Blue now officially worried

Hey there, time traveller!
This article was published 09/08/2010 (5849 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

They huddled outside the Winnipeg Blue Bomber locker-room late Saturday night, frustration on their faces, concern in their voices.

And the conversation being held by the Bombers triumvirate of deep thinkers — GM Joe Mack, head coach Paul LaPolice and assistant GM Ross Hodgkinson — clearly didn’t involve post-game dinner plans.

So while kicker Alexis Serna may be target No. 1 in everyone’s crosshairs — he whiffed two short field goals in Saturday’s 29-22 loss to the Hamilton Tiger-Cats — it’s fair to say Bomber brass won’t be locking in on just one position with the squad 2-4 at the one-third mark of the CFL season.

No, changes may be on the horizon at spots all over the roster now.

"We just shot ourselves in the foot a lot," began running back Fred Reid. "Offside penalties, mistakes… we killed a lot of drives ourselves. We’ve got to stop making so many mental errors.

"The coaches did a good job preparing us with a good game plan. But the players, we took too many dumb penalties and made too many dumb mistakes."

Yup, that would just about sum up a contest in which the Bombers racked up 508 yards net offence, but were also nailed for 13 penalties for 100 yards, turned the ball over twice in the fourth quarter and gagged on two opportunities in the final 94 seconds in Hamilton territory — the last at the three-yard line on the game’s final play — to tie the contest and send it into overtime.

As a result, the Bombers have lost their third game by a touchdown or less and the early-season feel-good vibe around the new regime is starting to fade.

"I can’t tell you how many people say, ‘Oh, you guys are doing a great job,’" said LaPolice after the game. "We need wins, OK? That’s why I’m frustrated. I’m proud of their effort, but we just got to get better.

"We took a lot of points off the board and stopped a lot of drives with penalties. I understand we’re playing with some other guys, but that doesn’t matter. We can’t take penalties.

"We have to find ways to finish. This team competes and they play hard each week, but we’ve got to translate those into two points."

The Bombers returned home to Winnipeg Sunday morning and are back on the field Tuesday. Question now is, what changes are in the offing in the wake of the fourth loss in six games?

Winnipeg Free Press | Newsletter

Mike McIntyre | On Sports

Thursdays

Keep up to date on sports with Mike McIntyre's weekly newsletter.

Sign up for Mike McIntyre | On Sports

Sign Up

I consent to the Terms and Conditions, Cookie and Privacy Policies.

I consent to CASL agreement.

The team has its fingers crossed Buck Pierce’s knee will show more range of motion this week before Friday’s rematch, but also lost left tackle Andre Douglas to a knee injury in the first quarter. He was replaced by Luke Fritz. Centre Obby Khan is also hobbling and sick bay is already overflowing with players who will still be out for this week, including promising receiver Terence Jeffers-Harris and starting safety Ian Logan.

"That’ll be a day-to-day thing," said LaPolice. "We’ve got to see (Pierce) be able to move and scramble around. If he isn’t… once again Steven (Jyles) put us in position to win the football game and did good enough things to show he can start in this league. There’s no doubt Buck, if he’s healthy, will start."

The extensive injured list theory, however, wasn’t being spit out by anyone in the locker-room. Nor was the notion that this is a young team going through a painful maturation process.

"We’re not a young team any more," said linebacker Joe Lobendahn. "We’re all professionals. Everyone’s got a job to do and if you can’t do it then you don’t belong on the field. It’s time to just go out there, play ball and make plays. That’s what we’re paid to do."

ed.tait@freepress.mb.ca