B.C. Lions and Montreal Alouettes also lose this week — and both teams are underdogs in their respective games — the Bombers could wake up Monday morning with their horrid 5-11 regular-season record and still be in command of a playoff spot, albeit with Montreal and B.C. holding a game in hand.

So, hope lives on in a locker-room that Friday night tasted defeat for the eighth time in Winnipeg’s last 11 games.

Sound ridiculous? Well, it is, of course. But it’s also worth noting a CFL team right here in the nation’s capital once made the playoffs with a 4-14 record (in 1993), although it bears noting that was in the days before the crossover playoff spot.

So, the message out of the Bombers locker-room Friday was more of the same gruel we’ve heard for months: If they can just clean up all those messy little details, they still continue to believe they could be the home team at Investors Group Field on the final Sunday of November.

“The next game is a playoff game too,” said head coach Mike O’Shea. “A bigger playoff game.”

The Bombers host the Redblacks nest Saturday in the rematch of a rare home-and-home series. Winnipeg then gets a bye week before closing out the regular season in Toronto against the Argos.

With Friday’s loss, the Bombers’ record against East Division opponents, such as the ones they’ll face in their final two games, fell to 1-5 — and Winnipeg is now 0-9 this season against teams with records above .500, such as the Redblacks and Argos.

Still, until they’re mathematically pitch-forked, middle linebacker Sam Hurl says he will continue to believe. “We’re still in contention,” said Hurl. “We have to stay focused and believe that we can still make this happen. And I believe we can — it’s just a matter of cleaning up some stuff.

“It’s not over — that’s just the reality of it.”

An appallingly slow start in the first half Friday during which the Bombers spotted Ottawa a 16-0 lead, marked the third week in a row that Winnipeg put themselves in a hole with a poor beginning.

With all the urgency of their predicament, such chronically slow starts seem inexplicable — and the head coach agrees.

“Two weeks in a row was too many. We have to get to the bottom of it — now,” said O’Shea.

Bombers quarterback Matt Nichols — who had just 34 yards passing in the first half — said the slow starts have been killing his team.

“You can’t spot a good team like that 16 points and expect to win a football game,” Nichols said.

Winnipeg Free Press | Newsletter

Mike McIntyre | On Sports

Thursdays

Keep up to date on sports with Mike McIntyre's weekly newsletter.

Sign up for Mike McIntyre | On Sports

Sign Up

I consent to the Terms and Conditions, Cookie and Privacy Policies.

I consent to CASL agreement.

“As an offence, we need to find a way to start games a little bit better. And it starts with me. So whatever we got to do this week to make sure we come out and start a bit quicker is what we’re going to do.”

paul.wiecek@freepress.mb.ca

Twitter: @PaulWiecek