Blue ‘D’ blasphemously bad

Hey there, time traveller!
This article was published 09/07/2012 (4835 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

Questioning the mighty Winnipeg Blue Bombers defence smacks of heresy in these parts, but it doesn’t absolve the few disturbing trends the unit has shown after the first two games of the season.

Winnipeg, in the midst of a brutal four-game road stretch, is still searching for its first win after stops in Vancouver and Montreal, and while the offence — specifically the offensive line — has drawn the bulk of the attention through those difficult matchups, it’s the effectiveness on the other side of the ball which has forced a few into the panic room.

Uncertainty takes root when constants start to deviate from their established norms. The Bombers had the league’s best defence in 2011 but changes, coming out of necessity, design or the sands of time, have given the group a new identity. Those personnel moves may ultimately pay off down the road, but right now, heading into the third week of the season, the unit is not without its warts.

Blasphemy, you say? Take a closer look at the middle of the defence. The strongest of these concerns has to be the inability to stop the opponent’s running back — both as a rusher and as a receiver.

Montreal’s Brandon Whitaker slapped the Bombers’ linebackers around for 235 total yards in the 41-30 Alouettes win Friday night, taking full advantage of an inexperienced corps of non-imports Pierre-Luc Labbe and Henoc Muamba (who shared snaps in the middle), with import newbie Dustin Doe at the weak-side position.

The trio of Labbe, Muamba and Doe couldn’t get a handle on Whitaker, who killed the Blue with swift runs (16 for 98 yards) that resulted in a 6.1 yards per carry average and one touchdown. When he wasn’t scampering all over the place, he snuck out of the backfield to the front of the offensive line on a half-screen or ran out to the side with no defender in sight.

His numbers catching the ball: 11 grabs for 137 yards and two TDs.

Yes, Montreal took full advantage of this mismatch early.

First play from scrimmage: A pass to Whitaker for nine yards. The third play from scrimmage: A 28-yard catch and run — the second of Whitaker’s 27 touches on the night. He tortured the Winnipeg linebackers; they simply could not account for the tailback coming out of the backfield until they were in chase mode, and by then the football was in the air and the chains were already moving up field.

It recalled, and easily surpassed, the production B.C. running back Andrew Harris had against Winnipeg the week before. Harris, a fine young player but hardly in Whitaker’s class, had only eight carries for 47 yards in the 33-16 win over Winnipeg, but his true impact came when he spilled out of the backfield: seven catches for 69 yards — nearly a first down of distance with each reception.

Bombers GM Joe Mack and head coach Paul LaPolice made the decision to go with a Canadian in the middle, and the growing pains have been there for all to see. Doe, meanwhile, is filling in for third-year veteran Marcellus Bowman, who’s been dealing with a leg injury since the start of camp. His return to the lineup will help settle things — experience the calming sensation of experience, Winnipeg fans — but the timetable for his arrival (and what his conditioning will be like, given the nature of the injury) remains a mystery.

As film from the first two weeks of games starts to circulate around the league and opponents see the rewards that can be reaped by attacking this area, the sooner Bowman can get back the better for the Bombers.

The club resumes practice this morning.

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

Warning signs?

WINNIPEG surrendered 551 yards of offence in Montreal’s 41-30 win Friday night, the most put on the Bombers defence since the 2005 season. Add that to the 329 yards given up in a blowout loss to B.C. in the season-opener, and the Bombers allowed 880 yards through the first two games.

Why is this noteworthy? At no point in 2011 did the Bombers defence give up that many yards in back-to-back games. To put a cherry on this top, Winnipeg only allowed 828 yards in the first three weeks last season.

Is this an anomaly or a trend?

The 4th quarter

THE biggest worry for Blue and Gold fans has to be the lack of resistance in the final quarter. Winnipeg was down by six points in B.C. and only down four in Montreal after the third stanza, only to watch the opponent score touchdowns to seal the victories. In two games, the “bend but don’t break” defence has been busted wide open, giving up 31 points in tight fourth quarters. Part of head coach Paul LaPolice’s thought process on the third-down gamble from the six with 5:23 to go in an 11-point game assumed the defence would hold the Als deep and the Bombers would get the ball back in good field position. Instead, Montreal marched the rock 100 yards down the field for a touchdown to ice it.

All quiet up front

ZERO sacks in Montreal, and the times quarterback Anthony Calvillo was hurried were few and far between. Defensive linemen Bryant Turner, Jason Vega, Alex Hall, Brandon Collier, Rodney Fritz et al barely made a dent on the stats sheet, and that has to change. With his three sacks in B.C. (against rookie lineman Matt Norman), Turner remains the clubhouse leader in that category, and the only Bomber to get his mitts on a quarterback. Defensive co-ordinator Tim Burke loves to play man coverage, but its true effectiveness only shows when the pivot is feeling heat at the bottom end. The pressure is on Winnipeg to create more pressure.

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Storm clouds forming

AFTER allowing 101 yards rushing per game in 2011, Winnipeg has surrendered 231 yards in the first two weeks. Not the league-low by any stretch, but still a worry when you look at the trials at linebacker, the lack of pressure from the front four, and this new wrinkle: The East Division backfield. Montreal’s Brandon Whitaker, Toronto’s Cory Boyd, and the new speedster in Hamilton, Chevon Walker are quality rushers. Guess what? They all can catch the ball, too.

— Wazny