Blue lose kicking… and screaming

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This article was published 03/10/2015 (3732 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

This time the goat didn’t wear stripes. Because this time, the goat was wearing Blue and Gold.

Winnipeg Blue Bombers place-kicker Lirim Hajrullahu missed four field goals and a convert Saturday afternoon at Investors Group Field, the margin of difference — and then some — in a devastating 24-23 Bombers loss to the Edmonton Eskimos.

In a Bombers season in which virtually everything that can go wrong has gone wrong, Hajrullahu had it all go wrong all at once in a game in which he missed four straight field goals and a convert before finally connecting from 45 yards to put the Bombers in the lead 23-21 with under two minutes to play.

But just when it seemed like the Bombers were going to escape with the most unlikely of victories, it was the placekicker on the other side of the field who ultimately provided the difference in the game as Edmonton’s Sean Whyte nailed a 53-yard field goal as time expired to give Edmonton the win.

The loss was Winnipeg’s seventh in their last eight games — and 20th in their last 26 games — and it drops their season record to 4-10.

Saturday’s loss to Edmonton also came just eight days after the Bombers were stiffed by a phantom penalty call the CFL later admitted never should have been called and which cost Winnipeg a critical late first down in what ultimately went down as a 25-23 loss to the Calgary Stampeders.

The ugly details.

Hajrullahu’s first miss of the night came from 43 yards at 8:22 of the second quarter, followed by a second miss as time ran out in the second quarter from 48 yards.

The miss parade continued in the second half with another Hajrullahu missed field goal from 44 yards at 11:47 of the third quarter.

Hajrullahu then missed what would have been at the time a game-tying 32-yard convert at 8:54 of the fourth quarter, clanging it off the right upright. That was followed by another missed field goal — this one from 40 yards — at 5:05 of the fourth quarter, that one clanging off the left upright.

Still, to his credit, Hajrullahu did make his last field goal attempt of the night, hitting from 45 yards with just 1:13 remaining to put Winnipeg up 23-21 at that point.

Hajrullahu was not available to the media following the game.

One final note: While much will be rightly made in the days to come about Hajrullahu’s misses representing the margin of difference in this loss, it’s worth noting the Bombers also missed a two-point convert attempt at 6:26 of the third quarter which had nothing to do with Hajrullahu and which, if successful, would also have won the Bombers the game.

 A tale of two offences.

The Bombers registered just three yards of offence in the first quarter and just 81 yards in the entire first half — and all of it came via the pass in a half they registered, get this, zero yards rushing.

But some critical halftime adjustments — and a long-awaited decision to stretch the field with some long passes to receivers Clarence Denmark and Nick Moore — opened things up for Winnipeg in a second half that saw the Bombers rack up 274 yards of offence against an Edmonton defence many think is the class of the CFL.

Denmark led all Bombers receivers with three catches for 95 yards, while Moore settled in nicely after three drops early in the game, finishing his night with six catches for 86 yards and one touchdown.

Winnipeg finished the game with 35 yards rushing.

About that final drive.

The Eskimos were out of timeouts — they used their last timeout to “ice” Hajrullahu prior to his 45-yard field goal with under two minutes to play — when they took over the ball on their own 35-yard line with just 1:02 to play.

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Edmonton QB Mike Reilly — who finished the night 30-42, 298 yards, 1 TD and 2 INTs — completed passes of seven, five and 17 yards in rapid succession to get the ball to the Bombers 46-yard line.

Reilly also managed on the final drive to shake loose from the grasp of Bombers DB Demond Washington, who failed to lock him up and bring Reilly down for what might have proved to be a game-winning sack.

One final Reilly pass attempt fell incomplete, leaving the game in the hands — and foot — of Whyte, a Montreal Alouettes cast-off earlier this season who the Eskimos signed as a free agent.

email: paul.wiecek@freepress.mb.ca

Twitter: @PaulWiecek