Second-guessing an ugly game

Bombers coach fields queries about questionable play calling

By: Adam Wazny Posted: 1:00 AM CDT Tuesday, Sep. 21, 2010

Those with an appetite for hindsight had a lot on their plate Monday.

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Those with an appetite for hindsight had a lot on their plate Monday.

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Hey there, time traveller!
This article was published 21/09/2010 (5530 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

Those with an appetite for hindsight had a lot on their plate Monday.

A day after the 17-13 loss to the Toronto Argonauts, Bombers head coach Paul LaPolice consumed all the second-guessing he could eat, answering every question that came up regarding another disappointing outing from the Winnipeg football club. The recipe for the latest defeat started with a lack of execution of a conservative offensive game plan, but LaPolice wasn’t exactly excused from the blame table.

Let’s start with the third and two gamble from the Argos 27-yard line with just over two minutes to go. Down by four, the Bombers had already gambled with RB Fred Reid earlier in the drive, so it seemed like a no-brainer that QB Alex Brink — the short-yardage pivot in these situations — would go to No. 32 again.

DAVID LIPNOWSKI / WINNIPEG FREE PRESS
Bombers head coach Paul LaPolice has found out this season that football can be a lonely existence when a coach's plays and decisions fail to return a win. — DAVID LIPNOWSKI / WINNIPEG FREE PRESS Bombers head coach Paul LaPolice has found out this season that football can be a lonely existence when a coach's plays and decisions fail to return a win.

Nope. Fullback Andre Sadeghian took a quick inside handoff and was stonewalled by the Argos front line for no gain. It should be pointed out that was his first carry of the season.

“If I had it back, maybe I’d call a different one but I don’t get a second chance to call it,” LaPolice conceded.

The play was a goner from the get-go, as the Argos D-line backed up the Winnipeg big eaters and gave Sadeghian nowhere to go, so suggesting Reid would have made the distance difference is not the right argument. Instead, why didn’t the Bombers kick the short field goal and let their defence try to get the ball back?

“You could go for a field goal, but I just felt at that point, you’re going to get the ball back with possibly 45 seconds there,” the coach continued. “The thing I was concerned about was that we hadn’t moved the ball consistently, so you may not get a chance to get down there again.”

Fair enough, but if the Bombers were worried about the shortage of points to be had, then what about going for a two-point conversion after the touchdown by slotback Terrence Edwards with 8:47 left to go in the game? It would have cut the Argos lead to three. With such poor offensive efforts by both offences in the contest, the Bombers would have been better served to take any and all opportunities to score available to them.

Talk of going for the deuce did come up in the headsets, revealed LaPolice.

“I felt there still were possibilities for a single that could come up with the way the ball had been punted and the field position game,” he said. “Now that I look at it again, I might have gone for two but on the field that was the call I made. In hindsight, I probably (would have gone) for two.”

The missed field goal return out of the end zone by Bombers returner Jovon Johnson was the call that really had some people scratching their heads.

With over 13 minutes left in the fourth quarter, the Argos — obviously sensing the need to put points on the scoreboard — tried a 56-yard field goal. Kicker Justin Medlock misses wide right and Johnson chooses to run the ball out, only managing to find the 15-yard line.

If he takes a knee there, the Bombers are first and 10 from their own 49-yard line.

“We wanted to run that one out,” LaPolice explained. “We were trying to make a play; we were trying to flip the field and go. We tell (Johnson) whether we’re going to try to return it or (give up) the point.”

The only club “flipping the field” on that sequence was Toronto. Another two-and-out by the Bombers and a 37-yard punt by Mike Renaud later, the Argos take the ball back on Winnipeg’s 50-yard line. Five plays later QB Cleo Lemon hits SB Jermaine Copeland in the back of the end zone for a major.

What could have been a five-point disadvantage with the ball at midfield was now an 11-point hole in a tight, defensive struggle.

“Those weren’t the reasons we lost the football game,” LaPolice told reporters Monday.

The coach was bang-on with that one. Those three decisions didn’t cost Winnipeg the win.

They just didn’t help in the final outcome, that’s all.

adam.wazny@freepress.mb.ca

Frustrating time for Blue crew

SO what carrot do the Winnipeg Blue Bombers chase now?

With a 3-8 record, the same mark the club had at this juncture a year ago, the shine of hope is certainly starting to dull within those affiliated with the club. Any positives taken from a Herculean effort against Saskatchewan in the sold-out Banjo Bowl are now being outmuscled by doubt and the reality that this club isn’t good enough to win consistently yet.

The playoff focus — yes, there is still a post-season opportunity out there — has shifted from the East division to the West crossover for the remaining seven games. That will play itself out with a home-and-home series with the B.C. Lions in October.

Right now, though, some players — especially those veterans who went through this in 2009 — are starting to grow tired of the losing atmosphere.

“We converted back to our old ways of shooting ourselves in the foot,” third-year OL Brendon LaBatte said following the 17-13 loss in Toronto Sunday. “It’s frustrating, it’s disappointing, and I don’t know what the answers are right now. Frankly, I’m starting to get a little tired of this feeling.”

Running back Fred Reid offered a similar take of the one-step forward, two-steps back showing the club has registered over the last two and a half seasons (7-11 in 2009; 8-10 in 2008).

“You have to try and stay positive, but guys are getting frustrated with what’s going on here,” he said.

Paul LaPolice, who has pulled back slightly from his ‘hope’ sales pitch in recent weeks, doesn’t believe veterans are starting to compare his operation to previous regimes.

If players are frustrated with the rebuilding — there’s that dreaded ‘R’ word coaches hate to use publicly, even when it applies — he hasn’t seen it.

“They’re frustrated with the losses, I would say that,” the coach said.

“I’m sure they’re frustrated where our record is at. They’re frustrated because people keep telling us ‘Oh, you’re getting close, you’re almost winning football games.’ That’s not the point. The point is to win football games.”

NOTES: LaPolice evaded questions of WR Adarius Bowman’s future with the club Monday, deferring to the coach’s evaluation of the entire roster. Bowman had two drops Sunday … DB Deon Beasley (arm) was the only injury from Sunday’s loss … The Bombers are back at practice today. Next action is Friday, when the Montreal Alouettes (8-3) visit Canad Inns Stadium.

— Adam Wazny