Bad Blue memories erased

Hey there, time traveller!
This article was published 09/07/2011 (5369 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

Let’s get the qualifiers out of the way first.

It’s early days and there is lots of hard football to play against opponents that are only going to improve.

The package the Winnipeg Blue Bombers present to opponents also remains unbalanced, tilted heavily in favour of a stifling defence that has carried the load for the first two weeks while the offence and special teams have been inconsistent.

And while quarterback Buck Pierce has been healthy, he has yet to consistently move the ball or sustain drives and has put the ball in the end zone only twice in two games.

So, yeah, there is all that.

But there is also this: For the first time in eight years, you are reading that your local professional football team is 2-0.

With a workmanlike 22-16 victory over the Toronto Argonauts before a crowd of 27,368 at Canad Inns Stadium Friday night, the 2011 Bombers have now won precisely half as many games in two weeks as the 2010 Bombers won over the course of an entirely miserable 4-14 season.

And so while there are still qualifiers galore to sober even the most optimistic of Bombers fans, there is also ample reason this morning to savour what is unquestionably a better, deeper and vastly more competitive football team than the one this community was saddled with last season.

“Whether it was a big catch, a big block or a big run,” Pierce said after the game, “we executed when we had to. Do we need to be more consistent? Yeah. That’s going to be the word of the week until we do it.

“But we’re a tough group of guys. We understand how to finish things, we understand how to face the adversity.”

Still, there were no laurels being passed around the Bomber locker-room last night. Head coach Paul LaPolice said he pointed out their undefeated record to his team after the game — and then told them what it was worth. “It’s been eight years since we’ve been 2-0. And I said, ‘Guys, what is that? It’s true, but useless. Let’s focus and get ready for Calgary (next week).”

For the second week in a row, Pierce put up modest numbers — 21-34, 165 yards, one interception — but made key throws when his club needed them and made up for a lack of fireworks on the scoreboard with the kind of toughness and heart that seem to inspire the team around him.

A third-quarter sack by former NFLer Claude Wroten had Pierce limping off the field, clearly favouring the same right knee he hurt last season.

But after the defence held — yet again, on a night when they did almost nothing else — Pierce returned to the field and promptly ripped off runs of 14 yards and 12 yards to set up what proved to be a critical 32-yard Justin Palardy field goal that put the Bombers up 16-10 at that point.

Pierce confirmed afterward that he reaggravated the old injury, but said he was not overly concerned. “That’s an old battle injury. I got nicked up. I’ll get iced up tonight and should be OK.”

The Bombers next play Thursday night at Canad Inns Stadium against the Calgary Stampeders, who will not be looking forward to facing a Bombers defence that held the self-proclaimed best running back in the league, Cory Boyd, to a grand total of 16 all-purpose yards, sacked Argos QB Cleo Lemon seven times and forced five turnovers.

The Bombers’ special teams, however, remain a concern. On the plus side, they held explosive Argos kick returner Chad Owens to just 19 yards on five punt returns. But they also gave up a 32-yard catch and run on a fake punt near the end of the first quarter on which they looked woefully unprepared.

Palardy also had an uneven night personally. The Bomber kicker — who had made 12 field goals in a row going all the way back to last season coming into the night — missed his first two of the night, the first from just 28 yards. But then Palardy settled nicely and began another run with an impressive four straight field goals to finish the night 4-6.

FIELD NOTES: Bombers slotback Terrence Edwards left the game during the second half. He said afterward he had cramped up and had no doubt he would be ready to play against Calgary.

paul.wiecek@freepress.mb.ca