Game Day: 3 Keys to victory

Hey there, time traveller!
This article was published 01/08/2009 (5917 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

1. FIRST DOWNS, PASSING YARDS, TOUCHDOWNS… PLEASE!

Pardon me for jamming a knife into a festering wound, but it’s about the Bombers’ offensive offence. One first down in the first half in last week’s loss to the Argos and eight in total? And 66 yards passing and 123 yards total? Not only is that beyond appalling, it’s embarrassing for an ‘offensive guru,’ as head coach Mike Kelly was hailed upon his introduction in December. The arrival of Michael Bishop smacks of desperation, yes, but he throws the ball downfield often and has decent pocket mobility to extend plays with his legs. The Bombers need just a sniff of an attack to give their dominant defence a breather. Consider this as evidence: over the last TWO games Winnipeg has had just 20 first downs and a grand total of 190 yards passing. By comparison, in Hamilton’s win over the Bombers a couple weeks ago — a performance that would hardly be held up as an example of the glorious, wide-open CFL game — the Tiger-Cats had 22 first downs and 334 yards passing. For the record, the Bombers’ last offensive TD came courtesy Lavarus Giles (now benched) in the win over Calgary on July 10 — a stretch of 122 minutes and 19 seconds. That’s an eternity by CFL standards.

2. DOES THE DEFENCE HAVE MORE TO GIVE?

This should tell you all that’s necessary to know about the Bomber defence vs. offence: linebacker Siddeeq Shabazz has two touchdowns in four games, tying him for the team lead with Giles and Terrence Edwards. That’s one more than Fred Reid, while offensive regulars like Romby Bryant and Brock Ralph have yet to cross the goal line. So now with the introduction of a new starting QB and the inevitable growing pains that change will bring — again — a defence which already has a league-leading nine interceptions and has been positively stifling through the first month of the season will need to crank up their level of play again. Is more possible? It may have to be. And it reminds us in an odd way of the special guitar amps the band Spinal Tap designed that go to ’11’. Asked if they were louder than regular amps that only go to 10, Nigel — the guitarist — said, "Well, it’s one louder, isn’t it? It’s not 10." The Bomber defence, then, needs to be at 11.

3. HE DID SAY, ‘SPECIAL’, DIDN’T HE?

One of the absolutely baffling sidebars from last week’s loss to the Argos — and completely lost in the offensive ineptitude — was Mike Kelly’s decision to not use Craphonso Thorpe as a kick returner in the game because he was "overwhelmed." Apparently the Florida State star who bounced around the NFL as a returner was lost in the pre-game warm-up while trying to deal with Winnipeg’s notorious wind and was equally confused as a receiver by the longer, wider CFL field. Thorpe remains on the roster even though Adarius Bowman (hip flexor) was solid at practice on Thursday, but will not likely return kicks. Kelly insisted on more than one occasion this week that the Bomber offence had to find a gear because the two other phases of his squad — the defence and special teams — have been solid. That assertion isn’t wrong, but could be seen as slightly misleading as this club clearly hasn’t settled on a return man and it’s costly them dearly in field position. We’ve seen some flashes from James Johnson as a returner and he’ll get the bulk of the work today, but as we’ve been hammering away on for weeks, this team needs a threat back there, not just somebody who fills the job adequately.

Check out the video version of Ed Tait’s 3 Keys to Victory on winnipegfreepress.com.