Blue Bombers’ defence finally shows up, providing edge over Alouettes

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This article was published 11/07/2015 (4047 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

The final statistics weren’t flattering — 395 net yards surrendered, including 317 through the air by a quarterback making his second pro start — but history will record the much-maligned Winnipeg Blue Bombers defence made big plays when they were needed most and was instrumental in grinding out a gritty 25-23 win Friday over the Montreal Alouettes at Investors Group Field.

A pair of first-half interceptions were critical. The first, by linebacker Chris Randle, snuffed out the Als’ opening drive of the game on the Bombers eight-yard line. And the second, by cornerback Johnny Adams, was returned to the Montreal end zone for Winnipeg’s first touchdown of the night.

Then there were all the little big plays by the Bombers defence the rest of the way: a knockdown by cornerback Matt Bucknor that forced Montreal to settle for a 22-yard field goal early in the third quarter; a tackle by halfback Bruce Johnson late in the fourth quarter that snuffed another Montreal drive and forced the Als to settle for a field goal; and, finally, a stand on a third-and-seven in the final two minutes that sealed the victory.

Put it altogether and a Bombers defence that got trampled by Saskatchewan in Week 1 and bombarded by Hamilton in Week 2 finally showed up in Week 3. It wasn’t pretty — more Pollock than Picasso — but the Bombers are 2-1 because of it.

“I feel like made a point tonight, for sure,” defensive tackle Bryant Turner said in a jubilant Bombers locker-room after the game.

“I feel like we made the point that we’re a different team. We’re starting to establish our identity as an aggressive team that is going to play hard and is going to play until the end. We showed that really well tonight, and I’m interested to see if that rolls through to next week also.”

Turner was asked if it stung that rookie quarterback Rakeem Cato threw for more than 300 yards against his defence — 180 yards to S.J. Green, who got behind the Bombers secondary over and over again.

“Not at all,” said Turner. “They run a good system over there. We expect good things from them. He’s a good quarterback and he did well. He made some quick throws and that’s something we can sharpen up as the season goes on. But that’s something that will just come.”

Adams, who was perhaps Winnipeg’s strongest defender even when the side struggled in the first two weeks, was asked what it was like to score his first CFL touchdown in front of a delirious crowd at IGF.

He elected instead to talk about the big picture.

“It was pretty big — it was exciting for the fans and exciting for the team,” said Adams. “But as a defence, collectively, I thought we all played a big part in that. It wasn’t just me — it was the front getting pressure and it was the back end communicating.

“It was just one of those plays that you had to make as a team.”

Bombers defensive end Greg Peach said he felt like his entire team faced a big test Friday against a Montreal squad that had throttled the Calgary Stampeders just a week earlier — and it passed with flying colours.

“When you face a team that’s physical like that and they just took down the Grey Cup champs, you knew going into it you were going to have to bring everything on all three phases,” he said. “We did that tonight. And then on defence, we stopped their run and handled Cato and made some big plays. We played really good football — really tough football — for four full quarters and to do that gives us a lot of confidence going forward.”

paul.wiecek@freepress.mb.ca

Twitter: @PaulWiecek