Bombers’ offence struggles after outstanding start to season

Hey there, time traveller!
This article was published 18/07/2023 (845 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

What’s the deal with the Winnipeg Blue Bombers offence?

After scoring 87 points in their first two games, everyone was singing their praises and touting them as the most dangerous group in the CFL.

Since then? They’ve been pretty average.

Average is putting it nicely though if you’re talking about the final 15 minutes of Saturday’s 31-28 overtime loss on the road to the Ottawa Redblacks. Winnipeg’s scoring attack recorded just one first down in the fourth quarter while also committing a comedy of errors that allowed Ottawa and rookie quarterback Dustin Crum to steal the game despite facing with a 19-point deficit.

There was Dalton Schoen dropping a deep pass that should’ve been a touchdown, Brady Oliveira followed that with a costly fumble, and last but not least, Zach Collaros had an intended throw to Drew Wolitarsky that resulted in a pick-six with just over two minutes left in the game.

It all could’ve been forgiven and forgotten if the Blue and Gold found paydirt in overtime, but the Bombers went two and out after an 11-yard sack that led them to settling for a 48-yard field goal by Sergio Castillo. Two plays later, Crum scrambled 29-yards down the middle of the field into the end zone for the game-winning score.

“It was just like play after play after play, if it could go wrong, it did,” said Schoen after Tuesday’s closed practice.

“And that’s not our MO, so that’s why we’re obviously confident we can come back from that. We’re confident that typically in the future, if someone makes a mistake, someone else is going to be there to pick them up and correct it. That’s normally how it goes, but unfortunately it didn’t happen this past week so, yeah, it’s very frustrating.”

The run game didn’t do Collaros and his pass catchers any favours as Oliveira was bottled up for 16 rushing yards on nine attempts. The blame isn’t all on Oliveira, however, as the offensive line was far from dominant. Collaros was pressured often and sacked three times.

“Everyone’s playing us a little different now. No one’s letting us just run and tee off on them anymore,” said veteran right tackle Jermarcus Hardrick. “We’re getting a lot more movement on the D-line, but we just got to be better. People know the run game is our thing and a lot of people focus to stop the run game and it’s been working.”

It’s not the first game this season the O-line has been hit with criticism. It’s led to many starting to wonder if Father Time is starting to catch up to the five-man unit as their average age is 32.6 years old. The Bombers have given up 16 sacks this season which is the fourth most in the three-down league. They allowed the second fewest last season with 29.

“I still wholeheartedly think we’re still the best. There’s 18 games, we’re not going to be perfect out there,” said Hardrick.

“We’re probably not the best in Week 6, but we have time. We’ll see who’s the best in the end, but right now, I’m not worried who the best O-line in the league is. We got to keep building and we still got our confidence. I’ll line us up with anybody right now, I don’t care about any stats.”

The sky isn’t falling, the Bombers are 4-2 and still one of the biggest threats to hoist the silver mug in November. Their last four weeks haven’t been good enough, however, as the offence is averaging 18.7 points per game. Things should, however, get better this week with the lowly, winless Edmonton Elks coming to town for a 7:30 p.m. game on Thursday.

That, and the return of star wide receiver Kenny Lawler, of course. Lawler hasn’t played a game all year owing to immigration issues stemming from a drunk-driving conviction. He’s now off the suspended list and will make his season debut this week.

“Offensively, we need to step up. We need more energy, and Kenny brings that. With Kenny being back it helps me, too,” said receiver Rasheed Bailey.

“It takes a little bit of slack away from me and maybe that’s what we need. Not maybe, it is what we need. It’s been a struggle these last couple weeks, but you find your niche, you find what’s wrong, you find your problems and you try to capitalize off of them. I’m excited, it doesn’t even feel like we lost. I moved on, we’ve all moved on, and it’s time for Edmonton.”

Bombers wearing white

The Bombers have scheduled Thursday’s contest as their annual Wear White game. Instead of their traditional home uniforms, the Bombers will wear an alternate attire featuring white jerseys and blue pants. The club is encouraging fans to wear white as well.

taylor.allen@freepress.mb.ca

Twitter: @TaylorAllen31