Big Blue making it look easy

Hey there, time traveller!
This article was published 19/07/2019 (2242 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

Yeah, you could say it’s been a while since the Winnipeg Blue Bombers tasted this kind of early-season success.

Consider this: Bud Grant, the last coach to lead the team to a 5-0 start, has a statue outside of IG Field. Ken Ploen, the quarterback of that club, has his name up in the team’s ring of honour inside the stadium.

John Diefenbaker was our prime minister. Chubby Checker was introducing The Twist to the world. You could still buy a hamburger from McDonald’s for 15 cents. Maurice Richard played his final NHL game as the Montreal Canadiens won their fifth straight Stanley Cup. You know, back in the days when Canadian teams actually did that sort of thing.

You get the picture. A different era, and the stuff of ancient history to the majority of fans. Until now, that is. Move over 1960 — you’ve got some very talented company.

The Bombers reached that elusive 5-0 mark for the first time in 59 years Friday night, crushing the Ottawa Redblacks 31-1. And like they’ve done so often this season, they made it look all too easy.

After a sluggish start that included punting on their first three possessions gave the impression this might be a tightly contested battle, the Bombers seemingly flipped a switch and scored three touchdowns in about 10 minutes to put things away early without breaking much of a sweat.

It was an eerily similar script to last week’s rout of the Toronto Argonauts, and yet another example of just how strong and deep this club is.

Their top defensive player, middle linebacker Adam Bighill, was inactive for a third straight week with injury. Their big-name, big-money wide receiver, Chris Matthews, was a healthy scratch. Neither of which appeared to matter one little bit as they left another opponent in their dust, dominating on both sides of the ball.

They even seem to be entertaining themselves at this point, such as the trick play midway through the third quarter in which quarterback Matt Nichols hit receiver Darvin Adams, who in turn tossed a seven-yard strike to teammate Kenny Lawler. Because why not?

Nichols wrote a little history of his own later in the game, running off an incredible stretch of 19 straight completions to break Dieter Brock’s previous club record of 16, set in 1981. That’s just four short of the all-time CFL mark, and Nichols will have a chance to better that next week as he came out of the game late in the fourth quarter to give backup Chris Streveler some work.

Critics will say it’s still too early to be making any bold proclamations about where this all is headed, and that’s a fair statement. I got plenty of blowback last week from people afraid I was somehow going to jinx things by saying this Bombers team looks poised to snap its 28-year Grey Cup championship drought.

I get it. Fans have gotten much more used to failure than success around these parts, and any talk that THIS could be the year naturally makes them a bit edgy.

There’s still plenty of football to be played between now and late November, and it’s much more important how you finish a season than how you start it. Just ask Grant and Ploen, as that 1960 club ultimately came up short of winning the Grey Cup despite a 14-2 regular-season.

And yes, before we get ahead of ourselves and start planning the permanent shrines to head coach Mike O’Shea and No. 1 quarterback, Nichols, it’s worth remembering it wasn’t very long ago that there were plenty of calls for one, or both, to be given a one-way ticket out of town, convinced neither has the chops to get to the promised land.

Such is the case in the CFL, where things can change quickly. And such is life in a city that hasn’t captured the CFL’s Holy Grail since 1990. Until O’Shea, Nichols and company actually get this team over the hump when it matters most, questions will always remain no matter how well the regular season goes.

So here’s another one: as good as this red-hot start looks, what, if anything, should we make of the fact the four teams Winnipeg has beaten this season —the Ottawa Redblacks twice, along with single victories over the B.C. Lions, Edmonton Eskimos and Toronto Argonauts — now have a combined win-loss record of 6-13?

You can only play the schedule you are handed, of course. But could appearances be a bit deceiving at this point?

The 3-1 Eskimos appear to be the only real quality opponent in that group, and the Bombers were a bit lucky to escape that game with a victory as Edmonton owned time of possession and yardage and were routinely in scoring position, ultimately settling for seven field goals in a close defeat. However, Ottawa (2-3), B.C. (1-4) and Toronto (0-5) haven’t shown much at all so far.

Much tougher tests await, beginning next week in Hamilton against a 4-1 Tiger-Cats team that appears to be the class of the East.

With apologies to those nervous nellies out there, can you say potential Grey Cup preview?

Winnipeg will stay out east for a game with the lowly Argonauts the following week, then return home for a date with the always-dangerous Calgary Stampeders. We should have a much better idea at that point in this season where this Bombers squad truly stands.

But with the victories piling up, I’d say the only major issue surrounding this club right now is where are all the fans?

Once again, there were plenty of good seats available at kickoff Friday, where the announced attendance was 25,350 on what was truly a perfect night for football involving the top team in the CFL.

While that’s up slightly from crowds of 24,187 last Friday against Toronto, and 25,336 for the June 27 home opener against Edmonton, it’s still well below the 33,134 capacity, not to mention last year’s regular-season average of 27,715.

Far be it from me to tell anybody how to spend their hard-earned cash, not to mention all-too-precious free time in the summer, but those who aren’t coming out are missing a heck of a show.

And perhaps some more history in the making.

 

mike.mcintyre@freepress.mb.ca

Twitter: @mikemcintyrewpg