Bomber backups make it interesting

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This article was published 16/10/2022 (1056 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

It was during the third quarter when I received a text from a friend who was at BC Place on Saturday night.

“Are the Bombers playing their backups or something?” they wrote.

Mind you, this is a friend that recently moved to Vancouver and doesn’t follow their hometown Winnipeg Blue Bombers all that closely, but it was even obvious to them that the back-to-back Grey Cup champs weren’t playing their best hand.

Their hunch was spot on as the Bombers, a team that had nothing to play for in the standings, sat several key players, most notably quarterback Zach Collaros, and shot themselves in the foot far too many times to come away with a win. The BC Lions, a team trying to secure the No. 2-seed in the West, took advantage and came away with a 40-32 victory.

The loss dropped the Bombers, who are on a bye this week, to 14-3, while the Lions improved to 11-5 and can guarantee the West Division semi-final will be played at home if they beat the Edmonton Elks this week.

With nothing but pride at stake for the Blue and Gold, this game won’t be talked about for long around these parts, but before it’s erased from your memory, let’s take a minute to look back with this week’s edition of 5 Takeaways.

Dru Brown’s time to shine

On paper, a quarterback throwing not one, but two pick-sixes is an atrocious night. But if you take a step back and look at the entire picture, Bombers quarterback Dru Brown, a second-year player who was making his first career start, had an encouraging performance.

His two costly interceptions were too much for the team to overcome, but those plays will be valuable learning lessons and they’re easily fixable. On the first one, Brown was out of rhythm after dropping the snap. He picked it up and ended up making the right read with Rasheed Bailey being open, but he took too long to fire it there, leading to Marcus Sayles pouncing on it and returning it 45 yards for a touchdown to put the Lions up 17-10 in the second quarter. Then with just over two minutes left in the fourth, Brown had Nic Demski open but threw the ball behind him. TJ Lee was there to take it and sprint 102 yards to the end zone to give BC a comfortable 40-24 lead.

But to Brown’s credit, he seemed to carry himself well after those mistakes. He showed no signs of frustration and both times, he drove the team down the field the next time he had the ball.

Brown finished the game 28-for-39 for 325 yards and three touchdowns. He had a ton of chemistry with Bailey — who had a career night with 11 catches for 121 yards and two touchdowns — with Brown targeting him 14 times.

The 25-year-old from California was efficient, displayed some impressive footwork and athleticism, and looks like he has what it takes to be a starter in the league one day.

I’d expect Brown to finish the regular season finale on Oct. 28 when the Lions come to town after Collaros runs the offence for a few drives.

Grant breaks franchise record

Janarion Grant only needed 32 games to cement himself as the best returner in Blue Bombers history.

Grant scored his seventh career return touchdown, a 94-yard punt return in the second quarter, to move him past Keith Stokes for the most in franchise history.

Grant’s the only player in the CFL to score on a punt this season and he’s done it twice. He also scored on a kick return against the Lions back in Week 5.

Grant wasn’t the only returner to shine on Saturday. B.C.’s Terry Williams didn’t find the end zone, but he exploded for a total of 341 yards on three punt returns, five kickoff returns, and three missed field goal returns. Williams deserves to be the player of the game, giving the Leos generous field position all night long.

Bombers special teams co-ordinator Paul Boudreau is going to need his unit to do a much better job on Nov. 13 for the West Division final.

Between Grant and Williams, there were 598 return yards on the night, setting an all-time single-game CFL record.

Liegghi-uh oh

Sticking with special teams, it was a disappointing night for Bombers kicker Marc Liegghio.

He’d been on a roll, hitting 12 straight field goals heading into Saturday night. But that streak was thrown out the window after Liegghio missed three field goals against the Lions. In his defence, they weren’t easy kicks — his misfires were from 52, 53 and 45 yards out — but when kicking in a dome, you’d like to see your kicker have the leg to strike from that distance.

After two costly misses against Montreal at home in Week 10, the Bombers had a bye and Liegghio came out of it looking much better. He’ll have a chance to repeat that with the Bombers having this week off.

But never mind Liegghio’s field goals, his final kickoff was a real head scratcher. The Bombers scored to cut B.C.’s lead to 40-32 with a minute left in the game. Everyone was expecting an onside kick to follow, but instead, Liegghio squib kicked the ball down the field and Terry Williams made the intelligent decision to pick the ball up with one foot out of bounds to give the Lions possession at midfield. Mike O’Shea didn’t speak on it after the game so it’s unknown if Liegghio just mishit it or if that’s what he was told to do. Either way, that play couldn’t have gone worse for the Bombers.

Kolankowski watch

Winning is always nice, but staying healthy was more important for the Bombers.

They returned from Vancouver mostly unscathed, but they might’ve lost reliable offensive lineman Chris Kolankowski.

Kolankowski was rolled up on in the second half and left the game. Mike O’Shea didn’t provide an update in his post-game presser.

Kolankowski has been one of the best stories of the season for the Bombers. He took over at centre after Michael Couture broke his left arm in Week 2 and hasn’t looked back since. Couture returned to in Week 15, but the Bombers have rewarded Kolankowski — who had zero starts to his name in his first three CFL seasons — and stuck with him.

Fortunately for the Bombers, if Kolankowski is hurt — which we won’t know until after the bye week — Couture is back and looked like himself on Saturday. With Stanley Bryant, Jermarcus Hardrick, and Pat Neufeld all taking the night off, the Bombers moved Kolankowski to left guard and had Couture manning the middle of the O-line. Geoff Gray kicked out to left tackle, Eric Lofton started at right tackle, and Liam Dobson made his CFL debut at right guard. The unit as a whole gave up three sacks on the night, but with guys moving positions and several new faces on the line, they deserve a passing grade.

Parker has a day

Everyone’s keeping a close eye on the Bombers’ secondary these days.

With Nick Taylor and Demerio Houston out of action, the Bombers have turned to rookies Jamal Parker and Evan Holm.

Parker started at boundary halfback in Vancouver with Deatrick Nichols away from the team due to a family matter. Parker had big shoes to fill, but had a really strong night. He led the team with seven tackles, had a sack, and was crucial in helping the Bombers limit Vernon Adams Jr. to 138 passing yards.

The Bombers also had a new face at cornerback with Desmond Lawrence. Lawrence was recently cut by the Hamilton Tiger-Cats and the Bombers scooped him up immediately for some much-needed depth. Lawrence was OK, but not great. Lions receiver Alexander Hollins burnt Lawrence on a route at the end of the first half that should’ve gone for a touchdown, but Adams had a hand in his face and underthrew the ball. Lawrence was called for pass interference on the play, and soon after, gave up a touchdown to Dominique Rhymes.

It was the kind of night you’d expect for a depth piece who’s new to the team, but Lawrence didn’t look like a total liability as he also had four pass knockdowns.

taylor.allen@freepress.mb.ca

Twitter: @TaylorAllen31