Bombers’ 27-22 loss to Argos a debacle

Hey there, time traveller!
This article was published 28/10/2011 (5150 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

On a night that was supposed to be all about celebrating the past, the Winnipeg Blue Bombers instead gave their fans serious reason to be concerned about the immediate future.

Hosting one of the two worst teams in the CFL on a night with historic undertones — and serious playoff implications — for the home team, the Bombers spotted the Toronto Argonauts a 21-point lead in the first half and then came up short in a second-half comeback attempt, falling 27-22 at Canad Inns Stadium Friday night.

The loss was nothing short of a debacle, costing the Bombers control of their own destiny as they attempt to win an East Division title. It also cost them their starting quarterback Buck Pierce, whose status for next week’s final regular-season game in Calgary was still in doubt late last night after Pierce was knocked out of the game in the second quarter.

“He hurt his leg,” said Bombers head coach Paul LaPolice. “We’ll have better information (today).”

The listless outing — the Argos took control in the second quarter on a 24-0 run — was made all the more inexplicable by the fact it played out before the seventh consecutive sellout of the season and on a night when team management had assembled alumni from 50 years of glorious franchise history to celebrate the final regular-season game at Canad Inns Stadium.

But it was also in keeping with a pattern that has seen Winnipeg unable to win two consecutive games since August and to fail, in particular, to beat the league’s two worst teams.

With last night’s win, Toronto now has five victories in total this season, two of them coming at the hands of Winnipeg. And Saskatchewan has Winnipeg to thank for two of their four wins this season.

“That’s the frustrating thing,” said Bombers defensive lineman Doug Brown. “Sometimes you’d rather be a C-plus student than to get an A one week and an F the next.”

Put it all together and the Bombers drop to 10-7 and now need at least one loss by the Montreal Alouettes in their final two games if Winnipeg is going to have any chance to claim first place in the East Division and host the East final. Montreal, 10-6, hosts the Calgary Stampeders this Sunday and then travels to Vancouver next Saturday to play the B.C. Lions.

“It’s the same old sob story,” said Bombers defensive back Jovon Johnson. “I’m kind of getting tired of it.”

And then there’s Pierce, who was injured in the second quarter when he was tackled in the Bombers backfield by the Argos Lin-J Shell, just as Pierce was throwing an interception to Byron Parker that the Argos defensive back promptly returned 50 yards for a touchdown.

Pierce was examined by the team’s medical staff and never did return, although he did watch the balance of the game from the Bombers sideline. Pierce left the game having completed just 5 of 11 passes for 50 yards and the interception.

Backup QB Alex Brink did a credible job in relief of Pierce — he was 16-27 for 219 yards and a touchdown — but the offensive star of this night for the Bombers was running back Chris Garrett, who rambled for 159 yards on 20 carries.

And that was the most confounding thing of this night: The Bombers got a 159-yard performance from their running back — and 464 yards net offence to just 254 for Toronto — and still somehow lost as they settled for five field goals on the night.

A nine-play, 76-yard Bombers drive to open the second half was typical of a maddening evening for the Bombers offence. With the Bombers first and 10 at the Argos 3-yard line, a pair of ill advised Brink pass attempts — including a low percentage number to the back of the end zone intended for Aaron Hargreaves — stalled the Bombers drive and LaPolice elected a 10-yard field goal by placekicker Justin Palardy.
Another Bombers drive that stalled in the first half saw Winnipeg run out of gas on the Argos 5-yard line and Palardy kick a 12-yard field goal.

The lone Bombers touchdown of the night came at 10:51 of the third quarter when Brink hooked up with receiver Greg Carr on a 45-yard touchdown strike.

This game ultimately turned on a span of 7:04 in the second quarter when Toronto went on a 24-0 run as, in rapid succession, Winnipeg gave up a 43-yard touchdown bomb, fumbled a kickoff, gave up the interception return for the touchdown to Parker and then finally gave up a 68-yard punt return that set up the third Argos touchdown.

Milt Stegall got one final look Friday night at the dilapidated football stadium that changed his life.

Stegall is one of dozens of Winnipeg Blue Bombers alumni who took in the final regular season CFL game at Canad Inns Stadium.

“Don’t get me wrong — I have some great memories on the field. Breaking the touchdown record, four catches for four touchdowns,” Stegall reflected Friday afternoon.

“But my greatest memory comes from when I ran on the field and saw those fans sitting in the stands with my jersey on, screaming my name. I’m still looking for that high. I can’t find it on TSN, I can’t find it anywhere else. There’s nothing else like it and hopefully it comes one more time this evening…

“There’s nothing in the world that can top that. You could give me a billion dollars, but there’s nothing else like seeing those fans wearing my jersey and screaming my name.”

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While there will still be one more game played at Canad Inns this season when the Bombers host a playoff game next month, Friday nnight’s contest was the one Bombers management chose to formally say goodbye to a stadium that has been their home since 1953. The Bombers are moving next year to a new stadium currently under construction on the grounds of the University of Manitoba.

“It’s a bittersweet thing. It’s definitely long overdue, a new stadium,” said Stegall. “But my career was made in this stadium. My life was changed because of the things I was able to do in this stadium.”

Stegall did not always regard the Polo Park facility so fondly, recalling his reaction when — after a three-year career with the NFL’s Cincinnatti Bengals — he arrived in Winnipeg in 1995 for the first of what proved to be 14 seasons with the Bombers and got his first look at his new football home.

“It was a little shocking,” Stegall recalled. “I think we had two showers when I first got up here. I think I might have been sharing a locker with three other guys.”

On a day that was about honouring the past, Stegall also had a bold prediction for the Bombers future. Saying the Bombers currently have the best defence he’s seen in Winnipeg since he first joined the franchise, Stegall believes Winnipeg’s path to the Grey Cup couldn’t be simpler.

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“If they can win the East,” Stegall predicted, “they’re in the Grey Cup. If they only have to play one playoff game to get to the Grey Cup, they’re in the Grey Cup…

“And if they go to the Grey Cup,” Stegall joked, “I’m planning on playing the opening kickoff. I’ll run down there and be the safety so I can get my Grey Cup ring.”

Stegall said weather conditions make playing in November in Winnipeg a big advantage for a home team that has a chance to get acclimatized.

“It’s big. I used to tell people — I don’t even want to play here, so I know other teams don’t want to play here. It’s a big advantage.

“The first thing (opponents) say when they step on the field is, ‘Oh, it’s cold. I’m going to have to wear some extra clothing.’ As soon as you hear them say that, it’s pretty much over with. They’re looking forward to going home.”