Bomber defence demolition demons

Hey there, time traveller!
This article was published 05/08/2009 (5914 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

DEFENCES underpin championship teams. Think of the Pittsburgh Steelers of the 1970s and the Edmonton Eskimos of the early ’80s. Sure, they scored some points on offence, but it all came back to defensive units that knocked the daylights out of opponents, then kicked them while they were on the ground.

The current version of the Winnipeg Blue Bombers may turn out to be a vast waste of potential. The 12 men on the defensive side of the ball are playing like champions. The offence, to borrow a phrase from the cool kids, not so much.

While the Winnipeg offence has at times allowed wags to use lines like “If this game was being played in my backyard, I’d close the drapes,” the defence has kept slugging away and prevented this club from being a laughing stock.

Just last weekend, for example, the Bombers posted 13 points on offence, 10 of them in the first quarter, and then took a knee in order to watch the defence smack the crap out of the Toronto Argonauts.

The Bombers’ offence has scored an average of 18 points per game this season, which is dead last in the CFL. On the mean side of the pigskin, however, the Bombers are positively vicious. Winnipeg has allowed just 105 points- against through five games and has collected 13 interceptions.

“Our offence needs to catch up to our defence or we could miss out on a chance. If our offence had been averaging 21 points a game, we might be sitting at 5-0 right now and everybody would be giddy. But we’re not,” Bombers coach Mike Kelly said following Tuesday’s workout as the team began preparing for Saturday’s game in Calgary against the Stampeders.

“We’re averaging 18 points per game. Somewhere in that neighbourhood. We have to keep working on scoring some points, because this defence is real good and we could have something special here.”

The Bombers defence is led by Canadian tackle Doug Brown and veteran linebackers Ike Charlton and Barrin Simpson. Throw in ultra-consistent rush end Gavin Walls, shutdown defensive back Lenny Walls and ball-hawk linebacker Siddeeq Shabazz and Winnipeg has talent to match any other defensive group in the CFL. They may also have the intangibles to be a defence to remember.

“We’ve got a long way to go. We’ve been resilient and been put in some tough spots and stuck together,” Brown said. “But it’s a weekly evaluation. It’s important to look back at the facts and figures at the end of the year, but when you have an exam every week, that’s all you can focus on.”

The Bombers had just 15 interceptions all of last year, and with 13 just past the quarter pole, there’s talk of them equalling the league record of 48 in a season, posted by the 1990 Blue Bombers.

“If we continue along the way we are, that might be something to get excited about in Week 15 or 16,” Brown said. “But it’s pretty difficult to keep our pace where it’s at. It will take an extreme effort and focus for an entire season.”

Brown, who despite having merely ordinary statistics due to constant double teams, is having a superb individual season, but says it’s not about one man here or there. It’s about the unit.

“It’s about us playing so well together and the way we play. Our turnovers, it’s all about guys running to the ball and swarming,” he said. “It’s a trait that explains how well we’re doing. When the ball is in the air, there’s a lot of guys heading to it and trying to pick it out of the air or just wipe it out.”

Rookie Dorian Smith has come along rapidly to provide a nice balance to Brown’s experience, and the ends, Fred Perry and Walls, are starting to rev their engines at a high rate. Brown says teams should be careful about the way they handle Perry and Walls.

“When some offensive tackle starts talking to them and pissing them off, they’ve got a fire that you don’t want to be on the wrong side of,” Brown said. “They play mean. Gavin and Fred are two of the most even-tempered guys, but if you push the wrong buttons, I’ve literally had to pull them off guys. Those offensive tackles in Toronto last week had a little too much to say to them and you saw the result.”

Time of possession is a statistic coaches watch for a number of reasons and it tells an interesting story with these Bombers.

“I told defensive co-ordinator Mark Nelson that we’ve left the defence on the field 33 minutes per game and that we have to get it down to 27,” shared Kelly. “He took it as the defence allowing the opposition to stay on the field too long through extended drives. So you can spin these stats any way you want to.

“As a head coach, I feel our defence is on the field too much and the fact they’ve given up as little as they have despite being out there for so long at times, it’s phenomenal.”

gary.lawless@freepress.mb.ca

Compared to the best

The Blue Bombers’ defence is off to a strong start to the season and has a sterling points-against-per-game average of 21. Here’s a look at how the current deadly dozen compares to some Blue bunches of the past.

2009 (through five games) — 105 points against for an average of 21 per game

2008 (8-10) — 490 points against for an average of 27 per game

2007 (10-7-1, lost in Grey Cup) — 404 points against for an average of 22 per game

2001 (14-4, lost in Grey Cup) — 383 points against for an average of 21 per game

1990 (12-6, won Grey Cup) — 398 points against for an average of 22 per game