Death by no execution

By: Ed Tait Posted: 8:16 PM CDT Saturday, Oct. 4, 2014

There was anger and a heaping helping of frustration. Those two always meet whenever a football team — hello Winnipeg Blue Bombers — loses five straight and seven of its last eight.

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There was anger and a heaping helping of frustration. Those two always meet whenever a football team — hello Winnipeg Blue Bombers — loses five straight and seven of its last eight.

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Hey there, time traveller!
This article was published 04/10/2014 (4077 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

There was anger and a heaping helping of frustration. Those two always meet whenever a football team — hello Winnipeg Blue Bombers — loses five straight and seven of its last eight.

As media people worked through the Bombers locker-room late Friday night following their 42-20 loss to the Ottawa Redblacks seeking answers to the same old questions, there was a constant refrain about a need for “better execution.”

“This isn’t a good feeling right now,” said cornerback Matt Bucknor. “Every game we go into we have high expectations of ourselves, right? We let ourselves down. Some plays we didn’t execute on… I don’t know, it’s just tough.

Justin Tang / THE CANADIAN PRESS/
Winnipeg Blue Bombers' Drew Willy (5) is taken down by the Ottawa Redblacks during first half of CFL action in Ottawa on Friday. — Justin Tang / THE CANADIAN PRESS/ Winnipeg Blue Bombers' Drew Willy (5) is taken down by the Ottawa Redblacks during first half of CFL action in Ottawa on Friday.

“Myself, I’ve got to key in on the little details. And as a unit, defensively, it might just come down to focusing on that one play. If the play isn’t executed then we just move on and execute the next one.

“That’s what it’s about for us: execution.”

All of which reminds yours truly of one of the most memorable quotes in the history of pro football, uttered by the late John McKay when coaching the Tampa Bay Buccaneers during their winless inaugural season.

Asked after a loss what he thought of his team’s execution, McKay quipped:

“I’m in favour of it.”

Hey… ho…

Now 6-8 and fading, the Bombers have now reached an interesting and important stage in their rebuild while they spit out the execution theory.

Sure they’ve doubled the wins of a year ago, but many of the same problems persist from 2013, namely the need to upgrade the Canadian talent, an iffy offensive line and an inability to stop the run among the most glaring.

They’ve found the management team and quarterback to lead them out of this quagmire, but the fix won’t be as quick as it looked during that spectacular 5-1 start. Playoffs? That’s going to take some doing now.

So now what? As much as Mike O’Shea & Co. continue to praise the character in the room, effort on the field and blah, blah, blah, this recent losing skid has just further exposed the same problem areas.

And so it’s reached the point where Bomber brass has to be mulling over this basic thought: They either get their players to play better, or get better players.

The timing here is interesting — disconcerting for those in the room who rave about the camaraderie. The CFL trade deadline, which is usually a sleep-inducing non-event, is set for Oct. 15 and GM Kyle Walters has shown in the past he’s not afraid to pull the trigger on a deal.

We didn’t tackle well today, but we made up for it by not blocking.”

Granted, last season was different. The Bombers had just two wins at the deadline when Walters opted to move defensive end Alex Hall, a pending free agent, to the Saskatchewan Roughriders for Canadian offensive lineman Paddy Neufeld. Hall never returned to the Riders after their Grey Cup run, was cut by the Carolina Panthers after their training camp and is still sniffing around for another NFL opportunity.

The move made sense at the time — still does — as Walters moved an import player who everyone knew was going to take a shot down south for a Canadian who, when healthy, is a starter on the O-line.

Is there another long-term vision deal like that to be made?

And how would that collide with the message O’Shea has preached since the first day he pulled on a Bomber ball cap, that his squad will keep swinging until the clock reads 00:00 or their playoff hopes have been snuffed out completely?

The expectation is both linebacker Ian Wild and receiver Nick Moore will be back for the game in Edmonton. And with meetings against the Eskimos and B.C. Lions remaining — they just happen to be the two teams the Bombers must track down to keep the fleeting playoff dream alive — there is, mathematically, still hope.

But if you managed to watch all of the Bombers awful performance in Ottawa, it’s clear Wild and Moore might not be enough to fix all that ails this bunch.

And so, a final thought courtesy McKay, with the Bombers reeling and the trade deadline approaching:

“We didn’t tackle well today,” said McKay after a particularly bad loss. “But we made up for it by not blocking.”

ed.tait@freepress.mb.ca

Bombers out to tackle problems, odds are they’ll miss

The Winnipeg Blue Bombers have become adept at making stars… of opposition running backs.

Seven times in the last 11 games — including Friday’s 42-2- loss to the Ottawa Redblacks — the Bombers have surrendered over 150 yards along the ground. Ottawa finished with 188 yards rushing, the third-highest total Winnipeg has yielded this year.

“Guys are in the right spots,” said Bomber coach Mike O’Shea. “There were a couple really big gains where we had them dead to rights in the backfield and we just missed several tackles. It wasn’t one guy. When they get big chunks like that it’s because one or two or three or whatever guys miss… we had a hard time tackling.

“But they played lights out last game. They need to play more consistently… across the board we need to have more consistency.”

The Bombers have surrendered 1,785 yards rushing so far this season, an average of 127.5 yards per game. By comparison, the club gave up 1,948 rushing yards last season, an average of 108.2 yards per game. Winnipeg has kept an opponent under 100 yards rushing in just five games this year.

TERRIBLE TWOS: The Bombers were outscored 21-7 in the second quarter, continuing an ugly trend that has been problematic all season. Winnipeg has been pummelled 135-66 in second quarters this year.

OUCH REPORT: SB Cory Watson was out of Friday’s game before halftime with a shoulder injury. LB E.J. Kuale was on crutches afterward after sustaining a suspected knee injury and the status of DB Demond Washington won’t be known until the Bombers return to work Tuesday.

BETTING BAD… The Bombers were trailing 21-17 with 49 second left in the first half when they opted to gamble on third-and-five from the Ottawa 38-yard line rather than attempt a field goal. The gamble failed and Ottawa then marched the distance to score on the last play and take a 28-17 lead into the intermission.

Factoring in a swirling wind, O’Shea said the Bombers determined Lirim Hajrullahu’s maximum range was 40 yards.

“It would have been a 45-yard field goal,” said O’Shea. “The breeze was gusty and with under a minute to go I’m betting on the offence to get the first down and then I’m going to bet on the defence to stop them if they don’t.

PENALTY PARADE: The Bombers were nailed for 12 penalties totalling 72 yards, including an unnecessary roughness and roughing the passer against E.J. Kuale and another unnecessary roughness infraction against Greg Hickman. Kuale has been there, done that, before.

Asked if those penalties have to stop, O’Shea said: “Yup. We’re not surviving those types of mistakes. I think early on in the season we survived those mistakes, now we’re not surviving those mistakes.”

— Ed Tait