Loads of work ahead

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This article was published 02/07/2015 (3753 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

Willy or no Willy, the Winnipeg Blue Bombers have a long way to go.

Sure, one can make the argument the Bombers would have fared better than the 52-26 drubbing they suffered at the hands of the Hamilton Tiger-Cats on Thursday night had quarterback Drew Willy lasted longer than the first quarter. But it’s also clear the local pros are missing a number of elements.

The Tiger-Cats are one of the high-end outfits in the CFL, and if you’re into measuring sticks, theirs is a lot longer than that of the Bombers.

Losing Willy throws the spotlight on some areas his presence would normally cover up.

There is still a lack of pop on offence, and the group remains inconsistent. They still need time to form chemistry required to handle the ups and downs of a full football game. They look good for one drive and then confused and lost on the next.

Certainly there is talent within this group, and they’ll figure it out in time. Soon enough to be a contender in the West? That’s going to be a huge storyline this season.

Defensively, the Bombers haven’t solved a number of the issues that plagued them last season. When the starting quarterback goes down, the defensive unit needs to step forward and hold their team in the game until the offence can get its collective head to stop spinning.

To bend but not break. The Bombers defence didn’t even bother to not break, they just got out of the way. Pitiful.

It’s a long season and watching the Bombers in the pre-season, it appeared to me they were disjointed and still needed some work. This loss just supports this opinion.

Fantasy football: If you could add just one player to the Bombers roster, it would be a monstrous space-eater on the defensive line. The Bombers just don’t appear to have that interior hulk needed to clog up the middle and force the opposition to go around.

Hit to the head: The helmet-to-helmet hit Ticats defensive end Adrian Tracy put on Willy may have been inadvertent but was still illegal. Willy got spun around by Hamilton defender Taylor Reed and then Tracy finished off the Bombers pivot driving his own helmet into Willy’s.

The CFL rulebook is clear on this under the category of unnecessary roughness: “Using the helmet to butt, ram or spear an opponent, including but not limited to, a passer, a receiver in the act of catching a pass, a ball carrier in the grasp of another tackler or a ball carrier on the playing surface not attempting to advance.”

The rulebook also says this under the category of roughing the passer: “Any blow above the passer’s shoulder,” as well as this: “Contacting the passer if either the initial source of contact, or primary source of contact, is the defender’s helmet.”

The faint-hope clause for Tracy comes in the league’s Standards and Interpretations document, which says “If the passer ducks into what would otherwise be a legal hit, it is not a foul.”

It’s pretty clear Tracy led with his helmet resulting in a player suffering at the very least a game-ending injury. The CFL has now lost four starting quarterbacks and the season isn’t two weeks old.

There are many injuries that can’t be avoided. I’m not sure that’s the case here. The league will have to look at this, and it will be interesting to see its interpretation.

Coach’s challenge: Blue Bombers head coach Mike O’Shea challenged a pair of pass interference calls late in the first half. The first was denied but the second saw defensive pass interference called after the fact for a major offensive gain.

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Here’s my issue with the assessed penalty — it was illegal contact but it wasn’t pass interference. And illegal contact isn’t reviewable.

The play should have been called illegal contact on the field, but it wasn’t.

O’Shea asked the officials to check and see if it was defensive pass interference and command central ruled it was. Again, I don’t think it was pass interference. Hamilton defender Emmanuel Davis made contact with Bombers receiver Clarence Denmark but not to the point of meeting the standards of defensive pass interference. Illegal contact has to be called on the field and isn’t reviewable. From this perspective — they got this one wrong.

gary.lawless@freepress.mb.ca

Twitter: @garylawless