This is not a good sign

Hey there, time traveller!
This article was published 02/11/2009 (5802 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

MONTREAL — It has been a Winnipeg Blue Bombers season with so much turbulence it should have come with its own air sickness bag.

But even with all the references to circuses and gong shows, the horrible first 11 weeks of the campaign and the recent dash to respectability, the Bombers — even after playing the punching bag for three hours Sunday afternoon in a 48-13 loss to the Montreal Alouettes — know this for certain:

Win next Sunday at home against the Hamilton Tiger-Cats and they’ll be playing host to the East Division Semifinal and providing at least one more week of drama in one of the most bizarre seasons in franchise history.

Lose, on the other hand, and they’ll be watching the Grey Cup playoffs on the telly.

“Everybody better get themselves right and understand that we get one more shot or we’re going home,” said defensive tackle Doug Brown. “There have been a lot of things that have gone wrong this year and we get one chance to turn it around. After that… if we fail in this scenario it’s clean out your lockers — some of us we’ll see ya next year and some of us you won’t.

“The schoolyard bully of the CFL called us out in the playground today and spanked us pretty good in every phase and facet of the game. We are a resilient group and we’ve got some guys with some character in this locker-room. It’s just not the tone you want to set before you have your final start at home. It’s not the way to build any momentum.”

No kidding. Any kind of momentum the Bombers had built in their recent run of four wins in five games, including last week’s victory over Montreal, was flushed Sunday before another sellout crowd at Molson Stadium.

Among the lowlights of the afternoon:

❚ Winnipeg managed just seven first downs and 197 yards total offence. The Bombers went 20 minutes and 24 seconds before even moving the sticks. All told, Winnipeg had 18 offensive possessions and were two-and-out on an appalling 13 of them.

❚ Michael Bishop completed just 8 of 21 passes for 145 yards with a 65-yard TD strike to Titus Ryan while Fred Reid managed only 37 yards on 11 carries. Reid had six carries for one yard in the first half while eight of his carries were for two yards or less.

❚ The Bomber kick-coverage units, which have been spectacular this season, were torched by Alouettes dynamo Larry Taylor, including a 115-yard TD on a missed field goal by Alexis Serna. It was the first kick-return score against the Bombers all season.

❚ Winnipeg’s defence, on the field for an eternity as the Alouettes held the ball for 37 minutes and 59 seconds, was burned for 393 yards as Anthony Calvillo returned from a week off to complete 27 of 38 passes for 305 yards and two touchdowns;

❚ And, to make the horrific afternoon even more gruesome, Bomber Most-Outstanding-Player candidate Jovon Johnson exited the game in the first half with a sore ankle; top rookie Jonathan Hefney also injured his ankle, while special-teams ace Shawn Gallant hurt a knee and Bishop tweaked an already tender hamstring.

Bomber head coach Mike Kelly said afterward he’ll rely on his team’s trademark resiliency to bounce back from a thorough and complete beating.

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“They put us over their knee and they gave us a little spanking and said, ‘We’re the big dogs,’” said Kelly. “We understand that and congratulations to them. They’re a good football team. It’s hard to go 9-0 at home and they were able to do it. So, OK, it’s over and done with. Now we gotta put it away and now our thoughts are nothing but positive and getting ready for Hamilton.”

Asked if he thought his bunch could rebound and be ready for the Ticats this week, Kelly’s back stiffened:

“Oh, we’ll be ready. I promise you we’ll be ready. We’ll be focused and we’ll get after it. This is disappointing, obviously, but we have to put this away and we know we’ll ready for the Tiger-Cats.

“I just told the team in there, ‘We seem to always be ready to rise to the challenge and whenever there’s adversity out there we find a way to over come it. Certainly we’ve put ourselves in a position where today if we win we would have been in the playoffs. Now we’re in a situation where it’s winner take all. So, here we go. Let’s stand in the middle of the ring and slug and it out and see what happens.’ ”

ed.tait@freepress.mb.ca