LaPo has no pull with Pierce

Hey there, time traveller!
This article was published 19/10/2011 (5159 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

It happens elsewhere, so why doesn’t it happen here?

As the dust settles in Calgary following John Hufnagel’s decision to bench quarterback Henry Burris in favour of backup Drew Tate, the question around these parts arrives in this manner:

If the Stamps can pull the 2010 most outstanding player from a game when he’s not producing — like they did in a 31-29 loss to Toronto last week — why can’t the Blue Bombers do the same thing with quarterback Buck Pierce?

Somewhat lost in the disappointment of Winnipeg’s 24-10 loss in Edmonton was the fact that Pierce struggled mightily. Yes, he was sacked five times and knocked down in multiples of five by a fierce Eskimos pass rush but, as the club always tells the media, no one is interested in excuses.

The issue: Winnipeg’s offence generated 10 points and remains a pop-gun attack in the CFL (seventh in total offence after last weekend).

On Tuesday, Pierce talked about his performance.

“Offensively it’s about getting in a rhythm and putting long drives together for a number of minutes throughout the course of a game,” he said. “And we just didn’t do that.”

Pierce went 19-of-33 for just 143 yards with three interceptions, While two of those came off the fingertips of receivers, they still show up on the QB’s stat line.

Despite all of the above, though, at no point did the coaching staff think of taking him out in favour of backup Alex Brink.

Why is that again?

“Not at the score (the game) was,” Bombers head coach Paul LaPolice explained Tuesday. “Buck threw two interceptions — they were both off of tipped balls — so it’s not like he was throwing the ball (up for grabs). I thought he was seeing the field well. Sometimes, the players around him have to play better and we have to call a better game.”

The game was close on the scoreboard but it clearly wasn’t Pierce’s day. It brought back memories of the Banjo Bowl, when LaPolice kept Pierce in the game for way too long, allowing the veteran to throw five interceptions against Saskatchewan.

The offence, which managed only 263 net yards, couldn’t stretch the field (the longest play from scrimmage was a 20-yard catch by Aaron Hargreaves) in Edmonton.

Pierce said he thought the Bombers would be able to find the right combination to the Edmonton defence. His offence was working hard, he said, they just couldn’t find any lighter fluid.

“That’s what I like about our group: We don’t fold and throw our cards in. We’re always working. We just didn’t have that spark to get us over the top.”

Winnipeg needed a flash on offence, just as Brink has provided at times this season and just as Calgary found when they went to Tate against Toronto last Friday. The Stamps were down 19 to the Argos and the second-stringer marched them into a lead, only to see it vanish on the final play of the game.

The spark nearly worked for the Stamps. They crawled back into a game they had no business being in after coming out so flat.

LaPolice saw the switch to Tate differently.

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“Well, Henry threw two bad interceptions and (didn’t locate throws),” he said. “I did not see that from our quarterback. I believe Calgary’s situation has been over seven games… they’ve been concerned with the play of their quarterback. I think it’s a different situation.”

No one will argue that the two games were completely different filled with completely different circumstances during the course of the action.

But what’s becoming the norm for the Bombers through this 2-5 slide (the same drought, interestingly enough, the Stampeders are currently on) is a continued reluctance to take the starter out of the game — even if it’s just for a series or two — to change things up or create some different chemistry.

You never know when sparks will fly, right?

adam.wazny@freepress.mb.ca Twitter: @wazoowazny