Golden dawn of a new Bomber era

Hey there, time traveller!
This article was published 03/07/2010 (5638 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

 Let the record show that the opening chapter of the Paul LaPolice/Joe Mack regime officially began with the Winnipeg Blue Bombers getting drilled smack dab right in the chompers just seconds into the first round.

And then — in an inspired effort that would have made Joe Louis positively beam and had the legends in the house thumping their chest — these new Bombers got up off the mat, wiped the blood from their collective mouths and then methodically worked over the Hamilton Tiger-Cats in a 49-29 unanimous decision Friday in front of 26,302 at Canad Inns Stadium that will certainly open eyes across the CFL.

"That was a helluva lot of fun," said Bomber QB Buck Pierce, who was absolutely brilliant in his first game as a Bomber. "I’m happy for everybody in here, for everybody in the organization, for myself… it’s just a great feeling right now.

"It’s encouraging. I like how we came back from adversity and didn’t let it affect us. To me, that shows great character from the guys."

Yes, it’s early. And, yes, there were enough mistakes to fill a full-hour blooper show. But try this on for size with the 2010 season still in its infancy: the Bombers wake up this morning atop the East Division with a 1-0 record by knocking off a Ticat squad that had become the sexy pre-season pick to unseat the Montreal Alouettes.

The Ticats, Alouettes and Toronto Argonauts — it’s worth noting — are all 0-1 after losing their openers.

The 2010 season began inauspiciously enough, with Ticats return man Marcus Thigpen taking the opening kickoff 93 yards for a touchdown with the final notes of O Canada still echoing through the building.

"The way this one started," began veteran tackle Doug Brown, "I had this Twilight Zone premonition going back to 2005 with Jim Daley (at their opener) in Saskatchewan and they got a touchdown against us on the opening kickoff (by Corey Holmes). I got down on one knee and said, ‘Please, Lord… do not let this be a season like that.’ I was freaking out when that happened. But we were very resilient and emotionally together."

Indeed, with Pierce looking extremely comfortable operating LaPolice’s multiple-look offence and the defence delivering some smash-mouth play, the Bombers effectively chipped away at their opponent in building a 24-9 halftime lead that had the Ticats at minus-2 yards in net offence at the intermission.

And over the course of 60 minutes the nightmare that was the 2009 season was officially deep-sixed.

Among the important Bomber developments on opening night:

— Pierce was positively superb, completing 17 of 25 passes for 291 yards and two TDs with no interceptions. He also rushed for 89 yards and a touchdown on just six carries.

— The Bombers got huge heat from their front seven, getting into Hamilton QB Kevin Glenn’s grill all evening and finishing with six sacks — two each by Joe Lobendahn and Phillip Hunt with singles from Doug Brown and Dorian Smith.

— Receiver Terrence Edwards was deadly, pulling in two scores including a 90-yarder that was longer than any aerial strike the Bombers managed last year. All told, Edwards finished with five receptions for 191 yards.

"Man, it’s great to just go out there and play football again — CFL style football," Edwards said. "I had a ball tonight."

"Even if I didn’t have that kind of game, to put up the kind of points we did and to see our defence play lights out… if we keep building on this I’ll tell you the sky’s the limit."

— The offence, a complete disaster last season, finished with more than 472 yards as six different receivers caught passes and with Fred Reid chipping in 98 yards along the ground.

— The secondary, a real concern as camp opened with Jonathan Hefney in the NFL with the Detroit Lions and Lenny Walls released, limited Glenn to just 197 yards passing and forced one interception (by Courtney Smith) as newcomer Alex Suber and Brandon Stewart — who spent most of last year on the reserve list — were solid at the halfback positions.

— The special teams chipped in with a touchdown as loyal foot soldiers Pierre-Luc Labbe and Brady Browne combining to block a Justin Palardy punt for a score — Browne had the block, Labbe fell on it in the end zone.

There were some sore spots that were also glossed over in the victory, including the special-teams kick coverage unit that gave up two Thigpen TDs — the opening kickoff and a 118-yard missed field goal return. As well, the Bombers missed long-snapper Chris Cvetkovic as Alexis Serna’s timing was affected with the placekicker finishing just three of six in field goals. And the offensive line, while playing a vital role in the numbers put up by Pierce and Reid, also occasionally had its troubles as the Ticats racked up four sacks.

But that is all brushed aside in the wake of the first regular-season opening victory since 2003.

"It’s a new era," said Brown. "It’s a new system and we’ve got so many new players… but I’ll tell you, (the 2009 season) seems like a long, long time ago right now."

ed.tait@freepress.mb.ca