Aerial attack beckons Bombers

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This article was published 02/10/2019 (2197 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

It would seem difficult to find fault in a CFL offence that ranks among the best in arguably the game’s two most important statistical categories: touchdowns and points.

And, yet, the Winnipeg Blue Bombers — a team whose offence has found the end zone more times than any other this season, scoring 38 touchdowns in 14 games, and is fewer than two points off the Hamilton Tiger-Cats for the most points scored per week (27.1 to 25.2) — appear to be in a bit of a crisis.

Given these numbers, it may seem premature to start ringing alarm bells. But anyone who has watched the past two games for the Blue and Gold has seen that the Bombers might have a serious tell. And it’s with the offence.

Indeed, following defeats to the Montreal Alouettes in Week 15 and, most recently, the Tiger-Cats last week, the Bombers have struggled when their opponent keys heavily on the run. Against Montreal, it was trying to protect a 20-point lead by leaning on the ground attack. Versus Hamilton, it was a desperate attempt to claw their way back with a futile passing game.

Both ended in losses, begging the question: can the Bombers beat teams through the air?

“Can we win through the air? No problem. If that’s what you have to do to figure out how to win games, then that’s what we’ll do,” Bombers head coach Mike O’Shea said after Wednesday’s practice. “But in order for them to commit that many people to the box, to stop the run like that, they are susceptible to being beaten by a pass. And Chris Streveler showed last game — he completed a high percentage of footballs, he completed for a good number of yards, he completed throws down the field. Those are all very positive things.”

Streveler, the team’s starting quarterback while Matt Nichols rehabs from shoulder surgery, threw for 304 yards against the Tiger-Cats. He was the first Bombers pivot to reach that mark this season.

Though a vast improvement on his passing totals this year — Streveler was averaging 154 passing yards through his first four starts, while putting up a pace of 78.5 rushing yards — it doesn’t necessarily mean it was a major step in the right direction. More than half of the 304 total (155) came in the fourth quarter, with Hamilton protecting a lead.  

Through much of the season, the Bombers offence has emphasized the running game. They’ve led the league all season in rushing yards per game (averaging 144.8), a number that has only jumped since Streveler took over for Nichols in Week 12. The running game has masked other issues, most notably a passing attack ranked last in the CFL, averaging 215.6 yards per game.

Much of the success on offence has come on the heels of a sturdy defence. But a defensive dozen that looked so good for so long has started to show cracks over the past month. The Bombers have lost three of their past four games because the offence has been struggling and the defence hasn’t been able to bail them out.

It might become a new reality for the Bombers that opposing defences enter games forcing the Bombers to throw the ball, especially if the defence continues to falter, giving up points early to put the Bombers in a sizable hole.

“For the last three years here, we’ve run the ball well and (running back) Andrew Harris is a good player. So that’s going to be part of what we do,” Bombers offensive co-ordinator Paul LaPolice said. “If we have to throw it more, we’ll throw it more. It’s kind of an unfair thing to say, ‘Well, Chris hasn’t…’ Chris can throw the football.”

If Streveler throws the football more, the focus will shift to who will be catching the passes. The Bombers believe they have one of their most talented groups of receivers in years, but the numbers don’t back that claim up.

Second-year receiver Kenny Lawler leads the team with 499 receiving yards, 144 of them recorded last game against Hamilton. Harris is second with 483 yards. That’s good enough for 23rd and 24th, respectively, among CFL receivers. The other starting receivers — Lucky Whitehead, Nic Demski, Darvin Adams and Drew Wolitarsky — are at 454, 403, 399 and 311 yards, respectively.

“Our No. 1 goal in the receivers’ room, and on offence in general, is to put up points and win games. We don’t really care about yards.

“We don’t really care about who scores touchdowns. We just want to make sure our offence gets them,” Demski said. “After two losses, we need to get back in that win column. It’s not at the top of our priority list to get a bunch of yards or anything like that. We just want to make plays and put our offence in good positions to score.”

There are reasons for some of the lack of production beyond the Bombers’ desire to run the football. The Bombers, especially during a 5-0 run to start the season, almost always played with a lead, which led to running the ball even more in order to drain the clock. Some receivers have also missed notable time, including Adams, who is coming off back-to-back 1,000-yard seasons, but has missed four games.

Streveler has used the past five games to improve the chemistry with the receivers, and the hope is he’s taking sizable steps in his development with each passing week. As for his passing game, LaPolice said he is seeing progress.

“You just see him making throws each day and you’re like, ‘Wow, that’s impressive.’ He’s got that ability and he sees pictures when they blitz us. When Saskatchewan blitzed us a couple weeks ago, he recognizes blitzes and puts the balls in guys hands. He’s got a lot of tools. We’ve just got to make sure we’re all playing great around him and give him opportunities to be successful.”

jeff.hamilton@freepress.mb.ca

Twitter: @jeffkhamilton

Jeff Hamilton
Multimedia producer

Jeff Hamilton is a sports and investigative reporter. Jeff joined the Free Press newsroom in April 2015, and has been covering the local sports scene since graduating from Carleton University’s journalism program in 2012. Read more about Jeff.

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