Blue outmaneuvered, outsmarted, outcoached when game on the line

Hey there, time traveller!
This article was published 03/09/2018 (2610 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

We’ve all had a moment where we’ve stumbled across a picture of ourselves, from several years prior, and been surprised by how much younger we looked, or, more truthfully, how much older we look now. If the Winnipeg Football Club saw a picture of themselves from two years ago—or even last year—they currently may have a hard time recognizing themselves.

When groups of players and coaches stay together for a while on the same team, they create defining characteristics, or an identity of the offence, defence, and special teams. Over the previous two years, where they won 23 games and only lost 13, they were as regular and predictable as summer construction delays.

Offensively, first and foremost, they protected the football. They didn’t force the ball downfield, and they didn’t make bad decisions with it. They were methodical in their approach, took what the defence gave them, and didn’t shoot themselves in the foot. They played complementary football with the defence and when there were quick changes or turnovers, and they got opportunities to move the football and score in critical games, you could almost always count on them.

These days their touchdown to interception ratio is way out of whack. They don’t automatically win the turnover battle anymore, and they are as likely to throw a game-ending interception as they are a touchdown in critical moments. The passing game is in disarray and inconsistent. In fact, the only thing that reminds you that this is the same offence from the previous two, is Andrew Harris and the running game.

Defensively, the story is a little bit different. So far this season the defence is much more competitively ranked in almost every category. While only Montreal has currently given up more points, and surrendered more touchdowns, when it comes to opponent net offence, average yards per play, average yards per pass, and opponent passing efficiency, they are middle of the pack. When it comes to sacks, interceptions, and forced turnovers, they are consistently top three. The biggest difference in the identity of the defence this year is, once again, their inability to make big plays in clutch moments. The previous two years, even when they were giving up yards at an incredible rate, they had an ability to take the football away at critical and crucial moments. This year, the defence is better across the board statistically, but has lost the knack for rising to the occasion in moments when the team needs them most.

Furthermore, as a team, and not individual phases, the biggest change from the last couple of seasons to this year, has been the drop off in play in the second half of games. If CFL regular season games only lasted two quarters, or if the Bombers played the first halves of football games exclusively, this football team would currently be 9 and 2. That’s right. In the 11 games they’ve played so far, they’ve been ahead nine times at the half.

So what does it mean if they are ahead at half time in nine of 11 games, but have only won five? What does it mean if they have lost to all four teams with winning records this season, but were ahead of three of them at half time? There are really only three possible answers. One, the players aren’t in game shape, and can’t compete at the same level in quarter four as they can in quarter one. Two, the players lack effort in the second half of games. Or three, they consistently get outmaneuvered, outsmarted, or outcoached down the stretch when the game is on the line. If the first two possibilities haven’t been noticeable or mentioned by pretty much anybody, then that leaves option three as the most probable cause.

In the first half of the Labour Day Classic we were blown away by how superior Winnipeg appeared to be over their opponent. In the second half, just like in comparison to the previous seasons, unfortunately, this team didn’t resemble anything that we had come to know.

Doug Brown, once a hard-hitting defensive lineman and frequently hard-hitting columnist, appears weekly in the Free Press

Twitter:@Doug Brown97