Bombers fine-tuning offence

Hey there, time traveller!
This article was published 19/07/2018 (2637 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

In a simpler world, the Winnipeg Blue Bombers would double the workload of Andrew Harris, their talented tailback, and steamroll the competition en route to the playoffs and a Grey Cup victory.

But here’s the thing: Harris, who galloped for 139 yards on 13 carries in a 20-17 loss to the B.C. Lions in Week 5, isn’t asking for more touches. In fact, he has plenty on his plate with his pass-catching and blocking duties already in the mix.

“You have a game plan and some things work better than others,” Harris said Thursday afternoon as the Blue Bombers made final preparations for Saturday’s 3 p.m. start in Toronto against the Argonauts. “As an offensive co-ordinator, you have a game plan you want to execute and a lot of times you stick with that, right? So yeah, there were some good carries. (Nic) Demski’s running the ball well. I thought we had some good mix-up and misdirection.

“We go with what’s called and make the best of it. We have full faith in the calls and the amount of touches each player gets.”

But wouldn’t a modest increase to, say, 20 carries a game for the CFL’s leading rusher (449 yards with a 6.6-yard per carry average in five games) be a good compromise?

“Have you had 20 carries before?” Harris said. “It’s not as easy as you think it is. I mean, to play 18 games you’ve gotta be smart about that.

“Obviously, when you’re feelin’ it you want to get the ball in your hands but we mix the ball around a lot. I said this from the beginning — we have so many weapons. It’s tough for an offensive co-ordinator when you have so many weapons to try to mix the ball around as much as we do.”

Harris’s point is well taken and is relevant to his past history.

The 31-year-old has carried the ball between 12 and 15 times each time out in 2018. His heaviest workload in 2017 was a 17-carry game and he had games of 22, 18 and 19 carries in 2016, his first season as a member of the Blue Bombers.

His career high was a 24-carry game with the Lions in 2015.

Self-preservation is an important piece, too.

Remember also that Harris left the regular-season opener against the Edmonton Eskimos with a knee injury before returning to the game. He took another shot to the same knee when he absorbed a low hit in a blowout victory over the Montreal Alouettes in Week 2 — the rout was on and Harris wisely spent the remainder of the game on the sidelines.

Winnipeg’s offence, however, has struggled since the return of quarterback Matt Nichols from injury during the second half of back-to-back games against B.C., with no offensive points scored in Week 5’s loss and only a pair of field goals in a 41-19 Week 4 triumph.

“I think the biggest thing is to stay on the field,” Harris said. “It just feels like we’re taking plays, whether it’s a missed assignment or a bad read or the defence catches us, we just haven’t been as consistent as we want to. We’ve been consistent for a half but not a full 60 minutes…

“Scoring points is one thing, but time of possession is a beast and keeping our defence off the field is absolutely crucial.”

Meanwhile, Winnipeg’s passing game has emphasized short- to medium length routes thus far, completing only 11 of 36 attempted passes of 20 or more yards.

Will that trend continue?

“Who knows? Whatever coach throws our way we’re going to go out and execute,” said slotback Demski, who ran the ball four times for 35 yards and caught six passes for 32 yards last week. “It’s not necessarily a game-plan thing — it’s the feel of the game. We can run on teams but at the same time, we’ve got a bunch of playmakers that can catch the ball downfield. Just because it hasn’t got called doesn’t mean in the future it won’t.”

Demski believes Winnipeg’s unpredictability means anything is possible.

“We’re a hard offence to cover, defend against period,” he said. “We’re going to take our shots when needed but we run the ball really well on this team. Why stop running the ball when we’re doing it so efficiently?”

Receiver Weston Dressler has been targeted five times with a deep ball, but has connected only once.

“I feel like we have at times,” Dressler said of the Bombers’ attempts to go deep. “(Wide receiver) Darvin (Adams) does a great job of stretching the field for us and we take shots…

“The way our offence is built, I’m not gonna have a lot of those opportunities. Maybe YAC yards, you run after the catch. That’s part of our offence, making plays with the ball in your hands after the catch.”

mike.sawatzky@freepress.mb.caTwitter: @sawa14