A tale of two halves: Bombers implode during tilt against Lions

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This article was published 15/07/2018 (2641 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

VANCOUVER — To call it a monumental collapse would be putting it lightly.

It’s not often a team plays arguably their best brand of football through two quarters, only to follow it up with unmistakably their worst half of play all season. But that’s exactly what happened to the Winnipeg Blue Bombers Saturday night at BC Place, in a game that started as a rout for the visitors, but ended with an unthinkable comeback by the home side.

The Bombers, leading 17-0 at halftime, were dealt a healthy dose of their own medicine by the Lions in the final two quarters. B.C. outscored Winnipeg 20-0 down the stretch to walk away with a 20-17 win — a result that made many Bombers fans sick to their stomachs.

Perhaps the worst part is that it wasn’t one or two things that went wrong for Winnipeg. Instead, the collapse was a collective effort, with all three phases sharing the blame.

The Bombers, who fell to 2-3, have shifted their focus towards another home-and-home series over the next two weeks, this time against the Toronto Argonauts. But before we do the same, let’s look at five takeaways from Saturday’s loss:

OFFENCE FLIP-FLOPS

Things couldn’t have started much better for the Bombers. They opened the game with a five-play, 74-yard touchdown drive capped off with a 37-yard run by Andrew Harris.

Harris added another touchdown midway through the second quarter, and kicker Justin Medlock, who clanged a 41-yard boot off the left upright on his first field-goal attempt, made good on a 50-yarder to round out the scoring through two quarters.

Up 17-0 at the intermission, with the Lions looking anything but threatening, the game looked to be in the bag.

“Then, obviously in the second half on offence, we didn’t get enough done — we didn’t get anything done,” Bombers receiver Weston Dressler said.

Just how bad was it for the Bombers offence in the final two quarters? In six possessions, Winnipeg had two interceptions, two turnover on downs and two punts, both of which were two-and-outs.

“We killed ourselves,” Bombers quarterback Matt Nichols said. “Kind of everything we could do wrong, we did wrong, and we still barely lost. I felt like it was a game that we had every opportunity to win and we made more than too many mistakes.”

RARE OFF-NIGHT FOR NICHOLS

There’s no doubt Nichols has played a big role in transforming the Bombers from a bottom-feeder to one of the CFL’s most dominant clubs. Taking over the starting job six weeks into the 2016 season, Nichols was 22-9 — a winning percentage of .733 — prior to facing the Lions.

And, though he hasn’t had many bad games during his tenure here, Saturday was arguably his worst performance in a Bombers jersey. He threw three interceptions, with only one — a should-have-been-caught ball to Nic Demski that eventually led to the Lions’ game-winning field goal — seemingly out of his control.

“We all took turns tonight. We were awful, and we’ve got to be better,” Nichols said. “I don’t think there is anything I’m going to take from it besides I’m going to be better next week.”

The last time Nichols threw three interceptions in a game was Oct. 29, in a 23-10 loss to the Ottawa Redblacks. He would follow that up by throwing for nearly 300 yards the next week, also against Ottawa, in what ended in a 33-20 Bombers win.

As for Demski — who had an otherwise solid night, lining up as both as a receiver and running back to register a combined 67 yards — he was visibly upset in the locker room after the game when explaining the final play for the Bombers that led to an interception after the ball ricocheted off his chest and into the arms of Anthony Orange.

“It was a good game, but I could have had a great game if not for that last play. It was a mental error on my part,” Demski said. “I don’t really look at the positives when that big negative is just sitting right in my head right now.”

PLAY-CALLING BIGGEST BLUNDER

But of all the questionable moments in this game, the biggest blunders fall on the shoulders of offensive co-ordinator Paul LaPolice.

LaPolice is widely considered across the CFL to be the co-ordinator most likely to land the next head-coaching job — and rightfully so. His creativity has made the Bombers offence a juggernaut in the league, and brought out the most of every player who owns a playbook.

But on Saturday, we saw what can happen when one of the CFL’s brightest minds gets in his own way. While some plays certainly raised eyebrows — including a double-reverse call to rookie receiver Rashaun Simonise that seemingly took forever to complete and resulted in just two yards — it was his complete abandonment of Harris on two third-and-short situations that were inexcusable.

As mentioned, Harris was a force in this game. He finished the night with 139 rushing yards on just 13 carries — an eye-popping average of nearly 11 yards per run. But when it came down to trying to get one yard, LaPolice called on rookie quarterback Chris Streveler.

While Streveler certainly executed in similar situations the week before in a 41-19 win over the Lions, it seemed almost obvious that Harris, given his stellar night, should get the ball. Even Harris seemed to think so as well, as he could be seen from the field a number of times making a gesture with his hand — mimicking a spoon to his mouth — that clearly told the sideline they should feed him the ball.

“Obviously, when you’re having a good game and you’re feeling it, you want to get those opportunities,” Harris said. “But we have trust in anyone who gets the call, and whatever happens you go with it and try to get the job done.”

Problem is they didn’t.

On the first one, with the Bombers facing a second-and-goal from the three-yard line and with a chance to increase their lead to 24-0, Streveler was unsuccessful on two attempts. Then, it was a third-and-one from the goal line with Winnipeg up 17-10 with 8:30 left in the game, and the call was for Streveler to take the edge instead of barrelling through the middle. Again the Bombers were stopped, losing three yards on the play.

COSTLY PENALITES A D-SASTER

Anytime you can limit a team to 20 points in the CFL, it should be considered a good game, especially when you have an offence like Winnipeg’s.

But for the Bombers defence, which looked spectacular through the first half only to break down when it mattered most, it was costly penalties and the inability to come up big at the end that will make this week’s film sessions a nightmare.

Following a first half that limited the Lions to just eight first downs — four of which came during B.C.’s opening drive — the final two quarters were marred by four penalties. Winnipeg took three roughing-the-passer infractions and one for a horse-collar tackle — each for 15 yards — all of which extended drives and led to points against.

“Anytime we’re supposed to be off the field, giving the offence the ball back, it’s tough to win those games when you’re doing it the amount of times we did it,” Bombers veteran corner Chris Randle said. “Once or twice, that’s all right, whatever, but four is hard to recover from.”

But what Randle said hurt the most were the breakdowns late in the game, including a 38-yard completion to Lions receiver Bryan Burnham that put B.C. in easy field-goal range for the win.

“It was a combination of a few things, but it wasn’t our game plan, our preparation,” he said. “When it comes down to it, we’ve got to finish.”

HISTORY REPEATS ITSELF

History has weird way of repeating itself.

Case in point: the last time the Lions were shut out at home was eight years ago, and it came against the Bombers. That Week 14 matchup in 2010 began with Winnipeg earning a 10-0 lead at halftime, only to be outscored 16-4 through the third and fourth quarters, eventually losing the game 16-14.

The biggest difference, of course, was that it was almost expected to happen back then. Winnipeg was awful that year, finishing 4-14. That season, the Bombers were led by quarterback Steven Jyles — injuries limited Buck Pierce to just five games — and by that time of the year they had won just three of 12 games. Winnipeg would go on to win just one of their final five games, missing the playoffs for a second straight year.

This year’s Bombers don’t see this as anything other than a blip on the radar.

“It’s obviously a tough loss,” Dressler said. “But this isn’t going to define our team. We’re going to come back stronger.”

jeff.hamilton@freepress.mb.ca

twitter: @jeffkhamilton