Bombers O-line silences critics

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This article was published 09/10/2024 (424 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

The chatter surrounding the Winnipeg Blue Bombers’ offensive line has fallen silent.

Those playing a flashier position might prefer the attention — good or bad — but for the big boys up front, that’s just how they like it.

“When no one’s talking about the offensive line, you’re doing something right,” said right guard Patrick Neufeld.

Indeed, the offensive line is playing its best football of the season entering Friday’s contest against the Toronto Argonauts at Princess Auto Stadium (7:30 p.m.), where the Bombers will put an eight-game winning streak to the test and look to clinch a fourth consecutive trip to the West Division Final.

That wasn’t the case to start the year, however, as the starting five was blitzed with criticism from fans and pundits alike while the club sunk into a 0-4 and 2-6 hole through the season’s first eight weeks.

Winnipeg has been revered for its continuity at nearly every position during its run of four consecutive Grey Cup appearances, but perhaps none more so than the offensive line, which has collectively been the hallmark of the Blue and Gold’s hard-nosed playing style.

That changed in the offseason as the club lost longtime right tackle Jermarcus Hardrick to free agency and did not re-sign Geoff Gray, who had started every game at left guard since the start of the 2022 season.

Six-year pro Eric Lofton was brought in to replace Hardrick, and 2021 first-round pick Liam Dobson, who had served as the understudy to Gray, slotted into a starting role.

Members of the offensive line agree they felt the effects early on as they quickly tried to find some chemistry.

“It was a slow start. It wasn’t the start that we anticipated,” conceded Neufeld, who was forced to miss training camp as he nursed an injury, which did not help matters.

“It’s just the nature of the beast when you don’t have the exact same guys. I played next to Jermarcus for six years and we could almost read each other’s minds just by seeing what was happening on the field, and that’s the point that Eric and I wanted to get to, and I feel like we’re hitting that.”

The Bombers allowed 16 sacks in the first eight weeks of the season and it could’ve been more as quarterback Zach Collaros was often forced to either run for his life or throw the ball earlier than he wanted.

Perhaps of greater concern was that Winnipeg, which has made a habit of pummelling its opponents into submission with a strong rushing attack in recent years, was struggling on the ground. Star running back Brady Oliveira — who, granted, was nagged by a knee injury — didn’t eclipse 100 yards until Week 5 and the team as a whole only reached that threshold once in the first four weeks.

“When no one’s talking about the offensive line, you’re doing something right.”–Patrick Neufeld

“I think we all didn’t start the season the way we wanted to start. We all weren’t playing up to our standard and up to our capabilities, so, not just them,” said Oliveira.

“They keep this thing rolling, they’re like the heartbeat of this team,” he continued. “Obviously, we talk about the quarterback position, but that offensive line, man, they have been so good for a number of years and I love them, man. They’re the ones that keep this thing rolling so we need them to be on their game for us to keep rolling.”

Centre Chris Kolankowski marked the days leading up to the Labour Day Classic as the turning point for the group. The outlook appeared grim for the O-line, with its two most veteran players on the shelf — Neufeld on the six-game injured list and left tackle Stanley Bryant dealing with a virus that forced him to drop out of the previous week’s contest.

The Bombers were left with a largely inexperienced room heading into the biggest game of the year but persevered long enough to leave with a 35-33 victory over the Saskatchewan Roughriders.

“That was the first game I’ve ever started where I’m walking into the room being the most veteran player on the O-line,” said Kolankowski.

Players usually go their separate ways after arriving at the hotel, but the linemen decided to hold a private meeting to ensure they were on the same page. It’s typically Neufeld and Bryant who lead those types of meetings, but this time Kolankowski took the reins to get his teammates geared up.

“(Eric Lofton) took the lead on one, I took the lead on another, and just kind of built confidence in the room and (reminded them) that we’re all here, we all deserve to be here, we’re in the right room for the right reasons, and I think that was a confidence builder for the younger guys and the guys with less experience,” he said.

“Obviously, it sucks when people go down, but I think that little bit of adversity with when Paddy goes down and then Stan goes down, I think it really helped build confidence through the depth of the room, because those are two guys that have been solid for so many years and we’ve leaned on them. So, to have them out, it made other people step up and kind of realize their own potential.”

The group certainly appears better for it. Collaros’ jersey has been cleaner, sacked 12 times in the last eight contests, and the Bombers’ run game has returned to its dominant way with Oliveira now firmly in the running for the league’s Most Outstanding Player award on the strength of 1,254 ground yards.

Head coach Mike O’Shea refuted the idea the team ever lost or got away from its identity and said the coaching staff knew it would simply take a bit of time for the offensive line to find its groove, such is the case when there is turnover within a group that builds its success on being in perfect harmony on every play.

“As fast as we may want it to go, this was the pace that it was going to go at this season,” O’Shea said.

“I think that was just the way the group came out of camp, we had to do things a little differently, and you firmly believe that the pendulum was going to swing back, but you’re not waiting for it. You’re not just sitting there hoping that, ‘Oh, I hope this swings back to what we know is Bomber football,’ you’re continually trying to win football games with the group you have available that week and using their best attributes.

“Here we are.”

jfreysam@freepress.mb.ca

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